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Oh my gosh, you guys look.

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

I made a meal my oldest brother would LOVE.

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvestSimple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

When my brother comes to visit around the holidays, I always try to make the food he loves, but the rest of the year, I never make the type food he is into. My more usual fare has too many weird flavors, too many green things and never, EVER, enough beef.

BUT today I nailed it. Meatballs + pasta = Creighton food for sure. I only wish I could actually give him some to eat. I guess I will be making these around Thanksgiving… or Christmas, which kind of fits, seeing as the primary colors here are red and green.

Ok, sorry, no Christmas talk, but what about Halloween, can we talk about that yet?? This year I am more excited than most. I don’t know why, it’s not like I have crazy fun plans…or really any plans, but I don’t know. I think I am just SO happy that I have NO barn stuff to deal with this fall. Last year was beyond stressful, so this year I really want to do all the fun holiday things, and that means getting way too excited for Halloween!

Please tell me you guys are with me on this? Like can we just please pretend to be young kids and embrace that spirit that’s still alive within us somewhere?? Yes. <–DO IT.

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

And speaking of Halloween. I think this would be a pretty amazing pre trick or treating dinner… or in our family’s case, an after trick or treating dinner (my family doesn’t do anything EARLY!). It’s just such an easy, hearty, and of course, totally cozy, meal. A great way to both start and finish the month….you know, tomorrow is October first after all!

So here’s the deal. Aside from Creighton, no else is very big on meatballs. The idea of ground beef rolled into a ball just isn’t our thing, BUT, I found a way to make it our thing. Instead of ground beef, I really love using spicy Italian sausage. It just adds SO much flavor and the meatballs never come out dry. Another little secret of mine? Wet bread.

Yup, wet pieces of white or whole grain bread. I learned this trick from my grandma, who learned it from her mom. Both my grandmas make an amazing meatloaf. It’s probably my brother Creighton’s favorite meal. I have been saying for SO long now that I am going to make a meatloaf, but I just haven’t gotten the chance yet. I’m pretty sure my grandma has told me how to make it like five time now, and I still have yet to actually muster up the courage to try it out.

I think I’m kind of afraid to. I mean, you hear all these horror stories about meatloaf, bland, dry and tasteless meatloaf. Eeww! Who want’s that? Plus, most of the food I make, I make for the blog, and well I’m kind of scared to make meatloaf, and even more than a little horrified to photograph it.

YIKES.

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvestSimple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

My point? If there’s one thing I have taken away from my grandma’s instructions on how to make her meatloaf, it’s that wetting your bread prior to mixing it with the meat is KEY for moisture. Trust me, the first time she told me this I literally said, “wait, what?”.  I had just never heard of actually putting bread under running water and squeezing out the excess water, seems weird, right?

Kind of, but it works, and it works really well. I used this same method for making my meatballs, and they turned out SO good! I do believe it’s all because of the bread. It’s magic guys!!

Ok and maybe all that oregano and sausage in there helps a little too!

Now let me tell you the bestest part about this dinner. It requires almost no effort. You mix your meatballs together, roll them into balls, place them in a baking dish, bake for a little, add your tomato sauce, add your cheese (and then a little more), bake a little longer, and… DONE. Yep, and only one pan – no frying the meatballs, no completely messy stove top and no broken, crumbly meatballs. Prayers answered, right?!?

And um, then – just add pasta!!

