Loaded with flavour, these homemade Italian meatballs are always juicy, satisfying and so easy to make. They’re great served with pasta in tomato sauce, in meatball subs and in so many more ways. They’ll become an easy dinner favourite in your house.
Just like the best spaghetti Bolognese and chicken pesto pasta, these meatballs are a much-loved classic for a reason.
❤️ Why you’ll love it
- Incredibly easy to make – just mix, roll, cook.
- 5 different cooking options – grill, bake, fry, air-fry or simmer.
- So versatile: Try pasta sauce with pasta, in subs, as an appetiser or serve with gravy and mash.
- The secret trick to perfectly juicy and tender meatballs.
- Perfect for meal prep – freezer-friendly or keep in the fridge 3-4 days.
This recipe was first published here on the 6th of March, 2021 and has been updated with clearer step by step images and helpful tips.
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How to make juicy meatballs (3 easy steps)
Time needed: 30 minutes
- Soak breadcrumbs in milk (called a panade).
- Combine the mixture but don’t overmix.
- Cook in a pan or under an oven grill/broiler.
Ingredients for simple meatballs
You don’t need a lot of ingredients, many are pantry staples and others are easily substituted.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Milk: This is a tenderiser for the meat, so they stay tender and juicy and it is used to soften the breadcrumbs.
- Pork & veal mince: This combination of meats gives the best flavour and stays juicy. You can substitute the veal for beef if it’s more easily available. You can swap the pork mince for Italian sausage too.
- Parmesan: Use freshly grated parmesan (Pecorino Romano is also good).
- Breadcrumbs: Homemade breadcrumbs are always great to have on hand, but you can use panko breadcrumbs or even finely chop some stale bread to crumbs (no crusts). All will work here.
- Salt and pepper: For simple seasonings.
- Parsley: You can use dried or fresh parsley in this recipe – measurements for both options in the recipe card.
- Onion: Make sure to chop it very, very finely so that it softens in the short cooking time. You can also use the coarse side of a box grater to grate it.
- Egg: This binds and holds everything together.
- Garlic: Just one garlic clove, minced, gives loads of umami flavour.
How to make them
These Italian style meatballs are so easy to make. While spaghetti and meatballs is an American creation, the meatballs themselves have their roots in polpette (which roughly translates to meatball) and are often served there with some crusty bread.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Soften the breadcrumbs
Soften the breadcrumbs in the milk for a few minutes. You can also use the inside of stale bread for this (not the crusts) – just roughly chop it up first.
This mixture of breadcrumbs softened in milk, called a panade, is the secret to the most juicy and moist meatballs. The soak crumbs distributed throughout the Italian meatball mixture adds moisture. In addition, milk is a natural tenderiser for meat.
2. Combine the Italian meatball ingredients
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and gently mix until combined.
3. How to portion the meatballs
Divide the meatball mixture into 24 even portions (I use a cookie scoop for this).
Roll each one into a smooth ball. Lightly wetting your hands will help you to roll smooth balls without it sticking to you.
4. Cook the meatballs
Bake the meatballs under an oven grill / broiler for about 10 minutes until cooked through and golden brown. There are more methods you can use to cook the meatballs too in the section below.
How to cook meatballs
- Oven grill / broil: My favourite method – this is quick and gives the meatballs caramelisation (adding flavour) without the need for extra oil. It takes only 10 minutes.
- Bake: You can bake them for 12-15 minutes in a hot oven. This works just fine but doesn’t give quite as good caramelisation.
- Fry: Frying meatballs and moving them around as they cook gives them a great colour and caramelisation all over but you will need to add oil to the pan, which you don’t need when baking or grilling.
- Air fry: Preheat air fryer at 200C/400F for 3 minutes. Spray the air fryer basket with oil or brush with oil if you don’t have a spray oil. Add up to half the balls to basket with space around them. Spray the tops with oil. Air fry at 200C/400F for 10 minutes, turning halfway. This is almost as easy as the grilling method but you’ll obviously need an air fryer.
- Simmer in the sauce: Choose this simple pasta sauce or spicy arrabbiata sauce. You can place the raw meatballs in the sauce so that it all cooks together. The upside is that the flavours meld together, you don’t need added oil and this gentle method locks in the juices. The downside is you don’t get the caramelisation on the meatballs and added flavour and texture that comes with it.
How to serve meatballs
Italian meatballs have a really versatile flavour – you don’t need to just serve them with pasta or tomato sauce. Try these ideas:
- With a rich beef gravy and mashed potatoes.
- Add some cream and a touch of nutmeg to that gravy and serve them as Swedish meatballs.
- In meatball stroganoff.
- Try this meatball pasta bake.
- Slice and eat in sliders or burger buns (as burgers).
- Make meatball subs.
- In this french onion meatballs.
