Delicious Homemade Italian Meatball Sub Sandwiches

What’s the third epic way to enjoy meatballs? A meatball sub sandwich of course! If you’re new here, maybe I should make it clear that I also really love bread. I have a ton of sandwiches & wraps recipes to go through! I also love burgers, and the bun matters. Sorry protein-style burgers, but I need my bun to complete it! A burger is not a burger without a soft, toasted, buttery bun!

So, let’s envelop our meaty, saucy and cheesy masterpiece in some buns shall we? You may have had the famous meatball sub from Subway. Okay, I’ll be honest and admit I’ve never had the Subway meatball sub. It looks good, but I’ve never tried it. I just wanted to make my own and I guarantee that it’ll be better fresh out of your kitchen with meatballs made from scratch! Trust me, making these meatball sub sandwiches yourself is going to be so much better! It’s surprisingly easy to do, so save yourself the trip and the cash and let’s get to making our epic meatball subs right from the comfort of your own kitchen!

Tips for the BEST Meatball Sub Sandwiches!

• 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.
• The buns should be soft enough to create a pocket for our toppings once you have cut the slit down the center.
• While broiling the subs, you can broil until the buns are lightly charred or stop before this stage. I love the char, because these Portuguese buns taste just like a napoletana once charred! Yum.
• The subs can also be broiled in an air fryer if you set it to Air Broil mode and bake for 5-7 minutes.

Subway Meatball Sub Ingredients

This Italian Meatball Sub recipe has three components:

• Meatballs
• Marinara Sauce
• Sub sandwich itself

Let’s review the ingredients we’ll need for each component. Remember, the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD is at the bottom of this post! Scroll down so you can print it and save it for later, and so you can easily scale the quantities depending on how many sandwiches you want to make!

For the 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!
• 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!
• Olive oil: For cooking.
• Seasoning: All you need is salt and pepper here because the parsley does so much!
• Cheese: Parmesan cheese is an essential for me!

For the Marinara Sauce

• Italian/San Marzano type tomatoes
• Salt to taste
• Garlic cloves, minced
• Red chilli flakes, to taste
• Olive oil

For the Meatball Subs

• Buns
• Mozzarella and provolone cheeses
• Chili oil
• Basil

Make the Most Amazing Meatball Sub Sandwiches

For the Marinara Sauce

1. Place the tomatoes in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds to break down the tomatoes.
2. Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Add garlic and chilli flakes and sauté for 30 seconds.
3. Add in the pulsed San Marzano tomatoes and salt. Bring sauce to a simmer. Lower heat and cook for 10-15 minutes or until your sauce reduces and has a thick consistency.

For 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.

Cooking the Meatballs

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.

Heat a pan on medium heat and add the olive oil. Cook the meatballs until evenly browned all over and completely cooked inside, about 12-15 minutes.

Assembling the Sandwich

Cut a slit down the center of the buns and place the buns over a wire rack on a baking sheet.

Spread 2-4 Tbsp of the marinara sauce.

Scatter mozzarella and provolone over the sauce and place 2-3 meatballs over the cheese.

Top with more marinara, mozzarella and provolone.

Make sure the oven rack is adjusted to the middle rack and place the baking sheet on the oven rack.

Change the oven to Broil mode and bake until the cheese has melted and the buns are toasted. You can toast until the buns have a slight char or stop right before it.

Top with fresh basil, brush the buns with chili oil and serve hot with marinara sauce to dip.