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 6 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 553 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground spicy Italian Sausage may use ground beef if preferred
  • 2 slices thick soft whole grain or white bread
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup fresh oregano chopped OR 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses may use regular molasses
  • 1 tablespoon Gochujang Korean chile paste, optional
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced or grated
  • 1 (28 ounce) can san marzano tomatoes crushed by hand
  • 2 tablespoons harissa optional
  • 8 ounces fresh mozzarella sliced
  • 4 ounce provolone shredded
  • pasta for serving

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with olive oil.
  • Add the ground sausage to a mixing bowl. Take the bread and run it under water until dampened, but not soaked. Gently squeeze the excess water out of the the bread and then crumble the dampened bread into pieces and add to the bowl with the sausage. To the bowl, add the egg, oregano, cumin molasses and Gochujang. Coat your hands with a bit of olive oil, and roll the meat into 2 tablespoon size balls (will make 10-12 meatballs). Place the meat balls in the prepared baking dish and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until the meatballs are crisp on the outside, but not yet cooked through on the inside.
  • While the meatballs are baking, combine the olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, harissa (if using) and a pinch of salt + pepper in a bowl. Once the meatballs are ready, pour the sauce over them. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes longer or until the meatballs are cooked through. Remove the foil and add the cheese. Place back in the oven until the mozzarella and provolone cheese are melted and golden, about 10 minutes. Serve with fresh oregano and your favorite pasta!

Notes

*Gochujang (Korean chile paste) may seem odd in this recipe but it adds a great unique flavor and if you have some, give it a try!
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Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs = Happiness!

Simple Baked Italian Oregano Meatballs | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This meal was absolutely delicious and so easy to make. My entire family loves it. Will definitely make again. Thanks for the recipe!

  2. re-reading, re-reading recipe, I will just use marzano tomatoes and not the sauce and instead of mozzarella cheese, cheddar… ok, I have just ruined your recipe – but you give me so many good ideas – love love love this site!

  3. After re-reading recipe I will make my meatloaf half Beef and half Chorizo, have to mess around with the topping cuz I always use mustard-brown sugar-ketchup mix and I love the sweetness on the top.

  4. This is out of this world yummy looking I am going to make it – and I am also, in a separate meal – make it into a meatloaf. OMG this looks so amazing!

  5. This looks really good but the flavors weren’t for me! The molasses was pronounced and the cumin overpowering. It didn’t really taste Italian, maybe more like chili with an odd molasses flavor. I also had to drain the meatballs because there was so much fat! I think if I leave out the cumin and molasses and use Italian seasoning then this would be more to my liking.

  6. I read the comment that said the gravy was watery. I am Italian and can give a few
    hints. Italian tomato sauce uses a can of tomato paste along with some water.
    If the gravy seems too watery, all u have to do is reduce it a bit. For Italian meatballs,
    use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs and some milk. Known as a panade, this makes
    softer meatballs that won’t bounce off the floor. Again, this recipe may be good but it is not how Italians make their meatballs or gravy. Maybe the recipe should be called
    Italian inspired.

  7. Oregano is not used in Italian meatballs as are many of the ingredients listed.
    I’m sure this recipe is good but it is not Italian.

  8. My brother suggested I would possibly like this web site.
    He was once entirely right. This submit truly made my day.
    You can not consider simply how so much time I had spent for this information! Thank you!

  9. Tieghan, love the meatballs.
    I made them with Trader Joes Sicilian chicken sausage. Also, did them on the barbecue. Browned the meatballs on the grill and then moved them to a cast iron skillet. Added the additional ingredients and cooked on the grill for 30 minutes. Put cheese on top and cooked 10 more. Beautiful! I have made this recipe twice indoors, but find the barbecue is really the way to go. Give it a try!

    1. Becky, that sounds so delicious!! So fun as well!! I’m so happy you liked them!! I find the barbeque can make things great if you like that flavor (who doesn’t?)
      Thank you!!

  10. Made this for dinner tonight, and it was cheesy, deliciousness! We didn’t have any ground beef at home, so I just used pork. I also added a bit OF salt to the meatball mixture, because for some reason my meatballs never taste of anything without salt, even though i add a lot of other spices…I did also add some cayenne to the sauce, but I had a little woopsy, so yeah, the cayenne overpowered a bit, but it was still D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S-!

  11. My mum also uses wet bread in meatballs or meat patty recipes, it’s a great trick. Thanks for sharing!