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This Oven Baked Meatballs recipe gives you wonderfully juicy homemade meatballs every time! They are super easy to make too.
Serve in a delicious Tomato Sauce for a meal that the whole family will ask for again and again.
Meatballs are a staple in most Italian households. While growing up, I made them every Sunday with my mom and grandmother. I still love making them now; it brings back comforting memories of days in the kitchen.
There are many different ways of making and cooking meatballs. I have recipes for Italian Meatballs (made with ground beef and sausage meat), Spaghetti and Meatballs where the meatballs cook in the sauce, and even Low-Carb Italian Meatballs. I’m sharing this recipe for my oven-baked meatballs with you as another tasty option.
Why This Recipe Works
- Baking soda keeps the beef moist enhancing the PH levels and stopping proteins from binding too quickly and drying out the meat.
- Using egg and breadcrumbs ensures the ingredients bind together keeping the meatballs firm.
- Fresh herbs, garlic, and parmesan cheese add a wonderful deep flavor.
Ingredients Notes
- Ground Beef – use a higher fat content ground beef (around 80% fat) this ensures your meatballs are moist and tender.
- Breadcrumbs – help to bind the ingredients together to form a firm but tender meatball.
- Parmesan cheese – freshly shredded parmesan cheese adds flavor and helps bind the meatballs.
- Fresh Parsley – fresh flat-leaf parsley gives a subtle flavor that can’t be found with dried herbs.
- Eggs – eggs are essential to help the meatball mixture combine and keep its shape.
- Garlic – fresh garlic adds a delicious flavor.
How to make oven baked meatballs
- Mix the ingredients together until combined.
- Form into balls.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Serve with tomato sauce. Enjoy!
Step by Step Instructions
Make the baking soda slurry.
Add the meatball ingredients into a bowl.
Combine the ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
Do not over work your mixture it will result in tough meatballs.
Form into balls using an ice cream scoop.
Line the uncooked meatballs onto a foil lined baking tray.
Bake.
Serve with tomato sauce. Enjoy!
Erren’s Top Tips
- Use fresh ingredients. Fresh herbs and aromatics give a much better flavor than dried.
- Avoid low-fat ground meat the fat helps to make the meatballs tender and keeps them moist. I recommend at least 80% lean beef.
- Be sure to use the eggs. This recipe calls for 2 eggs to bind the meatballs. If you skip the eggs your meatballs could fall apart when cooked in a sauce.
- When rolling your meatballs by hand I suggest oiling your hands before so that the mixture doesn’t stick when handling.
- If making to serve with sauce, you’ll either need a big batch of Homemade Tomato Sauce, Marinara Sauce, or at least two 24oz jars of store-bought sauce to serve.
- When cooking in a tomato sauce, stirring it often stops the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Make ahead and Freezing Instructions
This recipe makes about 30 meatballs so there are always leftovers. You can save them for another day or freeze them for an easy meal when you need it.
- Meatballs can be made a day in advance, and you can cook them up to 24 hours later. Alternatively, fry them and refrigerate for up to three days before you reheat them.
- To freeze, arrange the meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet. Try to keep them from being too close or they will stick together when freezing. Then transfer them to a freezer-safe container and keep frozen for up to two months.
- To freeze your meatballs in sauce, cool and place in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly before reheating.
Other Italian Dishes You’ll Love
FAQs
Do you brown meatballs before baking?
No, the meatballs will cook in the oven.
How long should meatballs cook in sauce?
The meatballs should be cooked until they reach an internal temperature of 160°F
How Do You Know When meatballs are done baking?
Use a meat thermometer to test the internal temperature of the meat. They should cook until they reach an internal temperature of 160°F.
Rate This Recipe
Recipe
Oven Baked Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup milk (or water – plus more if needed)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 lb ground beef ( 80-85% lean)
- 2 large eggs
- 6 cloves garlic (minced)
- a good handful fresh parsley (chopped)
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese ( fresh grated)
- Salt to taste (I use at least a tablespoon of salt)
- freshly ground black pepper (about 15 turns of the grinder)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C before you begin preparing meatballs. Spray two non-stick baking trays well with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix the baking soda into the water, pour onto the breadcrumbs and mix well. Add the milk and stir together while adding more milk 1 tablespoon at a time to moisten the breadcrumbs fully. Let rest while you prep the rest of the ingredients (or at least 5 minutes).
- In a large mixing bowl add the beef, breadcrumb mixture, garlic, parsley, and parmesan cheese, and season with about a teaspoon of salt and freshly grated pepper (if using jarred sauce, it may be salty so season to taste). Add the breadcrumb mixture and mix well with your hands, squeezing the mixture through your fingers until combined. Shape mixture with greased hands into even size meatballs, about 1 ½-inches each.
- Place formed meatballs on baking sheets (about 20 per pan) spacing evenly apart. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes flipping the meatballs halfway through cooking time. Cook until they are cooked through and a meat thermometer shows an internal temperature of 160°F/71°C
Tips
- Use fresh ingredients. Fresh herbs and aromatics give a much better flavor than dried.
- Avoid low-fat ground meat the fat helps to make the meatballs tender and keeps them moist. I recommend at least 80% lean beef.
- Be sure to use the eggs. This recipe calls for 2 eggs to bind the meatballs. If you skip the eggs your meatballs could fall apart when cooked in a sauce.
- When rolling your meatballs by hand I suggest oiling your hands before so that the mixture doesn’t stick when handling.
- If making to serve with sauce, you’ll either need a big batch of Homemade Tomato Sauce, Marinara Sauce, or at least two 24oz jars of store-bought sauce to serve.
- When cooking in a tomato sauce, stirring it often stops the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
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