Anytime I make meatballs and sauce, It motivates me to make them more often. I cooked these up this weekend for my family and friend’s.
Needless to say, the sixteen of us feasted. Not one strand of spaghetti or spoonful of sauce was left. No leftovers whatsoever.
I use the pan drippings from my meatballs in my red sauce which gives it a nice rounded out flavor. I make the sauce over three days because the flavors mature over that time period while the meatballs remain tender. The meatballs also freeze well and reheat nicely if you want to save some for later.
If you are tired of your old stand by red sauce, try making this one, it’s worth your time.
In a large mixing bowl stir together bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, milk, 1 cup of beef broth, parsley, eggs, oregano, garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, basil, red pepper flakes and nutmeg.
Add ground chuck and mix thoroughly with a fork. Using a fork prevents overmixing and compacting which can toughen meatballs.
The best way to shape meatballs is with a portioning scoop that has a retractable blade that releases the meat. Make each meatball about 2″ in diameter or 1.5 ounces each. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the meatballs on a pan so they are not touching. I can get 35 meatballs on a tray and this recipe makes two trays so 70 meatballs.
Cover the bottom of the pan with 1 cup of beef broth and bake for 25 minutes at 450 degrees.
Remove meatballs from pan and pour pan juices into a large, glass (2 cup) measuring cup to be used for the sauce. Repeat process for second tray of meatballs.
Once you have pan juices from both trays, place measuring cup in the fridge for the fat to settle on the top (about 30 minutes). Remove from the refrigerator and discard settled fat, reserving leftover juice. Set aside.
This is the only picture of the sauce I have, it is very easy to make and packs a lot of flavor. I also prefer it to be very thick so it coats well to the pasta.
Day One
In a large pot (I use my Dutch oven) sauté onions in oil over medium-high heat until translucent (about 6 minutes). Stir in garlic and cook until you can smell it (about 30 seconds). Add tomatoes, pan drippings from the meatballs, parsley and sugar. Simmer for one hour on low, uncovered. Remove from heat. Let cool completely and place in the fridge overnight.
Day Two
Remove sauce from the refrigerator and puree until smooth in the food processor in small batches. Return sauce to the pot and add tomato paste. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for one hour. Remove from heat. Let cool completely and place in the fridge overnight.
Day Three
Add cooked meatballs (as many as you are going to serve) to the sauce and simmer uncovered until heated through (about 15 minutes). Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Stir in the cooked pasta and toss well to coat. Garnish with lots of grated Parmesan cheese.
Meatballs
2 cups unseasoned bread crumbs
1-1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 cup whole milk
3 cups beef broth, divided
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
6 eggs, beaten
4 Tablespoons dried oregano leaves
2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
2 Tablespoons ground black pepper
4 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
4 lb. ground chuck
In a large mixing bowl stir together bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, milk, 1 cup of beef broth, parsley, eggs, oregano, garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, basil, red pepper flakes and nutmeg. Add ground chuck and mix thoroughly with a fork. Using a fork prevents overmixing and compacting which can toughen meatballs.
The best way to shape meatballs is with a portioning scoop that has a retractable blade that releases the meat. Make each meatball about 2″ in diameter or 1.5 ounces each. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the meatballs on a pan so they are not touching. (I can get 35 meatballs on a tray and this recipe makes two trays so 70 meatballs.)
Cover the bottom of the pan with 1 cup of beef broth and bake for 25 minutes at 450 degrees.
Remove meatballs from pan and pour pan juices into a large, glass (2 cup) measuring cup to be used for the sauce. Repeat process for second tray of meatballs. Cool meatballs completely, cover and keep refrigerated until use.
Once you have pan juices from both trays, place measuring cup in the fridge for the fat to settle on the top (about 30 minutes). Remove from the refrigerator and discard settled fat, reserving leftover pan juices. Set aside.
Three Day Marinara
3 cups yellow onion, diced
4 teaspoons garlic, minced
3 cans (28 oz. each) whole plum tomatoes
Reserved meatball pan drippings
1/2 cup dried parsley
1/2 cup dried basil
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 cans (6 oz each) tomato paste
Parmesan cheese, grated
Day One
In a large pot (I use my Dutch oven) sauté onions in oil over medium-high heat until translucent (about 6 minutes). Stir in garlic and cook until you can smell it (about 30 seconds). Add tomatoes, pan drippings from the meatballs, parsley, basil and sugar. Simmer for one hour on low, uncovered. Remove from heat. Let cool completely and place in the fridge overnight.
