These Easy Italian Sausage Meatballs are juicy and so flavorful! This is a great recipe for serving a crowd! Simply roll, bake, and serve with your favorite sauce! These homemade meatballs are delicious on rolls, salads, or toss with pasta for classic spaghetti and meatballs!
Italian Sausage Meatballs Recipe
It’s no secret we LOVE homemade meatballs! They’re delicious, easy, and always a crowd-pleaser! So yeah, we make them A LOT!!! But this is especially true during the holiday season… when friends and family always seem to be dropping by!
Ingredients for Italian Sausage Meatballs
- ground sausage: you’ll either want to get loose ground sausage or remove the sausage from casings. You may use sweet sausage, mild Italian sausage, or spicy sausage. Or, use a combination!
- eggs: 2 large eggs will do the trick!
- breadcrumbs: I prefer panko bread crumbs, but any variety will work!
- Parmesan cheese: finely grated works best!
- Garlic: 2 cloves finely minced or pressed through a garlic press!
- Water: H20 is such a crucial ingredient to this recipe! So please don’t reduce it or be scared of it! It makes the sausage meatballs moist, without adding any calories. My grandmother (who’s from Italy!) has been using water in her meatballs for years. It’s a little trick you’ll come to love! Promise!
How to make Italian Sausage Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside
- In a large bowl, add sausage to the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. Slowly add the water, a few tablespoons at a time, mixing with your hands until everything is just combined. Don’t over mix here or it’ll make the meatballs tough. The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape when rolled into meatballs.
- Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop about one tablespoon of meat into your palms and roll it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all of the meat. Place the baking sheet in the oven to bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked though.
Pro Tip: To easily, and evenly, shape your meatballs, use a spring loaded cookie scoop!
Why bake Meatballs?
Baked meatballs in the oven is a beautiful thing and so simple! Not only is it much neater than frying meatballs, but it’s also much easier than frying multiple batches in a skillet. With my oven baked method, you can make all of the meatballs at once. You’ll simply shape into 20 meatballs (give or take depending on the size), place them on the baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes. That’s it! Once they’re done baking, you’ll toss them in your desired sauce and serve. We love them in classic marinara sauce or spinach basil pesto!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground sausage
- 2 large eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup lukewarm water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine ground sausage, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, and garlic. Slowly add the water, a few tablespoons at a time, mixing with your hands until everything is just combined. Don’t over mix here or it’ll make the meatballs tough. The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape when rolled into meatballs.
- Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop about one tablespoon of meat into your palms and roll it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all of the meat.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven to bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they’re cooked though.
- Toss with your favorite sauce and serve!