So you're wondering how to make spaghetti and meatballs. Try this easy and undeniably delicious version. Or don't. But then you'll be missing out on something realllyyyyyyy good.
I wanna talk about spaghetti & meatballs. Kind of because it's spaghetti & meatball season and kind of because I often want to talk about spaghetti & meatballs. Whenever there's a chance to work spaghetti & meatballs into a conversation I do. I suggest you do the same, for it will change your life; only and always for the better.
Take these conversations I recently made up, for example:
My mother: "I don't really like your hair that way, dear. You look like a squirrel.."
Me: "Do you like spaghetti & meatballs?"
My mother: "Oh my Lord! I LOVE spaghetti & meatballs. I remember this one time when your father and I ... is that a new hairdo? It looks sharp!"
Another example:
Your Boss: "Did you finish that assignment I gave you today?"
You: "No. You can suck it. I'm taking a 5 hour lunch today that will involve eating spaghetti & meatballs, you miserable wound."
Your Boss: "Did you say spaghetti & meatballs? I LOVE spaghetti & meatballs. Hey! When's the last time I gave you a raise? Or a day off for no reason? And do you have a company car? You totally need a company car. Jeez ... I can't believe you love spaghetti & meatballs. I love 'em too."
There's just something about spaghetti and meatballs that brings out the best in us. And by "us" I mean human beings, dogs, cats, most other animals and the occasional stray from outer space.
There are a multitude of ways to cook spaghetti & meatballs including using fresh tomatoes, but my preferred way is to use tomato sauce that I jar in the fall.
The taste of this recipe completely changes according to how long you cook it. The longer you cook it the smokier and denser it tastes ... the less you cook it the more vibrant and bright it tastes.
As you can see from the recipe ... if you don't have a couple of quarts of homemade tomato sauce you can use the secret ingredient ... tomato juice. From the can. Yup ... that tomato juice. The kind you'd normally drink in a juice glass while lounging in the velvet booth of a 1970's steak house.
Make sure you get reduced salt tomato juice though, otherwise your spaghetti sauce will be too salty. Dead sea salty. Salt lick salty. Long Shoreman salty.
Here we go ...
If you're kind of a cooking expert who doesn't need photos you can jump straight to the printable recipe here.
Gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 375 °F
Do NOT be alarmed! This is an old photo. I am not currently using decade old tomato sauce.
Pour all of your tomato juice (homemade or otherwise) into a roasting pan.
Add a full can of tomato paste. The recipe says a "large" can but I just add a full small can (the most common in stores)
Add your chopped onion and garlic.
Add in all of your spices and remember to crush them in your fingers to bring out the aroma and flavours of them.
Grate in about 2 Tablespoons of fresh parmesan cheese. Or used the stuff in a cardboard can. I won't judge or give a care.
Stir everything up and then set it aside because ....
It's time to make meatballs!!! I use 100% ground beef most of the time, but occasionally I'll mix things up and do a 50/50 blend of ground beef and ground pork. Also, judge for yourself how much bread crumbs you'd like to use. I find adding in a little extra bread crumbs tends to make the meatball less hard and dense. I like a slightly softer textured meatball. So I add extra bread crumbs.
Taking a large tablespoon of meat, roll it in your hands with medium pressure. Again, the harder you roll the meatball the more dense it will be. If you barely form it together it will be too soft and will fall apart. Medium pressure.
Once you have rolled all the meatballs ...
Throw em in the roasting pan full of sauce.
You may find they just sort of float on top of the sauce. Not to worry. This is how they brown.
Cover the roasting pan with a lid and put it in the preheated oven for half an hour to an hour. Once the sauce is bubbling and gurgling, you can remove the lid so the sauce will thicken. Cook for another 1 ½ - 2 hrs until sauce is thickened. Remember ... the earlier you take it out the sharper and more tomatoey it will taste ... the later you take it out the smokier and richer it will taste. I go for smoky and rich. Total cooking time ... around 3 hours.
Serve on a skillfully folded tea towel, placed in front of some artfully arranged parmesan cheese and shavings.
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Ingredients
Sauce
- 48 oz tomato juice (1 large can, reduced salt)
- 12 oz tomato paste
- 1 onion diced
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon basil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tbsps parmesan cheese grated
- 1 bay leaf
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef Or use ½ lb pork and ½ lb ground beef
- 1 egg
- ½ cup bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F or 350 degrees F convection.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients into a dutch oven.
- Mix the ingredients for the meatballs and then form them. You'll get 15 smaller sized meatballs from 1 lb of ground meat or 8-10 larger ones.
- Add meatballs to the sauce allowing the tops to float out a bit. This will brown them.
- Put a lid on the dutch oven and put it in a 375 degree F oven for half an hour. After that time, remove the lid and continue to roast for another 2 hours.
- Stir the sauce occasionally to allow the meatballs to turn over and brown on various sides. (anything sticking out of the sauce will brown)
- The sauce is done whenever you want. The longer you cook it the darker and earthier tasting it will be. If you take it out early it will be brighter and more tomatoey tasting.
Notes
And the reason it's called "Gramma's Spaghetti & Meatballs"? Because when my niece first moved out of her parent's house I typed out a bunch of her/my favourite recipes to give her. (GREAT gift idea by the way)
And the originator of this recipe is ... her gramma. My mother. Betty. Who happens to like my hair ... at the moment.
