Homemade baked meatballs are a flavorful and versatile dish that can be enjoyed on their own or with pasta, sandwiches, or as an appetizer. This recipe combines ground beef and pork sausage with breadcrumbs, eggs, milk, and seasonings, and is baked in marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese.
Preheat the oven to 425° and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the milk and breadcrumbs into a small bowl and mix together, it will be like a paste. This helps to bind things together and retain moisture.
Combine all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Gently mix until blended well. Your hands are your best tool here.
Using a 1 tablespoon size cookie scoop, scoop the meat mixture, one scoop at a time, into your hands, roll into the shape of a ball, place on the baking sheet. Continue until all the meatballs are made.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 160°F. or 71°C.
Pour 1 cup of sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Add the meatballs.
Add the remaining sauce and gently toss to cover the meatballs in the sauce.
Cover with the mozzarella cheese (you can use more or less based on your personal preference.
Bake in a 350° oven, uncovered, until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes
Notes
Some of the cheese will melt out a little bit, this is normal.
Double the recipe for a large batch that you can freeze and use multiple ways.
These work well in an airfryer too, temperature is still 425 and time is still 10-12 minutes. When air-fried, the texture on the outside is a bit crispy, and the inside is juicy.
These are tablespoon sized meatballs, you can make them larger if you wish.
**If you are starting with cold meatballs, increase the baking time to 10-20 minutes for a total baking time of 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and meatballs are warmed through. If cheese is getting too brown, then loosely tent with foil to stop the browning.