The World's Best Oven Baked Meatballs

This really is the World's Best Meatball Recipe! I am sharing with you an authentic recipe for Italian style baked meatballs that are perfectly seasoned and tender. There are a few tricks and tips in this recipe that truly do make these the BEST meatballs ever!

Serve up these Baked Meatballs with homemade tomato sauce, add to Instant Pot Spaghetti or use for meatball subs, for a delicious meal your whole family will love.

Oven Baked Meatballs

You may think your great aunt or your grandma made the best meatballs. And while I am sure they are delicious, you have not tried my recipe for meatballs.

I take a classic Italian meatball recipe and pump so much flavor into the mix that these meatballs are anything but bland. And instead of being pan fried or deep fried, they are BAKED.

I know most baked meatballs are known to be dried out or tough. BUT, I have found THE PERFECT trick that will change the way you bake meatballs FOREVER!

These meatballs are steamed in beef broth as they bake. The meatballs absorb the broth as they bake, keeping them flavorful and tender, and as the broth is evaporated and absorbed, they crisp up perfectly on the outside. Seriously, PERFECTION!

After one bite, you will NEVER make another meatball recipe again!

Key Ingredients

The line up of ingredients are extensive, but they are simple and your will find most of it already in your pantry.

• The Meat: The base of your meatballs is truly up to you--you can use ground pork, ground veal, ground beef, ground Italian sausage or even ground turkey for meatballs. I personally use  grass fed ground beef with a 15% fat content (85/15). As long as you stay between a fat content of 10-20% you can use any type of meat you like in this recipe for meatballs. I would not increase or decrease the fat any more than this though or you will either end up with a grease fire in your oven from too much fat or a dry meatball from not enough fat.
• Breadcrumbs: I use whatever bread I have leftover and grind it up in my blender or food processor to control the quality of ingredients. You can purchase store bought bread crumbs, but watch for added corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. It is easy to take leftover bread you have lying around and store in a large freezer bag in the freezer and at any time you can easily whip up homemade bread crumbs. If you need gluten free meatballs, I would suggest using an equal amount of gluten free oats in place of breadcrumbs. While I was gluten free, I did that quite often and never felt like the texture or flavor of the meatball suffered.
• Dried Herbs: I use lots of dried oregano and red pepper flakes to add serious flavor to these oven baked meatballs. The amounts are NOT typos!
• Kosher Salt: I use a LOT of kosher salt in this recipe because I am using homemade plain, unseasoned bread crumbs and low sodium beef broth and you need salt to season food properly. If you are using regular beef broth or store bought bread crumbs or Italian sausage in your meatball mixture, decrease the salt to 1 teaspoon.
• Parsley: The only fresh herb I use is parsley--which is what 80 cents a bunch? A cheap but extremely worthwhile investment to bump up the flavor in these meatballs.
• Garlic: The fresh garlic gives these meatballs incredible flavor with a bit of spice. You can use jarred minced garlic or fresh minced garlic but I would not recommend using dried garlic powder.
• Parmesan Cheese: Be sure to use freshly grated cheese instead of pre-grated. There is NO comparison in the taste between fresh Parmesan and the stuff you find in a jar.
• Beef Broth: Beef broth is one of my secret ingredients in these meatballs. The beef broth gives a rich flavor to the meatballs and is my secret to steaming these meatballs while they bake--more on that in a minute. If you are opposed to beef, use vegetable or chicken stock in these meatballs and turkey or pork as your base.
• Milk: Milk is a classic ingredient in meatballs, but if you do not have dairy in the house, feel free to use additional beef broth. Just cut back on the salt by ¼ teaspoon.
• Egg: The egg binds the meatball together. If you are egg-free, omit the egg and add in a flax egg and work more delicately when shaping the meatballs. Egg-free meatballs will work, but are much more apt to fall apart if not carefully handled.

How to Make Meatballs

There are two things that make these meatballs better than all other meatball recipes.

• The amount of seasonings added.
• HOW these meatballs are baked.

Step One: Mix together all the ingredients except for the meat until well combined. You don't have to worry about over mixing the binder ingredients, so be sure to really mix the ingredients until well combined. This helps the flavor be evenly distributed in the meatballs.

Step Two: Add in the meat and gently mix--not with a spoon, with your hands. Your hands are your best tools for mixing meatballs!! The mixture will wash off your hands, I promise!!

Step Three: Scoop the meatball mixture with a medium cookie scoop, rolling gently to shape if needed after scooping unto greased sheet pan with sides.

