When it comes to classic weeknight dinners, it doesn’t get much better than spaghetti and meatballs. It’s relatively fast to make, inexpensive, and is liked by just about everyone – making it a great choice for a dinner date or friendly get-together.
This recipe keeps things pretty simple, and is just as easy to make as you’d expect. However, there are a few things to note. First would be the meatballs, which have a fair amount of cheese added. The cheese melts to the bottom, giving you a base of well-browned cheese, which is wonderful.
That said, you can use less or no cheese if you’d like. Similarly, you can make this vegan by using vegan meatballs – either homemade or store-bought. Just be careful if using store-bought sauce; you wouldn’t want to accidentally grab a meat sauce for your vegan meatballs.
The onions and garlic also had some development hiccups. I originally made the sauce with grated onions and garlic, which was great. However, I decided it would be too much work for most people. To keep things simple, I opted for a dried version of each. If you’re interested in trying the original (and admittedly better) version, use 2 Tbsps of grated onion and 2 grated garlic cloves.
Lastly is the noodles. Some people don’t like adding oil since it keeps the sauce from clinging to the pasta. However, as far as I know, it’s the only way of keeping the noodles from sticking together. I also recommend the “sauce dump” approach, as seen below, so sauce adherence should be a non-issue.
If you like this recipe for spaghetti and meatballs, or you just want more pasta in your life, check out my recipe for peanut butter ramen.
Ingredients
1/2 lb dry spaghetti noodles, 224 grams
Salted water, for boiling
For the meatballs:
1 lb ground beef, 454 grams
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, 29 grams
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp kosher salt, 6 grams
large pinch of black pepper, about 1/2 tsp
1/4 cup finely-grated cheese, 32 grams
For the sauce:
28-oz can of crushed tomatoes, 793 grams
2 Tbsps tomato paste, 33 grams
1/2 tsp kosher salt, 3 grams
large pinch of black pepper, about 1/2 tsp
1/2 tsp onion powder, 2 grams
1/2 tsp garlic powder, 2 grams
2 large pinches of italian seasoning, about 1 tsp
2 tsps sugar, 10 grams
2 Tbsps olive oil, 30 grams
Preparation
Cook your pasta in salted water according to package directions. Turn off the heat, drain, then add back to the pot. Add just enough oil to coat the pasta, then stir and set aside.
Preheat your oven to 400 f (204 c) and add the meatball ingredients to a large bowl. Using clean hands, mix until well-combined. Roll mixture into balls, then bake for about 15 minutes or until done*.
Make the sauce by adding all the ingredients to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and simmer, covered**, for at least 10 minutes.
Once everything is done, serve by adding meatballs and sauce to a bed of warm*** noodles.
Notes
* Done being at least 160 f (71.11 c) after carry-over cooking. This may take more or less time depending on how big you made the meatballs. I usually make mine a bit smaller than golf balls. If you’re especially concerned about under/overcooking the meatballs, I recommend using an instant-read thermometer.
** Normally I’d call for leaving the pan uncovered so the sauce can reduce. However, tomato-heavy sauces tend to spatter and make a mess, so I recommend using a lid here.
*** warm may sound obvious, but things are rarely that easy. Unless you plan for it, the likelihood of everything being done at the same time is low. I usually can’t be bothered to do that much thinking, so I just take whatever I get. If you’re especially worried about it, I recommend “finishing” the sauce first, since it can be kept warm with no issue.
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