Cheesy Oven-Baked Meatball Casserole in Marinara Sauce

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Cooking With Anadi

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Cheesy Oven-Baked Meatball Casserole in Marinara Sauce

Hello hello! I’m going to come right out and say that I LOVE Spaghetti & Meatballs.

I’ve never had spaghetti and meatballs till I came to Canada for obvious reasons. But it’s such a classic comfort food as we can see from the cute and romantic scene in Lady & The Tramp, I was so eager to try it the first time I had it at a restaurant! After that wonderful experience, I knew I just had to try my hand at this recipe myself! Not to toot my own horn, but my Spaghetti & Meatballs with Classic Marinara recipe is pretty darn delicious!

An important component of that recipe is of course the meatballs. The thing I love most about the meatballs is that lovely sear. It adds so much flavor to the meatballs that just seeps through the sauce. Yum! If meatballs don’t have that epic sear, it’s just not the same to me, and I don’t find the meatballs as flavorful. However, you want to make sure that the meatballs don’t get over-cooked and dry out! That’s no fun, either!

Fear not, fear not. I’m here to show you how to make the most scrumptious meatballs you’ve ever had! This is my tried and true way to make meatballs that are sure to be a crowd-pleaser. What’s even better is making this cheesy meatball marinara bake and you’ll have a true comforting dinner tonight! Now my mouth is watering thinking about this cheesy meatball bake, and I wish I were making them right now too!

5 Tips for the Best Meatballs Ever!

• Use the freshest meat to prepare the meatballs, if you use high quality ingredients you will taste the goodness.
• Soak the Panko breadcrumbs in milk until completely mushy and drain any excess milk. These breadcrumbs helps make the meatballs fluffy, light and helps to keep them juicy.
• Use fresh parsley, as much as I would like the convenience of substituting with dried parsley, it just does not work. Fresh parsley is one of the key flavors in these meatballs and irreplaceable.
• Be generous with Parmesan cheese, the creaminess helps round out and also helps with binding the flavors and add a wonderful nutty flavor.
• Make sure to sear the meatballs before finishing them off in the sauce. The browning improves and adds a lot of flavor.

Tools Needed

• Mixing bowl
• Large bowl
• Nonstick pan
• Measuring spoons
• Baking tray
• Spatula

Ingredients for Juicy Italian Meatballs

Okay, let’s get onto the ingredients to make melt-in-your-mouth juicy meatballs for this meatball marinara casserole that are packed with exquisite flavors! Here’s what you’ll need for mind-blowing meatballs:

• Ground beef: I understand what it’s like to be on a budget, but I really recommend you use the best beef you can find. From my experience, the tenderness and taste of the meatballs really is dependent on the quality of the meat. A tip to save on money is to go to a butcher and ask them to cut the portion you need. That way there’s no food waste, and you’ll get the freshest meat! However, for the juiciest meatballs ever, I would suggest getting a pork and beef mix, or using equal parts beef and equal parts pork or veal.
• Egg yolk: These help to bind the meatballs.
• Breadcrumbs: I would recommend you use plain Panko breadcrumbs, as these hold the meatballs best.
• Milk: I can’t make meatballs without milk! You’ll want to soak the Panko breadcrumbs in milk before making your meatballs to get light, fluffy meatballs.
• Parsley: You can use fresh or dried parsley, but I recommend fresh parsley for a fresher flavor. This adds a fragrant flavor to the meatballs.
• Onion: This is optional, but some red onion really adds a nice strong flavor to your meatballs.
• Garlic cloves: Minced garlic is just mandatory for some tasty meatballs and to add flavors in general!
• Seasoning: All you need is salt and pepper here because the parsley does so much!
• Cheese: Parmesan cheese is an essential for me!

How to Make Meatball Casserole

Prepping the Meatballs

In a mixing bowl, add the breadcrumbs. Pour in the milk and mix well. Allow the breadcrumbs to rest until they completely absorb the milk, about 10-15 minutes.

