Spaghetti & Meatballs 101: How to Make the Best Version at Home
For a blog that is designed around people with limited cooking skills, it has taken us a surprisingly long time to tackle the staple that is spaghetti and meatballs.
We know. You have a recipe for the best spaghetti and meatballs ever. Or your Nonna has a recipe. Or your great uncle four times removed has one. But we wanted to know what really makes the perfect spaghetti and meatballs, so here we are.
Don’t want to read about the recipes we made while finding the best spaghetti and meatballs? Click here to jump straight to the data.
Spaghetti & Meatballs Recipes: An Experiment
As is customary around these parts, before donning our pocket protectors and calculator watches to crunch some numbers, we made a few recipes to get a feel for things.
We made three different recipes that utilized different cooking methods and ingredients:
The first recipe was from Chris Morocco. It was really, really good. We maybe messed up a bit and ignored the requested ¼ cup of finely diced prosciutto in favour of the 100g of prosciutto that we bought, but it turned out really good so we’re counting it as a win. 😋
The next recipe was from Chef John. Baking the meatballs was interesting and helped us to prevent dirtying yet another frying pan on the day of, so we were grateful. Overall, we’re not sure if baking them actually is a better idea or not.
We were slightly annoyed that Chef John didn’t provide a sauce recipe and instead told us to use our favourite tomato sauce, so we opted to revisit a blast from our pasts and try out Classico pasta sauce. Turns out that Classico is maybe best left as a fond memory. (In our humble opinions, it doesn’t taste as good as it used to.) The meatballs were great, our choice of sauce was not. 🫤
The last recipe we made was the first result when we searched for “spaghetti and meatballs recipe” on Google. This recipe didn’t want you to bake or saute the meatballs first, instead letting the sauce do all of the cooking for you. (Less dishes, love it.)
Spaghetti & Meatball Theory 101
What do you do when you want to make your own spaghetti and meatballs, but you don’t trust Giada De Laurentiis or your Italian nonna to have the best recipe? Well, you statistically analyze 30 different spaghetti and meatball recipes on the internet to figure out what the optimal spaghetti and meatball dish is, of course. So that’s what we did just for you. You’re welcome. Yes, we are ultra nerds.
⚡️Lightning Fast Spaghetti & Meatballs Numbers⚡️
30% of recipes called for crushed tomatoes, and 18% of recipes also included tomato paste
63% of recipes asked for garlic and onion in the sauce
47% of recipes ask for pepper and fresh basil in addition to salt
47.5 minutes was the median simmer time for the spaghetti sauce
70% of the recipes called for a beef and pork mixture for the meatballs
80% of recipes asked for egg as a binder, and 100% called for bread/breadcrumbs to help bind the meatballs and keep them moist
67% of recipes want you to include salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, garlic, or parsley in your meatballs
60% of recipes want you to saute the meatballs in a pan and then add them to the sauce to finish cooking
What type of canned tomatoes should you use? 🍅
Crushed tomatoes were the winner here with 30% of the recipes calling for it, while whole peeled tomatoes came in a very close second at 28%. That being said, whole peeled tomatoes are typically higher quality—crushed tomatoes are the tomatoes that didn’t make the cut in appearance.
So which should you choose? Well, part of it also boils down to convenience. Crushed tomatoes are already crushed and convenient to just pour into a pan. Whole peeled tomatoes need an extra step, which is typically either crushing them with your hands as you add them to your sauce or using an immersion blender on your sauce to make it smooth.
If you want a super smooth sauce, opt for passata (tomato puree), which doesn’t have any seeds or skins in it like crushed tomatoes do.
Lastly, tomato paste: 18% of recipes used it. In fact, of all the recipes that required more than one type of tomato, tomato paste was the second type of tomato 78% of the time. (In case it’s not clear, 0 recipes called for JUST tomato paste.)
Tl;dr: whether you go with whole peeled tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, or passata, you’re going to have a good sauce. Don’t fret about this part too much!