- On cocktail sticks as an appetiser with a romesco sauce, cheese sauce or ranch dip.
- Or keep the tomato sauce and serve polpette style with crusty bread like they would in Italy.
⏰Storage & time saving tips
Homemade Italian meatballs can be prepped ahead of time, both in their raw and cooked states. They reheat quite well.
- Raw: You can roll the meatballs and store them in an airtight container in the fridge 1-2 days ahead. You can also freeze them, letting them thaw in the fridge overnight.
The best way to freeze raw meatballs is to sit them on a baking tray in the freezer until hard, then transfer to an airtight container. - Cooked: Once cooked, the meatballs will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days or freezer for up to 3-4 months. Make sure they are well wrapped if freezing, the better protected they are, the longer they will keep. Let them thaw in the fridge overnight.
- In sauce: If you have leftovers with the sauce, it reheats beautifully in a pan over medium heat in about 10-12 minutes.
Substitutions and variations
- Meat: You’ll get the best flavour from an even combination of beef or veal and pork. You could swap the pork for Italian sausage for even more flavour.
- Spice: Feel free to add a good pinch of dried chilli flakes to the meatball mixture for a little kick.
- Breadcrumbs: use panko, homemade dried breadcrumbs or freshly made (using stale bread).
- Milk: The milk not only softens the breadcrumbs but it also tenderises the meat but if you want to swap, you could use water or beef stock.
- Cheesy middle: Cut small cubes of mozzarella or gouda and encase them inside the meatballs for a gooey, cheesy meatballs.
More recipes you’ll love
- Air fryer chicken meatballs (with baking instructions too)
- French onion meatballs
- Thai red curry chicken meatballs
- Meatball pizza
- Meatballs pasta bake
- Crumbed Sausages
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Ingredients
- spaghetti / pasta for serving
ITALIAN MEATBALLS
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup milk (60ml)
- 250 g pork mince (ground pork) (9oz)
- 250 g veal mince (ground veal), or beef. (9oz)
- ⅓ cup, not packed finely grated Parmesan (20g / 0.7oz)
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley (or ¼ cup chopped fresh)
- ¼ cup very finely chopped red onion
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
EASY PASTA SAUCES
- 1 batch marinara sauce
OR
- 1 batch arrabbiata sauce (spicy)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
CHOOSE YOUR MEATBALL SAUCE
- Choose either the classic marinara sauce or arrabbiata sauce (both can be made a couple of days ahead or right before the meatballs, warming it up again once the meatballs are ready.
- Cook some spaghetti or fettuccini to packet instructions. This can cook while you get on with everything else.
ITALIAN MEATBALLS
- Heat the oven grill / broiler on high. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Add the breadcrumbs to a large bowl and pour over the milk. Stir with a fork and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining meatball ingredients (mince, parmesan, parsley, onion, egg, garlic, salt and pepper) to the bowl and mix until combined (try not to overmix). Chill for 10 minutes
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the meat, then roll into smooth balls.
- Place on a baking paper lined baking tray a couple inches apart, then grill / broil for 10 minutes until tops are golden.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- You can use homemade dried breadcrumbs. freshly made breadcrumbs (from stale bread) or panko breadcrumbs.
- Don’t overmix the meat mixture or they won’t stay tender.
- These meatballs can be made 1-2 days ahead and cooked fresh when needed or even cooked ahead of time and reheated in pan over medium heat for 10-12 minutes.
- Meatballs can be frozen (raw or cooked). Freeze them on a baking tray until solid, then transfer to an airtight container in the freezer for 3-4 months.
- A batch of sauce is 2 ½ -3 cups.
- Nutrition details are approximate only and include one of the suggested pasta sauces but not the pasta
FAQs
The secret to moist and tender meatballs is including some milk-soaked bread or breadcrumbs in the mix. Milk is a natural tenderiser for meat and soaked bread distributed through the meatballs will add moisture.
If the meat has not already been frozen previously, then yes. Never thaw meat then re-freeze it.
This is a question of personal preference. Fried meatballs will require some oil to fry in and you’ll need to keep your eye on them, turning them so they don’t burn.
Yes, just make sure to use gluten-free breadcrumbs.
For Italian meatballs, pork and veal in even ratios is the best mix. Both the pork and veal add flavour but the pork also adds moisture as it is fattier.
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6 Comments on “Homemade Italian Meatballs”
Loved this! Can’t go wrong with meatballs and pasta 😁 delicious meal, would definitely recommend it, and most definitely make it again.
So great to hear. Thank you Naomi
I’d like to know what cut of pork is ground?
Often, but not always, it’s the pork shoulder that’s ground.
Great recipe. I always add pork because it just adds moisture as well as flavor. The meatballs sitting in the sauce are really making me hungry!
That’s exactly right. So happy you like it.