To prepare the meatballs, add the beef, pork, onion, egg yolk, garlic, parmesan, and fresh parsley in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the soaked breadcrumbs into the mince, discarding any excess milk and combine well.

Divide the meatball mince into 6-8 equal portions. Using the palms of your hands, form the mince into round, even balls and place them on a plate or baking sheet.

Making the Baked Meatballs in Marinara Sauce

I remember growing up watching Hell’s Kitchen and one line that Gordon Ramsay said in one of the episodes has always stuck with me.

“If it’s brown it’s cooked, if it’s black it’s fudged”

If you know Ramsay as well, you know what that line really said. But it makes so much sense. There’s nothing worse that grey, boiled meatballs. Giving the meatballs a quick sear to brown them adds so much more flavor. Then, they can be finished off in the pan itself, or in the marinara.

To Cook the Meatballs

Heat a pan on medium heat and add the olive oil. Cook the meatballs until evenly browned on the top and bottom. You don't need to cook the meatballs entirely, as they will finish cooking with the marinara sauce in the oven. Cook for about 10-12 minutes.

Assembling the Cheesy Baked Meatball Bake

To make the meatball casserole, create a bed of cheese with half the mozzarella cheese and gently place the meatballs over the cheese. Top with reserved marinara sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is golden brown. Garnish with basil, serve hot, and enjoy!

This Is a Meatball Bake, Not a Dump-and-Bake Pasta Casserole

Worth setting expectations before you start, because most things called a meatball casserole are a different dish. The common version is a dump-and-bake: you tip uncooked pasta, jarred sauce and raw meatballs into a casserole dish, cover it, and let the pasta cook in the tomato sauce until it is just past al dente. Some versions do the same thing in a slow cooker over several hours.

Mine is not that. There is no pasta in it at all. It is six meatballs, browned in a pan first, then nested into 2 cups of marinara sauce over a bed of mozzarella and finished in the oven at 450°F for 10 to 12 minutes — just long enough for the cheese to melt and go golden. That is the whole bake. The recipe makes two individual casseroles with three meatballs in each, and if you want to bake meatball casserole for more people you simply scale it, keeping three meatballs per dish.

The reason for browning first is that a meatball simmered from raw in sauce has a soft, uniform texture the whole way through. Searing them in a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat until each side takes a slight char builds a crust and a depth of flavor you cannot get any other way. Do not cook them through at this stage — they finish in the marinara in the oven, and a meatball that is fully cooked before it goes in comes out dry. On the sauce: my own marinara is what I use, but a good jarred one is a completely reasonable shortcut and the recipe does not suffer for it.

Seasoning, Substitutions and Storing Leftovers

The seasoning here is deliberately fresh rather than dried. There is no garlic powder, no onion powder and no Italian seasoning in this meatball mixture — the flavors come from 4 cloves of minced garlic, a tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley (flat-leaf, which has more of a flavor than curly), 1 1/2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, and salt and black pepper to taste. I use kosher salt because the larger flakes are easier to judge by hand when you are seasoning raw meat. If dried spices are genuinely what you have in the cupboard, about a teaspoon of garlic powder stands in for the fresh cloves and a tsp of Italian seasoning will get you in the neighbourhood, though you will miss the brightness of the fresh parsley.

The one step people skip is the panade. Two thirds of a cup of Panko breadcrumbs get soaked in 150 ml of milk for a full 10 to 20 minutes, until they are properly soggy, before anything else goes in the bowl. That soaked starch traps moisture as the beef cooks and is the single biggest reason these stay tender. Stir it through the 8 oz of ground beef — half a lb — gently and only until combined; overworking the mixture makes the meatballs springy and tight.

Leftovers keep well. Cool the casserole completely, then refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to three days. Reheat covered in a moderate oven so the sauce does not reduce and the cheese does not split — a hot, fast reheat is what turns a good bake greasy. The meatball mixture itself can also be made ahead: portion and roll the meatballs, keep them covered in the fridge overnight, and brown them the next day when you are ready to assemble.