How to Make Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs

This is the best Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe I have tried (and sure, I’ve tried a few!). These are traditional Italian meatballs, as the reference to Nonna may suggest! Just the name Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs itself brings up the joy of going to an Italian restaurant as a kid and ordering whatever you like. Nothing fancy, just old school deliciousness for me please!

Unfortunately, now that I am an adult, when I order meatballs at a restaurant, it’s usually super disappointing. This may be that they are using premade, perhaps frozen meatballs, made of lower ingredients.

I’ll get straight into the full Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe below after the brief introduction, so that you don’t have to scroll down to get the details. However, after the recipe there are tips and variations that are worth reading, so make sure to check them out.

To get the real experience of the Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs, you absolutely have to make the meatballs from scratch. This isn’t super complex, but it does have a few steps to it. Don’t worry, I got you, and it’s so worth it. Particularly when you add the secret ingredient…

Water.

Yep, the secret ingredient is water. I know, it seems too simple, but by watering down the mince you get a super juicy, traditional tasting meatball, and therefore a great dinner made up of Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs.

Your Nonna will be jealous.

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Nonna's Spaghetti and Meatballs

Yield: serves 4

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Ingredients

• For the Meatballs:
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 250g beef mince
• 250g pork mince
• For the Tomato Sauce:
• 2 tbsp olive oil (divided)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• ¼ cup red wine
• 400ml tomato passata (unsalted)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried parsley
• ¼ tsp paprika
• 1 tsp monk fruit sweetener  (or sugar if you prefer)
• Parmesan cheese, to serve
• Cooked spaghetti or bread, to serve

Instructions

1. In a very large bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, water, egg, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Then add in the pork mince and beef mince, breaking up the mince with a spoon and doing a brief mix in.
2. Then with clean hands or gloves mix the meatball mixture. Use your hands and get right in there, really massage the ingredients together until they become a smooth paste. Then make sure to wash your hands well, to get the meat off, before you touch anything else.
3. Now to shape and brown the meatballs: In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Place your meatball mix near the stove, and take out 1 tbsp. of meatball mix into your hands, shape into a rough ball (about the size of a ping pong ball, they don’t need to be perfect, a blob that is roughly spherical is fine), then place on the frying pan. Repeat with all of the meatball mix, placing the meatballs into the frying pan next to each other but not touching.
4. Brown the meatballs on both sides for a few minutes and then take them out and set aside on a plate. Our goal isn’t to cook them through yet, this will happen in the sauce later.
5. Now to make the sauce: Put the frying pan back on medium heat, add in 1 tbsp. of olive oil with the onion and fry until soft, about 5 minutes, then add garlic, and fry for 30 more seconds.
6. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. This is a fancy way of saying ‘get all the tasty bits off the pan and back into the sauce’. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up anything that might have stuck to the bottom of the pan, you want all of that flavour in the mix. Stir for one minute.
7. Stir in the passata, chicken stock, salt, pepper, bay leaf, oregano, basil, parsley, paprika, and monk fruit sweetener. This last one will add some sweetness to balance out the tartness of the tomatoes. Add in all of the meatballs and stir again, then arrange the meatballs into a single layer. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low.
8. Simmer for 25 mins, then turn off the heat and discard the bay leaf.
9. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings if needed.
10. Serve with cooked spaghetti and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Nutrition Information

Yield 4 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 590Total Fat 34gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 163mgSodium 716mgCarbohydrates 27gFiber 3gSugar 5gProtein 40g

What To Serve With Italian Meatballs (That Is Not Spaghetti)

• What to serve with Italian Meatballs you ask? In Italy, traditionally these meatballs are served in a bowl with a side of crusty bread. And oh yes, butter it liberally. Traditionally in Italy it was not spaghetti, that was an addition started in America.
• Try serving the meatballs with mashed potato!
• Try ‘Subway Sandwich’ style : cut open a bread roll and pile the meatballs and sauce right in. You can add salad, vegetables, and cheese as well. Warm the sandwich in the oven or in a sandwich press to melt the cheese.
• Add some veggies to your meal by making a side salad while the meatballs are cooking. Blanched green beans work well as well. This is for either serving with the Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe or the spaghetti free versions!

Is Spaghetti and Meatballs Italian?

Is Spaghetti and Meatballs Italian? The combination of spaghetti and meatballs is American-Italian: Italian migrants in America started the combination and made it popular to make Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs.

