This recipe for oven baked meatballs is an easy weeknight dinner. The meatballs are made with ground turkey, a combination of spices and a few other basic ingredients. The meatballs are baked in the oven until tender and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese.
I made these oven baked meatballs last week. Made them again a few days later. Then, realized I should share the recipe so I made them the other day. This recipe HAD to be shared!
This recipe really gets down to the basics. You truly don’t need much to make a flavorful recipe. This is a simple meatball recipe that delivers BIG flavor for very little work. Let’s be honest— if you can roll meatballs, you can make this.
Tell Me About These Oven Baked Meatballs
- Flavor: As I mentioned above, this recipe truly highlights that you don’t need much to create BIG flavor. This recipe has a range of some of the BEST flavors around— garlic, oregano, basil, parsley, and onion.
- Ease: Looking at the recipe below, you can see how simple it is. This is a recipe that anyone can make. The recipe is as straightforward as it gets which makes this the perfect weeknight dinner.
- Time: From start to finish it’s about 40 minutes and 30 minutes of that is in the oven.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Dinner Recipe
What’s not to love about these baked meatballs?
- Produces tender & juicy meatballs
- Incredibly flavorful
- Easy to make
- Made in 1 baking dish
- Uses basic ingredients
- Only 30 minutes in the oven
- Easy dinner recipe
Overview Of Ingredients
- Meat: You can use either ground turkey or ground beef. To keep this recipe on the lighter side, I prefer to use ground turkey.
- Breadcrumbs: The breadcrumbs help hold the meatballs together. Panko breadcrumbs are my go-to type of breadcrumbs but any type of breadcrumbs work, even gluten free.
- Egg: Like the breadcrumbs, the egg helps bind the ingredients together.
- Olive Oil: Adding just a little bit of olive oil gives the meatballs just enough moisture.
- Parmesan Cheese: Not only does the parmesan cheese provide flavor, it also helps bind everything together.
- Garlic: Using fresh garlic adds a ton of flavor.
- Spices: There’s all the classic meatballs spices in this recipe— dried oregano, dried parsley, dried basil, onion powder and red pepper flakes.
Salt & Pepper: Always needed to enhance flavors. - Crushed Tomatoes: Use your favorite brand of crushed tomatoes or even pasta sauce. Paesana is the only type of sauce I use unless I have some homemade sauce already.
- Mozzarella Cheese: The addition of cheese is optional but is delicious!
This Is Also A Make-Ahead Recipe!
While making the meatballs the night of is simple, we don’t always have time. You have a few options to make this recipe even easier! All of these options are listed in the recipe notes as well.
- Make-Ahead: You can make this entire recipe the night before, cover it with aluminum foil and place it in the refrigerator. The next day, remove from the refrigerator and bake!
- Pre-Make: You can make the meatballs up to 2 days in advance and store them in the refrigerator in the baking dish covered with aluminum foil. Pour the sauce on top and bake!
- Freeze: You can make the meatballs and freeze them for up to 3 months. You can either thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or bake frozen and add an additional 5-10 minutes prior to adding the cheese.
We love these just as is, over pasta, stuffed a toasted roll, paired with a salad or straight out of the baking dish. This is a judgement free zone.
Easy Oven Baked Meatballs
Yield: 12 meatballs
Description
This recipe for oven baked meatballs is an easy weeknight dinner. The meatballs are made with ground turkey, a combination of spices and a few other basic ingredients. The meatballs are baked in the oven until tender and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 pound 85% lean ground turkey
- 1/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 24 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven of 375°F. Pour 1/2 cup of the crushed tomatoes to the bottom of an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. Set aside.
- Make the Meatballs: In a large bowl, add the ground turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, oregano, parsley, basil, onion powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir together until well combined— avoid overmixing as it can make the meatballs tough.
- Roll the Meatballs: Take 3 Tablespoons of the meat mixture, roll into balls and place into the baking dish.
- Pour the remaining crushed tomatoes over the meatballs— it's OK if they aren't completely covered. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the mozzarella cheese on top of each meatball. Place back into the oven for 10 minutes. If desired, place under the broiler for 1 minute.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve over pasta, with garlic bread, etc. Leftovers stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions:
- Make-Ahead: You can make this entire recipe the night before, cover it with aluminum foil and place it in the refrigerator. The next day, remove from the refrigerator and bake!
- Pre-Make: You can make the meatballs up to 2 days in advance and store them in the refrigerator in the baking dish covered with aluminum foil. Pour the sauce on top and bake!
- Freeze: You can make the meatballs and freeze them for up to 3 months. You can either thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or bake frozen and add an additional 5-10 minutes prior to adding the cheese.
- Meat: You can use ground beef or ground turkey for this recipe.
- Crushed Tomatoes: You can also use your favorite pasta sauce.
- Breadcrumbs: I prefer to use Panko breadcrumbs but regular breadcrumbs will work too. If you are gluten free, use certified GF breadcrumbs.
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Tagged in: dinner, easy dinner, meatballs
Wow, this is going in the recipe rotation! I used 93% lean turkey and these meatballs turned out great!! Try this recipe, you won’t be disappointed!