Day Two
Remove sauce from the refrigerator and puree until smooth in the food processor in small batches. Return sauce to the pot and add tomato paste. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for one hour. Remove from heat. Let cool completely and place in the fridge overnight.
Day Three
Add cooked meatballs (as many as you are going to serve) to the sauce and simmer uncovered until heated through (about 15 minutes). Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Stir in the cooked pasta and toss well to coat. Garnish with lots of grated Parmesan cheese.
Shelby says
I will DEFINITELY be trying your meatball AND sauce recipe. I only wish I had it tonight!
Liz C. says
Strangely enough, I’ve never made meatballs. Yeah, yeah, I know how crazy that sounds, but I could always get them at our favorite Italian place.
That said, I’m thinking how perfect they would be on the buffet table at our Christmas party, including the marianara & a few other sauces….
Thanks chicka!
Katrina says
Puhleeeezzeee come make dinner for me or invite me over! Looks and sounds de-lish. I will have to try your sauce sometime. Nutmeg, huh. As Rachael Ray would say, “Makes them go, hmmm, what’s in there?”
Jennifer says
Uhhhh…yum. 😛
dawn says
Those meatballs are the money shot! Wow, must have those.
dawn says
meatballs cooking is one of the great smells I just love.
you rocked it out on this one Momma Cath.
Barbie with a T says
This looks like a good way to cook meatballs for a big crowd. I only make meatballs for the two of us, but some of your ingredients are interesting and maybe I could incorporate them into my meatballs.
I did make the upside down apple pie today. Cathy, it was to die for! Thanks a million for that recipe. It is now my husband’s favorite pie. Thanks to you!
pam says
I love using the meatball drippings to make the sauce! Perfect!
Calamity Anne says
I was mildly hungry when I started reading about your meatballs…now I’m starving! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!
Lydia says
Three-day sauce? Wow! I love how you deepen the flavor every day. I’m going to try this method.
Amanda says
Can’t say I’ve ever spent three days making red sauce, but I bet it;s really good. I might try your meatballs, I am getting tired of mine, :-p I just made some changes to my sauce this last time I made it, so changing the meatballs won’t be a bad thing 🙂
Lisa Sipple says
This is a lovely signature recipe. I love the drippings idea, very down- homish. Your meatball pictures are exquisite, you even make raw meat look beautiful.
Charles says
Hi.
I was just wondering why you leave everything for three days? why can’t you do it all at once?
will says
Those look awesome!! Cant wait to make.
gfe--gluten free easily says
Mouth watering! All great ideas used in these two recipes. I’d never heard that tip about using a fork. Will definitely be trying it!
Shirley
grace says
if i’m gonna put three days into something, i want it to be worthwhile. i hereby deem this worthwhile. 🙂
Biz says
Okay, you have me beat – my sauce is a two day process – but I love the meatball recipe and adding that into the sauce – brilliant and delicious!
Cathy at Wives with Knives says
Dynamite recipe, Cathy. Baking the meatballs saves so much time and splattering on the stove. With some of your sauce and meatballs in the freezer I’m ready for any last minute company. Thanks for sharing this.
imom says
My husband has been searching for a meatball recipe. I’ll definitely be showing him this one! I swear I could smell the aroma while reading this post!
Candy says
The meatballs are a must have, but I can’t spend 3 days making sauce. If I made it all in one day, how much would I give up in the taste?
Noble Pig says
Flavor development occurs over time. You could make it all in one day but the sauce won’t have the same robust taste.
Marjie says
Ah, to have the luxury of leaving something for 3 days, secure in the knowledge that it won’t disappear from my fridge! Even for Thanksgiving and other holidays, I must label things which are specifically being made in advance for the celebration, or it will be consumed.
Barbara says
I haven’t made meatball in forever! Yours are chock full of perfect ingredients- just what I like in a meatball. Your marinara looks great as well- do I have the patience to wait???
xcm says
Looks delicious! I’m totally with you on not overmixing the meat but because I am lazy and impatient, I use a potato masher. Not the kind of masher with small openings; the other kind– mine looks like a giant squiggle. Have you ever tried it? It’s a wonderful thing.