The meatballs and tomato sauce part of this recipe is Italian though, but it Italy they don’t serve them with spaghetti, they serve the meatballs as a meal with a side of bread.

So when we call the recipe Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs, we are talking about a metaphorical American-Italian Nonna 🙂

If you would like to read more about the history of Italian and Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs, check out this post.

Variations for Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs

• Use any mincemeat combination you like in Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs. I think half red meat and half white meat works well. Try a red option like beef, kangaroo or lamb, mixed with a white option like chicken, turkey or pork.
• If you want dairy free in this meal, just forget the parmesan cheese. (You could use vegan cheese or nutritional yeast instead too).
• Monkfruit sweetener is a natural sugar replacement. You can use whatever your favourite sweetener is, or just normal sugar instead.
• Instead of passata you could use 600g of chopped fresh tomatoes.
• If you eat gluten free, buy gluten free breadcrumbs, I get these from the health section of my supermarket. Also, use either gluten free spaghetti (Barilla is a nice brand), or rice noodles, instead of normal spaghetti.
• Don’t be afraid to be generous with the herbs and flavourings, it’s better to have a bit too much herbs rather than not enough. Maybe the first time you make the meatballs, follow this Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe, it’s got good flavour but is not over-powering. But the second time you make this recipe, go nuts, pour in extra wine, double down on the herbs, you could pile in fresh herbs too, and add chilli. Play with it. Try drizzling cream right over the sauce at the end after you’ve turned the heat off too.

Notes

• Buy top quality ingredients as much as possible. Free range and grass fed beef mince and free range pork mince with no added hormones, free range eggs and the best quality parmesan cheese you can afford. For the passata, it should only have tomatoes listed under ingredients.
• If you end up buying passata with salt added, be careful not to add too much extra salt into the dish, do some taste testing!
• A more complex but delicious option, is to use bone broth for the stock. Oh my God does it add flavour and nutrients! But if you don’t have bone broth, that’s ok, a pre-made stock or stock powder mixed into water is absolutely fine, just try to buy one with no added MSG. I like the Massel brand.
• If you want more of “Nonna’s” Italian themed recipes, have a look at Nonna’s Bolognese and Nonna’s Lasagna.

Gluten Free italian Meatballs

To make Gluten Free Italian Meatballs, instead of using normal breadcrumbs, get gluten free breadcrumbs. You can find these in the health section of supermarkets. I’ve also used 1/4 cup cooked rice, polenta or quinoa instead of the 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, and that worked really well as well if you have those on hand.

If you would like to serve with spaghetti, get gluten free spaghetti (Barilla is a nice brand), or use rice noodles.

Or you can serve with rice, mashed potatoes or gluten free bread instead.

One Pan Spaghetti and Meatballs

Have you been wondering if you can make one pan spaghetti and meatballs? Yes you can!! This is very exciting, to find out that One Pan Spaghetti and Meatballs is a thing, because absolutely nobody wants to use a heap of pans when they are cooking!

So to make One Pan Spaghetti and Meatballs, what you will do, is follow the above Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe but with a few changes. So once you’ve browned the meatballs in the pan, don’t bother taking them out at all, just add your onion right in and around the meatballs, then go ahead with the recipe and make the sauce in there.

Once you’ve added in all of your ingredients, brought the sauce to a boil, and turned the heat down to low, simmer the meatballs for 10mins, then add in 3 cups of water and 150g of dried, uncooked spaghetti, broken in half. Gently stir in the water and spaghetti without breaking the meatballs, and try to get the spaghetti under the liquid. Bring the sauce back up to a boil again, and then let it all simmer gently for about 15mins, until the spaghetti is cooked through. Give everything a gentle stir a few times to help the spaghetti cook evenly.

Can You Freeze Spaghetti and Meatballs?

Can you freeze spaghetti and meatballs? Yes, spaghetti and meatballs freeze beautifully, making them a perfect make ahead meal for busy nights, and a great option for meal prep that you can have in the freezer. The key is to store the components properly so the pasta stays pleasant and the meatballs keep their tenderness.

Freeze the sauce and meatballs together for the best results, they hold up perfectly and even hopefully taste better as the flavours develop. The pasta can be frozen too, but it’s ideal to cook it slightly under al dente so it doesn’t become mushy once reheated. So if you are planning to freeze the meal, try to slightly under cook the pasta or at least definitely do not over cook!

To freeze, let everything cool completely and store in airtight containers, leaving a little room for expansion in the container. This way you will have a freezer full of Nonna’s Spaghetti and Meatballs!