🍅 Mediocre Tip: A few recipes specifically mention using canned whole San Marzano tomatoes. These are a type of tomato from Italy and there are many many brands that will try to pretend they are San Marzano tomatoes. Legit ones will have a DOP seal on the label of the can. They are more pricey than your standard canned tomato, so buy them if you haven’t before and give them a try to see if you think they’re worth the price increase! (Sidenote: we’ve never seen San Marzano tomatoes crushed, they always come whole in the can.)
Should you put onion or garlic in the sauce, or both?
Garlic and onion was the clear winner, with 63% of recipes using both. 🧅🧄
Only 3 recipes in our dataset of 30 didn’t use onion OR garlic.
(Sidenote: We love garlic so much we wrote a post about it. So garlic is definitely going in our sauce. 🧄)
What seasonings, herbs, and other flavour boosters should you add to spaghetti sauce?
This just in: salt is mandatory. Only 67% of recipes used salt! Pepper was tied for second with Fresh Basil (only two recipes used dried basil) at 47%.🌿
So at the very least, you should include salt, pepper, and fresh basil in your spaghetti sauce. If you’re feeling adventurous or want a bit of spice, add our third place spice: red pepper flakes. 🌶️
Sugar was used in 27% of recipes, but we reckon it’s probably only needed if your tomatoes are too acidic, to balance out the flavour. So taste your sauce first and then decide if it needs sugar or not! Alternatively, cooking your sauce for longer can also help with mellowing out the acidity. (More on cook time below!)
🧑🍳 Mediocre Tip: If you add sprigs of fresh basil, you can fish them out once the sauce is done simmering for a cleaner, more visually appealing sauce. Or, chop your basil and stir it in—both work.
If it doesn’t say “fresh,” the herbs are dried.
How long should you simmer spaghetti sauce for? ⏱️
The median simmer time for the sauce across all the recipes was 47.5 minutes. There was a surprisingly high number of recipes that called for a short cook time for the sauce. 45% of the recipes we looked at required a simmer time of 30 minutes or less. We feel like that’s a bit crazy, but hey, what do we know?
🍝 Mediocre Tip: Save some pasta water for your sauce! Pasta water is called liquid gold for a reason. It’ll help your sauce adhere to your noodles better.
Should you use both beef and pork when making meatballs?
100% of the recipes we looked at called for beef in some form when making meatballs (duh). 70% of the recipes also called for some form of pork as well. If you’re going to use pork, then the numbers say that the most common ratio of beef to pork is 1:1, with 2:1 also being very common (48% and 33% respectively).
The most common type of beef requested was ground beef, and 33% of the recipes asked for lean or extra lean ground beef, with the rest just stating “ground beef” or calling for 80/20 (what we would call medium ground beef). Notably, 17% of recipes also called for veal in addition to ground beef. (If you’re in Canada like us, learn about the types of ground beef here. This may differ slightly for other countries!)
The most common type of pork was ground pork, with 75% of recipes using it. Sausage and pancetta were the next most common pork types. As we mentioned at the beginning of this post, the meatballs that called for prosciutto were 🔥.
🧑🍳 Mediocre Tip: A few recipes mentioned that you shouldn’t overwork your meatball mixture when combining everything together. Why? You want them to be tender and juicy, not rubbery! When you overwork the meat the proteins tighten and the result is a more dense meatball. Your meatballs should turn out tender if you don’t overmix!
What should I use as a binder for meatballs? 🥚
80% of recipes used eggs as a binder to help the meatballs stay together. So it’s safe to say that you should most definitely use an egg or two to do the same. (Unless you’re allergic or something.)
Meat proteins do bind to each other when they cook, but if you’re using a pork mixture that is more fatty, that can make it harder to bind. Hence the egg!
Is bread or breadcrumbs necessary, or just filler? 🍞
100% of recipes used breadcrumbs or bread. That’s not because it’s filler or because people are skimping due to the price of beef being too damn high… Bread (or breadcrumbs) helps keep your meatballs moist. (No one likes dry balls!)