Mental P Mama says
WOW! I am so coming to stay in one of those inns! SOON!
Jody says
Yummy! In August my family went on a 6000 mile driving adventure. Part of that took us down the Columbia River gourge and down the Oregon Coast! It was fantastic! We stayed in Oceanside and ate at the “Bigfoot”! I’m sort of jealous of the “Fred Meyer’s” stores you have! I don’t think my grocer would even know what canned plum tomatos are! I sort of live in the boonies and alot of things that you speak of just don’t exist in our stores but I do love to dream!
Zupan's Markets says
We’re not at all surprised there were no leftovers of these meatballs from your party! Love your method of letting the meatballs cook in a broth pool + adding the pan juices to your sauce. It must really bring the flavors together for a heavenly experience!
pigpigscorner says
This looks GREAT! I am bookmarking this!
Fencepost says
I will definitely be trying this one. I love meatballs and sauce. I don’t need the pasta. Just some bread and butter and I’m good.
pat says
oh now those meatballs just look divine, something I have never made but I am going to try now!!! Thanks…
Charles says
Oh, thank you. This is interesting, I am going to use this to improve the taste of all my sauces.
marguerite says
That looks AMAZING!!!
Danielle says
Wow, those meatballs look amazing…and that sauce too! My family would go nuts smelling this for two days before they were ever allowed to eat it! Me too!! Think I need to print this one out…
Marni Sandberg says
I already had meatball subs on the menu for tonight, so I decided to try your recipe. My boys gave it the thumbs up! The recipe made enough for both tonight and for spaghetti and meatballs in three days, with your sauce recipe. Now, lets hope I can find tomato paste here in the Czech Republic!
FairyTale Wedding Favors says
Perhaps, I will make this one instead of the pasta with brie, but I can’t eat this tonight, so I’m debating. I like that these meatballs don’t use any pork..I don’t eat pork!
Audrey at Barking Mad says
Oh yum!
And again…YUM!
bee says
I am thinking of making this for a party and have a couple of questions:
1. Do you ever use fresh herbs instead of dried in the sauce?
2. How much pasta do you cook to go with it?
Looks great!
Noble Pig says
I do not use fresh in this sauce because over three days they would lose all nuances and flavor. For me, fresh herbs are something I finish a dish with right before serving.
For this sauce, (if you are going to eat it all in one serving) 3 lbs of pasta is the right amount.
bee says
Thank you for the swift reply! Can’t wait to try it. 🙂
pat says
I had to tell yuo I made your meatball recipe, cut in half…It was outstanding!
I added a little leftover Italian sausage I had in the freezer, didn’t have any nutmeg, but otherwise followed to the letter. And soo easy, thanks so much!
Amanda says
I made these tonight and they were very good. Unfortunately my family wasn’t crazy about them because the taste of the oregano was pretty prominent 🙁 I ended up getting 100 meatballs out of this recipe as I only have a cookie scoop, which yielded 1 ounce balls instead of 1.5 ounces. I’ve frozen the meatballs and going to give some to my neighbor to try as we were talking about the recipes. I will eat the rest myself over time (lunch, etc). I really liked this recipe and everyone else said they were good, just too much oregano. So I am going to make them again and cut that down. Thank you for this 🙂
Oh and I have a question. You said you fit 35 (1.5 oz 2″) meatballs per baking sheet. I was only able to fit 35 1-oz meatballs, about 2/3 the size of yours. How in the world did you get all those on there? I ended up having to use 3 baking sheets. I used standard sized cookie sheets, what did you use?
Noble Pig says
My baking sheets are 17 x 12.5. I do weigh every meatball so I know they were all 1.5 oz.. I have no idea what the size of your baking sheets are so it’s hard for me to comment. Mine fit perfectly on that size. Glad you made them!
Amanda says
That makes complete sense then, mine are more like 15X10 🙂
Amanda says
Hi Cathy – I blogged about your yummy meatballs and also created a Meatball Soup to use them in. It was delish. Would love it if you tried it! http://www.amandascookin.com/2009/12/amandas-meatball-soup.html
Allison says
Noble Pig:
Your meatballs and 3-day marinara was an absolute hit at the Jellie household last night. With the long weekend, we thought it would be a fun project. So delicious.
