6) Sauté onion, stir in tomato paste and herbs. 7) Pour in red wine to 8) deglaze the pan.
9) Add remaining tomato sauce ingredients, then 10) stir in the meatballs and finish in the oven.
Recipe tips
To make the meatballs
there’s no need to combine or beat any ingredients separately – just throw all the ingredients in a bowl!
use a hand mixer with the hook attachments to combine the meat mix – it’s quick, easy and mess-free
if you hate touching raw meat, wear disposable rubber gloves to roll the meatballs
use a cookie scoop to scoop the meat mix, that way you’ll have even meatballs
> We prefer smaller meatballs. I just can’t wrap my head around “dinner sized” meatballs. They’re basically mini meatloaves, no? I use about 2 – 3 teaspoons of meat mix per meatball, so keep that in mind when making this recipe.
If you choose to make large meatballs, they’ll obviously need more time to cook and there will be less meatballs than you can see in the photos.(If you need video instructions for the exact steps to make meatballs, see this post on how to make meatballs from scratch!)
Sauce
Lid on or lid off? If you put a lid on the skillet in the oven or not depends entirely on your personal preferences. Adding a lid will leave the sauce on the thinner side, while baking uncovered will make for a thicker, chunkier but also richer sauce. Your call!
Personally, I like the thicker sauce better.If you like, you can sprinkle grated parmesan over the meatballs in the sauce before baking them.
Freezer instructions
You should freeze the sauce and cooked meatballs in separate containers, so the meatballs don’t get soggy while thawing. Just place them together in your freezer in separate containers as a little meal kit and you’ll be ready for those busy weeknights!
Make sure to label the bag with name and use-by date (freeze for up to 3 months).
Defrost in the fridge overnight, then gently reheat the meatballs in the sauce until piping hot all the way through.
We make these all the time: They’re easy, comforting and relatively healthy. While meatballs often get a bad reputation, they’re really not awful for you if you’re making them from scratch, serve them in a tomato-based sauce and eat a salad on the side. This is such a simple, hearty family meal – a dinner win for sure!
Serving suggestions
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