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alice
Just popped this in the oven -- nice to have the prep done so early. I used ground chicken instead of beef, because it was on sale, but what with all the tomato and garlic flavours, I don't think anyone will notice.
Candy
I loved this recipe. Absolutely delicious sauce, I made this on New Years day and then had the left overs the day after.
I wasn't so keen on the mess it baked onto my roasting dish but I do the cooking and the boyfriend does the washing up so I wasn't *that* bothered.
Thanks for sharing.
Candy
Kelly Kline
Thanks for posting this recipe Karen!! Can't wait to try it!
Fondly,
Kelly
Patrice
OMG...just finished my second helping and I have to tell you this is fabulous. I put the sauce and meatballs in the oven, went outside to cut up some wood so that I could have a fire in the pit outside tonight...did a little prewinter maint on the car. Came back inside to the most heavenly of smells. Thanks so much for this recipe...I'm a sucker for spaghetti and meatballs and I've been jonesing for a fix for several weeks now. Hands down the best I've had in years!
Karen
Excellent! Glad you liked the recipe. My boyfriend thinks the best part about spaghetti and meatballs is meatball subs with mozzarella cheese the next day. I'd rather just have more spaghetti and meatballs ... :) ~ karen
Andrea
Could I make these in a slow cooker instead?
Karen
Hi Andrea! I don't see why not. I've never done them in a slow cooker (don't own one ... GASP!) but as long as you have a vent (to allow the spaghetti sauce to thicken) you should be fine. The only disadvantage is when you cook this in the oven it gets a smokey sort of taste that I don't think you'll get with a slow cooker. Also, when you cook them in the oven, the tops of the meatballs which float up towards the top of the sauce and get nice and browned. You probably won't get this with the crock pot. If you give it a shot let me know how it goes! - karen
vickie
my husband puts in a stalk of celery. When the celery wilts the meatballs are done.
June
You are so right about working spaghetti & meatballs into a conversation! Thanks for the laugh.
June
I think 'fried chicken' works as well.
Michelle
I tried for the second time last night to make meatballs ... they all fell apart and it was more like lumpy spagetti. Fail! Will have to give yours a go next time and make the sauce then throw them in. If they're a winner I'll name them The Art of Meatballs :)
Ana
Holy Moley, you read my mind, I was going to make meat sauce tonight because I have all the ingredients, but now I can make MEATBALLS!
Karen, do you think meatballs would freeze well??
Karen
Ana - I know for a fact these meatballs freeze perfectly. You can either freeze them uncooked or cooked. They come out perfectly either way! ~ karen
Ana
In the sauce or separate from the sauce?
Karen
Either or. Doesn't matter. Whenever I have leftover meatballs from a cooked batch I stick them in the freezer. And sometimes I make extra meatballs and set them aside. I line them up on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper and freeze them. Once they're hard, take them off the cookie sheet, throw them in a freezer bag and they'll stay perfect for months.
Ana
Perfect! Thanks!!
Jennifer H.
Can't wait to try this -- thanks! My lower fat tip for the meatballs: make them first, place on a foil-lined cookie sheet, then par-bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or so while you put the sauce together. Drain rendered fat (into empty tomato paste can!) and add meatballs to sauce. This step helps bind the meatballs, too.
Natalie
Haha. I didn't realize spaghetti and meatballs had such hypnotizing powers! Looks great!
deborahinPS
I've made a lot of sauce in my day and I've never tried it oven style...well fo shur it's goin' in the oven today. As in this morning.
Because that's just danged ingenious!
Joni
I just made spaghetti & meatballs last night - recipe from Joy of Cooking. I definitely will be trying your mom's version. Thanks!
debi
A regular meal around here but I have never heard of cooking it in the oven!?! What a great idea! In my mother's recipe the sauce and meatballs and sometimes pot roast, are simmered on top of the stove for hours the day before, left to cool overnight. Before serving skim off the fat, and reheat. Next time I'll try your quicker oven method, thanks.
dee
just invited the High School Soccer Team over for Pasta before our Big State Game - was gonna go Store bought but You've made this look Oh So Yummy -
marilyn
wow i love spaghetti and meatballs and i always make extra meatballs because john loves meatball subs. sounds so yummy, and i like your hair with or without the spaghetti..lol
Whitney
Oh my, how you make me laugh! I want a raise... I'm going to talk to my boss about Spaghetti and Meatballs tomorrow!
And make that recipe as soon as I recover from my wisdom teeth extractions... medium meatballs or no...they are just a little too ambitious for me at this point!
den
mmm, comfort food! i have to say though, nothing like freshly grated parmesan, or even better, romano cheese! the pre-grated stuff you shake out of canisters tend to be saltier.
Kate
Thanks Karen. I know what I'm having for dinner tonight!
Shannon
eeew is that all meat stuck under your nails in the meatball pic Karen!?
I can't touch raw meat, I always wear gloves.
Which is odd because I am totally fine walking around on dirty (I am talking forest floor dirty) wood floors with no shoes on in the kitchen. I get black feet...but raw meat hands, I draw the line!