Mom is famous for her spaghetti and meatballs.
Although she may have made it on other days as well, I seem to only associate this dish as being served on Sunday’s and have fond memories of sitting in church knowing this was waiting for us when we got home.
Drool.
Add some freshly baked bread and a nice green salad and you’ll have the perfect Sunday meal!
The secret to this sauce is to use your favorite homemade or store-bought sauce (we are a Prego family) and finish cooking the meatballs right in the sauce. This adds so much flavor to the sauce, giving it the perfect homemade taste.
I promise you that it is well worth the extra effort it takes to make the homemade meatballs. The meatballs are the star of the dish!
Try not to be an over-achiever and over-mix the meat or you’ll end up with tough, rubbery meatballs.
Gently form the meat mixture into medium-sized meatballs. If uniformity is important to you, a large cookie scoop can help you achieve this.
My mother has always placed the raw meatballs directly in the sauce and after cooking, they turn out super flavorful, soft, and just heavenly! Expect grease to accumulate on top of the sauce at the end of the cooking process. Simply skim this off with a spoon just before you are ready to serve.
If you prefer, you can brown the meatballs in the oven before adding to the sauce. This will help the meatballs stay together during the simmering process and avoids having to skim later on. Just remember, you are only browning the meatballs on the outside and they are still raw on the inside – so skip the urge to taste-test at this point.
Want to punch up the flavor even more? Add a parmesan rind to the sauce while it simmers.
I freeze my leftover parmesan rinds just for this purpose! Remove the rind before serving up the sauce.
No one needs to know you didn’t slave over the sauce!
Sunday Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/2 C chopped onion
- 1 egg
- 3/4 C unseasoned bread crumbs
- 1/2 C milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp parsley flakes (dried or fresh)
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 lb cooked spaghetti, drained
- 1 - 64oz jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
- fresh parmesan cheese
Instructions
Pour the spaghetti sauce into your slow cooker, set the heat to low and cover.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare a sheet pan by covering with foil and lightly spraying it with non-stick spray. Set aside.
Using your hands or a stand mixer, mix the meats with the onion, egg, bread crumbs, milk, salt, parsley, and pepper until just combined.
Roll the meat mixture into medium size meatballs and place on the foil-lined sheet pan. Place in the oven and bake the meatballs for 15 minutes or until browned.
Using tongs, add the meatballs to the sauce in the slow cooker. Be sure to cover each meatball completely with the sauce. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or until meatballs are cooked through.
Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles and garnish with parmesan cheese.
Notes
Sometimes, I use my dutch oven to simmer the sauce for about 4-5 hours.
Like cheese? Add 1/4 C parmesan cheese to the meatball mix for optimal flavor!
