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 followed this recipe almost exactly, only addition is some fresh oregano leaves in with the parsley and garlic to the meatballs. After the meatballs had been simmering in the sauce for some time, the sauce didn’t have quite enough flavor, so I added another 1/2-1 tsp of salt. After 1.5-2 hours simmering in the sauce, the flavors came together perfectly. I feel that this is an excellent recipe with very basic ingredients.
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Aidan!
Great recipe! I added some 8 cloves of diced garlic and some red pepper lflakes along with the onion before the step that adds the tomato past. If I were to add Italian sausage, would you recommend browning it and adding it back to the sauce?
Hi Brandon, thanks for the comment! When we add sausage to Sunday sauce, we just add it to the sauce raw and allow it to cook in the sauce throughout the day. You certainly can brown them in the oven or stovetop if you’d like but it’s really not necessary.
Absolutely delicious and worth the all day simmer!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Christina!
Just the way I make my meatballs for 40 years. Absolutely delicious! But why no garlic in your sauce? I do call is gravy. I do add sausage and pieces of pork and beef short ribs. Born and raised in South Philadelphia. That’s the way I was taught.
Hey Jim this recipe is fantastic the meatballs
came out great and the Sunday sauce,
Thanks
So happy you enjoyed!
Where’s the garlic! My italian grandfather would be outraged. When tasting my grandma’s sauce he would always critique that it needed more garlic 😋
Thanks for the simple delicious recipe.
Just needs more garlic!
For Christmas Eve dinner I made your recipe for Sunday sauce and meatballs, it was a huge hit! The sauce had so much flavor, simmering most of the day. I ground beef chuck and pork shoulder for the meatballs and they turned out so tender and took on some of the flavor of the sauce. It was so simple and so delicious. My family requested that I make it again! Thank you for the step by step instructions, it was very helpful. Great recipe!
So happy you enjoyed, Joyce!
Hello I plan to make this for a large family dinner. We will have about 20 of us. Will this be enough to feed that amount?
It really depends on how much each person plans to eat, but as it’s written the recipe makes about 6 servings so you may need to scale the recipe up quite a bit. I think it will depend on if you’re serving anything else with it or if this is the main course.
Hello, thanks for all of the amazing recipes! Question about making this ahead of time then reheating. I’m hosting a family holiday gathering and I’m looking to avoid being tucked away in the kitchen all morning browning the meats and whatnot. Do you think it ok to make it all (sauce, meatballs, braciole, sausage) the day before and bring back to temp?
Hi Nate, definitely. It will be even better made a day in advance.
Great thank you – happy holidays!
Lol I don’t know all these 4.9 reviews, I am taking time to review all the recipes I have made after finding your site all 5’s to our family. This Sunday sauce is wonderful, and we used your meatball recipe which was so much better then we were using. Next time will make the bracciole
We appreciate that, Phyllis! Thanks for the comment!
I really liked the step by step instructions with pics. I am looking forward to making this as a 1/4 recipe, and the added suggestions and options are greatly appreciated. I love this style of cooking, but as a single senior I just don’t prepare large quantities of anything…I really enjoy this type of cooking as freshly prepared. I have already broken the recipe down to a 1/4 version, and I am going shopping for the meats…my butcher shop is 30 miles away…some time this week. They are very obliging and quite willing to provide me with 1/4 lb portions.
We hope you enjoy, Graham!
Looks like a good one! My mother would brown bracola, some country ribs along with frying the meatballs and put all in the sauce. That’s how a know Sunday Sauce!!
100% authentic Sunday Sauce!! James is the only cook on the internet who cooks almost exactly like my family did. We are from LI and Long Islanders pride themselves in knowing their Italian food. Haven’t made this in what seems like forever but now I’m going to THANKS
We’re so happy to hear that, Louise! Thanks for the comment!
I love all your recipes ..my mother used to cook just like you….everything you make is delicious..keep up the good work !
We’re so happy you’re enjoying all the recipes, Pauline!
Sounds delicious – where does the pork chop (s) come in ? Please tell me because I am planning on cooking this on next Sunday.
Hi Jackie, the recipe isn’t for pork chops, however, you could put a pork chop in the sauce and allow it to braise in the sauce until tender.
Fantastic sauce.. I substituted sweet Italian sausage instead of the meatballs and one pork chop. So much flavor! I also used red wine for deglazing.
We love your recipes!
We’re so happy you loved it and appreciate the comment!
AH-MAY-ZING sauce! Instead of canned tomatoes, I used fresh tomatoes from my garden (cooked on low, mashed & pureed, skins and all) to make the sauce. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. The sauce was so delicious, I ladled some into a bowl and ate it like soup while waiting for the meatballs to bake. For the meatballs, I used Italian sausage links (I removed the casings) instead of bulk ground pork because that’s what I had on hand. I’m keeping this recipe and making my sauce this way from now on..
So happy you enjoyed it, Lisa!
Almost the same as I make, however I use minced garlic in my gravy as well and I use 1 6 oz can of paste with each 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes. What amount of bread crumbs do you suggest for 1 lb chuck and 1 lb pork?
I’m surprised that you don’t use any herbs in your gravy. I use garlic, oregano, a few bay leaves, Italian seasoning and a few flakes of crushed red pepper.
Hi Elly, Jim uses 1 lb of chuck and 1 lb of pork for this recipe – see the recipe card. He uses 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs for this amount.
Love this recipe but I use romano instead and I add fresh chopped parsley❣️❣️❣️
Hi Bobbie, we’re happy you enjoyed the recipe and thanks for sharing your adjustments!
Hi James and Tara, thanks so much for this and the many, many hours of your videos I’ve watched over the past few years. I normally use Italian-language recipes for Italian dishes, but my nephew wanted NY-style spaghetti and meatballs and I remembered this…. it was great! I used beef and ground turkey, and the meatballs came out really juicy anyway, and held together great for 2.5 hours in the sauce. I made one mistake though, really a few in series: I used a smallish pot and had to add too much water to cover the polpette. The sauce seemed way too thin, of course, so I added a can of paste. That apparently went RIGHT to the bottom of the pot and stuck there, it didn’t ruin the flavor fortunately but I learned a couple valuable lessons for next time. Thanks again!
Thanks for the comment, Bruce, and happy you enjoyed!
HI…can I skip frying or baking the meatballs and put the meatballs directly into the sauce and simmer for 2 hours?
Yes, you can.