My Italian Meatballs with Sunday Sauce recipe is a tried and true family favorite. Made with pork, beef, garlic, egg, and breadcrumbs, the meatballs are baked then simmered in tomato sauce for a few hours. Serve with pasta for the quintessential Italian American Sunday dinner!
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The meal I enjoyed most as a kid
Every Sunday my grandma would wake at the crack of dawn to start her Sunday sauce (she called it gravy), and most of the time it would include Italian meatballs and other assorted meat, like beef braciole, Italian sausages, and pork chops.
I cannot think of a better smell to wake up to and it took a ton of willpower for me to not sneak a taste every hour or so.
The way she made meatballs and Sunday sauce is the way my mom makes it, the way I make it, and the way I hope my kids will make it after I’m long gone. It’s an honor to think my family legacy may grace some of your dinner tables as well!
Whenever I make Italian meatballs, I serve it with a pound of pasta, a green like garlicky spinach, escarole, or broccoli rabe, a loaf of Italian bread, and plenty of cheese for grating. Tara always likes to serve a bowl of ricotta at the table too!
Featured Comment
One reader, Janie, commented: “I cannot tell you what an absolute hit this was. I made the Sunday sauce and the meatballs. It was not a hard recipe to make, just needed attention. No problem. My family were oooing and ahhhing with every bite. So good and such tender flavorful meatballs! ★★★★★”
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Meat. I prefer to use a combination of ground pork and ground beef (I use chuck because it has a higher fat content, giving the meatballs a better taste and texture). Feel free to use any combination you’d like of beef, pork, or veal. You can also use ground turkey to make turkey meatballs or bulk sausage to make sausage meatballs.
- Breadcrumbs. I like to start with plain breadcrumbs and season myself by adding parsley, a garlic paste, Parmigiano Reggiano, and salt and pepper.
- Tomatoes. While you can start with crushed tomatoes, I do prefer to start with canned whole plum tomatoes for Sunday sauce and either hand-crush (for more texture), or blender-pulse. I also use a can of tomato paste for extra body.
- Onion. I originally published this recipe back in 2019 and at the time didn’t add garlic to my Sunday sauce – just onion. Now that I’m updating this post, I’m still just using onion, but would like to point out that you can most definitely use garlic! I do find there is enough garlic in the meatballs that the sauce doesn’t need it, but please do what you like!
- No dried herbs? I’m addressing this here because some folks may wonder why I don’t use dried herbs in my Sunday sauce. My recipe is light on the spice rack herbs for good reason – the high quality tomatoes and the meatballs are the stars of this dish. Dried herbs can often be overpowering and are simply not needed. You may find other Sunday sauce recipes on the internet that use a ton of dried herbs labeled “Italian Seasoning”; I don’t use anything labeled as Italian seasoning, ever! And I encourage you not to either. If you absolutely feel the need to add a dried herb to your Sunday sauce, a touch of dried oregano wouldn’t hurt.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make Italian Meatballs with Sunday Sauce
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Coat the bottom of a large heavy pot with 1/2 cup of olive oil and saute the onions on medium-low heat until translucent, 5-7 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for another 5 minutes, spreading the paste around with a wooden spoon. Add a splash of water if the paste starts to burn.
- Add the hand-crushed (or blender-pulsed) tomatoes, salt, and pepper and stir until incorporated. Cook on a very low simmer with the lid slightly ajar taking care to stir the sauce every so often to avoid sticking. The sauce should cook on low heat for at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours, but the longer the better. After taste testing, add the optional sugar if needed. Note: Most of the time sugar is not needed but sometimes a particular batch of tomatoes can be too acidic. If you hate the idea of adding sugar, a carrot will work too.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. While the sauce simmers, add the beef and ground pork to a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. To the meat, add the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, parsley, and garlic paste. Pour 2 beaten eggs into the meat and gently mix everything together, but don’t overmix. If the mixture seems too dry, add one more egg to the mix. If the mixture seems too wet, add a little more breadcrumbs.
- With wet hands, roll the meatballs to 2-inches in diameter. Bake the meatballs in the oven on a sheetpan with a wire rack for 15 minutes, then increase the temperature to 475°F and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until browned.
