Meatballs with a homemade tomato sauce are perfect when served over spaghetti noodles. What I like about this recipe is that the meatballs are browned in and pan and then finished cooking right in the sauce. The meatballs use a few simple ingredients such as parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and parsley. You can use ground turkey or pork instead of the beef if you would prefer. The sauce is tomato based and gets a lot of its flavor from ingredients such as crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, onion and garlic. You will want to use a very deep skillet or pot for this recipe. I like to serve these meatballs with garlic bread or cheese sticks. Enjoy.
Meatballs with Tomato Sauce Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1lb ground beef
- 1 ½ cups grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- salt and ground black pepper
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 6 cups crushed tomatoes (about 2 (28 ounces) cans)
- 3 bay leaves
- 1lb spaghetti noodles
Instructions
- Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- While the noodles are cooking, In a medium bowl combine ground beef, 1 cup parmesan cheese, a ½ cup of the chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, egg, salt, and pepper.
- Mix everything together until well combined. Roll the meat mixture into small meatballs.
- Heat olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs in a single layer so that they are not touching in the skillet.
- Cook until lightly browned on the bottom. Scatter the chopped onion and the minced garlic around the meatballs in the skillet.
- When the meatballs are brown on the bottom and the onion begins to soften, add the crushed tomatoes and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer. Cover the skillet and cook until the meatballs are fully cooked (the internal temperature has reached 160 Degrees F.), about 8 minutes. Note: if using ground turkey instead of beef, the internal temperature must reach 165 degrees F.).
- Remove the lid and simmer for another 5-10 minutes to thicken the sauce a little. Serve over the noodles and top with additional parsley and parmesan cheese.