Italian
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Beef and pork meatballs bake until they reach 160°F, then simmer in marinara while spaghetti boils. Each bowl gets noodles, sauce, and meatballs with some of the pot juices.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Total
- 1 hr
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
Why you’ll love it
- A mix of beef and pork stays moist in the oven without a pan of frying oil.
- The meatballs are baked to 160°F before they ever see the sauce.
- A short simmer in marinara flavors the outside without boiling them apart.
- Some sauce is tossed with the spaghetti so the noodles are not bare under the meatballs.
Ingredients
Ingredient amounts scale. Oven temperature and cook time do not. Salt, spices, and leaveners are a starting point after you scale. Taste and adjust.
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Instructions
- 1
Heat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with foil and brush it with the olive oil.
- 2
In a bowl, combine the beef, pork, breadcrumbs, parmesan, egg, garlic, parsley, 1 tsp salt, and pepper. Mix with your hands just until it holds together. Overmixing makes dense meatballs.
- 3
Roll into 12 meatballs, about 1 1/2 inches each. Set them on the oiled pan with a little space between them.
- 4
Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until the centers read 160°F and the outsides are browned. Start checking at 14 minutes.
- 5
While the meatballs bake, warm the marinara in a saucepan over medium-low. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it.
- 6
Cook the spaghetti until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain.
- 7
Add the baked meatballs to the marinara and simmer 5 minutes so the sauce picks up the pan juices. Toss the spaghetti with about 1 cup of that sauce and a splash of pasta water if it looks tight.
- 8
Serve the noodles with meatballs and more sauce. A little extra parmesan at the table is enough.
Pro tips
- Wet your hands lightly before rolling. The mix is sticky, and dry hands tear the meatballs.
- Pull the meatballs at 160°F even if you like a darker crust. They will not get more done in the sauce in a useful way, and a longer bake dries them.
- If you skip the pork, use a full pound of beef and add 1 tbsp milk so the mix does not dry out.
Easy substitutions
- ground pork
- an extra 4 oz ground beef plus 1 tbsp milk
- dry breadcrumbs
- panko
- spaghetti
- bucatini
Storage and reheating
Storage
Refrigerate meatballs and sauce for up to 3 days, with the pasta in a separate container if you can. Pasta stored in sauce keeps absorbing liquid.
Reheating
Simmer meatballs and sauce over medium-low until the center of a meatball is hot, about 8 minutes. Warm the pasta with a splash of water. Freeze cooked meatballs in sauce for up to 2 months and thaw in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Estimates per serving, using standard ingredient averages and rounded to the nearest gram. This is not a lab analysis, and it shifts if you change brands or add sides.
- Calories
- 760
- Protein
- 40 g
- Carbs
- 78 g
- Fat
- 30 g
- Fiber
- 5 g
Moderate · Stovetop, Oven · High Protein
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From the kitchen
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A heavy 12-inch skillet
Most of the chicken and steak recipes are written for one pan that holds heat. Stainless or cast iron both work.
An air fryer with a real basket
The air-fryer recipes expect a single layer. A crowded basket steams instead of browning.
A half-sheet pan
Drumsticks, potatoes, sausage, and carrots all use one. A dark pan browns faster than a very shiny one.
A sharp chef’s knife
These recipes do not need a specialty blade. A sharp 8-inch knife is faster and safer than a dull one.
A large cutting board
Big enough that the onion and the raw chicken are not sharing the same puddle.
Dry cups and a liquid cup
Desserts in particular expect level dry measures and a separate cup for milk.
An instant-read thermometer
Use it for poultry, pork chops, and meatloaf. Color is a weak guide.
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