5/11/15

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella

Easy homemade Italian meatballs baked in tangy marinara and topped with gobs of buttery, gooey mozzarella perfect with pasta, roasted vegetables and zoodles. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  1. JUMP TO THE RECIPE
  2. EASIEST WAY TO PORTION AND ROLL HOMEMADE MEATBALLS

My new favorite meatball meal is this one where hearty, rustic meatballs are smothered tangy tomato sauce then cooked with mozzarella! And if you are in a pinch for time, you can use frozen meatballs too - I won't tell!

I typically serve this with some sort of hearty green vegetable like Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Garlic Parmesan Roasted Broccoli, pasta or zoodles (zucchini noodles) and some good crusty bread to soak up all that cheese and sauce.  

I mentioned this before when I originally published my meatball recipe but I really, really don’t like frozen meatballs. I hate the corky texture they have and they’re just so artificial tasting.

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella! Easy homemade Italian meatballs baked in tangy marinara and topped with gobs of buttery, gooey mozzarella perfect with pasta, roasted vegetables and zoodles.

But they’re convenient. And it’s easy to be lured into buying them. Or you can just make your own and load up the freezer!

I make big batches of my homemade meatballs, freeze them on a sheet pan, then store in a gallon-sized zip-top freezer bag. They're much easier to separate if you freeze them separately but you could skip that step.

When I have an arsenal of frozen homemade meatballs, I can quickly make Shortcut Swedish Meatballs, Meatball Subs, Spaghetti & Meatballs or this beauty any time I want.

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella! Easy homemade Italian meatballs baked in tangy marinara and topped with gobs of buttery, gooey mozzarella perfect with pasta, roasted vegetables and zoodles.

Having homemade, truly delicious meatballs in your freezer is so incredibly handy AND scrumptious!

When we suddenly have people pop over... as is OFTEN the case during baseball season because Husband loves to say awesome things like Hey, everybody can come over to our house after the game if you want!

Which isn't as scary as it sounds since A) I love our baseball family and B) I keep stuff like these meatballs stocked up in the icebox! Dump a jar of spaghetti sauce over them then top with cheese and BOOM I've got it covered!

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella! Easy homemade Italian meatballs baked in tangy marinara and topped with gobs of buttery, gooey mozzarella perfect with pasta, roasted vegetables and zoodles.

EASIEST WAY TO PORTION AND ROLL HOMEMADE MEATBALLS

Instead of trying to eyeball two dozen same-size portions to roll or using a scoop, use this method to make quick work out of the task AND get same-size meatballs every time:

  1. Turn meatball mixture out onto a cutting board or clean surface.
  2. Using clean hands or a rubber spatula, shape mixture into a rectangle.
  3. Pat mixture down very firmly and make sure to have square corners and even thickness.
  4. Using a sharp knife, cut a grid into the rectangle, creating 20-24 same-size squares. 
  5. Roll each square into a ball then cook per preference. I almost always bake mine because it’s cleaner and easier but you can certainly pan-fry them too.

Recipe for Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella! Easy homemade Italian meatballs baked in tangy marinara and topped with gobs of buttery, gooey mozzarella perfect with pasta, roasted vegetables and zoodles.

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella
Yield: 6-8 Servings
Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min
A recipe for homemade Italian meatballs baked in tangy marinara and topped with gobs of buttery, gooey mozzarella.

Ingredients

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella
  • 20-24 Italian meatballs, cooked (recipe below)
  • 1 24-oz. jar marinara sauce
  • 8 ounces of fresh mozzarella, shredded
Italian Meatballs
  • 1 onion, grated
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 pounds ground beef (80/20 works best)
  • 1/2 cup Italian dried bread crumbs

