I am very excited to share this recipe with you, as it’s a staple in my household. These are super versatile, you can have them with spaghetti, put them on a roll to make a meatball sub, or if you’re like my husband, eat the whole batch as is!
There are a few different elements that make these meatballs stand out. First and foremost, the addition of hot Italian sausage. This gives a depth of flavor and a little kick of heat, which you don’t find in other meatball recipes. I also like to sauté these on each side until they are crispy and just on the verge of being burnt. I’m telling you this caramelization on the outside adds a great texture and again only elevates the flavor! Finally, I like to cook my sauce in the same pan I used to cook the meatballs, so that any oil and bits that are left over create the base of my sauce.
If you are using a standard large ice cream scoop to measure out your meatballs, this should make exactly 24. You can easily cut this recipe in half or double it if you’re feeding a crowd, and if you think this may be too many, you can also freeze these meatballs. Just let them completely cool, put them in a freezer safe zip lock bag and put them in the freezer. They can easily be reheated on the stove or the microwave!
Spicy Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 2 lbs ground meat I like 80/20
- 1 lb ground hot Italian sausage
- 1 small white or yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 3 eggs, slightly beaten
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- ½ cup green pepper, chopped
- ½ cup saltine crackers, crushed
For the sauce:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- ½ cup white or yellow onion, chopped
- 2 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup red wine
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- Add Italian sausage and ground beef to a large bowl, along with the garlic powder, onions, eggs, cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix until combined, then stir in fresh basil and parsley.
- To crush saltines, you can easily use a food processor and grind until it's almost a saltine dust. Little chunks are okay! Add the saltine mixture to the bowl, and using a spatula or your hands, mix until thoroughly combined.
- After combined, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I like to use a large ice cream scoop to make my meatballs the same size and roll them from there, but feel free to scoop by hand if you prefer! This should make 24 meatballs if you use the scoop (about 1/4 cup each)
- After all of the meatballs are made, add 3 tbsp of olive oil to a large sauté pan and turn to medium heat. Using tongs, place meatballs in the pan and sauté, flipping throughout, until all sides are brown and crispy.
- After the meatballs are done cooking, remove from the pan and place in a bowl or the previously use sheet pan. Don't clean or throw out the remnants in the pan, these will help to flavor your sauce!
For the sauce:
- In the same pan you cooked your meatballs in, add garlic and chopped onion, and up to 2 additional tbsp of olive oil if necessary. Sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add in red wine. This will help to deglaze the pan! At this point, using a wooden spoon or your utensil of choice, scrap the bottom of the pan to get up any remnants of the meatballs that stuck. This will really help to flavor your sauce!
- After the wine cooks out a bit, about 3 minutes, add in both cans of crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and basil.
- At this point, add meatballs back into the sauce, cover and simmmer for 20 minutes. Make sure you bring your sauce down to a low heat so it doesn't burn.
- While your sauce is simmering, cook pasta. After the sauce is done, assemble with extra cheese, herbs and wha la!
Did you make this recipe? Tag @mymessykitchenn on Instagram and hashtag it #mymessykitchen, or leave a comment on this page!
These meatballs were incredible! I made a batch to have leftovers but they were only leftover for about an hour before I ate them all….
Highly Recommend!