Spaghetti & meatballs

Spaghetti & meatballs

Get everyone to help rolling meatballs and you'll soon have one supper on the table and another in the freezer

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes about 10 servings

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

Freezable

Sauce and meatballs can be frozen

Method

  1. First make the meatballs. Split the sausage skins and squeeze out the meat into your largest mixing bowl. Add the mince, onion, parsley, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, beaten eggs and lots of seasoning. Get your hands in and mix together really well - the more you squeeze and mash the mince, the more tender the meatballs will be.
  2. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Roll the mince mixture into about 50 golf-ball-size meatballs. Set aside any meatballs for freezing, allowing about 5 per portion, then spread the rest out in a large roasting tin - the meatballs will brown better if spaced out a bit. Drizzle with a little oil (about 1 tsp per portion), shake to coat, then roast for 20-30 mins until browned.
  3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the oil in your largest pan. Add the garlic and sizzle for 1 min. Stir in the tomatoes, wine, if using, sugar, parsley and seasoning. Simmer for 15-20 mins until slightly thickened. Stir in the basil leaves, if using, spoon out any portions for freezing, then add the cooked meatballs to the pan to keep warm while you boil the spaghetti. Spoon the sauce and meatballs over spaghetti, or stir them all together and serve with extra Parmesan and a few basil leaves, if you like.
Try

Freezing separately

To freeze separately, put sauce in freezer bags, but open-freeze the uncooked meatballs on a tray, then wrap in cling film once hard. To cook, defrost meatballs and cook as above, or roast from frozen at 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for 30 mins, then shake and increase oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 for 10 mins more. Defrost sauce and bring to a simmer in a pan before serving.

Variation: Spanish-style meatballs

Swap the Parmesan for 1 tbsp smoked paprika in the mince mixture, sizzle 140g finely diced chorizo in with the garlic for the sauce and leave out the basil. Serve with some roast potatoes and salad.

Freezing together

To freeze together, mix the roasted meatballs into sauce and freeze in portions. Defrost thoroughly overnight in the fridge, then heat in a covered pan until the sauce and meatballs are piping hot.

Per serving

870 kcalories, protein 46.0g, carbohydrate 95.0g, fat 37.0 g, saturated fat 13.0g, fibre 5.0g, sugar 13.0g, salt 1.34 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2010.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 41-60

  • Binder photo louisa22

    03 January 2012

    louisa22 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really tasty meatballs. My 13mth old loved them!!

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  • Binder photo Lauren

    10 January 2012

    Lauren rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely love this recipe, I've made it twice already. I actually only needed 4 meatballs per portion as they are quite filling. This makes loads of meals to put in the freezer. A couple of minutes in the microwave and they are perfect.

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  • Binder photo Binty

    20 January 2012

    Binty rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely awesome ~ I added a lot more herbs than the recipe, but that is personal taste. I would quite happily have paid for this at any restaurant ! Thank you for what will be a very regular dish in my house from now on.

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  • Binder photo Suse

    08 February 2012

    Suse commented on this recipe

    I made about a quarter of the sauce using 1 tin of tomatoes and added half a teaspoon of paprika, some Tabasco sauce and half a beef stock cube with some water. I didn't use wine and with my own meatballs this was delicious and served 2 adults and 2 children.

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  • Binder photo Suse

    08 February 2012

    Suse rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo BAMBAM

    15 February 2012

    BAMBAM rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I halved the recipe, then froze half of what I made (with the meatballs cooked in the sauce). Both times this was absolutely delicious and really easy to make. Will definitely make again.

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  • Binder photo Siobhan

    22 February 2012

    Siobhan commented on this recipe

    Delicious!! So easy to make and the flavour... Nicer than any dish Ive tasted in an Italian restaurant!!

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  • Binder photo Charlotte

    23 February 2012

    Charlotte rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I have made meatballs on several occassions but have never been a fan... until now. These meatballs are lovely, and the best thing was the tip I read with them that you should massage the meat lots to make it tender, this is a great tip!! I didnt have any sausages tho and it was great without them!!

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  • Binder photo Vicki Hunter

    24 February 2012

    Vicki Hunter rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy and really yummy!

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  • Binder photo Paul

    10 March 2012

    Paul rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made 1/2 portion of the recipie and it easily feed 3 of us with some left over...Absolutly superb, one of the best meatball recipies I have tried and will definetly be making again.

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  • Binder photo Jude

    03 April 2012

    Jude rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is one of the best recipe's I have tried from this site. I served it with Wholewheat pasta and added some chilli to the sauce and my boyfriend and I loved them. Making the again tonight :)

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  • Binder photo le manoir

    27 April 2012

    le manoir rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Every family member enjoyed this recipe. Very tasty, i used fresh basil in the meatballs as I had some going spare.Clever idea to make one for the freezer, although generous portion guide so quantity enough to make 3 meals i would say

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  • Binder photo Lizzie Frye

    30 April 2012

    Lizzie Frye rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really nice- I liked the pork sausage meat added in. I added some chilli to give it a kick!

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  • Binder photo Tracey

    12 June 2012

    Tracey commented on this recipe

    I made this recipe exactly as instructed and it was amazing. I am not a confident cook and even I couldn't fail to make this wonderful dish - thanks

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  • Binder photo Gemb89

    20 June 2012

    Gemb89 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely amazing!!!

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  • Binder photo Cv

    21 June 2012

    Cv rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Left out the sausage, also cooked on baking paper. Delicious

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  • Binder photo gordonram

    19 August 2012

    gordonram rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    This meatball recipe results in good meatballs but bland and greasy. To improve the flavour add a fair amount of herbs and perhaps spices. Place in the oven on something that drains, I used a large perforated pizza tray with a solid tray under to catch the grease. A fair amount of fat will need to drain because of the sausage meat. It results in a meatball that is alot better than frying.

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  • Binder photo Purple

    20 August 2012

    Purple rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    The meatballs are fabulous and easy to make. The sauce was a bit sweet for us so next time I'll cut back on the sugar.

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  • Binder photo Layla

    24 August 2012

    Layla rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Battybetty

    16 September 2012

    Battybetty rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I haven't eaten meatballs for years as I found most to be bland and dry but this recipe has changed my opinion! This meal was really easy, tasty and I will definitely be doing it again! My modifications were to fry the onions lightly just to soften, the sausages were good quality with a sweet chilli flavour and I added a teaspoon of chilli powder to the meatball mix. It gave just that bit of extra flavour but wasn't too hot to cause a problem to children or anyone who doesn't like food too hot. Lovely meal so enjoy!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes about 10 servings

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

Freezable

Sauce and meatballs can be frozen

Ingredients

  • 8 good-quality pork sausages
  • 1kg beef mince
  • 1 onion , finely chopped
  • ½ a large bunch flat-leaf parsley , finely chopped
  • 85g Parmesan , grated, plus extra to serve if you like
  • 100g fresh breadcrumbs
  • 2 eggs , beaten with a fork
  • olive oil , for roasting
  • spaghetti , to serve (you'll need about 100g per portion)

FOR THE SAUCE

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Per serving

870 kcalories, protein 46.0g, carbohydrate 95.0g, fat 37.0 g, saturated fat 13.0g, fibre 5.0g, sugar 13.0g, salt 1.34 g

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