Instructions

Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella:
  1. Spoon half of the marinara sauce into a large oven-proof frying pan or 13x9 baking dish. Arrange meatballs in pan then cover with remaining sauce. Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes at 375 degrees or until sauce is heated through.
  2. Remove pan from oven and top meatballs with mozzarella. Return to oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.
  3. Serve with pasta or vegetables such as fried zucchini or roasted brussels sprouts (I love to serve hearty green veggies with marinara sauce – you totally don’t miss the pasta!).
Italian Meatballs:
  1. In a large bowl combine onion, eggs, worcestershire sauce, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic powder; mix well.
  2. Crumble ground beef into mixture and mix with your hands until just combined. Don’t “squeeze” the mixture with your hands – overworking the meat is what yields that “corky” texture.
  3. Add bread crumbs and continue to mix the ingredients until everything is just combined and starts to stick together. Add more bread crumbs if necessary until the mixture holds together.
  4. Shape into balls by hand or use my handy tip above for portioning/rolling meatballs.
  5. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) and spray with cooking spray. Place meatballs onto baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
meatball, italian, homemade, authentic, meatball sub, mozzarella, marinara, spaghetti sauce, cheese, low carb, keto, baked, melted, best, how to, recipe
dinner, low carb
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28 comments:

  1. This looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing..:)

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  2. In my country...smashed potato...

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  3. These sound so good- especially with roasted brussels sprouts!

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  4. Yum.... this looks wonderful. :)

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  5. Yes oh Yes! PUUUUULLLLEEEEASE!!! Fabulous recipe. Mouth watering photos. Thanks for sharing with us at Weekend Potluck.

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  6. This looks delicious! I am going to "pin it" for future use. I am sure my family will love it! I just found your blog. Thanks for sharing!

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  7. I made this last night and it was a hit!!! Every recipe I have tried so far from this website has been absolutely wonderful!!!

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    1. I love comments like this! It really helps those of us who are just visiting for the first time :)

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  8. I love this so simple idea i think I will cook some for my familly soon

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  9. Hi Mandy, nice to meet you. Thanks for the dinner idea tonight. This is my kind of cooking and eating.

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  10. To get uniformed size meatballs use a clever little gadget called a meatball maker. Looks like scissors with cups on the end.Come in 2 sizes. The smaller one is for making little meatballs for wedding soup.

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    1. That meatball maker is wonderful. Mine is very old, it was my mom's , it has a hole in the middle of each side of the shaper.

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  11. I bake my rolled meatballs in cupcake pans. The grease is contained, and clean up is a breeze. FYI

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  12. Can you freeze these Italian Meatballs? If so, how long can they last in the freezer?

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  13. I made this for a pizza recipe with egg and spinach for the pizza crust!

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  14. I can't print this recipe?

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  15. Great recipe and lots of options to pair this dish...

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  16. I am definitely making these - they look so good :)

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  17. Hi Mandy. When i visit your site on my mobile device (iphone, safari browser) the site is hijacked and i'm reouted to the candycrush website and to the appstore, and your website completely disappears from my browser. You may need to get your site checked out as the same thing happened on my wife's phone.

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  18. Found this recipe via Pinterest..and I can't wait to try these out this week! Look so good!! I also included the link to this recipe in my Sunday Meal Plan post! http://wp.me/p4721V-FN

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  19. Specifically interested in net carbs per serving

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  20. I made these last week for my family for National Meatball Day and they were an immediate favorite!!! I reheated them lunch the next day and they were even better. Definitely give these a shot!!

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  21. Made these last night and they were the most tender, delicious meatballs....even before going into the sauce. This recipe is a hands down winner! Hubby says "best meatball he has had..." and that is a huge compliment! Even my picky little ones loved them. Yummy!

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    1. Wow! What an amazing compliment! Thank you!

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  22. Tonights the night. Using ground pork and ground beef tho....ground venison is in the very near future.

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  23. Looks delicious.. Has anyone use pre cooked albondigas meatballs for this type of dish.

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  24. I was looking for a meatball recipe online when I came across yours. Fortunately I had all of the ingredients and decided to give them a try. I must say, they were the best meatballs I have ever made. They actually reminded me of some I had at a nice Italian restaurant while in Chicago last year. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to trying more of your recipes!

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    1. WOW! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed them! Thank you for taking the time to let me know!

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Hi there! While I’m not able to respond to every comment, I try hard to answer any questions that haven’t been addressed in the post, recipe or in other comments.

I can tell you now 1) I have no idea if you can substitute Minute Rice or brown rice in my recipes because I’ve never used them and 2) If I know how to convert a recipe to a Crock Pot version, I will make a note about it (otherwise, I don’t know).

And though I may not respond to them all, I do read each and every comment and I LOVE to hear from you guys! Thanks, y’all! - Mandy