If you’re ready to have the Best Ever Meatballs and Sauce of your life, you need to try out Traditional Italian Meatballs – made just the way Nona used to make! (We also have a simple swap that makes this recipe low carb at 3.5g net carbs per serving!)

Traditional Italian Meatballs & Sauce

Whether you had an Italian grandma, or were lucky enough to go to your Italian friend’s house for supper some nights, those of us who’ve had authentic meatballs and sauce know that the canned stuff is no substitute.

However, most of us don’t have all day to prepare and simmer a delicious tomato sauce, so my family has had to modify our family recipe over the years so that busy working parents can come home and still put a delicious plate of Italian meatballs and sauce on the table, without reaching for the canned stuff or sacrificing flavor.

This meatballs and sauce recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, but it doesn’t need constant attention so you can still make your side dishes (or even prep tomorrow’s lunches) while preparing it.

The most important thing about this recipe is the use of fresh tomatoes and herbs. Whether you’re sourcing them from your own garden, the farmer’s market, or even hitting up the grocery store in the middle of winter, you will not regret spending a bit of money on good ingredients.

However, if the tomatoes on offer at your market or grocery store are anything other than bright red and juicy-looking, picking up a can of good quality whole tomatoes (with no salt added) is better than flavorless yet fresh. (Check out this article if you need some tips for choosing the best tomatoes.)

And while I think that all three herbs (oregano, basil, and parsley) should be fresh, if you can only splurge on one, go for the fresh basil, use dried oregano and leave out the parsley completely. (Dried parsley can often take on an unpleasant fishy taste and is just not worth ruining your meal over.)

If you’ve never cooked with fresh tomatoes before, don’t let the idea scare you! It’s incredibly easy and the end result is well worth it.

Now, you don’t have to remove the skin from your tomatoes but if you’re trying to cook this sauce a bit faster, it will take less time to remove the tomato skins than it will to try to cook them down. If you have enough time to let the sauce simmer and dissolve the tomato skins (at least 2 hours)

How to Remove Skin from Tomatoes

Boil a pot of water with about 1 tbsp of salt.
Have a bowl of ice water sitting by and a kitchen towel laid out.
You will need a slotted spoon and a knife.
Make an “X” in the bottom of each tomato. Place in the boiling water.
Boil for 1 minute or until you see the edges of the “X” starting to curl back.
Remove and immediately place in ice water. Let stand for 1 minute.
Remove and place on kitchen towel. Peel back skins starting at the “X”. It should slide right off!

As for the meatballs, we have several different versions on this website, but this version is super simple to make on a busy weeknight while still delivering great flavor. The mix of the beef and sausage (pork) is really important in creating delicious, mouth-watering meatballs. You can alternatively use ground veal in place of the pork sausage.

How to Freeze Tomato Sauce and Meatballs

If you want to double this recipe and freeze half for later, I recommend freezing the meatballs separately from the sauce to avoid sacrificing the texture of the meatballs when reheating.

Fully cook the meatballs, then cool before freezing in a single layer in a freezer-safe zip-top bag. Use within 4 months. (Thaw completely before heating.)

For the sauce, let cool completely before measuring out about 2 cups of sauce per freezer bag and laying flat to freeze. Use within 6 months.

Traditional Italian Meatballs & Sauce Ingredients

Scroll down to the recipe card for ingredient amounts.

For the tomato sauce:

Large peeled tomatoes, pureed
Tomato paste
Olive Oil
Onion, finely chopped
Garlic, minced
Fresh basil, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh oregano, chopped
Sea Salt
Red pepper flakes, crushed

For the Italian meatballs:

Olive oil
Parmesan, grated
Ground beef
Sweet Italian sausage, out of the casing
Egg
Pork Rinds (or bread crumbs if not opting for low carb)
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt & pepper

Tip: this recipe can be ready to serve after 30 minutes or you can let the sauce and meatballs simmer for up to 2 hours.

Low Carb SWAP: if you use bread crumbs in this recipe, your net carbs will be 7.5g per serving (1/8 of this recipe). If you use pork rinds, your net carbs will be 3.5g

How to Make Traditional Meatballs and Sauce

In a large stock pot, drizzle in about 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium.

Once oil is hot, saute onion and garlic until translucent, about 2 minutes.

Add the (peeled) tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Once the paste is completely mixed in, reduce to simmer.

Stir in fresh herbs and seasonings. Allow sauce to simmer while preparing the meatballs.

Place a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 Tablespoons olive oil.

In a large bowl, mix together all meatball ingredients (Parmesan, beef, sausage, egg, bread crumbs and seasonings) until well combined. Adjust the consistency by adding a bit of cream or more bread crumbs, as needed.

Roll the meatball mixture into 3-4″ meatballs. (They will reduce slightly once cooked.)

Add meatballs to the skillet, being careful not to overcrowd (you may need to do two batches). Sear each on all sides and cook for about 5 minutes until cooked through (you may want to test one).

Add cooked meatballs to sauce.

Cover and simmer for up to one hour. Stirring occasionally.

Serve with pasta or eat with bread right out of a bowl!

Grab your free printable recipe card for our traditional Italian Meatballs and Sauce here:

Yield: 7 cups sauce, 20 meatballs

Traditional Italian Meatballs & Sauce

Name: Traditional Italian Meatballs & Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 7
Ingredients: 8 large peeled tomatoes, pureed; 1 can tomato paste; 1 onion, finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped; 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped; 1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped; 1 tsp Sea Salt; 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, crushed; 2 Tbsp olive oil; 1/3 cup Parmesan, grated; 1 lb ground beef; 1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage, out of the casing; 1 egg; 1/2 cup crushed pork rinds; 1 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper

Cooked all day, low and slow in grandma's kitchen! Just kidding, we obtained all that same flavor in under 2 hrs.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the tomato sauce:

8 large peeled tomatoes, pureed
1 can tomato paste
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, crushed

For the meatballs:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage, out of the casing
1 egg
1/2 cup crushed pork rinds
1 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper

Instructions

In a large stock pot, drizzle in about 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium.
Once oil is hot, saute onion and garlic until translucent, about 2 minutes.
Add the (peeled) tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Once the paste is completely mixed in, reduce to simmer.
Stir in fresh herbs and seasonings. Allow sauce to simmer while preparing the meatballs.
Place a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 Tablespoons olive oil.
In a large bowl, mix together all meatball ingredients (Parmesan, beef, sausage, egg, bread crumbs and seasonings) until well combined. Adjust the consistency by adding a bit of cream or more bread crumbs, as needed.
Roll the meatball mixture into 3-4" meatballs. (They will reduce slightly once cooked.)
Add meatballs to the skillet, being careful not to overcrowd (you may need to do two batches). Sear each on all sides and cook for about 5 minutes until cooked through (you may want to test one).
Add cooked meatballs to sauce.
Cover and simmer for up to one hour. Stirring occasionally.
Serve with pasta or eat with bread right out of a bowl!

Notes

How to Remove Skin from Tomatoes:

Boil a pot of water with about 1 tbsp of salt.
Have a bowl of ice water sitting by and a kitchen towel laid out.
You will need a slotted spoon and a knife.
Make an "X" in the bottom of each tomato. Place in the boiling water.
Boil for 1 minute or until you see the edges of the "X" starting to curl back.
Remove and immediately place in ice water. Let stand for 1 minute.
Remove and place on kitchen towel. Peel back skins starting at the "X". It should slide right off!

Low Carb SWAP: if you use bread crumbs in this recipe, your net carbs will be 7.5g per serving (1/8 of this recipe). If you use pork rinds, your net carbs will be 3.5g