Italian Sausage Meatballs Recipe
large meatballs
Delicious classic recipe for large Italian meatballs. They pair well with spaghetti, pizza or meatball sub sandwiches.
Ingredients
- ½ pound ground pork
- ½ pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon minced onion
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt plus more for seasoning pasta water
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup yogurt or buttermilk
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese plus extra for garnish
- 8 ounces spaghetti noodles
- 1 recipe Homemade Marinara Sauce (or your favorite jarred sauce)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the yogurt/buttermilk and breadcrumbs. Stir together and allow them to sit for a few minutes. This will help make a moister meatball.
- Add ground pork, ground beef, onion flakes, oregano, black pepper, salt, Worchestire sauce, sugar, egg, and ¼ cup parmesan cheese to the breadcrumb mixture. Use gloved hands to mix the ingredients thoroughly.
- Use a 2 tablespoon (or desired size) cookie dough scoop to form balls from the meat mixture. You can roll them in your hands for a tighter, more uniform meatball if desired.
- Place meatballs on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 13 minutes. (Meatballs do not need to be cooked all the way through; they will cook the rest of the way while simmering in the pasta sauce.)
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti noodles according to package instructions to al dente. Drain.
- Prepare marinara sauce or add 1-2 jars of pre-made spaghetti sauce into a large skillet. Heat over medium until sauce warms through and begins to simmer.
- Add enough meatballs (2 large per person or 4-5 small) to the saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
- Serve meatballs and sauce over cooked spaghetti. Garnish with parmesan cheese and/or fresh parsley or basil.
Notes
Store remaining meatballs in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Meatball recipe makes enough for 2 standard meals.
If you're going to make a big batch of spaghetti and meatballs, you may want to skip the oven baking part of the instructions and do the initial browning of the meatballs in the skillet (to reduce dishes). Heat a bit of oil in the skillet and brown meatballs on all sides for a few minutes. Work in batches. Continue by adding the sauce to the pan and then adding the meatballs back in to finish cooking.
**Nutritional information is for meatballs only.
Nutrition
Calories: 66kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 72mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 33IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg