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Spaghetti and Meatballs is the ultimate Sunday supper, a rich, slow simmered tomato sauce loaded with tender homemade meatballs and browned Italian sausage piled over a big tangle of spaghetti. I grew up watching this gravy bubble away on lazy Sunday afternoons, and the smell still pulls my whole family into the kitchen. If you love cozy, saucy pasta nights, you will also adore our bacon pesto pasta.
A little patience while the sauce simmers rewards you with the most deeply flavored, restaurant worthy spaghetti and meatballs your family will beg for on repeat.
Spaghetti and Meatballs Quick Look
- 🕐 Prep Time: 30 minutes
- 🍴 Cook Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 5 hours
- 🍽 Serving: 8 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 510kcal
- 🌶 Flavor Profile: Rich, savory, herby Sunday sauce
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy but worth the simmer, like our chicken parmesan subs
Quick Answer
To make Spaghetti and Meatballs, brown Italian sausage in a Dutch oven, then build a sauce with tomato paste, crushed San Marzano tomatoes, roasted garlic, basil, and parmesan. Mix and bake homemade beef meatballs, then add them to the sauce and simmer everything low and slow for a few hours. Serve over spaghetti with extra cheese.
Jump to:
- Spaghetti and Meatballs Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Spaghetti and Meatballs FAQs
- Other Recommended Italian Dinner Recipes
- Spaghetti and Meatballs with Italian Sausage
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Browning the sausage first builds a savory base. The browned bits left in the pot deepen the whole sauce.
- Italian sausage and homemade meatballs give the sauce two different layers of meaty flavor. This recipe does not mix pork into the meatballs. Instead, six Italian sausage links are browned first and simmered directly in the tomato sauce, while separate meatballs are made with lean ground beef. The sausage adds richness to the sauce during the long simmer, while the beef meatballs give you the classic spaghetti-and-meatballs bite.
- Frying the tomato paste and seasonings builds the sauce before the tomatoes go in. After browning the sausage, tomato paste, oregano, and onion powder cook in the remaining oil for about 2 minutes. This develops those ingredients before the crushed San Marzano tomatoes, roasted garlic, basil, Parmesan, and sugar are added.
- San Marzano tomatoes are naturally sweet. They make a richer, less acidic sauce.
- Baking the meatballs keeps them tender. They hold their round shape and brown without falling apart.
- The long simmer turns everything into one cohesive sauce. Once the sausages, meatballs, and red wine deglazing mixture are in the pot, the sauce is covered and simmered over low heat for up to 4 hours. During that time, the sausage and meatballs flavor the tomato sauce while the sauce seasons the meat in return. This is a slow Sunday-style spaghetti and meatballs recipe rather than a quick 30-minute pasta dinner.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is the ultimate cozy Sunday dinner the whole family loves.
- Homemade meatballs and Italian sausage together in one rich, slow simmered sauce.
- Great for leftovers and meal prep, like our creamy kielbasa pasta.
Key Ingredients
- Italian sausage: Browned first to build a deep, savory base for the sauce.
- San Marzano crushed tomatoes: Naturally sweet for a rich, balanced sauce.
- Roasted garlic and fresh basil: Mellow, aromatic Italian depth.
- Ground beef, parmesan, panko, and egg: The tender homemade meatballs, just like in our Italian sliders.
- Red wine: Deglazes the pan for an extra layer of flavor.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
- All beef: Skip the sausage and double the meatballs.
- Make it spicy: Use hot Italian sausage or add red pepper flakes.
- Different pasta: Serve over rigatoni, penne, or zoodles.
- Make ahead: The sauce tastes even better the next day.
- More Italian comfort: Try our Italian sliders next.
How to Make Spaghetti and Meatballs
- In a large Dutch oven over medium high heat, brown the Italian sausages in olive oil on all sides, then remove and set aside.
- Fry the tomato paste, oregano, and onion powder for 2 minutes, then add the crushed tomatoes, roasted garlic, torn basil, parmesan, and sugar.
- Return the sausages to the pot, cover, reduce the heat to low, and let the sauce simmer.
- Mix the ground beef, parmesan, panko, egg, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper just until combined; do not overmix.
- Roll into 2 tablespoon balls, place on a sheet tray, and bake at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Add the meatballs to the sauce, deglaze the sheet tray with the red wine and scrape it in, then cover and simmer for up to 4 hours. Serve over spaghetti with more cheese.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Brown the sausage well for the deepest flavor in the sauce.
- Do not overmix the meatballs or they turn out tough.
- Bake meatballs on a sheet tray so they hold their round shape.
- Do not toss the browned bits; deglaze them with red wine.
- Simmer low and slow; the longer it goes, the better it tastes.
- Salt your pasta water generously for well seasoned spaghetti.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Pile this Spaghetti and Meatballs high over a big bowl of spaghetti with plenty of extra parmesan and torn basil on top. A basket of warm garlic bread or our cheese stuffed breadsticks is perfect for soaking up every drop of that rich sauce.
Add a crisp green salad and a glass of red wine for a true Italian feast. For dessert, keep the cozy theme going with our chocolate Italian love cake.
Leftovers store and freeze beautifully, so make a big batch. It reheats into the coziest weeknight dinner, much like our creamy kielbasa pasta.
Spaghetti and Meatballs FAQs
This recipe makes its own rich tomato sauce with tomato paste, crushed San Marzano tomatoes with basil, roasted garlic, fresh basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, oregano, onion powder, and a small amount of sugar. Italian sausage simmers in the sauce, and red wine is used to deglaze the browned meatball bits before being added to the pot. The result is a hearty sauce specifically built around the sausage and meatballs.
The meatballs themselves are made from lean ground beef, so you can still make spaghetti and meatballs without the Italian sausage links. The sausage adds extra savory depth, but the dish is still delicious with meatballs alone.
Baking makes it easy to cook the full batch at once while helping the 2-tablespoon meatballs keep their shape. They bake at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes until golden brown, then finish in the sauce. The browned bits and oil left on the sheet tray are not wasted either. They are broiled until deeply golden, deglazed with red wine, and added to the sauce for extra flavor.
Absolutely. Spaghetti and Meatballs actually tastes even better the next day once the flavors meld. Make the sauce and meatballs ahead, store them together in the fridge, and reheat gently before serving over fresh pasta.
Serve Spaghetti and Meatballs with garlic bread or cheese stuffed breadsticks, a crisp green salad, and a glass of red wine. These classic sides round out the cozy Italian dinner.
Store leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs (sauce and meatballs) in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To freeze, cool completely and freeze the sauce and meatballs together for up to 3 months, then thaw in the fridge and reheat gently.
One of the biggest things to watch in this recipe is overmixing. Combine the ground beef, Parmesan, panko, egg, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper only until everything is evenly incorporated. Packing or kneading the mixture too aggressively can make the meatballs firm. Also keep the meatballs around the recipe’s 2-tablespoon size and bake them only until golden before transferring them to the sauce.
Use about 2 tablespoons of meat mixture per meatball, which is the size specified in the recipe. Keeping the portions similar helps them bake evenly and makes the cooking time more predictable. A cookie scoop can be useful if you want consistently sized meatballs.
Other Recommended Italian Dinner Recipes
If you make this Spaghetti and Meatballs, please leave a star rating and a comment below. I love hearing how it turned out, and it helps other readers find the recipe too!
Still filling out the menu? Readers love pairing this one with our easy one pot lasagna, garlic knots, brisket ragu, and homemade pasta sauce.
Spaghetti and Meatballs with Italian Sausage
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 links Italian Sausage
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 28 ounce cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes with basil
- 1 head roasted garlic cloves removed
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves loosely packed
- 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese fresh grated
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
For the Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese fresh grated
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 5 cracks fresh black pepper
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and the sausages. Brown the sausages on all sides; they do not have to be cooked through. Remove the sausages and set aside.1 tablespoon olive oil, 6 links Italian Sausage
- Add the tomato paste, oregano, and onion powder to the pot. Stir constantly into the oil to “fry” and release the aromatics for 2 minutes.6 ounce can tomato paste, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Add the crushed tomatoes and roasted garlic.2 28 ounce cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes with basil, 1 head roasted garlic
- Tear the basil leaves into the sauce.1 cup fresh basil leaves
- Add the cheese and sugar. Mix to combine.1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- Add the sausages back to the pot, making sure they are covered in sauce. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer.
- Next, make the meatballs. Preheat oven to 425°F. In a large bowl add the ground beef, cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Mix all the ingredients together (I like to use my hands for this), but do not overmix.1 pound lean ground beef, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 5 cracks fresh black pepper
- Roll into 2 tablespoons-sized balls, and place on a sheet tray so they are not touching. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
- Place the meatballs into the sauce. Excess oil and bits of meat will remain on the sheet tray. DO NOT THROW OUT. Place the oven broiler on high. Broil the sheet tray with the bits until everything is golden brown, about 3 minutes. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL. When you take the sheet tray out of the oven, immediately deglaze the pan with the red wine from the sauce ingredients, scraping the bits off the bottom.1/4 cup dry red wine
- Pour everything into the sauce, cover, and let simmer for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with pasta of your choice and more cheese.
Notes
- This recipe can be made on the stove or in the oven, see my directions above.
- You can swap out your meat for all ground beef if you like but we like to use sausage in our sauce, or you can leave the meat out completely.
- The meatballs need to be pre-baked before going into the sauce.
- This recipe can be frozen, see my tips again above on how to do that.
- Make sure if you are baking this dish you use a dutch oven or oven proof dish.
- This can easily be doubled for larger batches or to freeze some for later use.
Nutrition
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These tender homemade meatballs are the perfect partner for a big pot of pasta.
For a quicker pasta night, try our bacon pesto pasta.
I made this exactly as written in the recipe. I was surprised with the total simmer time being 4 hours. I tasted the sauce and meatballs after 1 1/2 hours and the meatballs are perfectly moist and the sauce is delicious. Since I made it the day before serving to marry the flavors so I am going to cut back the cook time to 2 1/2 hours. Has anyone else done this?
No, I serve them whole, but you can chop them up if you would like.
Do you crumble the sausage after cooking into the sauce?
Mmmmmm, love all the basil in the sauce. SO flavorful!
This is way more than just spaghetti! It is like it is straight from a movie! I cannot wait to make it again!