Our Cooked Perfect Meatballs are just that — perfectly seasoned, juicy, and full of flavor. Every bite includes hints of fresh herbs, fragrant garlic, and parmesan cheese. With so many versatile ways to serve them, this is about to become your new favorite meatball recipe.
These tender meatballs have become a staple in our kitchen. We love making a double batch to keep on hand in the freezer for those busy weeknights where we need to get dinner on the table quickly. The serving possibilities are endless, too — serve with your favorite pasta, as a meatball sub with extra sauce and cheese, or even on their own as an appetizer. Once you realize how easy they are to make, you won't want to buy frozen meatballs again!
Jump to:
- Why You Will Love These Cooked Perfect Meatballs
- Ingredients
- Substitutions and Variations
- Cooked Perfect Meatballs
- More Recipes You Will Love
- How to Store Cooked Perfect Meatballs
- What to Serve with Cooked Perfect Meatballs
- Top Tips
- Frequently Asked Questions About Our Cooked Perfect Meatballs
- More Recipes You Will Love
- Cooked Perfect Meatballs Recipe
This recipe inspired our Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes, and works well for our Subway Meatball Marinara Copycat.
Why You Will Love These Cooked Perfect Meatballs
- Flavorful: The combination of fresh garlic, herbs, and parmesan cheese makes for an absolutely mouthwatering flavor.
- Easy: Making homemade meatballs is much easier than you think. You only need 30 minutes to get them on the table.
- Comfort Food: Diving into big plate of spaghetti and meatballs with freshly grated parmesan is the ultimate comfort dinner!
- Meal Prep: This recipe can be doubled (or tripled!) and kept in the freezer. Make an extra batch to give yourself a shortcut to a homemade meal on a busy night.
- Versatile: Meatballs can be served in so many delicious ways: with pasta, on a sub or sandwich, with rice, with your favorite vegetable sides, as a pizza topping, or even alone as an appetizer.
- Meat Variety: You can use ground beef, pork, and veal (or a combination of all) for additional versatility and flavor.
Ingredients
A quick trip to the grocery store and you're ready for Cooked Perfect Meatballs.
See the recipe card below for the exact quantities of each ingredient.
- Ground Meat: Your choice of ground meat(s) acts as the base of this recipe.
- Garlic: We prefer fresh garlic, but jarred or powdered works just as well.
- Eggs: Acts as a binding agent.
- Parmesan Cheese: We love adding parmesan for a cheesy flavor.
- Fresh Parsley: Adds a fresh, herbaceous flavor.
- Salt: Enhances all the flavors in these meatballs.
- Dried Oregano: Gives additional depth of flavor.
- Ground Pepper: Adds a subtle hint of spice.
- Italian Style Breadcrumbs: Helps to hold the meatball's shape.
- Whole Milk: Adds moisture to your ground meat mixture.
For this recipe, you'll want to have on hand a large baking sheet, a large mixing bowl, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and a 2 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop.
Substitutions and Variations
Love this recipe but want to make it your own? Here are some helpful ideas for you to change these Cooked Perfect Italian Style Meatballs.
- Meat: Use your choice of ground meat(s) to make these meatballs your own.
- Herbs: We love fresh, but you can use dried as well for a result that's just as delicious. Any combination of your favorite fresh or dried herbs will be tasty, so feel free to really customize this aspect. Just keep in mind that you need to use less of a dried herb than it's fresh counterpart.
- Garlic: If you don't have fresh garlic on hand, using garlic powder works great.
- Dairy-Free: Skip parmesan cheese for a dairy-free alternative to these meatballs.
- Spice: If you like some spice in your meatballs, feel free to add crushed red pepper flakes or dried cayenne pepper to your mixture.
- Size: If you want smaller meatballs, or if you're serving them as an appetizer, you can roll your meatballs out smaller. Keep in mind that this will change their bake time, and keep an eye on them in the oven to make sure they don't overcook and become dry.
Cooked Perfect Meatballs
Check out how easy it is to make these Cooked Perfect Meatballs in just a couple steps.
Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, keeping your breadcrumbs and milk until last. By hand, mix until well combined.
Using a 2 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, make medium sized meatballs and lightly shape into a tighter ball, then place on a prepared baking sheet.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160F.
Cool on the baking sheet until ready to serve.
Hint: When rolling out your meatballs, try to seal any cracks in the uncooked meat before baking to seal in moisture. You can do this by pinching the meat together then lightly re-rolling into a ball shape.
