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!
OMG! This simple recipe is really, really good! I normally make Ground Beef meatballs….but Publix market had a sale on their fresh ground Italian sausage. So I had 1 lb. of sweet Italian sausage (1/2 of recipe)…to that I added 2 large cloves garlic minced (I love garlic!), and used Panko seasoned Italian style bread crumbs, only needed about 1/4 C water….Baked as stated using a cookie scoop size about 20 minutes…I did not need parchment paper, and the clean up was easy! So no need to waste monies on that; if you are frugal like me! I removed them from the baking sheet and drained them on paper towels…cause fat isn’t good for our heart! I tasted one, oh so yummy by itself! But they will be going into a Crimini Mushroom Pasta sauce, over Mueller’s NEW “Garlic & Chive” Penne Rigate (which is very excellent, too…in case you haven’t tried it.) Will I make these Sausage meatballs again?….Yes, Yes, Yes! Absolutely Delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe w/me! Mangia!
These are excellent!
These are the best Italian sausage meatballs. It’s the only recipe I use now. For the person who asked, the temp of the inside of meatballs should be at least 165 degrees. My meatballs were cookie scoop size so I had to bake them around 25 minutes. Yum!
Hello, my family loves these meatballs! Thank you for sharing your talent with us! Have you ever made them ahead of time and frozen them? I am assuming I could do that and then just thaw before baking at a later date?
I followed recipe exactly as is except used one half ground beef, and used GF Italian bread crumbs.. turned out great.
Made this tonight for dinner. Served with homemade pasta sauce, garlic bread, and salad. These meatballs were so moist and yummy! Definitely a keeper!
These were so delicious and easy to make – my family loved them! The cup of water kept them moist – thanks for heads up not to worry it was too much liquid! Thanks so much!
Use beef broth instead of water,much better,same result.
These are the best Italian sausage meatballs I have ever tasted. I did make them a little larger so I just adjusted the cooking time till they were 165 degrees.
These were simply delicious. I followed the recipe exactly. I did not temp the meatballs because I added them to my spaghetti sauce that simmered for 30 minutes. This is a keeper.