Baked Meatballs and Spaghetti served with tomato basil sauce. The meatballs are baked rather than fried for a healthier option.
We’ve been doing a lot of kid-friendly food this summer. With the grandkids in and out, back and forth, there hasn’t been much “fancy” cooking going on.
And speaking of “kid food,” one of the universal favorites of kids of all ages has to be spaghetti and meatballs. But I always avoided making the meatballs because I really didn’t like frying those little things.
They spattered all over my stove, and the fact that they were “fried” made me feel guilty about enjoying them. Well, no more!
Not since I started making this recipe with baked meatballs! They’re just as tasty as the fried kind and lots better for you. I usually serve them with my Tomato-Basil Sauce and spaghetti, but you can use this recipe any way you want.
Recipe Snapshot
Cuisine: American
Cooking Method: Oven
Total Time: 50 Minutes
Servings: 4
Primary Ingredient(s): Ground beef, bread, milk, Parmesan
Skill Level: Easy
How to Make Baked Meatballs and Spaghetti
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- To get started, take two slices of day-old sandwich bread. Whatever variety you like. Sourdough, whole wheat, soft ooey-gooey white bread. Doesn’t matter. Just tear them up into small pieces, put them in a little bowl, and pour some milk over them. Let the bread sit while you get the rest of the ingredients together.
- Add the beef, pork, egg, Parmesan, and seasonings together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix until well combined.
- By this time, the bread should have soaked up all the milk, so add the bread-milk mixture and mix again. Be sure to get all the bread incorporated well. You don’t want croutons sticking out the sides of your meatballs, right?
- Now form that lovely mixture into twelve nice-sized meatballs. Mine are usually about 2″ across. That’s a good size for this recipe or for a meatball sub, which is a great idea for the leftovers.
- Then place the meatballs on a baking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray.
- Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes. Turn them over and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs cook, prepare the pasta according to its package directions and make the Tomato Basil Sauce, or warm a good quality purchased marinara.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and gently stir them into the sauce.
- Cook them for 2-3 minutes with the sauce, making sure they’re nicely coated.
- Serve over hot, cooked spaghetti with plenty of Parmesan cheese to pass at the table for topping.
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Recipe
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Baked Meatballs and Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 2 slices bread
- 4 tablespoons milk
- ½ pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound ground pork
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 8 ounces spaghetti
- 1 recipe Tomato-Basil Sauce (see link in post) or a good quality jarred marinara sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Tear the bread into small pieces and place it in a small mixing bowl. Pour the milk over the bread and set aside.2 slices bread, 4 tablespoons milk
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the ground beef, pork, egg, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Using your hands, gently mix until well combined.½ pound lean ground beef, ½ pound ground pork, 1 egg, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- By this time, the bread should have absorbed all the milk. Add the milk and bread to the meat mixture and mix again. Make sure to thoroughly combine the bread with the meat mixture.
- Form the mixture into 12 meatballs.
- Place the meatballs on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the spaghetti according to its package instructions and make the Tomato-Basil Sauce.1 recipe Tomato-Basil Sauce (see link in post), 8 ounces spaghetti
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and place them in the Tomato-Basil Sauce.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes just to coat the meatballs with the sauce.
- Serve over hot, cooked spaghetti and pass additional Parmesan for topping.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
I’m Lana Stuart, an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, and lifelong cook raised deep in Southwest Georgia. I started Lana’s Cooking in 2009 to share the tried-and-true recipes I grew up with. Around here, the food is full of flavor, the traditions run deep, and there’s always room at the table.
Delicious recipe! 5 stars yum!
Hi! I tried your meatballs recipe and it was absolutely delish! My son loved it. I paired it with a different sauce though. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Ara. Thanks for visiting the blog and for trying the meatballs. So glad your son enjoyed it!
I’m comforted just looking at it. I wish I were eating it! Love the baked meatballs.
What a delicious looking meal! I can’t wait to give this a try. :)
I totally prefer baked meatballs over fried (unless my mom is making them…). Although, I have never used bread, always crumbs. Must branch out. :) Lookin’ yummy!
Chris – I think the bread and milk actually give an extra measure of tenderness to the meatballs.
The other thing I did was splurge on a little meatball shaper about 15 years ago. Works real good. Must be slipping, didn’t even think of the foil. Hungry now.
You know, Barbara, I think I have a meatball shaper thingy in my gadget drawer. Got it as a wedding gift about 30 years ago and have never used it. Time to experiment with that thing!
I love meatballs and am always looking for good meatball recipes. I bet these would be good with ground turkey also!
I’m sure turkey would be delicious in these, Georgia. I’d probably want some additional seasoning for turkey, though, since I find it pretty bland on its own.
It is breakfast time here and now I wish I had meatballs for breakfast. I love the oven baking part; I would surely cheat and put a piece of foil on the baking tray; my idea of quick cleanup!
A foil-lined tray is great and I would totally do that if I was the one cleaning up. BeeBop and I have had an agreement ever since we’ve been married that if I cook he cleans the kitchen and vice versa. About 99% of the time it’s me who’s cooking.
This is how we like to make our meatballs, too. So much healthier and easy, too. I’ll bet your grandkids love this recipe, Lana.
They do, Dara! They’ve asked for it twice in the last week and I was happy to cook it both times for them :-)
perfect Lana!! i use milk-soaked bread in mine and have both sauteed as well as baked my meatballs too – LOVE!
Thanks, Debra.
These look mouthwateringly GOOD! I love that you baked them.
Thanks, Kathleen. I’ve really quit frying them because the baked kind are just as good.