- Alternatively, you can shallow-fry the meatballs in olive oil in a frying pan until browned.
- If frying, allow the meatballs to drain on a paper towel-lined dish. Pictured below are the baked meatballs and fried meatballs. You can see the fried are slightly more browned.
- Place the browned meatballs in the Sunday sauce and cook for a minimum of 1 hour on low heat to allow the meatballs to absorb the flavor and braise in the sauce. When the meatballs are done cooking, move to a separate bowl to serve and add additional sauce to pasta, if desired. Serve with grated cheese and Italian bread.
Top tips
- Don’t overmix. Overmixing the meatballs can cause them to be tough. Mix just until they come together and can be rolled into balls without any cracks.
- Baking vs. frying vs just dropping them in. It comes down to personal preference whether you bake or fry. Baking will give you a slightly softer meatball, while frying will give you a browner meatball that’s slightly crispy on the outside (like my pan-fried meatballs). I wanted to show you the two main ways to make meatballs for Sunday sauce, but there is a third way and that is to simply drop the raw meatballs into the sauce and allow them to braise the whole time.
- Thickening the sauce. If you prefer your Sunday sauce (or Sunday gravy) on the thicker side, you can open the lid to the pot a little wider to allow for more evaporation. If you find the sauce is too thick, you can add a touch of water.
- Add wine. I don’t add wine with this recipe, but every now and then I change up my Sunday sauce and add a cup of red wine. It adds another dimension of flavor to the sauce!
- Add some more meat. For even more flavor, drop in some sweet and hot Italian sausages and a few pork chops. Serve both the sausage and pork with the meatballs.
- Serving. There will be a lot of sauce after removing the meatballs. As mentioned, I always serve my meatballs and Sunday sauce with a pound of pasta (we love rigatoni and tortiglioni), but you can also use the sauce for stuffed shells, lasagna, baked ziti, and more!
More nostalgic Italian American favorites
If you love authentic Italian American Sunday sauce with meatballs, give these other recipes a try!
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Italian Meatballs And Sunday Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 4 28-ounce cans plum tomatoes hand crushed or blender pulsed
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1/2 cup (120g) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons sugar optional, depends on sweetness of the sauce
For the Meatballs
- 1 pound (454g) ground chuck
- 1 pound (454g) ground pork
- 1 cup (100g) plain breadcrumbs plus more as needed
- 3/4 cup (68g) grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 3 cloves garlic paste
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
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Instructions
For The Sauce
- Coat the bottom of a large heavy pot with a 1/2 cup of olive oil and saute the onions on medium-low heat until translucent (about 5-7 minutes).
- Add the tomato paste to the onions and cook for 5 minutes, spreading the paste around with a wooden spoon. Add a splash of water if the paste starts to burn.
- Add in all of the hand crushed tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Stir the sauce until incorporated and cook on a low simmer with the lid left slightly ajar. Stir the sauce every so often (very important!) to avoid sticking. The sauce should cook on low heat for at least 2.5 to 3 hours but longer will be better. Add optional sugar after taste testing, if required.
For The Meatballs
- Add the beef and ground pork to a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- To the meat, add the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, parsley and garlic paste. Pour 2 beaten eggs in and gently mix everything together. If the mixture is too dry, add one more egg to the mix.
- With wet hands roll approximately 2" diameter meatballs. The meatballs can be shallow fried in neutral oil until brown on all sides or baked on a sheet pan with wire rack at 400°F for 15 minutes the and additional 5 minutes at 475°F.
- Place the browned meatballs in the sauce and cook for a minimum of 1 hour on low heat to allow the meatballs to absorb the flavor and braise in the sauce.
- When the meatballs are finished, serve with choice of pasta, grated cheese and Italian bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- Calories. The calorie info reflects the addition of 1 pound of pasta.
- Meat. Chuck, which has a large amount of fat and flavor, and ground pork are a great combo for juicy tender meatballs. Avoid using really lean meats if at all possible.
- Mixing the meatballs. It’s crucial to not over-mix a meatball and to not form them too tightly. Use wet hands and roll the meatballs by hand until there are no cracks.
- Breadcrumb amount. The amount this recipe calls for is a fair compromise in the meat to breadcrumb ratio. If the meatballs are too wet after mixing in the initial 1 cup of breadcrumbs, add a bit more until a meatball will form that holds its shape.
