There is a deli not far from us that has the most enormous Italian meatballs. Having declared myself a meatball professional with the the thousands I have rolled and simmered, I never ventured into giant meatball terrain. Challenged by my kids, I set out to discover if my reader favorite meatball recipe could go “big time”.
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The answer is “yes”. Yes, they can…and quite easily!
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What it takes to go big
There were a few questions to find the answers to. The first being how many people should these meatballs serve followed by how crazy big should they be?
Then, lots of mulling over the cooking method. Fried, baked, or poached meatballs…which technique results in a jumbo meatball that’s ridiculously fork-tender?
Finally, the sauce. It had to be simple in preparation but hearty enough to stand up to this behemoth of a meatball.
So many big decisions. And yes, the big puns are just right there for the taking.
Technique overview
Yield: The recipe produces 6 very large meatballs, each weighing about 7 oz before cooking.
Sauce: I ended up creating a whole new sauce recipe that is so simple and gets so rich from baking.
Technique: A three-prong approach is best:
- First, quickly brown the meatballs on the stove for a big hit of caramelized flavor.
- Second, make the sauce directly in the now fond-coated pan gives a place for all those flavor-bombed brown bits to go.
- And finally, I pop the whole pan of sauced jumbo meatballs into the oven to bake until the sauce is richly roasted and the meatballs unashamedly juicy.
Fork-tender meatball secret ingredient
You don’t have to buy a thing. Each and every one of my extensive collection of meatball recipes has one key ingredient in common: warm water.
It is the key to a really moist and tender meatball, especially when they’re especially gigantic like the ones I’m making here. Sometimes you’ll see meatball recipes with milk mixed with the breadcrumbs to make what is known as a panade. Water works equally as well and the role of milk in tenderizing meat isn’t as necessary given the leanness of the meat typically found in grocers today.
You’ll see (above and below) that the water is added right at the end after all the other ingredients have been hand-mixed.
How to make giant meatballs
Mix the meatballs
Equipment needed: just a large bowl to hold all the ingredients. Note: the water step is feature above.
Pro tip
You’ll know the meatballs are ready to be flipped when they release easily from the pan when inserting a spatula underneath one. If the meatball resists, give it another minute. They’ll tell you when they’re ready to be flipped.
Make the sauce
Pan for baking meatballs
I found that a wide braising pan is ideal for baking giant meatballs because the lid creates steam to baste the meatballs, creating even more moisture. The beautiful teal blue braising pan you see me using here is from Lodge and I cannot say enough good things about it.
Serving idea for giant meatballs
I love serving these meatballs with crispy garlic bread to scoop up every last bite and bit of slow-simmered tomato sauce on my plate. And my go-to lemony arugula salad adds freshness.
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Giant Italian Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
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Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 lbs. ground chuck, 80% but no more than 85%
- 1 lbs. ground pork
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup panko
- ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese, no green can please!
- 2 T chopped fresh parsley
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- ½ garlic powder
- ½ cup warm tap water
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil
For the sauce:
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 T chopped garlic, from 3-4 cloves depending on the size
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 28 oz canned San Marzano whole tomatoes, pureed until smooth*
- 24 oz San Marzano tomato passata, bottle
- 1 T kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tsp sugar
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- In a large bowl and using your hands, blend the meats together until mixed well. You don't want to see big clumps of either meat but a nice uniform mixture.1 lbs. ground chuck, 1 lbs. ground pork
- One at a time, crack the eggs into the side of the bowl and beat them lightly with a fork. Of course, you can beat them in a separate small bowl and then add them but I'm all about saving some dishes. 😀1 large egg
- Add the salt, pepper, oregano, the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley and spices. Mix well into the meat along with the eggs.2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 cup panko, ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese, 2 T chopped fresh parsley, ½ tsp dried oregano, ⅛ tsp nutmeg, ½ garlic powder
- Add the warm water and mix gently with both hands making sure to incorporate all the water. It will feel like it won't mix together but it will eventually!½ cup warm tap water
- Use a scale or eyeball the meat mixture into 6 sections. Weigh to make them as even as possible so they'll cook the same.
- Roll each section into a meatball, moistening your hands with water to keep the meatball mix from sticking.
- Add 2 T canola oil to a braising pan or large skillet with a lid and heat over medium high heat until shimmering.2 Tablespoon olive oil
- Gently lay the meatballs into the heated oil and brown them until golden on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. You'll know when they're ready to be flipped when they easily release from the pan.
- After browned completely, remove the meatballs to a paper-towel lined plate to drain
Make the sauce:
- To the same pan, add 1 Tablespoon olive oil and heat gently while scraping up all the brown bits in the pan. Sauté chopped onions in olive oil for about 5 minutes until translucent and slightly golden. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until you can smell it. Don't allow it to brown.1 T olive oil, 1 large onion, 1 T chopped garlic
- Add the tomato paste and stir it until caramelized, about 2 minutes.6 oz can tomato paste
- Add the tomato passata and sauce along with the remaining ingredients. Simmer until bubbling about 3 minutes.24 oz San Marzano tomato passata, 1 T kosher salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 2 tsp sugar, 28 oz canned San Marzano whole tomatoes
- Preheat an oven to 375°.
- Nestle the six meatballs into the sauce and spoon over sauce to cover. Place the lid securely on the pan and place in the preheated oven to bake for about 1 hour to an hour and a half or until the center of the meatballs reach 165°. Periodically remove the lid to baste the meatballs with more sauce.
- Sprinkle over fresh chopped parsley before serving and top with parmesan, as desired. You can also broil with some fresh mozzarella or provolone slices on top for a cheesy version.
Hi Lori, this looks amazing and I can’t wait to serve it. I am cooking dinner for 12 next weekend. Should I make in 2 pots and double the recipe? I have 2 large creuset pots with lids that I can use.
Hi Cynthia! Thank you so much for your question — and for making these for your dinner party 🎉 I’m honored!
You have a couple of good options:
Use the larger of your two Le Creusets (5.5–7 qt, I’m guessing?), brown the meatballs in batches, then remove them to a plate. Make the sauce, add the meatballs back in carefully so they don’t break, and bake.
Since that pan is deeper than the wide, shallow pan I use, I’d recommend lowering the oven temp slightly to 325–350°F. I’d also lay a parchment paper cartouche (I show how in my Italian beef recipe) directly on the surface of the sauce and meatballs while they bake — this helps trap gentle steam so the meatballs stay tender and don’t dry out. You can remove it for the last 10–15 minutes if the sauce needs a little reduction.
With two large pans, you could also do exactly as you suggested and make one recipe per pan.
For reference, the pan I use is a wide shallow pan (affiliate link), which keeps the meatballs in a single layer with the lid closer to the sauce. No need to buy anything new — just sharing so you can see the shape I’m working with. Your dinner party is going to be smashing – have fun and please let me know if you have any more questions and how it goes. Always happy to help!
Just wondering if I can substitute italian sausage for the pork.
Absolutely Sharon! It will just be a tad spicier. You might want to reduce the salt and pepper a bit because of the seasoning in the sausage.
I can’t wait to try these jumbo meatballs.
Thanks Sheila! I can’t wait for you to try them too 😊
Have tried these today and right this moment they are eating them, well a pity I can’t put the noise they are making as it’s gone down very well, superb.👌
awww thank you so much Felix! So glad you enjoyed the meatballs!