This Meatball Parmesan is a hearty, rich and delicious. Perfect for cozy winter weeknights! It features juicy meatballs smothered in a delicious marinara sauce and topped with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. A simple dish that is beautiful and oh so tasty!
Meatball Parmesan Casserole
This hearty Meatball Parmesan bake marries up homemade meatballs, marinara, and Italian cheeses in one skillet or pan.
Meatball Parmesan is perfect for an easy weeknight meal and so versatile… use it on subs, pasta, and more!
How To Make Meatball Parmesan – Step By Step
You can jump to the recipe card for full ingredients & instructions!
- Mix together the meatball ingredients.
- Place the sauce in a skillet and add the meatballs
- Pour sauce over the meatballs and sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake until hot and bubbly.
- Top each meatball with a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese and more cheese.
- Cook until melty and bubbly.
- Serve and enjoy!
What Other Types of Meat Can I Use?
Ground chuck or pork are great for meatballs because they always turn out so juicy from the higher fat content. You can use any type of ground meat that you like.
Keep in mind that meat with a lower fat content like turkey, chicken, or lean ground beef will yield dryer meatballs. You can mix a lean type of meat with something fattier like lamb, regular ground beef, or pork.
How To Store Leftover Meatballs
This Meatball Parmesan recipe will last 3 – 4 days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container. To freeze just place the cooked meatballs on a baking sheet and freeze separately to begin with.
Transfer them to a freezer bag or otherwise airtight container and place back in the cold and they’ll keep for up to 3 months.
How To Serve Meatball Parmesan
This Meatball Parmesan can be served in a variety of ways on a variety of dishes, feel free to get creative with them!
- Over pasta.
- Spooned over fluffy mashed potatoes.
- It pairs perfectly with my creamy polenta.
- Stuffed into sandwiches, think meatball sub but better than you ever imagined it could be.
- Transform these bad boys into little sliders.
Tips!
- Any ground meat would work. Ground beef would work great as well. You can also combine meats like ground pork and ground beef together.
- You can fry the meatballs. Heat about a tbsp of oil in a skillet then add the meatballs and fry until golden all around, should take about 7 to 10 minutes.
- For easier prep, make meatballs ahead of time and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
- In a pinch, you could substitute your favorite frozen meatball, partially thawed, and cook as directed, starting with the sauce step.
Check Out These Other Delicious Meatball Recipes
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Meatballs (with Dijon Sauce)
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Recipe
- Mozzarella Stuffed Italian Meatballs
- Peruvian Chicken Meatballs with Green Sauce (Drop Meatballs)
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Meatball Parmesan
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry breadcrumbs or 4 slices stale white bread
- 2 tablespoons milk cream or buttermilk
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese divided
- 1½ teaspoon dried parsley
- 1½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1½ pounds ground chuck or a blend of ground pork ground sirloin and ground chuck
- 2 cups Homemade Tomato Sauce or store-bought spaghetti or marinara sauce
- ½ pound fresh mozzarella cut into 2-inch pieces
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400°F. Cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the breadcrumbs (if using bread slices, cut off the crust and tear bread into bite-size pieces) and milk in a large mixing bowl and stir until breadcrumbs are completely coated. Set aside for 5 minutes or until liquid is almost absorbed.
- Add eggs, salt, pepper, Parmesan, parsley, basil, oregano to the breadcrumbs/milk mixture and stir well.
- Add ground meat and mix, gently, just until incorporated and form into 2½-inch balls.
- Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes or until brown & cooked through. If more color on the outside of the meatballs is desired, set the oven to broil and broil the meatballs 2-3 minutes or until a darker brown.
- Set the oven to 375°F
- While the meatballs cook, prepare the sauce (if making homemade).
- Brush a 12-inch skillet with canola oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place 1-cup sauce in the prepared skillet and sprinkle with a third of the grated Parmesan. Set the meatballs in the skillet, leaving a little space between the meatballs. Pour the remaining sauce over the meatballs and sprinkle with another third of the grated Parmesan.
- Transfer skillet to the oven and bake at 375°F for 20-30 minutes or until sauce is hot and bubbly. Top each meatball with a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese and the remaining third of Parmesan. Cook just until the cheese is melted and starting to lightly brown.
- Allow the Meatball Parmesan to cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Serve with a toasty Italian baguette and a side salad.
- Enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’s tips
Nutrition Information
I just made this for my guys and I couldn’t even get a pic because they were into it so fast. So good! I used ground 85/15 sirloin and a roll of sage sausage, but followed the rest of the recipe exactly. Turned out fabulous! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it so much, Dana!
I used frozen Italian meatballs and crushed some croutons up on top. It was delish!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Lisa!
Very yummy, although I used more parmesan than called for and added a teaspoon of garlic powder..
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Donna!
This page directions are hard to follow. Ingredients isn’t specific on how múch parmesan cheese goes into meatballs. Page is extremely hard to copy and paste. Finding directions is difficult. Too much information it’s confusing. Hopefully I figure out the recipe. Thank you
Hi Kelly! The instructions in the post are not as specific as those in the recipe card. They’re just to give you an idea of how the recipe works. If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, you can view and print the full recipe card! Hope this helps!
Fantastic
These were very tasty!! I didn’t make as meatball Parmesan, just ground turkey meatballs with brown gravy. I also increased bread crumbs and only used 2 eggs. Sorry, no picture.
Thanks for sharing, Irene!
Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Enjoy, Mary!
You have so many recipes I want to try. This is another one that looks good. Thanks for an amazing blog. Cooking is our passion and so glad I found someone that enjoys cooking just as much as we do. I made your strawberry brownies with ganache topping. I hope our company enjoys them.
Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer!
Liked it – but your recipe leaves out how many cups of marinara.
It should be fixed now :)
I don’t see where it has been fixed – unless it is my browser. All I see is add 1 cup sauce in the final steps and then it says add remaining sauce but how much is the remaining sauce? Don’t see total sauce measurements in ingredients list…..
The recipe still doesn’t say how many cups of sauce to use.
Step 3 says to add parmesan, but then further down the parmesan is added in thirds. How much do you add in step 3?
Divide the parmesan into fourths and use in both steps :)