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 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! Tomorrow, Braciole. Can’t wait.Every single recipe of yours that I make is an absolute home run. My daughter now asks me,”Is this one of those Sip and Feast Recipes?” When I say “yes” she gets very excited. We know it will be fabulous. I absolutely love the pod cast offerings with you and your lovely wife, Tara”.
Hi Janie, thank you for the wonderful comment! We’re so happy you and your daughter are enjoying the recipes as well as the podcast; thank you!
Great meatballs & sauce, my go to receipt for spaghetti & meatballs and your Meatball Parm Hero recipe. I get a lot family repeat request for the Meatball Parm Hero’s. I’ve made extra hero’s and froze the whole cooked sandwich, bread and all, just like fresh when low heat re-heated in the oven.
Hi Larry, we’re so happy you enjoyed the recipe and appreciate your comment!
My grandmother’s sauce is similar but the meatballs are made with wet bread not crumbs. I love all versions. 😀
Hi there, thanks for the comment!
Your recipes are so delicious!!! I lost interest in cooking since the middle of Covid. I’m home full time now and found your website.
I’ll be using so many of your recipes now and I find them to be easy. Also, the way you explain everything is so helpful. You give alternatives to use if we don’t have certain ingredients on hand.
Your family is beautiful and you can tell they enjoy what you do as a family.
Thank you!!!!!
Hi Donna, we appreciate this message so much and are happy you’re finding the recipes to be helpful. Thank you for the comment and rating!
So glad I found your site!!!! You and Tara have so many amazing recipes that I can’t wait to try.
Hi Donna, we’re so happy you found our site too and really appreciate the comment!
Is it possible to make the meatballs with all beef? My mother in law can’t eat pork.
Hi Phil, yes, absolutely.
Hello Jim!
Early this morning I got started on the “Sunday sauce”…..I followed everything exact, except I had made your turkey meatballs the other day and I used them instead of beef and pork meatballs. Anyway, it turned out fantastic! So rich and robust, a truly wonderful recipe. You were so right on when you said the meat will give flavor to the sauce and it did! My husband had some with a sausage and a meatball when it was done and he scarfed it up! thanks again for another wonderful recipe!
Hi Jan, thanks for the comment and so happy you and your husband enjoyed the recipe and the turkey meatballs too!
Excellent recipe. It is very similar to what my wife’s Sicilian great aunt prepared. For her Sunday sauce, before browning the tomato paste she would put two or three anchovies into the hot oil. The anchovies quickly disintegrated, and added an added intensity of flavor that you find only in Sicilian cuisine.
Hi Dave, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed the meatballs!
After listening to the Sauce and Meatball podcasts I had to give this recipe a try. Absolutely delicious. No single flavor overpowers either the sauce or the meatballs, the later being moist and flavorful after finishing in the sauce for several hours. I chose to fry the meatballs in vegetable oil. So worth spending an afternoon making this simple, excellent dish. Thank you.
Hi Lisa, thanks for listening to the podcast! I’m so happy you felt inspired to make this after listening and really appreciate your comment!
The video for this recipe is very different from the sauce recipe listed on the page. Where do I find the recipe for the sauce made in the video? Alternately, is there a video of you making the recipe as listed above? Thanks!
Hi Melissa, I’m not sure which video you’re referring to. This is the same sauce that was made in the video from 3 years ago. Are you looking for the more recent meatball recipe with ricotta?
Jim, Melissa Perry is right on this one. Both the videos on You Tube involve pancetta (sp?) and other ingredients as opposed to this streamlined one with just meatballs. Wonder if YouTube in its infinite wisdom deleted one on you.
Still delicious from the printed recipe, but wildly different from what’s on your channel.
Cheers!
This makes a really great home cooked meal. A hit with everyone. I made a few changes . Swapped the breadcrumbs out for cooked red lentils to ensure the meatballs were soft. I only eyed off quantity and added about 1 cup or so. Made the meatballs much easier to form and hardly any stickiness. I did however make the mistake of not draining them off completely in so far as the last batch of meatballs were boiled rather than browned in oil. Didn’t seem to matter. The meatballs held their shape perfectly. I’ll make sure they’re properly dry next time though. I was a bit skimpier on the salt in the meatballs and added a whole teas of sugar. This is only the second recipe of yours I’ve tried and both were winners. I’ll be cooking your shepherds pie next. Thank you.
Hi Tammy, thanks for the comment and for sharing your substitution. So happy you’re enjoying the recipes!
This is the exact recipe my Mom used to make! This is definitely authentic! She never wrote it down but now I have it! You captured it perfectly, Jim! One thing though she did differently – she browned the meatballs in a cast iron skillet using a little bacon fat. Again, thank you, Jim!
Hi Mark, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed. Browning the meatballs in bacon fat sounds great!
Fantastic recipe just like my mom used to make!
Hi Scott, thanks for the comment and so happy you liked it!
When I was first married, I asked my Sicilian grandmother how long should I cook the sauce. How would I know it was ready. Her answer was “I’ll smell right when it’s done”. I wasn’t sure I understood her answer, but she was right!
I appreciate your recipes. I never had a chance to do much cooking with her, but your cooking is very reminiscent of hers, especially bracciole. Thank you.
Hi Sharon, thanks for the comment and so happy you’re enjoying the recipes and the nostalgia!
I want to make just the Sunday sauce and the meatball recipe with meatballs added. Do I have to have the pork chops and sausage links to make the sauce taste good? I know the drippings are important. Also, will a large stock pot work for the amount of sauce in the recipe?
Hi Vanessa, you can make it with just the meatballs and will still taste great. Yes, a large stock pot would work.
These are literally the best meatballs I’ve ever made. I made them yesterday and we’ll be enjoying on Christmas Day (if I don’t eat them all). In my opinion, you’ve got the flavor ratios down perfectly. My 90+ year old great aunt has criticized my meatballs in the past… I dare her to criticize this year! LOL Thanks so much, Jim – I absolutely love your videos and can’t wait to try some more of your recipes.
Hi Lorelei, so happy you liked the meatballs! You’ll have to let us know how your great aunt feels about them (fingers crossed)! Thanks for the comment and for watching the videos. Merry Christmas!
This was my first time tending (stirring) to a recipe all day…but boy was it worth it! We had lots of leftovers as it was just me and partner eating and the leftovers were good. Thanks for this recipe!
Hi Natasha, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed this one!
My grandmother would make lasagna by first making a Sunday gravy with braciole, meatballs similar to yours, and Italian sausage. Then the next day assemble and cook the lasagna. My dad wrote out the recipe many years ago and I only recently found it. Going to give it a try this Christmas with your recipe!
Brings back many memories! My grandparents were from Italy and this is the EXACT way my grandmother made her sauce (minus the pork chops – I don’t remember those) and meatballs. My mother made this same meal and I make my sauce and meatballs exactly the same – it’s all wonderful! Unfortunately, I’ve recently been diagnosed with Celiac disease and can no longer eat this wonderful meal but I still make it for family. YUM!! Nothing like an Italian Sunday dinner!
Hi Sharon, thanks for the comment and so happy it was able to stir up some good memories for you!
Oh my God, this is exactly how mama taught me to make real Italian meatballs! My sauce is very close, only I don’t add sugar but I do add a bay leaf. I also add the onion to the frying pan at the end after browning the meatballs and then add into the sauce. Mama said like you instructed to never overwork the meat when rolling into a ball. Love these authentic recipes, they remind me of Sundays past growing up!
Hi Virginia, thank you for the comment and so happy this hit the nostalgia button for you!