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a meatball with spaghetti and sauce being lifted on a fork over a bowl of meatballs

Meatball Sauce

Isabel Laessig
Never be lost for meatball sauce ideas again with my list of all the best Sauces for Meatballs! Featuring meaty, savory Italian meatball sauce!
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours 11 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 16 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 8
Calories 396 kcal

Equipment

  • Dutch oven or large pot
  • Wooden spoon or spatula

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound sausage
  • 1 pound pork loin cubed
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
  • 4 28 oz. tomato sauce cans
  • 1 small onion or half 1 large onion, chopped
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • cooked meatballs

Instructions
 

  • Place a large deep pan or Dutch Oven over high heat and add olive oil. Add onion and let it cook for 2-3 minutes, until soft.
    ¼ cup olive oil, 1 small onion
    Cooking onions in a pot
  • Stir in minced garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes until the onions are golden and the garlic aromatic.
    1 Tablespoon minced garlic
    Cooking garlic with onions in a pot
  • Add sausage and pork loin to the pan. Cook until meat is golden brown, stirring occasionally.
    1 pound pork loin, 1 pound sausage
    Cooking sausage and pork loin in a pot
  • Gradually pour in tomato sauce. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste, and Italian seasoning.
    1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning, 4 28 oz. tomato sauce cans, ½ teaspoon sugar, salt & pepper
    Adding tomato sauce to meat sauce in pot
  • Stir and add in cooked meatballs. Cover and simmer 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Don't stir too much, or it can break up the meatballs.
    cooked meatballs
    Meatballs in sauce in a pot
  • Serve over pasta, and enjoy!
    Mixing meatball sauce in a pot

Video

Notes

  • If you're serving meatballs in sauce, set them in the sauce directly after cooking them so they soak up plenty of flavor!
  • Meatballs are tender and fluffy and can fall apart when dipped into sauce that's too thick, so make sure to serve a thin enough sauce that meatballs don't fall apart in the bowl.
  • Choose a sauce based on the occasion and the way you're serving meatballs! Buffalo is perfect for dipping cocktail meatballs at a party; meatball sauce is better for a big family dinner with pasta.
  • If you're setting out dipping sauce for a party, make sure to change it out frequently or let people take smaller cups of sauce with them as to avoid cross-contamination.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 396kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 26gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 2171mgPotassium: 1499mgFiber: 6gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 1525IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 66mgIron: 5mg
Keyword easy sauce for meatballs, meatball sauce, meatball sauce recipe, sauce for meatballs
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