Easy Baked Spaghetti and Meatballs

By: Shelly
Posted: Sep 23, 2024

This easy spaghetti and meatballs recipe is made in a skillet and baked to perfection! An updated classic dinner recipe for the whole family!

Spaghetti and Meatballs baked in a skillet topped with cheese and fresh parsley

Why You’ll Love This Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Easy to prep and make! The steps to make this are super easy and straight forward. And I will show you throughout the post how to prep steps ahead to cut the total time even further at dinnertime!
A Classic! This is a guaranteed family favorite, easy dinner recipe. Who doesn’t love spaghetti and meatballs?
Make It Ahead Or Use Shortcuts! The great thing about this recipe is it can be prepped in advance. You can make it a day ahead or even weeks in advance and freeze it! I offer up some shortcut ideas for you as well to make prep time easy on busy weeknights!

Baked Spaghetti topped with cheese, sauce and loaded with meatballs.

What You’ll Need To Make Spaghetti and Meatballs

This is an extremely easy dinner recipe with everyday ingredients that you will most likely have the majority in your kitchen right now! As always make sure to scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full ingredient list and instructions!

Ingredients For the Meatballs

Breadcrumbs. I use unseasoned panko bread crumbs in this recipe but you can absolutely regular breadcrumbs if you prefer. I find that panko aids in making the meatballs less dense.
Meatloaf Mix. This is a ground mix of meat you can find in the supermarket near the ground beef. It’s a combination of ground beef, ground pork, and ground veal. I love using meatloaf mix in meatballs to add flavor. You can use just ground beef, or ground turkey or chicken in its place if you prefer, but note the leaner the meat can result in a drier meatball due to lower fat content. You could even do a combo of lean ground beef and ground Italian sausage without the veal for another fantastic flavor combo!
Parmesan cheese. This is an important ingredient in the meatballs to impart flavor. Parmesan cheese is naturally salty and flavorful! Freshly grate your own Parmesan for these meatballs. The pre-grated or powdered cheese is coated in starches and cellulose to prevent sticking, but also doesn’t allow to optimal melting as the meatballs bake!
Wet Ingredients: Milk and an egg. These 2 ingredients are important binding agents in the meatballs as well as adding structure and stability.
Seasonings: Fresh parsley, minced garlic, kosher salt, and black pepper. I love using finely chopped parsley in my meatballs to add a brightness and freshness. You can absolutely use dried parsley flakes as well if that’s what you have in your pantry!

Ingredients For the Sauce

Marinara Sauce. The beauty of this recipe is that you can use a jar of sauce! I love the brands Rao’s or Carbone right now, but there are so many great options available that you shouldn’t worry too much about brands!
Beef stock or broth. This serves two purposed in this recipe. It deepens the flavor of the sauce a bit while also thinning it out ever so slightly. This is important because you are boiling the spaghetti to al dente and then baking it in the sauce. The spaghetti will continue to absorb more liquid as it bakes so this will prevent your baked dish from getting dry and having the perfect amount of sauce!
Mozzarella. You will top spaghetti and meatballs with extra cheese once you have prepped the dish in the skillet or casserole pan. You can use freshly grated mozzarella or even thinly sliced pieces of fresh mozzarella!

Recipe At a Glance

Make sure to read the full recipe card at the bottom of the post for all the details!

Meatball Tips:

Use a cookie scoop to portion out the meatballs so they are all the exact same size!
Don’t pack your meatballs super tightly. You want them to hold together when baking, but if you pack them tightly you will end up with a very firm, dense meatball instead of a soft, tender one!

Prep the Pasta

Boil the pasta al dente according to the package directions and then drain it well. Add the pasta right back into the pot and toss with the sauce and broth. The heat from the pot will warm the sauce a bit. Since you’re baking this dish the sauce doesn’t need to be hot!

Assembling baked spaghetti topped with sauce and meatballs in a skillet.

