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Home Recipe Index Freezer Meals Freezer Beef

Baked Italian Meatballs

★★★★★ 4.9 /5 Updated: 6/16/22
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This post may contain affiliate or sponsored links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Look no further for a delicious baked meatball recipe. Our Baked Italian Meatballs are a 30 minute meal staple in our house! The ingredients are simple but they are still packed with flavor. They make a great freezer meal because you can easily double the batch to freeze meatballs for later!

Baked Italian meatballs on a white plate with marinara sauce

Easiest Baked Italian Meatballs… EVER

Everybody loves a good meatball, right? Well, at least everyone in my crew does. And, as my mom friends out there know, it’s no small feat to prepare a meal that everyone eats and enjoys. These delicious, moist, Baked Italian Meatballs may get eaten before they ever make it atop whole wheat spaghetti with homemade marinara sauce or a Meatball Sandwich.

The ingredients in our baked meatballs are simple:

  • Ground beef (Here is where we get quality ground beef)
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Egg
  • Milk
  • Tomato Paste
  • Parsley
  • Seasonings

You likely have all of the ingredients for these easy baked meatballs in your pantry!

Baked italian meatball

Perhaps the best part: Skip the stove top mess and bake these away in the oven for only 20 minutes. They come out perfect every time. And, like so many of our recipes, you can make these meatballs ahead of time and freeze them for a quick, healthy meal later. Check out the freezer meal instructions in the recipe.

Here is a short video of how Baked Italian Meatballs come together

How to Freeze Meatballs

One of the best parts about this meatball recipe is that it is freezer friendly. Meatballs work beautifully to assemble and then freeze before baking for a meal down the road. I’d suggest rolling them up and placing them on a parchment lined baking sheet to freeze.

How to freeze baked italian meatballs

After they are frozen enough to hold together, place them in an airtight container or freezer storage bag.

The beauty of freezing meatballs is that you can now pop out as many as you need for future meals. No need to bake them all at once. These can be a great freezer meal for 1-2 people.

Use Baked Italian Meatballs to Double Your Dinner

We actually have an AMAZING resource you’re going to want to get your hands on. We have put together a free resource to help you easily double your dinner. So make a batch of these meatballs tonight and freeze a batch for later.

Download the FREE Double Your Dinner Challenge

Ways to Use Baked Meatballs

Baked meatballs are incredibly versatile. (For a twist on this classic, try our Asian Turkey Meatballs!) Here are some ideas on ways to use them!

  • Serve them over whole wheat spaghetti with marinara sauce
  • Bake them and then assemble them as Meatball Sandwiches
  • Eat them plain! They can be a great appetizer.
  • Lighten up but don’t miss out on flavor by serving them over zoodles.
Baked italian meatball on a fork

What to serve with Baked Italian Meatballs

Here are some ideas that baked meatballs would go well with:

  • Cranberry Spinach Salad with Creamy Citrus Dressing
  • Oven Roasted Broccoli
  • Corn on the Cob Made in the Microwave

Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!

Overhead shot baked meatballs
★★★★★ 4.9 from 7 reviews

Baked Italian Meatballs

Everybody loves a good meatball! These delicious, moist ones may get eaten before they ever make it atop spaghetti or a sub sandwich. You’ll want to make this baked version of meatballs again and again.

Yield: 4–6 servings (about 24 1–1/2 inch meatballs) 1x
Prep: 10 minutesCook: 20 minutesTotal: 30 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 ½ lbs lean ground beef (This is where we get our favorite grass-fed ground beef.*)
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs (or sub gluten-free breadcrumbs)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or sub more breadcrumbs)
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 2 tablespoons milk (your choice)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

*affiliate link

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions

Make It Now:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.
  2. Using clean hands, gently combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
  3. Use a medium dough scooper or a spoon to scoop and then roll about 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Line up meatballs on the sheet pan, leaving room between each.
  4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until no longer pink inside (160 degrees internal temperature).
  5. Optional: Serve with marinara sauce over pasta or on a sub sandwich.

Freeze For Later:

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil. Then, complete Steps 2 and 3. At this point, flash freeze uncooked meatballs by placing on the sheet pan (or in a baking dish) in the freezer for about an hour or so. Once frozen, dump meatballs in a gallon-sized freezer bag, seal, and place in freezer.

Prepare From Frozen:

Thaw meatballs using one of these safe thawing methods. Cook according to instructions, beginning with Step 4.

© Author: Thriving Home
Cuisine: Italian Method: Baking

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Rachel Tiemeyer

Rachel Tiemeyer

As co-founder of Thriving Home, Rachel dreams about creating recipes (literally) and uses her husband, her 3 kids, and even the neighbors as guinea pigs several nights a week. She believes that good food has the power to bring families and friends closer together and continues to wake up excited about her job each day, even after 10+ years!

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  1. AvatarMary C says

    Posted on 1/14/23 at 2:37 pm

    I truthfully never made homemade meatballs before, but my family loved these. We’ve used them for appetizers, hoagies and with pasta. I make a big batch every other month and freeze them after I bake them so cook once and I have multiple meals. Thanks!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Carla from Thriving HomeCarla from Thriving Home says

      Posted on 1/16/23 at 3:18 pm

      Wow Mary, glad to hear this! I had made meatballs a few times over the years, but hadn’t found one recipe to stick with until this one came along. Thank you for leaving a review.

      Reply
  2. AvatarLisa says

    Posted on 12/22/22 at 7:27 am

    I have never received so many compliments on meatballs until I made these. Ground sirloin happened to be on sale so I used that for them. I don’t know how much that contributed to the great taste, but I’ll be using it again when I make them for Christmas Eve.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Rachel TiemeyerRachel Tiemeyer says

      Posted on 12/22/22 at 1:39 pm

      Thanks for the feedback, Lisa. We’re happy to hear you were the dinner hero! I bet ground sirloin only kicked up that flavor.

      Reply
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