These Italian sausage meatballs are cooked in a tomato sauce that’s made with crushed tomatoes, garlic, onions and olive oil. It’s really simple and very good! In this recipe, the Italian sausage adds a ton of flavor to the meatballs already, so you only need a few ingredients to put them together.
Pair the Italian sausage meatballs with your family’s favorite pasta and watch everyone rush to the table.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian Sausage, casing removed or use bulk sausage. Here we used mild Italian sausage, but use hot if you like it spicy!
- ¼ cup Plain Breadcrumbs
- 1 Egg
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese, plus extra for serving
- Canola Oil, enough to cover the bottom of a large skillet with ½ inch of oil
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Small Onion, finely diced
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 28 ounce can Crushed Tomatoes, we used fire roasted tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper, optional – leave it out if you don’t like spicy
- 1-2 tablespoons Salt, for the pasta water
- 12-16 ounce Package of your favorite pasta, cooked to package directions
- Chopped Parsley, for garnish, optional
Make the meatballs
Combine the Italian sausage, breadcrumbs, egg and Parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Use your hands to mix the ingredients together until they’re just combined.
Shape the sausage mixture into balls that are roughly the size of a golf ball. You should get 12 nice-sized meatballs.
Heat the oil in a large, deep, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, carefully add the meatballs. Cook them 4-6 minutes or until they are browned on all sides. Turn them occasionally.
Take the skillet off the heat. Remove the meatballs and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel. Keep them warm by loosely covering the plate with a piece of aluminum foil. Don't worry that they are not cooked all the way through. They will finish cooking in the sauce.
Make the tomato sauce
Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet or pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook them for approximately 3 minutes, until they're translucent and start to soften, stirring frequently.
Next, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring almost constantly.
Then, add the chopped tomatoes, oregano and the crushed red pepper, if using. Stir the sauce to combine all of the ingredients.
Raise the heat to medium-high and carefully place the meatballs in the skillet. When the sauce begins to simmer, lower the heat to medium-low to low and cover. Cook for 30 minutes, stir occasionally. Stir the sauce gently so that the meatballs don't tear and keep it at a simmer, raise or lower the heat as needed.
Taste the sauce and add salt, to taste, if needed. As a reference we did not add extra to ours.
While the meatballs cook bring a large pot of water to a boil cook the pasta following the package directions for al dente, drain and keep warm.
Serve the sauce and meatballs on a bed of pasta and garnish with a little chopped parsley, extra Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper, on the side, if desired.
Pasta dinners are easy, affordable, and always crowd-pleasers! For more tasty dinner ideas check out these pasta recipes:
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📖 Recipe
Italian Sausage Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian Sausage casing removed or use bulk sausage
- ¼ cup Plain Breadcrumbs
- 1 Egg
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese plus extra for serving
- Canola Oil enough to cover the bottom of a large skillet with ½ inch of oil
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Small Onion finely diced
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves minced
- 28 ounce Can Crushed Tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper optional
- 1-2 tablespoons Salt for the pasta water
- 12 ounce Package of your favorite pasta
- Chopped Parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the Italian sausage, breadcrumbs, egg and Parmesan cheese. Mix the ingredients together until they’re just combined.
- Shape the sausage mixture into small balls that are roughly the size of a golf ball. You should get 12 meatballs.
- Heat the canola oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully add the meatballs to the hot oil.
- Fry the meatballs, turning them occasionally to brown on all sides; this should take approximately 5 minutes.
- Place the meatballs on a plate lined with a paper towel. Keep the meatballs warm by loosely covering the plate with a piece of aluminum foil, and/or place the plate in the microwave or oven, they’ll stay warm away from drafts.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet or pot over medium heat. Add the onions, cook approximately 3 minutes, until they're translucent, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano and crushed red pepper, if using, stir. Raise heat to medium-high and carefully add the meatballs to the pot, when the sauce begins to simmer, lower the heat to medium-low to low and cover.
- Cook the sauce for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir the meatballs gently so that they don't break apart. Keep the sauce at a simmer. If it’s not simmering, raise the heat a bit, if it’s boiling too vigorously, lower the heat a bit.
- While the sauce cooks: bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the salt and pasta. Cook the pasta according to the package directions for al dente, drain and keep warm.
- Serve the sauce and meatballs on a bed of pasta and garnish with a little chopped parsley, extra Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper, on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information above is computer generated and is only an estimate. There is no guarantee that it is accurate. This data is provided as a courtesy for informational purposes only.
Hannah Harvey
Delicious! Thanks for the specific directions, really easy to follow and so glad you mentioned not to add salt. Will definitely be making this again!
Elizabeth
Hi Hannah,
Thank you, I’m really glad you enjoyed it!