Spaghetti Balls with Meat Sauce is a backwards take to your traditional Spaghetti with Meatballs. They’re quirky, fun and completely delicious!
Oh my heavens, y’all!!!
This recipe right here is so good that it just made me sound like an old Southern grandma. The kind of grandma that is famous for her traditional spaghetti and meatballs, then just found out that she can switch the two by making SPAGHETTI… BALLS!
A few weeks ago my husband and I were watching this show on the Food Network where this guy goes from restaurant to restaurant trying out all these famous dishes. He stopped at this one restaurant and tried these Spaghetti Balls, and I knew instantly that I needed to make them.
The spaghetti balls are nothing more than cooked spaghetti noodles in a mixture that’s very similar to my Classic Lasagna ricotta filling. I added a touch of pesto in there to bring some ridiculous flavor.
Then I took my ice cream scoop (cause I’m classy like that), and formed giant balls. I lightly fried them in oil, but I’m fairly sure if you spritzed them with a little oil and baked them at a high temp you could get away with baking rather than frying.
The meat sauce is so simple to make. I used a combination of ground beef and italian sausage, with some classic herbs in a rich tomato sauce.
All you have to do is ladle the meat sauce into a bowl, then top with your spaghetti balls! The outsides of the spaghetti balls are crisp while the insides are soft, cheesy and fluffy. When mixed with the meat sauce – it’s a match made in heaven!
Grab your leftover pasta, (or go make some) and turn your Spaghetti Night upside down!
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Spaghetti Balls with Meat Sauce
Ingredients
For the Meat Sauce:
- 1/2 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 lb. Italian sausage
- 28 oz tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 bay leaves
For the Spaghetti Balls:
- 4 cups cooked and cooled spaghetti noodles
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp pesto sauce
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
For the Meat Sauce:
- In a large pot brown the ground beef and sausage until no longer pink, drain any excess fat. Return pan to heat and add the remaining ingredients, stir and bring to a slight bubble, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. Remove bay leaves before serving.
For the Spaghetti Balls:
- Heat oil (at least 2 inches deep) to 375 degrees F.
- Combine all the ingredients except the oil into a large bowl and use your hands to incorporate. Use a sharp edged ice cream scoop to scoop out a good portion of spaghetti, and press against the side of the bowl to cut off any straggling noodles. Put ball in your hand, and press tightly to secure.
- Gently place in hot oil and let cook until golden brown on all sides. Use a slotted spoon to remove and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Don't over crowd your fryer, only do 3 to 4 balls at a time.
- Serve hot with sauce and a sprinkle of fresh parmesan. Enjoy!
The Spaghettis balls are delicious. This is such good idea. I only gave it four stars though because of the spelling mistake in the fourth point for the spaghetti balls part, overcrowd is one word, not two.
These were not for us. Something about crunchy spaghetti. Even our 4 year old granddaughter wouldn’t eat them. Spaghetti is her favorite dish. Won’t be making these afain
Sorry you didn’t enjoy these, they are definitely NOT like regular spaghetti. I would try my One Pan Spaghetti next time if that’s what you’re looking for!
What is the amount of 2 tomato sauce? 8 oz. cans?
Sorry, it should be 28oz of tomato sauce, or 2 (14oz) cans.
This is delish! It was fun to make. We used a wok to fry them. One thing we learned was how important it is to fully mix the ingredients and remix as you form the balls; also, you do need to squeeze and roll the balls numerous times to get ingredients to stick together so they don’t fall apart when you are cooking them in the oil.
Can the spaghetti balls be roasted in the oven instead of deep frying.
Thank you
Claude
I’m sure that would work too. I would just make sure to at least spray them with non-stick spray before roasting.
Thank you sooo much for for putting this into a recipe, I can follow. Pedal & Tap is in my hometown, and soo amazing. Yours tastes almost the same, so love making it at home.
Fantastic recipe!! My family loved it ❤️
Awesome! So glad you guys loved it!
This dish is from the Pedal and Tap in Kimberley B.C. – my home – and yes it is amazing!!
I actually went to the restaurant you are talking about and them. They are so delicious.
Just would like to give you a big hug and say THANKS. Your site ROCKS..just love, love it.
Ahhh!! Hugs back!! Thank you!! 🙂
Pedal and Tap is our favorite restaurant in our small little town. These are pretty close to the original, and definitely fill the craving when we can’t go out.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing Melanie!
Made these tonight! They were amazing. My husband loved them too! Thanks for a great new way to have spaghetti.
Can you freeze this recipe, either all or part of it…I wasn’t sure of freezing the spaghetti balls. I want to make this soon but will wait for your answer first. Many thanks for your great recipe.
You can definitely freeze the meat sauce (I do this often), but I have never tried to freeze the spaghetti balls, so I can’t tell you how that would work out. I have refrigerated them and reheated them in the oven to give them that crisp outer shell again. Hope that helps!
Thanks Shawn…I was afraid of that…I want to try it out anyway.
I saw the same show and thought I want to make those. Love the variations that you and your readers present. I will be making it this weekend!! Thanks
Pinned these; making for dinner tomorrow!!!
This is a genius idea!! They look so good! 🙂 Totally making these soon!
What a great idea with spaghetti ! I have a similar recipe I do using ORZO pasta. Much easier to scoop and fun adaptation of classic italian rice balls called Arancini. And I use cottage cheese when short of ricotta. And all kinds of pestos (red peppers-roasted tomatoes-arugula+garlic-cilantro) for various pleasures. Bravo, you have a good blog!
Thanks Mia, I love the idea of using Orzo too!
These look amazing Shawn!!! Such an inventive and cute idea!
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Thanks Millie!
oh I think I’m in LOVE 🙂
OH MY GOODNESS these sound so amazing! Such a fun idea!
These look INSANE!
What a great idea! I think I’ll use besciamella/béchamel instead of ricotta since that’s how I make Italian lasagne. Wow! These meatballs look beyond fantastic and so original. Thanks for sharing the recipe and tempting photos.
OMG! These look AMAZING!!! What a fun twist on spaghetti! I think I might try baking them. Hopefully they’ll turn out just as well!
If you do bake them, let me know! Thanks Alexis! 🙂
OH goodness I love this. You got me by surprise. An awesome version of an old favorite. Well done.
Thank you very much Carol!
I can’t wait to try these!! They look awesome.
Thanks Trish!
It’s so crazy…it just might work!
I can see these in the line up as hot appetizers–I think breaded mozz sticks have just taken the back seat.
Wondering, did you use a thin or thick spaghetti?
Also, any idea how many ounces of dry pasta gives 4 cups?
Thanks CTY! I used just a regular spaghetti noodle (not thin), and I started with 12oz of dry pasta, but only used about 1/2 of that. So I think 6oz should yield about 4 cups. 🙂
Hey just thought I’d say that – I made this recipe using fettuccine noodles and it didn’t press together/ stay togeyher as well as I had hoped. It wasn’t really a flop, but I don’t think I’ll use the bigger noodles again… I hope that helps 🙂