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How to Store Cooked Perfect Meatballs
This is one of those recipes that is so versatile that I love making a couple batches at once, and storing for later use.
- Refrigerator: Once cooled, place in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: Whether the meatballs are cooked or uncooked, you can line them on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer. Once fully frozen (about 2-4 hours), place them into a freezer bag and pop them back in the freezer for up to 6 months. I like to double bag them, and remove as much air out of the first bag as I can. Alternatively, you can vacuum-seal them as well. I love this FoodSaver, that I got on Amazon.
- Reheating: Thaw in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or stove until warmed through.
- Make Ahead: Follow the instructions 1-3 and then pop them in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to bake.
What to Serve with Cooked Perfect Meatballs
- Potatoes: Add these meatballs to a warm plate of mashed potatoes and top with gravy for a more complete meal. Try our Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes recipe.
- Fresh Pasta: Whether its gluten free, regular flour or zero-zero handmade pasta, these Cooked Perfect Meatballs are a great addition!
- Pasta Sauce: Keep it simple and just plate these delicious meatballs in a homemade pasta sauce with cheese. Try our Meatball Parmigiana.
- Gravy: Whip up a quick batch of your homemade gravy and pour all over for some Meatballs and Gravy.
- Rice: Another great combo is Meatballs and Rice, with sauce or gravy this is a great way to build out your meal.
- Vegetable Sides: Serve your favorite veggie alongside these meatballs. We love our Sautéed Green Beans with Shallots, Maple Brussel Sprouts, and Idahoan Mashed Potatoes.
- Wrap: Place in a wrap for a simple lunch or dinner idea.
- Sliders: For an easy crowd pleaser for game day, try our Meatball Sliders recipe.
- Sub or Sandwich: Layer meatballs, sauce, and extra cheese onto a bun like our Subway Meatball Marinara Copycat.
- Pizza: If you're making homemade pizza, try adding meatballs as a topping.
Top Tips
Any singular or blend of ground meats will work well with this recipe.
If you are serving your meatballs in a tomato sauce, simmering the meatballs in sauce on the stovetop for about an hour will give them an extra boost of flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Cooked Perfect Meatballs
Do you have questions about making Cooked Perfect Meatballs?
There a couple of key things to do when making meatballs: using a binder like eggs and breadcrumbs or both, and making sure your mixture has an appropriate level of moisture.
By using a cookie scoop, you will ensure an even size across every meatball. This makes for a consistent flavor and bake time. We like using a 2.5" cookie scoop.
We suggest a combination of beef and pork, or even veal for the best flavor. With that being said, meatballs are very versatile and can be made with any meat of your choice. If you are looking to make a leaner meatball, you can try ground turkey or ground chicken.
Your meatballs are fully cooked when their internal temperature reaches 160F (for a beef meatball) or 165F (for a chicken meatball). We recommend investing in a meat thermometer to make checking on this as easy as possible.
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Cooked Perfect Meatballs Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Baking Sheet
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Measuring Cups and Spoons
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef, pork, and veal mixture
- 4 tablespoon garlic minced
- 2 eggs large
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley minced
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
- ⅓ to ½ cup whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a large baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, keeping your breadcrumbs and milk for last. By hand, mix until well combined.
- Using a 2.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, make medium-sized meatballs and lightly shape into a tighter ball, then place on a prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 160F.
- Cool on the baking sheet until ready to serve.
Notes
- The average yield for this recipe is 27-30 meatballs, but this may vary depending on the size of your meatballs and how densely you pack them.
- If you don’t have fresh parsley, you can substitute with 2 teaspoons of dried parsley.
- If you want to freeze uncooked meatballs, you can after step 3.
- Try to seal any cracks in the uncooked meat before baking to seal in moisture. You can do this by pinching the meat together then lightly re-roll into a ball shape.
- Serve with your favorite pasta, on a sandwich, on sliders, in a wrap, with rice, with mashed potatoes, or on their own with sauce.
Nutrition
We would be so grateful for you to leave us a rating and review on any recipes you try. If you make any alterations, let us know how they turned out.
Eva Filer says
A perfect, family-friendly recipe that is so universal!
Rick says
These meatballs were tender and delicious. I’ll be having more in the near future.
Eva Filer says
We are so happy to hear you are enjoying the meatballs!