This is one of those recipes that my whole family absolutely loves. 
Let’s face it…meatballs are a crowd pleaser. My youngest daughter even likes cold leftover meatballs in her lunch on occasion. These would also be good on toothpicks as an appetizer at a party or a tailgate, or you could mix them together with some warm noodles and sauce like the picture. You could also double the recipe and freeze the leftover meatballs (when they are either raw or cooked) for a quick meal on a busy day. No matter what you decide to do I promise you will not be disappointed. This recipe has been one of our family’s favorite “go-to” meals for years!
Whole-Wheat Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb whole-wheat spaghetti
- pasta sauce
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/3 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- ½ cup carrot, in bits (you can grind the carrot in a food processor, grate then dice them, or mince them)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- crushed red pepper, to taste
- olive oil, for greasing the baking sheet
Instructions
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Boil pasta noodles according to package directions.
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
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Mix together ground beef and next 10 ingredients (find a recipe for breadcrumbs here - Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs). I find it easiest to use my hands.
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Generously grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
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Roll the beef mixture into meatballs the size of golf balls. Place them in rows onto the greased baking sheet.
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Bake for 9 – 11 minutes or until brown all the way through.
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Serve meatballs on top of cooked noodles and warm pasta sauce. Garnish with extra Parmesan cheese if desired.
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I’m considering using 1 lb grassfed pork and 1 lb grassfed beef and am wondering if i could make part into meatballs and part into a meatloaf. Would i need to add anything to the meatloaf section? Onions?
Hi Meg. That is not something we’ve tried but I can’t imagine a meatloaf with out onion. :)
This one isn’t one of my favorites. If I make it again, I will probably sauté my garlic first. Raw garlic (even though it does cook as the meatballs cook, clearly) is just too overpowering for us. These were also a tad dry, but perhaps I overcooked them.
I just made this for my family. Hands down ~ BEST SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS EVER!!!!!! Meatballs are so easy and very flavorful!!!!
If you freeze these, raw or cooked, how do you go about cooking them? Let them thaw first, or just put on the baking pan frozen?
Thanks!
Hi Angela. I usually thaw overnight in the fridge and then heat them in a covered pyrex.
Lisa, I made this last night with your homemade pasta sauce and your kale chips. Everything was absolutely delicious. My five-year-old son said, “Mommy, I love this dinner! Can we have this dinner tomorrow night?” Talk about music to my ears! We are big fans, and we thank you for the great recipes.
What could I substitute for the soy sauce?
This is my favorite homemade substitution: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/92873/soy-sauce-substitute/.
This is the first recipe I have tried from this site. I made this last night and it was delicious! The meatballs have great flavor, although I thought my store bought pasta sauce masked that great flavor. I can’t find your homemade pasta sauce recipe. Could you post the link to it? Thank you. Also, I added 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. Do you think that is too much? And lastly, would you recommend a type of dip to supplement these meatballs as an appetizer? Thank you so much!
Hi there. Here are Lisa’s pasta recipes: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/07/19/recipe-homemade-spaghetti-sauce/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/06/21/recipe-simple-spaghetti/. Not sure about a dip but bruschetta pairs well.
I made these for a New Years Eve party (I wanted to make sure there was something I would eat) – and they were a huge hit! My only modification was to add some finely chopped mushrooms. I’m going to try them next with ground turkey and am sure that they will be delicious!
1 1/2 hours to make and a major disappointment; these meatballs do not have a good flavor
Just made these meatballs, they are so so so good! Thank you! Going to make your pumpkin muffins now :)
Would the flavor be diminished if I left out the soy sauce? My son strongly dislikes soy sauce.
There will be a tad bit difference, but it shouldn’t hurt the overall taste that much.
The comment that said took 1.5 hrs? Crazy! I thought these were super quick to throw together and my family of 6 loves the flavor of these meatballs. Very tasty! I had 3 mozzarella cheese sticks that I cut into 8 small squares each and wrapped the meat around the cheese because I was nervous we wouldn’t have enough for everyone. It ended up marking 24 meatballs. Thanks for the great recipe! Served it with your spaghetti sauce using canned tomatoes. Look forward to making that one using fresh.