Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe photo by Taste of Home Rating 4

This authentic Italian recipe was given to me by my cousin's wife, who is from Italy. It's so hearty and satisfying, everyone's eyes light up when I tell my family that we're having this for supper! —Etta Winter, Pavillion, New York

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Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe
  • Prep: 30 min. Cook: 1-1/2 hours
  • Yield: 6 Servings
30 90 120

Ingredients

  • 2 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 can (12 ounces) tomato paste
  • 1-1/2 cups water, divided
  • 3 tablespoons grated onion
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1-1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic, divided
  • 3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
  • 6 slices day-old bread, torn into pieces
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • Hot cooked spaghetti
  • Additional Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions

  • In a Dutch oven, combine the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup water, onion, sugar, oregano, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, garlic and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1-1/4 hours.
  • Meanwhile, soak bread in remaining water. Squeeze out excess moisture. In a large bowl, combine the bread, eggs, Parmesan cheese, parsley and remaining salt, garlic and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into thirty-six 1-1/2-in. meatballs.
  • Place meatballs on a rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes or until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to spaghetti sauce. Simmer, uncovered, until heated through, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaf. Serve with spaghetti with additional Parmesan if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Facts 1-2/3 cups (calculated without spaghetti and additional cheese) equals 373 calories, 13 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 123 mg cholesterol, 1,201 mg sodium, 39 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 26 g protein.

Originally published as Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs in Country Ground Beef , p70

Full-Bodied Red Wine

Enjoy this recipe with a full-bodied red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah.

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Reviews for Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs

Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs

Tell us what you think of this recipe.
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(1-10) of 47 reviews

Reviewed on Feb. 17, 2013 by cremation

The time to make was to long and the meatballs were tasteless.

Reviewed on Feb. 10, 2013 by country baker

What a great recipe. My family and I loved it. Could hardly wait for it to be done cooking. The only thing I did differently was to use my blender to smooth out the tomatoes because my hubby and daughter don't like tomato chunks. Will be making this again.

Reviewed on Jan. 28, 2013 by ferndale52

nice american standard. meatballs are tender, but i think they are made with a little too much bread - it does make it spread though, makes a lot of spaghetti. my family ate with relish.

Reviewed on Jan. 25, 2013 by bristol

The sauce was sour-tasting and bland. It improved by the addition of 1 qt. of Prego-but still so-so. The meatballs had too much bread in them-3 slices would have been enough. If this is authentic Italian, where are the spices? 1-1/2 tsp of oregano was just not enough. Sorry.

Reviewed on Jan. 24, 2013 by GJALEX

Spaghetti is my favorite food and I'm always trying new sauce recipes and I give this a "10". I couldn't stop tasting it so I hope I have enough for dinner. I do recommend you try this recipe. I like crushed instead of diced tomato and that was the only change. Thank you for sharing.

Reviewed on Jan. 23, 2013 by j29cjoy

Olice Garden eat your heart out. This is the best recipe I have ever made and I have been cooking for over 50 years.

Reviewed on Jan. 23, 2013 by Hootsmom

JnBham & kiltyone

This recipe is absolutely delicious. It has already become a favorite in our cajun household. I'm sure your recipes are as delicious. Please feel free to share them. That's the beauty of this site. Sharing our love for cooking.

Reviewed on Jan. 21, 2013 by Kecia37

I made this last night and followed the recipe exactly EXCEPT I can't bear to use dried spices when I have a gardenful of fresh so I used fresh oregano and parsley. When substituting fresh for dried, you are supposed to use around 3x more fresh (in general) so I did that. The meatballs were excellent - so good that hubby and I were eating them off of the pan when they came out of the oven / before they went in the sauce. The aroma when the sauce was almost done was heavenly! The only two reasons I didn't give it 5 stars (and these are both just personal preferences) are: #1) I didn't like all the tomato chunks in the sauce. Next time I will whirl the diced tomatoes a bit in a food processor to make it smoother and less chunky (or maybe use crushed tomatoes instead?). #2) It was ever so slightly on the bland side for me - I printed the recipe out (I WILL make it again) and wrote at the bottom to add a teaspoon of pepper flakes next time and maybe a bit more oregano and parsley. My husband and our guest both said it was "Grade A"! (my husband uses letter grades instead of stars :-). I think that translates to 5 star for him.

Reviewed on Jan. 20, 2013 by kasea9139

Fixed this for Sunday dinner. Thick, scrumptious. Prep time, sorts time took awhile.Sure next time will be quicker and there definitely will be a next time. I don't like cooking from a jar. The aroma while cooking made me want to sing something Italian!

Reviewed on Jan. 20, 2013 by AJGalo

I have not made this recipe as of yet. Planning on making it for next weekend. I have one quick question. How long do you soak the bread?

 
 

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