These are the BEST meatball subs! Made with a garlic toasted bun, tender meatballs, homemade tomato sauce and provolone cheese, these meatball sub sandwiches are guaranteed to satisfy.
Meatball Subs
In my opinion, there are decent meatball subs and there are knock-it out of the park meatball subs.
And I am sharing with you how to make a knock-it out of the park sub sandwich.
My recipe for meatball subs starts with homemade meatballs that are filled with INCREDIBLE flavor and homemade tomato sauce. Served on a toasted bun that has been flavored with garlic and smothered in provolone cheese. It is ooey, gooey, savory perfection.
For the Best Meatball Subs
The difference between a good meatball sub and a great meatball sub are all in the details. With minimal ingredients needed to make a meatball sub sandwich, it is essential to choose your ingredients wisely.
- Homemade Meatballs
- Yes, you can use any frozen or store-bought meatballs you like for meatball subs, but for the BEST meatball sub, I strongly suggest homemade meatballs.
- Instant Pot Meatballs work well in this recipe as well.
- Homemade Tomato Sauce
- Again, you can use any store bought marinara/spaghetti sauce you like. While I prefer my homemade marinara sauce, there are really good quality brands on the market.
- Hoagie Buns
- You want a thick bun that has room for 3-4 meatballs per sub.
- Provolone Cheese
- Provolone is my go to cheese for meatball subs.
- Thinly sliced provolone is best so that the cheese melts sufficiently to fully cover the bun and meatballs.
- Olive Oil
- Used to help perfectly toast the hoagie bun.
- Seasonings
- Mix garlic powder and dried oregano into the olive oil for an added layer of flavor to these meatball sandwiches.
How to make Meatball Subs
Step One: Prepare Meatballs and Sauce
- Make Oven Baked Meatballs or Instant Pot Meatballs.
- Make Homemade Marinara (or warm up jarred spaghetti sauce.)
- Mix prepared meatballs with just enough sauce to coat.
- For one batch of meatballs this is typically 2 cups sauce.
- If using frozen meatballs, warm through in sauce before assembling meatball subs.
Step Two: Toast Buns
- Toasting the buns ensures that you will not have a soggy meatball sub.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Mix together olive oil and seasonings.
- Brush on inside of the hoagie buns
- Place seasoned opened buns on cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes, or until golden.
Step Three: Assemble Meatball Sandwich
- Place provolone cheese slices on bun, overlapping to cover surface of the bun.
- This step helps to keep the sandwich from getting soggy as well.
- Top toasted bun with 3-4 meatballs.
- Top with another piece of provolone cheese.
- Return to oven to bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and close bun and serve.
Serve Meatball Subs with:
Meatball Subs
Ingredients
- 18 meatballs 1 recipe
- 6 hoagie buns
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 2-3 cups marinara sauce
- 8 ounces provolone cheese thinly sliced.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Gently mix together prepared meatballs with marinara sauce. Set aside.
- Place opened buns onto a large cookie sheet.
- Mix together olive oil with garlic and oregano and brush on the opened sides of the buns.
- Toast buns for 5 minutes, or until just browned.
- Remove buns from the oven and place 2 slices of provolone cheese on each bun, slightly overlapping to cover the surface of the bun. Top with 3 large (or 4 smaller) meatballs and an additional slice of cheese.
- Return to oven and bake for 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Close sandwich and serve meatball subs.
Nutrition
I love all the tips, and these subs look so scrumptious! And thank you for the meatball recipe too. My husband would love this!
YAY!!! This is a winner in my husband’s book as well!
My kids would love this for dinner. I love all of the step by step directions, it makes it so much easier.
So glad the tips help! Enjoy!