- Eggs. 2 eggs is a good starting point, but don’t be shy about using an extra one if the mix is too dry. The eggs are the binder and ensure the meatballs can be formed properly.
- Let the meatballs slowly cook. Leave them in the sauce (minimum 1 hour) on very low heat to slowly braise and absorb the flavors of the homemade Sunday sauce.
- How to make the sauce thicker. With or without paste the sauce can be thickened by simply opening the lid to allow quicker evaporation. Conversely, to slow the thickening process keep the sauce pot fully covered or add a touch of water.
- Leftovers. The meatballs and sauce can be stored in the fridge for 3 days and can be reheated on the stove-top. If the sauce is a little too thick, just add a touch of water to loosen it up. Or if needed, just toss in another can of crushed plum tomatoes to increase the amount of sauce and let it cook for 30 minutes to incorporate into the existing sauce.
- Freezing. The sauce and meatballs can be frozen. Reuse them by thawing in the fridge, then cooking on the stove-top over moderate heat.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on July 12, 2019. It was completely updated on April 28, 2025.
I send all of your videos to share with friends
I really appreciate that, Alex!
Hi, James – Without knowing you already gave me a speedy reply about pork chops and sausages in Sunday sauce, I went ahead and cooked that combo last night. I used around two pounds each of pork chops and sausages, just like you suggested in your answer to me. What a great success! Absolutely delicious after being cooked for 5 hours. You recommend removing the chops after 3 hrs. and that’s what I did. I don’t want to risk having small bone fragments in the sauce by keeping them in for five hours. That was a good safety tip of yours. Thank you so much for your great recipes.
Hi Catherine. Glad it all worked out. Thanks for the comment.
The sauce is on the stove and smells amazing. I added the Pork chops and sausage like you did in your video. The meatballs are in the oven. I bought fresh parsley and forgot to add it! I’m so mad at myself! Oh well, they still smell good.
I’m making the braciole after I rest a bit!
Hey there. I’m sure those meatballs will still be great. Good news is that the braciole calls for parsley as one of the ingredients. Hope you enjoy the meal!
I can’t find your recipe for sausages and pork chops in Sunday sauce, James. I know you have a video showing how to do it, but it’s not a recipe. There’s a link on your video but that doesn’t seem to lead me to the recipe. I’m ready to go out and buy sausages and pork chops but I don’t know how much to buy. Please help me.
Hi Catherine. I don’t have a print recipe on this blog for that video. If you follow this Sunday sauce recipe I recommend 2 pounds of sausage links and 2 pounds of pork chops. If you want to use more meat, you should increase to five or six 28-ounce cans of plum tomatoes. Enjoy!
I enjoyed making and eating these Sip and Feast meatballs in Sunday sauce. I added a cup of water to the sauce to reduce the intensity of the tomato paste and cooked the sauce for around 5 hrs. I made meatball parmesan heroes on semolina italian bread with sesame seeds and substituted a meltable, sharp provolone for the mozzarella. I love your recipes, James – I have a separate folder for them. You have made me a better cook.
Glad you enjoyed it, Catherine!
I’m shopping for a dutch oven today. What quart size is needed for the full 4 can of tomatoes batch with meat?
Hi Chris. I recommend at least a 6.5 quart. I linked a 7 quart Lodge in my shop. It’s a nice one.
My great-grandmother came from Piedmont, Italy after she was married. I grew up watching her (and my grandmother, and mother, and aunt) make just about everything I’ve seen on your channel. Christmas dinner was always meat ravioli, and New Year’s was Tortellini in brodo. Thanksgiving was turkey stuffed with ravioli stuffing! Thanks for bringing back all those wonderful memories. BTW – They called it “sugo” or “gravy.”
Hi Kristine. That ravioli stuffing sounds great! I’m happy to hear these recipes are bringing you back. Thanks for liking the channel.
By far the best meatballs I’ve ever made and I’ve tried a lot
Thank you so much for the perfect instructions too.
Hi Kerry. Great to hear! There are definitely a lot of meatball recipes out there so I appreciate you putting these up there with the best.
