Nonna's Famous Italian Meatballs Recipe Melts In Your Mouth by Ann Marie Patitucci


Nonna's Famous Italian Meatballs Recipe Melts In Your Mouth

Every Italian grandma and mom have their own way of making meatballs. This easy meatball recipe is exceptional! The meatballs are soft, moist and perfect with your favorite pasta and sauce. They also make a mean meatball sandwich or meatball casserole.

The Italian meatballs have just a few simple ingredients: dry Italian breadcrumbs, milk, ground beef, onion, fresh garlic, an egg, salt, black pepper, grated Parmesan cheese or Parmigiano-Reggiano, and fresh minced parsley. The breadcrumbs and milk are mixed together and sit for five minutes before being added to the rest of the ingredients. The ground beef meatballs are baked in a hot oven for about 20 minutes. Simple!

Serve these melt-in-your-mouth Italian meatballs over pasta for dinner with your favorite side dishes.

Note: 30Seconds is a participant in the Amazon affiliate advertising program and this post contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission or fees if you make a purchase via those links.

Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup dry Italian breadcrumbs
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 small onion, grated
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese or Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley

Helpful Products

Recipe Notes

  • You can freeze these meatballs after cooking, too. Simply let them cool completely, then pop them into a freezer container. You'll have delicious meatballs whenever the craving hits for about 3 months. To cook, thaw the meatballs then put them into a sauce to reheat.
  • Try this recipe with ground turkey or chicken.

Here's how to make it: 

  1. Combine the breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. 
  2. Add the ground beef, onion, garlic, egg, salt, pepper, cheese and parsley. Mix to combine, but do not over-mix. 
  3. Roll into 2-inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet. 
  4. Bake in a preheated 400-degree F oven for about 20 minutes. 

Nutrition Facts Per Serving

Calories: 207

Total Fat: 8.3g

Saturated Fat: 3.8g

Cholesterol: 127mg

Sodium: 296mg

Total Carbohydrate: 15.2g

Dietary Fiber: 2g

Total Sugars: 3g

Protein: 18.6g

Vitamin D: 9mcg

Calcium: 226mg

Iron: 7mg

Potassium: 352mg

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. This recipe has been analyzed by VeryWellFit. However, any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

Need to convert cooking and baking measurements? Here are some kitchen conversion charts. Here's how to submit your recipes to 30Seconds.

Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community, and follow us on Facebook to get recipes in your newsfeed daily.

Related Products on Amazon We Think You May Like:

30Second Mobile, Inc. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Ground Pork & Quinoa Meatball Recipe: A Tasty 30-Minute Dinner

Ground Pork & Sausage Italian Meatballs Recipe: An Easy Baked Meatball Recipe Full of Porky Goodness

Skinny Italian Meatballs Recipe With Chunky Marinara & Spaghetti Squash

Donna John
Love how simple this recipe is! I don't have a favorite meatball recipe, so maybe this will be it. Trying it soon.
Andrew1
This looks so good 👍
Elisa Schmitz
Nonna's meatballs look amazing. What a hearty helping of pure comfort!

join discussion

Please login to comment.

recommended tips

6-Ingredient Chewy Italian Almond Cookies (Ricciarelli): Gluten Free & Dairy Free

Raspberry Baked Oatmeal Recipe: The Breakfast You Didn't Know You Needed

Best Italian Restaurant Alfredo Sauce Copycat Recipe: 3 Ingredients + 10 Minutes

Camila Alves McConaughey's Creamy No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Recipe (5 Ingredients)