That’s why 63% of recipes call for you to soak your bread in water or milk before incorporating it into your meatball mixture. Recipes that don’t call for a soak are relying on the moisture from the egg and other ingredients to be absorbed by the bread/breadcrumbs.
What seasonings, herbs, and other flavour boosters should you add to meatballs?
When it comes to herbs, spices, and flavourings for meatballs, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, garlic, and fresh parsley are your best friends. They account for 67% of all herbs, spices, and flavourings in the recipes we looked for. Shoutout to the one recipe we looked at that asked for lemon juice.
If it doesn’t say “fresh,” the herbs are dried.
What’s the best way to cook meatballs?
The answer is to saute your meatballs in a pan and then finish cooking them in the sauce — 60% of the recipes used this method. Browning your meatballs really enhances the flavor!
Interestingly, about 10% of the recipes were okay with dropping raw balls into the sauce and letting them just cook that way. (If you want to do less dishes, this is the way.)
How to Make the Best Spaghetti & Meatballs
Wow, isn’t statistics fun?
“But what does it all mean?”, you ask. Well, based on our data, we created The Mediocre Chef Spaghetti & Meatballs Blueprint. This isn’t a recipe, per se. Instead, think of it as a guideline for what makes damn good spaghetti & meatballs.
The Mediocre Chef Spaghetti & Meatballs Blueprint 🍝
Sauce
Dice up an onion, mince some garlic (however much your heart desires), and saute them in a pan with some olive oil.
Add in a can or two of crushed or whole tomatoes (28oz cans are the standard). Use San Marzano if you’re feeling extra fancy.
Season to taste with fresh basil, salt, and pepper.
Simmer the sauce for at least 45 minutes.
Meatballs
Soak some breadcrumbs in milk or water.
Once thoroughly soaked, add in salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, minced garlic, fresh parsley, and an egg for binding.
Combine everything with equal amounts of ground beef and ground pork (about 1lb each).
Be careful to not overwork the meatballs otherwise they’ll end up dense and not fluffy.
Form the meat mixture into balls, then saute them in a pan until they’re browned on all sides, and let them finish cooking in the sauce.
Spaghetti
Cook spaghetti until it’s al dente.
Add spaghetti directly to your pan of sauce once it’s done. If your sauce needs a bit of help sticking to the pasta, add some pasta water.
🍝 Mediocre Tip: If you want to truly be Italian, don’t break your pasta noodles in half before adding them to your boiling water. We heard that any time you do this, somewhere an Italian nonna cries.
Plating
Add spaghetti to your bowl (If you’re feeling fancy, use tongs to control the placement of the pasta and “twist” it vs plopping it with a spaghetti server. We’re going for elegance, not Plop Slop).
Top with however many meatballs you’re feeling like.
Grate some fresh parmesan on top.
Add a few basil leaves for garnish.
Buon appetito!
Want More 101s?
If you enjoyed us overthinking spaghetti & meatballs, good news: we do this a lot. Check out more 101 guides where we break down classic foods using data. Class is in session!
Bonus Rant: Heinz Canned Spaghetti. Don’t Do It.
Remember when you were a kid and you lived off of macaroni and cheese, Zap Ems, and canned meals like ravioli and alphaghetti? IMO, ⅔ of those things belong in the past. (Not you mac and cheese, we love you.)
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” - Genesis 1:31
“Do you think God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he's created here on earth?” - Spy Kids 2
Only one of these two applies to this situation.
Heinz Spaghetti, like the aforementioned canned meals, are also terrible. The nuclear orange color of the tomato sauce looks as horrific as it tastes. For real, there was something primal in our brains that was telling us to NOT eat the orange sauce. And the thick noodles? What we imagine biting into a bloated worm is like. #2Thicccc 🤢
Nostalgia couldn’t save it. Like we’ve said before about other food products, if you are eating this unironically, we wish better days ahead for you.