Quick question though; we like it spicy down here in Houston, Texas. What would you recommend adding to the sauce for an extra kick? And in what step of the process?
A Big Yee-Haw for this recipe! Much love.
Noble Pig says
Great! I think I would add your favorite hot sauce at the end of the process for some heat.
Em says
Love it.
Allison says
NP: My blog post about your meatballs, http://jellieandco.blogspot.com/2010/07/meatier-shower.html. De to the lish!
Much love.
christmas parties Surrey says
Thank you for sharing all this great information
pregnancy says
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Kim in MD says
I can see why this was one of your top ten recipes of 2010! I am going to pu this on my “must try a.s.a.p.” list!
greg jones says
There is no compelling reason to let the sauce sit for even one night in the fridge, in fact you dont get more flavor, you get less. because tomatoes have flavor compounds that break down if they go under 45F or so. they also have some flavors that are alcohol but not water soluble, so add some red wine, or even vodka.
Cathy says
Hi Greg, thanks for your comment. As someone who has made this recipe countless times, I can assure you a deeper, better flavor once the sauce has been made over days. While it might be true some flavors of the tomato disappear, this actually let’s other favors shine through. I have had the same experience with my chili when made over days at a time. And yes, a little bit of alcohol does help carry water and fat soluble compounds into food, providing a more rich flavor. So a little of that will also not hurt.
Melinda says
When do you add the 1/2 cup of basil to the sauce?
Cathy says
Day 1.
Brittany says
Can I make the sauce without the meatballs? I know you add the pan drippings on day 1 but is it something that I can leave out and still get the same flavor? Meatballs aren’t a big hit with my family so I dont want to make a big batch of meatballs and have them go to waste. But we LOVE a good pasta sauce!
Cathy says
Yeah that really adds a lot of flavor. You can always try without and maybe you’ll still love the flavor.
Vincent McCormack says
Hi Cathy. I’m 60 and my Dad’s sauce was the talk of the town. I’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention when I was younger before he passed. His was a 12 hour sauce, but it always tasted better the next few days after refrigeration. Your ingredients look very close to what I remember him using. I have 2 questions for you if you don’t mind. He deep fried the meatballs, I’ll bake according to yours and use the juice. I’d like to 50/50 the beef with pork, any issues? And on the second day, Would you have an issue with frying or “pincage” the tomato paste in a few cloves of additional garlic and another half chopped onion before adding to the heated sauce? I’m a deep south Louisiana boy and always double the garlic and onion, haha. I think you’ve got the perfect Marinara here. Thanks for posting.
Cathy says
Sounds like some great additions, hope they turn out well!
Michele OConnell says
Was wondering if you ever used ground turkey in your meatballs? Our daughter does not eat beef or pork so I usually make meatballs with ground turkey. Any suggestions using ground turkey would be greatly appreciated. This all sounds wonderful.
Thanks so much.
Cathy says
I don’t see a problem. Turkey just has less fat so you lose the mouthfeel factor of having that bit of fat in the food. Not sure if they will be dry or not.
Andi says
Oh, but adding beef broth to the meatball baking sheet is awesome! That’s exactly what my own technique needed. Thanks.
marcia Martin says
I just made this recipe with some homemade pasta. It is incredible, two thumbs up!
Gigi . says
My family has onion allergies. I usually up the garlic instead. Any suggestions as to how much I should increase it for 3 onions?
Gigi . says
Also, forgot to say that I often add dried fennel seed to the beef when making Italian food. It makes it seem more like Italian sausage.
Susan Swift says
I’m wondering how much beef broth I should have left after cooking the meatballs. Most of mine evaporated. I probably had a quarter cup of broth. Should I add extra broth to the marinara? The sauce isn’t done yet but the meatballs taste amazing!!!
Debbie D. says
Thank you for sharing your sauce and meatball recipes!
I made two batches of the meatballs. One batch using a combination of ground veal and pork.
meats, and the other using only the ground chuck as directed in your recipe. Both were delicious. I had to make two batches because I have “zealots” in my family that don’t “red meat”.
I’m looking forward to ordering some wine soon!
Blessings!
Debbie