My Baked Meatball Skillet recipe is an easy, flavorful, delicious meal made from scratch with a savory homemade red sauce. With so many different ways to use meatballs, this is one recipe you will want to keep on hand! Save this to Pinterest now so you can always find it!
Homemade meatballs are one of those dinner recipes that is part of our regular rotation for dinner. My kids love them and I always have too. They are one of the recipes I always remember my mom making as I grew up and something that is simple enough for everyone to make. In fact, meatballs are one of the first meals I made when I set out on my own after college. It seems no matter what season of life I’m in, meatballs always grace the dinner table. My Baked Meatball Skillet recipe is perfect for whatever phase of life you are in too, especially if you love made from scratch, hearty meals that taste delicious.
The pan for making the Baked Meatball Skillet recipe
Whenever I make meatballs, I prefer to use a cast iron pan or an enamel cast iron pan. In this case my pan is an enamel cast iron pan from Le Creuset that is about 16 inches wide and holds 3.5 quarts. It is this one {HERE}. I have purchased two of these over the years and if you frequent the website you may noticed that almost all my food is cooked in them. I just love the way cast iron and enamel cast iron cook. They provide a more even cooking for all your meat and for the Baked Meatball Skillet recipe that is really helpful and gives the meatballs consistency.
However, if you do not have a cast iron skillet or an enamel cast iron pan, you can use a regular large pan from your pots and pans set. Keep in mind that you just want it to be about 16 inches wide for this Baked Meatball Skillet recipe.
Making the meatballs for my Baked Meatball Skillet recipe
The first step in the recipe is making the meatball mix. This includes a mixture of 1 lb. of ground pork and 1 lb. of ground beef. That gets mixed together with breadcrumbs, an egg and some dried herbs, which is detailed in the full, printable recipe below. I prefer to mix everything together with my hands to make sure it is all well incorporated.
Once the mix is made, I user a tablespoon to measure out portions of the mix and make my meatballs. I spray the pan with a little extra virgin olive oil cooking spray and then place the meatballs in the pan. When all the meatballs have been rolled, they get another little spray of oil and then are put into the oven for 10 minutes.
Making the homemade red sauce
Once 10 minutes is up, I take the meatballs out of the oven and out of the pan. Everything for the Baked Meatball Skillet recipe is made in one pan. I love that because it makes for less dirty dishes to clean. It also allows the flavors of the meatballs to really work with the sauce.
Once the pan is emptied, I add in the onions and then the garlic. In fairly quick succession I add the tomatoes sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato pasta as well as all the dry herbs. I do add in a little cream to cut the acid in the tomatoes and a little chicken stock to help keep the meatballs moist as they cook. Once that has all simmered together the meatballs are added back to the pan, I spoon the sauce over them and everything goes into the oven.
Topping it off
Ince the meatballs have cooked uncovered for about 15 minutes, I remove the pan and add on mozzarella cheese. I love this addition because to me it finishes the dish off that makes it feel more like a meal. The cheese covered meatballs go back into the oven for 5 minutes. Then before serving them I top it all off with a generous helping of fresh basil. I like to add this at the end for my Baked Meatball Skillet recipe so the basil does not get too intermixed with the sauce and the fresh flavor really shines through.
How do I serve Baked Meatball Skillet?
When you make a simple meatball skillet, you can serve the meatballs in a variety of ways. I love to just eat this as is. I tend to do a lower carb diet during the week so if I made this on a weeknight, I just eat the meatballs with a vegetable side. However, these meatballs are perfect for meatball sandwiches, which my whole family enjoys. Of course, you can always serve this with pasta too and that is the way my kids prefer to eat this dish.
Tips for making my Baked Meatball Skillet recipe
- For the meat, I do recommend using the mix of pork and beef as detailed in the recipe below. The combination of the two different meats just add a lot of interest to the meatball flavor. The pork adds a lot of richness to the meatballs while the beef helps with structure and you end up with a delicious, moist meatball.
- You can use homemade tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste if you want. Just make sure – and this goes for buying it too – the tomato sauce, pasted and diced tomatoes are plain and do not have any added sugars or spices.
- Grate your own mozzarella for the Baked Meatball Skillet. It provides a better flavor and melts better too.
- Don’t skip on the fresh basil. It really finishes the dish beautifully and rounds out the tomato flavor.
Saving the leftovers
If you have leftovers from the Baked Meatball Skillet, you can save them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 5 days. You can also freeze them.
To reheat the leftovers you can put them in the microwave or you can put them and the sauce in a ceramic dish and bake them for about 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. If you froze them, let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then cook as mentioned above.
Looking for more easy dinner recipes?
If you love an easy dinner recipe like my Baked Meatball Skillet recipe, try these too.
- French Onion Chicken {HERE}
- New York Strip Steak with Red Wine Butter Mushrooms {HERE}
- Italian Stuffed Flank Steak {HERE}
- Recipe for Bolognese Sauce {HERE}
Sheet Pan Lemon Chicken and Asparagus {HERE} - Easy Skillet Lasagna {HERE}
- Creamy Poblano Chicken Enchiladas {HERE}
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Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! I hope that you love my Baked Meatball Skillet recipe. You can find the full, printable recipe below. Happy eating.
Baked Meatball Skillet recipe
Equipment
- 15 inch Cast iron pan or enamel cast iron pan
Ingredients
Ingredients for the meatballs
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 1 1/4 lb package of ground pork
- 1 1/4 lb package of ground beef At least 85 percent lean
- 1 tbsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
Ingredients for the sauce
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 4 large cloves or garlic, grated or pressed
- 24 oz tomato sauce (4 cups)
- 1 can diced tomatoes If you want to use fresh tomatoes use about 1 3/4 cups
- 8 oz tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp dried sage
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 cup chicken stock
- 6 oz freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a large cast iron pan or enamel cast iron with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the meatballs using your hands or a spoon. I like to use my hands to make sure everything well combined. Use a tablespoon to measure and scoop out the mix.
- Form each tablespoon into one meatball and place it in the cast iron or enamel cast iron pan. When you have all of them in the pan, spray them lightly with the cooking oil again and put them in the oven on the middle rack for 10 minutes.
- When the meatballs are done, remove them from the oven and the pan and set them aside. Place the pan back on the stove over medium heat and then add the extra virgin olive oil. When it is shimmering, add the onion. Stir it for 3 minutes until the onion begins to soften. Then add the garlic and stir for another three minutes.
- Next add in the tomatoe sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix everything together to combine with a garlic and onions. Then add in the dry spices, heavy cream and chicken broth. Whisk gently to incorporate everything again and let it simmer for about 3 minutes.
- Add the meatballs back to the pan and spoon the sauce over them. Place them uncovered back in the oven for 15 minutes.
- When time is up, remove them from the oven and add on the mozzarella cheese. Cook for another 5-7 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through.
- To serve to them with the fresh basil. Eat them alone, with pasta or on a meatball sub!
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