Assemble

Add the coated pasta into a deep skillet or casserole dish and sprinkle with grated mozzarella. Nestle the meatballs into the noodles evenly throughout and bake!

Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe Shortcuts

Make your meatballs a day in advance!
Premade meatballs. If you don’t want to make your own meatballs, use premade meatballs! You can use frozen meatballs, but I would thaw them out to use in this recipe. This is a time saver if you’re in a time crunch!
Prep your pasta and coat it in the sauce ahead of time. You can do this a few hours ahead or even a day in advance. If you choose to do this a day in advance use an extra cup of sauce, as the noodles will absorb the pasta as it sits in the refrigerator.

A spoon serving a scoop of spaghetti and meatballs

Make These Spaghetti and Meatballs Ahead

Prep the recipe according to the directions. Use an extra cup of marinara sauce and 1/4 cup more broth with the pasta to account for the pasta absorbing the liquid and drying out.
Cover and refrigerate or freeze until you’re ready to cook!
To Bake From Refrigerated: Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until heated through.
To Bake From Frozen: Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until heated through.

How To Jazz Up Spaghetti Sauce?

Since you are starting with a jar of premade spaghetti sauce of your choosing you don’t need to do anything else! BUT if you like to make things a little more interesting here are some ways to enhance jarred sauce:

Spices. The sky is the limit here with what you can add! Fresh basil, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, and garlic powder are an easy kick start to amping up the flavor of the sauce!
Caramelized Onions. This is a trick I use a lot with sauce. Dice up a yellow onion and cook the onions with a bit of olive oil until they are golden. Add the sauce right into the pan and cook them together for about 10 minutes to infuse the flavor!
Garlic. I mean this goes without saying, right? You can mince up fresh cloves of garlic and stir that right into the sauce for a big pop of garlic. Or just add garlic powder with the other spices like I mentioned above!
Heavy cream. What’s better than a creamy tomato sauce? An easy way to do this is heat your sauce on the stove top and add in a few tablespoons or up to 1/2 cup of heavy cream depending on how creamy you like it! You can also add in 4- ounces of cream cheese right into the sauce and cook it until it’s melted and smooth. Cream cheese adds a silky richness that is delicious!

Baked Spaghetti and Meatballs in a cast iron skillet

What To Serve with Spaghetti and Meatballs

My Stuffed Garlic Bread is the perfect side dish for pasta!
Of course a green salad or Caesar salad would be perfect with this recipe.
Roasted green beans are another great option to serve with spaghetti and meatballs!

Storage

Store the airtight in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

More Family Favorite Pasta Recipes

Description

This easy spaghetti and meatballs recipe is made in a skillet and baked to perfection! An updated classic dinner recipe for the whole family!

1 pound meatloaf mix (beef, pork, veal) *see note
1/2 cup unseasoned panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
8– ounces thin spaghetti
1 (24- ounce) jar marinara sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup grated mozzarella or thinly sliced rounds of fresh mozzarella
Optional garnish – chopped fresh parsley and or chopped fresh basil

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray, set aside.
In a large bowl combine the breadcrumbs, meat, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, milk, egg, chopped parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Form the mixture into 12 equally-sized meatballs.
Place the meatballs onto the prepared baking dish and bake for 25 minutes.
Boil the spaghetti al dente according to the package directions. Drain and return the spaghetti to the pot.
Add in the marinara sauce and broth into the pasta and toss to coat.
Transfer the spaghetti to an oven-safe deep dish skillet or baking dish. Sprinkle the spaghetti with the mozzarella. Nestle the meatballs into the spaghetti. Place the skillet back into the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Remove the skillet from the oven, garnish with the remaining Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley or basil if desired.
Serve immediately.

Notes

*You can use ground beef or even ground turkey or chicken in place of the meatloaf mix. The leaner the meat you use can result in a drier meatball. Don’t use any leaner than 93/7

Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.