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 always soak my breadcrumbs in milk for a parade Great recipe Jimmy 😝
Have you ever used meatloaf mix (beef,veal & pork) to make your meatballs ?
Yes, we’ve used a meatball mix. See the post where Jim addresses using other meat (right below the picture of the ingredients).
I just made sauce and meatballs…then a cheesy bechamel and created lasagna. I add no wine to my sauce, but I add a shot of balsamic vinegar!
My meatballs…I also like a mix of ground pork and beef. I use an ice cream scoop for uniformity and air fry them, then add them to my sauce. I split them in half for the mini lasagna. I bake my layerd lasagna in loaf pans so I have a couple of servings…my kitties don’t care for lasagna so it’s just me! It’s a manageable amount for 1 or 2 people that way and freezes easily. I used onto box after lasagna foods and made an 8×8 and 2 loaf pand and had a few small noodle pieces left over. I can roll those with the leftover bechamel and top with sauce or make stuffed shells with it.
I’ve never been a meatball fan, until now! These are tender and flavorful. Now when I make them I make extras to vacuum seal and freeze so they are ready whenever we want. The Sunday sauce is also my go to recipe now.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Mike
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Mike!
This is exactly the way I make my Sunday sauce, and my mom before me.
I soak stale bread in milk and white wine. Squeeze out the liquid and add to my meatball mixture. That’s how my nonna and mom made it. Pork country short ribs added to the sauce is traditional for us. Serve the fall apart country ribs on a platter with the meatballs. Fantastic!
I’ve been making meatballs and sauce at least once a month for close to 50 years. But I decided to try it your way and this is now my go-to recipe. I’m amazed how many compliments I get. I do believe, for me the greatest change was in mixing the beef with the pork and not frying the meatballs before I put them in the sauce. They are so much lighter and tastier this way, and my stove top is not all covered in grease from the frying.
We’re so happy to hear that, Sherry! Thanks for the comment!
It’s a true New York Italian-American Nona recipe.
This has been “updated and improved” it says. So what is the difference between the old and the old?
Is there a video on this “updated” recipe?
Hi Walt, the improvements are new pictures with clearer instructions and slightly less breadcrumbs in the meatballs. Other than that, the recipe itself has stayed the same. The improvements were mainly in how the post was written and the instructional photographs. Jim will film a new Sunday sauce recipe soon but in the meantime the old Sunda sauce videos are still out there on YouTube for you to watch.
Excellent! One question, if addi g mushrooms when would you add them? At the beginning with the onions?
Hi Cristy, the mushrooms can be added along with the onions.
Hello…
Do you have a site where I can just send you a “fan” letter and maybe squeeze in a Sunday Gravy question? Thank you!
Hi Andrea, feel free to send us an email at email@sipandfeast.com, and if you have a Sunday gravy question, feel free to ask it here on this recipe. Perhaps your question will help others too.
Great meatball recipe. I steam my meatballs instead of frying or baking. I use ground chuck for the flavor. I also would emphasize to not overmix. And enjoy!!
Wonderful recipe. My grandmother and my mother, and now I always put garlic and basil in my gravy.
One of the better recipes I have used and is a go to now. Tweeked with some red wine and spice to taste but really good
So hpapy to hear that, Todd!
HI James , already wrote a comment but didn’t see the rating . I definitely gave you 5 stars . Always enjoy your videos with your kids tasting your finished receipts . Thank you
HI James , I need to tell you that all your receipts are what I grew up on , being 💯
100 % Italian all your receipts are fantastic and I cook the same way . It makes me appreciate that our Sicilian way of cooking is gone by the young. Their way is take out and don’t know how to cook anything . I am greatful that my 4 kids still value my Italian cooking and also keep our tradition. As I end this note to you , I’d like to thank you for all your videos and perfect instructions for your receipts . Hopefully some people will follow you and learn how to cook real Italian . Good job James .
We appreciate the comment, Joanne! Thank you!
You use plain breadcrumbs in the meatballs. Would it make a difference if I use seasoned breadcrumbs?
Hi Linda, you can definitely use seasoned breadcrumbs if that’s what you have.
The recipe was great. I think you are one of thenest cooks! I’ve enjoyed many of your recipes!
Thanks for the comment, Irene, and so happy you are enjoying the recipes!
It say cook sauce 2 to 3 hours and cook the meatballs 1 hour so the meatballs go in the sauce last hour of cooking
Made the sauce and meatballs today. Will served tomorrow. Tastes great! Ty Love your recipes
We’re so happy to hear that, Laurie!
I’m so surprise you don’t add any garlic to the sauce. You only added to the meatballs. Is this a mistake?
Hi Debbie, not a mistake. Please see the post where Jim addresses this (under the picture of the ingredients).
Made this recipe according to the instructions without deviation. It was very good! I shared some of the meatballs and sauce with a friend, and she asked me for the recipe. She is known for her meat sauce, so that tells you how good this was. The meatballs were a big hit in my family. I will make this again but will probably add some sausages and more spices to the sauce. I’m a big lover of oregano, basil and parsley. But, the recipe is great as is.
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Karen!
I made only the meatballs, and the only change I made was the cheese. I used freshly grated Locatelli Pecorino Romano, and the salt from the cheese took these meatballs to a whole new level. Next time I will cook the meatballs in the sauce to soften them up, but by themselves these were the beast meatballs I’ve ever eaten.
Hi Leonard, we’re thrilled you enjoyed this recipe too! Thanks for the comment!