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These Easy Italian Sausage Meatballs are juicy and so flavorful! This is a great recipe for serving a crowd! Simply roll, bake, and serve with your favorite sauce! These homemade meatballs are delicious on rolls, salads, or toss with pasta for classic spaghetti and meatballs!
Sausage Meatballs Recipe
It’s no secret we LOVE homemade meatballs! They’re delicious, easy, and always a crowd-pleaser! So yeah, we make them A LOT!!! But this is especially true during the holiday season… when friends and family always seem to be dropping by!
Last week I wanted to make a big batch of my easy baked meatballs but realized last minute that I was completely out of lean ground beef. Whoops! But luckily I did have some sausage in the fridge and decided to experiment with some sausage meatballs. The results?! OMG! Not only were they so easy, but they were juicy, flavorful, and super delicious, too! I tossed them with some classic marinara sauce and then kept them warm in the crockpot until company arrived! We served them with long hoagie rolls, cheese, and a big salad. Oh, and wine! Lots of wine. But you can serve then with just about anything your little heart desires! Spaghetti Squash is such a great low cal option!
Ingredients for Italian Sausage Meatballs
- ground sausage: you’ll either want to get loose ground sausage or remove the sausage from casings. You may use sweet sausage, mild Italian sausage, or spicy sausage. Or, use a combination!
- eggs: 2 large eggs will do the trick!
- breadcrumbs: I prefer panko bread crumbs, but any variety will work!
- Parmesan cheese: finely grated works best!
- Garlic: 2 cloves finely minced or pressed through a garlic press!
- Water: H20 is such a crucial ingredient to this recipe! So please don’t reduce it or be scared of it! It makes the sausage meatballs moist, without adding any calories. My grandmother (who’s from Italy!) has been using water in her meatballs for years. It’s a little trick you’ll come to love! Promise!
How to make Sausage Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside
- In a large bowl, add sausage to the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. Slowly add the water, a few tablespoons at a time, mixing with your hands until everything is just combined. Don’t over mix here or it’ll make the meatballs tough. The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape when rolled into meatballs.
- Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop about one tablespoon of meat into your palms and roll it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all of the meat. Place the baking sheet in the oven to bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked though.
Pro Tip: To easily, and evenly, shape your meatballs, use a spring loaded cookie scoop!
Why bake Meatballs?
Baked meatballs in the oven is a beautiful thing and so simple! Not only is it much neater than frying meatballs, but it’s also much easier than frying multiple batches in a skillet. With my oven baked method, you can make all of the meatballs at once. You’ll simply shape into 20 meatballs (give or take depending on the size), place them on the baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes. That’s it! Once they’re done baking, you’ll toss them in your desired sauce and serve. We love them in classic marinara sauce or spinach basil pesto!
More Meatball Recipes:
- Baked Turkey Zucchini Meatballs
- 30-Minute Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
- Italian Meatball Soup
- Healthy 30 Minute Sriracha Teriyaki Meatball Bowls
AND IF YOU TRY THIS RECIPE FOR ITALIAN SAUSAGE MEATBALLS, LET ME KNOW! LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND DON’T FORGET TO SNAP A PIC AND TAG IT #BAKERBYNATURE ON INSTAGRAM! SEEING YOUR KITCHEN CREATIONS MAKES OUR DAY.
Italian Sausage Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground sausage
- 2 large eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup lukewarm water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine ground sausage, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, and garlic. Slowly add the water, a few tablespoons at a time, mixing with your hands until everything is just combined. Don't over mix here or it'll make the meatballs tough. The mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape when rolled into meatballs.
- Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop about one tablespoon of meat into your palms and roll it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all of the meat.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven to bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they're cooked though.
- Toss with your favorite sauce and serve!
I made this meatballs last night, followed the recipe, placed them on parchment paper, on a wire rack inside a baking sheet with sides. Served with sauce and noodles. Perfect! My husband is taking your recipe to the fire station to make for the crew on his next shift!!! Must be the water….. Thank you so much for sharing.
Great recipe! It didn’t say whether to use plain breadcrumbs or Italian. I used plain but will use Italian next time. I will also only use one cup. I felt it was a little too much, but very delicious!
Made these tonight, with some teensy changes based on what I had on hand… So so good! And fast, start to finish less than half an hour. Just perfect with cheese tortellini, marinara sauce, and roasted broccoli
(I used 1 pound Italian sausage and 1 pound ground turkey, and substituted about 1/4 cup seasoned cornmeal for part of the bread crumbs)
Oh, and they were perfectly cooked at 15 minutes!
I came across this recipe by happenstance as I had thawed sausage and no desire at all to cook it. “Ok what can I prep now and cook later? Ooh look at these MEATBALLS!” They’ve been baked and are now keeping warm in the slow cooker until hubby gets home (so much for the later thing). They smell amazing!! I love how simple this was to literally throw together while my toddler napped. I can’t wait to dig in! Thanks for sharing this little gem as I’m sure it’s gonna be a fast favorite.
I made these last night. Very yummy! Too bad my sauce wasn’t up to par.
One thing I want to add. When you make these meatballs, use a jelly roll or a pan with edges. I used a baking sheet and the grease from the sausage was uncontained. Next time I’ll be using a pan with sides.
Works great with crisscross cookie cooking racks on a edged sheet pan! Bakes VERY well, keeps shape and stays moist! Plus you can use the drippings as stock for other things
Sorry auto correct changed it! I meant crisscross cookie cooling racks!!!
Thanks for the tip. I did that too.
So delicious and easy! Thank you!
Used with deer meat. Yum!
Thanks for the quick and easy recipe! My only
question would be.. is the water to your liking? I didn’t
end up using the full amount due to mush-effect. lol
Funny story..
after I made the first batch.. one of my potholders stuck
to the pan and I didn’t notice. It’s a blessing that my
home didn’t catch fire. AMEN, LORD! Thankful to God!
Hi. Just curious what state you’re in. I would love to get my hands on some good deer meat! Single Southern Alabama mom of 3 here
These look delicious. What sauce do you use?
I use Rao Marinara or if for my asbestos tongued son arrabriatta
The sauce looks delicious, do you have a good recipe for the meatballs?
Hi Kristen. Yes, this is a recipe for meatballs 🙂
What temp for the meat balls? Not sure 18 minutes will cook them to proper temp
Please see step 1 in the recipe 🙂
I have made this recipe twice. They are cooled perfectly. I also add them to my sauce and cook a bit more .
I didn’t think it would, but after only 16 minutes at 400 degrees, internal temp of several meatballs was 179-185
He said until cooked thru! Prolly jest check ‘em after 18 minutes