This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
I have searched far and wide to bring you the best ever spaghetti and meatballs recipe.
Over the years, I have tested, re-tested, and experimented in an attempt to make killer meatballs. Mama’s Best Ever Spaghetti and Meatballs is my husband’s favorite meal of all time so I had to get it right. Who has been to Italy? I haven’t but it’s at the very top of my bucket list!
So what makes a good meatball? It has to be so tender that it cuts easily with a a fork. You need to use a ground beef that is lean but still has some fat content (around 80%) to make a juicy meatball. You can also use half ground pork or veal which combines well with the beef.
The meatball has to be bursting with flavor so that’s where garlic, parmesan cheese, and parsley come in. The bread crumbs and egg act as a binder to keep the meatballs together. You can use panko bread crumbs or toasted white bread.
Once you have all of the meatball ingredients in a bowl, dig in there with your hands to mix it all together. There’s no better instrument than your own clean hands to incorporate all of the ingredients.
I have tried several methods to cook the meatballs! I find that frying the meatballs in extra-virgin olive oil to brown the sides, then finishing the meatballs off by cooking them in a pot of sauce is the best way to bring out the most flavor.
A homemade, made-from-scratch tomato sauce is worth every single second. It’s actually much easier than people think! Good, quality canned tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, and fresh basil are the simple ingredients used to make the sauce. A touch of sugar cuts the acidity of the tomato sauce. Simmer it for at least 30 minutes to develop the rich flavors and you have a truly authentic marinara sauce.
One key tip is to generously salt your pasta water. It’s a perfect opportunity to season the pasta from within, which gives it nice flavor.
Toss the hot pasta with the homemade marinara sauce, mama’s best ever meatballs, and a heavy dose of parmigiano reggiano cheese. It’s a huge bowl of comfort food! Reserve a bit of sauce to add to the pasta when you are ready to serve.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Mama's Best Ever Spaghetti and Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
Marinara Sauce:
- 2 - 28 ounce cans Italian tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Onion diced
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Crushed Hot Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1/4 cup Fresh Basil Leaves or 2 teaspoons dried Basil
Meatballs:
- 1 lb. Ground Beef
- 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs or Toasted White Bread crumbled
- 1/3 cup Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese grated
- 2 cloves of Garlic peeled and finely diced or 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/4 cup Fresh Italian Parsley diced or 2 teaspoons dried Parsley
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil to cook in
- 1 lb. Spaghetti
- 1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
Instructions
- Place the tomatoes in a blender and pulse for a few seconds.
- Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook for about 4-5 minutes.
- Pour in tomatoes, garlic salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, sugar and basil leaves.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.
To make meatballs:
- Place ground beef in large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic, parsley, egg, salt, and pepper.
- Mix the ingredients with clean hands (dig in there!) just until blended together. Shape the meat mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place as many meatballs that you can fit into the pan without overcrowding. Cook until golden brown on all sides, turning as necessary, about 5-6 minutes. Remove the meatballs and repeat with others.
- Add the browned meatballs to tomato sauce and cook gently over low heat until fully cooked through -- about 30 minutes.
- Bring water to boil. Generously salt water. Once boiling, add spaghetti and cook according to package instructions. Drain the pasta and return to pot.
- Top with sauce and meatballs and sprinkle with cheese.
- Right before serving, spoon more sauce over pasta and meatballs.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Mama’s Best Ever Spaghetti and Meatballs will be a huge hit for your family dinner. Have a fabulous day, everyone!
Happy Cooking! xo
My husband absolutely loves spaghetti and meatballs and always requests this for his birthday dinner. This is my 2nd year making this recipe and it is a family favorite. I do use fresh spices and Italian Panko breadcrumbs for this recipe which I feel really brings out the authentic flavors of this dish. Plus it is incredibly easy to make which is awesome because I am not the cook in the family. The recipe is super easy to follow and comes out amazing each time. Thank You for sharing this yummy recipe with us.
The meatballs were great, but the sauce was too salty. Otherwise, the sauce was very good and easy.
I’ve tried numerous recipes, and this is the only one I use now. My husband and daughters love it!!!
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Wish I could leave more stars! My family says this is the best spaghetti and meatballs ever! I found that reducing the crushed red pepper to 1/2 teaspoon was plenty hot enough for us. We use fresh basil and Italian herbed panko and…wow! Thank you for an easy and incredibly delicious recipe!
These meatballs are pretty delish! I haven’t made many meatballs, since spaghetti isn’t my forte. But my husband ate two large servings of this spaghetti, so it must be high on the list! I’d say one extra teaspoon of sugar would be great, and also fresh garlic in the sauce as well, with reg salt.
I agree
I want to try this..but when your recipe says: 2 – 28 ounce cans Italian tomatoes…what type of tomatoes? Is that peeled, puree, whole, diced….what is the exact brand and what does it say on the can…i want to get the right one! thanks
I made this tonight and it truly is The Best Ever! I used last summer’s garden tomatoes that I had frozen but otherwise followed the recipe. I’ve tried a lot of spaghetti and meatball recipes and was never super excited about the results. But this one is SO GOOD! Definitely a keeper.
This was very good, first time making meatballs and the sauce was great! I even made my own pasta, thank you for the wonderful recipe!
I made this for dinner tonight. My husband and I loved it. The meat balls were excellent, and the sauce was too. I used dried spices. I followed recipe , except I added 1 more tsp of sugar. I will definitively keep this recipe.
We have made these multiple times and my kids made me promise (after several other recipes) to promise to never make another meatball recipe. Any leftover sauce also makes a great pizza sauce. Thanks for another great recipe! You are one of my go-to’s.