Entrees

Homemade Meatballs with Marinara

Name: Homemade Meatballs with Marinara
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef; 1 cup panko; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning; 1 teaspoon oregano; 1 egg; 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1 cup yellow onion, chopped; 1 can crushed tomatoes; 1 can tomato paste; 2 cups vegetable stock; 1 Tablespoon oregano; 1 Tablespoon dried thyme; 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning; 1 Tablespoon salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 cup grated Parmesan; 1 cup shredded mozzarella, plus additional; 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Bycooktimestory April 1, 2025May 3, 2025

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These comforting, Italian-inspired Homemade Meatballs with Marinara are juicy and flavorful and topped with gooey mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. It makes for the perfect weeknight dinner and best of all, they’re super easy to make from scratch. Pair with pasta, fresh herbs, and plenty of Parmesan, or serve as is!

Not to wax too poetic about it, but there’s something about a pot of homemade meatballs simmering in a tomato-rich sauce that screams comfort food like no other dish can. It envelops you with its tantalizing scent as it bubbles away on the stovetop, filling you with joy and anticipation as you await its arrival at the table. And when you finally get to dig in, everything comes together to melt on your tongue and transport you back to childhood.

At least that’s what these homemade meatballs do for us! We’d probably eat them every day if our taste buds made an executive decision to consume these meatballs forever. Once you try them, you’ll find it very, very hard to return to store-bought meatballs again, especially when you have a recipe as easy to follow as ours!

Why you’ll love these homemade meatballs

Easy to make: The ingredients list for the meatballs and marinara is longer than most of our recipes, but don’t be intimidated! They’re staples that we guarantee are already in your pantry and we’ve broken down the steps to make these meatballs as simple as possible.
Super flavorful: The meatballs and marinara are packed with so many different spices and herbs, from dried oregano, thyme, and Italian seasoning to fresh parsley and salt and pepper. The result is a tender, juicy, and delicious meatball that will melt on your tongue.
Pairs well with anything: You can serve these meatballs over a bed of cooked pasta, pile them with a generous amount of sauce in a hoagie to make a meatball sub, or serve by themselves with a side salad.
Family hit: Serve these meatballs and we guarantee that everyone in your family will wipe their plates clean. Whenever we make them, we hardly ever have leftovers!

Ingredients for homemade meatballs

Ground beef: The main component of the meatballs. Choose a high-quality beef that’s between 85-90% lean.
Panko breadcrumbs: We use panko for their lighter and flakier texture, but regular breadcrumbs work just as well!
Seasonings (salt, black pepper, oregano, thyme, Italian seasoning): The essential building blocks of flavor in both the meatballs and the marinara.
1 egg
Crushed tomatoes and tomato paste: The base of the marinara.
Fresh minced garlic and onion
Vegetable stock
Fresh chopped parsley as garnish (if desired): Adds a subtle fresh flavor to the sauce and adds a lovely color to the dish.
Grated Parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella: These will go directly on top of the marinara and meatballs, before being baked in the oven and resulting in ooey-gooey, cheesy deliciousness.

How to make homemade meatballs with marinara

Combine the meatball mixture and form meatballs. In a small bowl, gently combine the ground beef with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, oregano, panko, and 1 egg. Once incorporated, roll into 12 even balls that are about 1.5-inch thick and lay out on parchment paper.

Bake the meatballs. Leave in the oven at 400°F for 15 minutes, or until the meatballs are browned and cooked through. Then remove from oven and reduce the temperature to 350°F, since we’re going to be cooking them again later with the marinara.

Make the marinara. In an oven-proof saucepan drizzled with olive oil, saute chopped onion and minced garlic. Then add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and the same spices used for the meatballs: salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, oregano, and thyme. Top everything off with the vegetable stock, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend the marinara. Using a hand blender, blend the sauce until slightly thick and chunky.

Add the meatballs back in + lots of cheese. Place the baked meatballs into the marinara and top everything off with a generous amount of grated Parmesan and shredded mozzarella.

Bake everything together. Bake the meatballs and marinara in the oven for 20 minutes. Garnish the pot with fresh chopped parsley (if desired) and serve immediately!

Storing and freezing

If you have any extra meatballs with marinara left over, store in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. To reheat, gently warm the portions on the stovetop over medium-low heat or reheat individual batches in the microwave.

Homemade Meatballs with Marinara are also freezer-friendly if you’d like to make some in advance! We recommend fully cooking the meatballs and marinara and storing them together in freezer-safe containers. Make sure to let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating them in a pot over medium-low heat.