You are a breath of fresh air! Going to try the Grandma Pizza dough today. Thanks! I’ll see how it turns out in a few days. Blessings to you.
Thanks, Leslie. Hope you enjoy it!
Looking for which meatballs your kids liked best as mentioned in the Sunday sauce video. I’m new to your site and would love to hear what they chose. Thank you for the great videos! btw, I’m team Pecorino Romano when cooking and Locatelli for the table.
Hi Rebecca. This is the same meatball recipe from the video where my kids did the taste testing. Thanks for liking the videos!
I love all your recipes and I want to make these and some of your other meatballs but I cannot use breadcrumbs because of the gluten. I am thinking that gluten free breadcrumbs just won’t work because of how gluten free bread hardly stays together in a sandwich that is a little moist. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Gisele. I think the gluten-free breadcrumbs would probably work, but I can’t say for sure as I have never used them. Ground gluten-free oats might work too, but again I am not certain as I have never tried them either.
I have used gluten-free panko breadcrumbs in meatballs like these with very good results. Great recipe!
Hi Jeff, that’s great to hear and I appreciate you sharing the success you had with the adjustment. I’m sure this info will help other readers!
I do almost everything the same with the exception of adding garlic to my sauce. Otherwise, everything is the same. Love the Sunday sauce and meatballs. Thanks for your recipes, I love them!
Hi Chris. Thanks for liking the recipes and for reaching out through email!
I like the sounds of ingredients in the sauce, not a lot of spices, but I do enjoy a light sauce and think tomato paste is too concentrated, ….will I have a nice sauce if I leave it out?
Hi Janet. You can leave out the paste. Hope you enjoy it!
I just found your website and am printing recipes like mad! This is just what I’ve been looking for and I love the way you explain things and your videos. Can’t wait to start cooking. Thank you!
Hi Yvonne. Glad you’re enjoying the recipes and I look forward to hearing which one you try next.
Made this recipe (along with the meatballs) for Christmas dinner. It was a huge hit! This will now be in my regular sauce rotation. Thanks for another great recipe Jim!
Hi John. I’m glad both the sauce and meatballs were a hit. Thanks for the feedback!
How many meatballs should this yield? And approx. weight in grams? And you’ve elevated my cooking skills. Thank you!
Hi William. You can get about (20-24) 2″ meatballs. The rough weight of the meatball ingredients is 1300 grams so each meatball would weigh about 2 ounces or 56 grams. I would just roll them to the size you like though. Thanks for liking the recipes.
For the baked meatballs the video states 425 for 20 minutes – the recipe above says 375 for 25 – 30 minutes – which one is it ?
Either way is fine. You will get more color on them at 425f.
This is probably the first sauce recipe I don’t see garlic added into the sauce. Have you ever use garlic when you make Sunday Gravy?
Hey, I sometimes use garlic in this sauce. I have 3 versions of this recipe on YouTube with varying ingredients. One with sausage and pork chops. One with pork neck bones and red wine. And, one with garlic and a full pork loin. My overall message, better articulated through my videos, is to make these base recipes your own. If you want 10 cloves of garlic or none at all, go for it!
Another great recipe! We have a bunch of leftovers and plan to use them during the week. I didn’t know how many recipe you have on YouTube. I love watching the pizza recipes but can’t seem to find them while searching. I’m probably just not searching correctly. Anyway thanks!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. I am trying to get all the YouTube pizza recipes on this website, but it’s taking a very long time. I promise it will happen soon.
Question — if I’m just making the sauce, and not the meatballs, how long should the sauce cook once everything has ben added to the pot?
Hey I am looking at the recipe and will update the time. I would say at a minimum go for 2-3 hours, but often I will cook it all day really low and slow, stirring every 15-20 minutes to avoid sticking. As the sauce cooks it will slowly reduce and get thicker. Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for the quick reply!!
You got it!
Jim:
My grandparents came from Corleone Sicily, and they made meatballs ( similar to your recipe, with one exception they put milk in the bread crumps. I think it makes them more tender. In addition their Sunday sauce always has pork in it, ( usually country ribs). I really enjoy your recipes, and add most to my family recipe book.
Thanks
Russo
Hi Roder. The milk is a nice touch. I normally use it for turkey and sometimes meatloaf. Thanks for liking the videos.