By using a cookie scoop, it helps ensure all the meatballs are the same size which is key to delicious meatballs and allows you to handle the meatball mixture as little as possible--which will ensure tender meatballs.

Step Four: Bake the meatballs using my secret tip for the BEST meatballs. Instead of pan simply baking in the oven on a cookie sheet, we are going steam the meatballs in beef broth at a high temperature in the oven.

This process is quite simple, with phenomenal results. Simply place the meatballs on a rimmed baking sheet (a RIMMED baking sheet is crucial here), and then  pour beef broth around the meatballs before placing in the oven.

The broth will be absorbed into the meat and evaporated some in the oven, so that after a short baking time, the broth is gone and meatballs will have a chance to sear and get a crunchy exterior without being fried or covered in oil to bake.

It is insane how well this works. Try it out--I promise you will be a believer. You will never want to bake meatballs any other way--scratch that, you will never want to MAKE any other meatballs!

To Serve

Oven Baked Meatballs are delicious served on spaghetti with homemade spaghetti sauce or served up on a hoagie bun with melted provolone cheese for a Meatball Sub.

But don’t limit yourself to only having these meatballs on just spaghetti. They are fabulous simmered into Italian Wedding Soup or tucked into pizza bread, as a marvelous little surprise. And even though this meatball recipe is seasoned with Italian flavors, they also taste delicious coated in barbecue sauce or a mixture of cocktail sauce and grape jelly. This is one of my favorite appetizers to share at parties!

How to Freeze Meatballs

You can FREEZE these Italian meatballs to use for quick meals. I make a double or triple batch of oven meatballs and then once cooled, I place on cookie sheet and freeze until solid (about 30 minutes.) Transfer to a freezer safe bag for up to 3 months.

To reheat frozen meatballs, either drop into simmering sauce for 20 minutes or reheat in an oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until warmed through.

More Meatball Recipes

• Lentil Meatballs
• Instant Pot Meatballs
• The Best Chicken Meatballs
• Turkey Swedish Meatballs

I can't wait for you to try out this meatball recipe--I truly believe it is the best! And I would love for you to leave a comment letting me know how much you enjoyed this recipe. 

The World's Best Meatballs

This really is the World's Best Oven Baked Meatball Recipe! An authentic recipe for Italian style baked meatballs that are perfectly seasoned and tender.

4.73 from 269 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 228kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 pounds ground beef
• ▢ ½ cup breadcrumbs
• ▢ ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ▢ ¼ cup milk any fat percentage works
• ▢ 1 cup beef broth divided
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ ¼ cup chopped parsley
• ▢ 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ▢ ½ tablespoon kosher salt see notes
• ▢ ½ tablespoon pepper
• ▢ 1 tsp oregano
• ▢ ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, milk, egg, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, and ¼ cup of beef broth. Mix until well combined.
• Add the meat to the mixture and just combine. Do not over mix, but be sure seasonings are well dispersed.
• Coat a baking sheet with rimmed edges with non stick spray and roll meatballs into 1 inch circles. Place meatballs onto baking sheet.
• Pour remaining ¾ cup beef broth around meatballs and bake for 25 minutes.

Equipment Needed

• Rimmed Baking Sheet

Notes

• Meat: Feel free to use any ground meat you like, just try to keep the fat percentage between 10 and 20%, for the best flavor and consistency. 
• Sodium Content: I use a LOT of kosher salt in this recipe because I am using homemade plain, unseasoned bread crumbs and low sodium beef broth. If you are using regular beef broth, store bought bread crumbs, or Italian sausage in your meatball mixture, decrease the salt to 1 teaspoon. You can decrease the salt if on a low sodium diet as well. 
• Parmesan Cheese: Be sure to use freshly grated cheese instead of pre-grated. There is NO comparison in the taste between fresh Parmesan and the stuff you find in a jar.
• Gluten Free Meatballs: Use an equal amount of gluten free quick cook oats in place of breadcrumbs.
• These meatballs will last in the fridge for up 3 days and can be frozen in an air tight container for up to 3 months. They reheat beautifully in simmering sauce. 
• Egg Free Meatballs: Omit the egg and use a flax egg. Egg-free meatballs will work, but are much more apt to fall apart if not carefully handled.

Nutrition

Calories: 228kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 489mg | Potassium: 240mg | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 1.9mg

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This post was originally shared in March 2017, but has been updated with new tips in December 2019. The recipe remains the same.