You’ll love this little trick for how to bake meatballs that are just as crispy and amazing as pan fried.
Baking flavorful meatballs can be way easier than traditional pan-frying. You still get to enjoy this great comfort food with a crispy exterior and perfectly cooked meat. But with less time standing by the stove, which is always a win. I’m sharing my favorite meatball recipe, but you can use this cooking method for any meatballs you love.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Video: How To Bake Meatballs
Make Your Meatballs
First, make the meatball mixture! Use my delicious recipe, or your favorite. If you have uncooked store-bought meatballs, you can still use this cooking method as well.
In a large bowl, combine your meat mixture (I’m using beef and pork but you could lighten it up with some ground turkey), along with bread crumbs, an egg, chopped onion, and seasonings. Mix thoroughly until well combined, but don’t handle the meat more than necessary as we don’t want to overwork it.
Shape the mixture into 1 inch balls, a cookie scoop can be handy to get consistent portions. If your meatballs are larger, you’ll need to increase the baking time.
How To Cook Meatballs In The Oven
While many people like to pan-fry meatballs, which is more traditional, baking them in the oven is easier and more convenient. Or you can do air fryer meatballs but then you can’t do many at a time. Or, sometimes people even poach them in broth or directly in sauce, like this. But then you don’t get that nice caramelized crust. So here’s what I suggest.
Place your meatballs on a prepared baking sheet. You’ll see in the photos that I used parchment which I haven’t had issues with, but parchment paper is not deemed safe under the broiler. It is therefore probably safer to use aluminum foil with cooking spray. This helps the meatballs not stick to the pan.
Pop them in the oven, then broil them to make sure they get that deliciously crispy crust like pan frying gives them. I like to flip them partway through the broil so they are perfect all the way around.
Baking them gives the meatballs a little more flavor without additional oil since you are searing the outside under the broiler in your oven. Just make sure you bake them on a really heavy-duty baking sheet like this one.
The results? Tender meatballs with some crispy browning on the outside, ready to be enjoyed in all sorts of ways whether for spaghetti or other pasta dishes, in a meatball sub, or some other way.
Time And Temperature
If you’re making one inch meatballs, like in my recipe below, you’ll want to bake at 400°F for 18-20 minutes. If they are bigger than that, you’ll want to bake at 350°F for a longer cook time. For one and a half inch to two inch meatballs, it will likely take 25-30 minutes to cook through.
You’ll want to check that they are no longer pink inside or test to see if the middle is at the safe internal temperature of 165°F.
Whatever size your meatballs are, you’ll want to finish them under the broiler to crisp up the exterior. Arrange your baking sheet 6-8 inches from the heat source so they don’t burn. I’ve found that 8-10 minutes works great, flipping halfway through.
Can I Freeze Meatballs?
I like to bake extra batches of meatballs and freeze them in resealable bags once they’ve cooled. They’ll keep for up to six months in the freezer which means your family can satisfy that meatball craving any time, any day with very little work.
You can freeze them before or after baking, but I find it works best to bake them and let them cool. You want to make sure they don’t freeze into a big clump, so I try to lay the freezer bag flat with the meatballs spread out a bit in the freezer. Give it a shake here and there as they freeze so they don’t stick. Once they are totally frozen, you can move them for easier storage.
More Meatball Recipes
Browse all our meatball recipes or try one of these variations next time.
Podcast Episode On Baking Meatballs
Listen to learn how to make this recipe, along with some great tips from Christine:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
How to Bake Meatballs Recipe
You’ll love this little trick for making baked meatballs just as crispy and amazing as pan fried.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 15 meatballs 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced (optional)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil* and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine breadcrumbs, egg, onion, optional garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
- Add the ground beef and ground pork and mix just until combined. Do not over mix.
- Shape the mixture into 1 inch balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake until no longer pink inside, about 18-20 minutes.
- Turn on the broiler. Place the pan of meatballs 6-8 inches from the heat source and broil until brown and crisp, 4-5 minutes. Flip and brown the other side also. Remove from oven.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*Optional, but helps prevent sticking and makes cleanup a breeze.
This post originally appeared in January 2018 and was revised and republished in June 2025.
Excellent and easy, although I did add molasses
Thanks for sharing, Yvonne! Glad you enjoyed.
Family loved the meatballs and preferred them to shop ones
That’s amazing, Eileen! Thank you for taking time to comment.
Superb meatballs!
Thank you, Joan! 🙂
Sooo good and the tips were good ones new to me and I’ve been cooking 30yrs. Just brite ideas. Give it a try!
Thanks so much, Holly! There’s always something new to learn. 🙂
💕 love love love!
I appreciate it, Laura! 🙂
should you spray te meatballs b efore broiling
Spray them with oil? I haven’t found that to be necessary, Kathleen.
My go-to meatball recipe
That’s fantastic, Shannon. Thanks so much!
What do you think about broiling those meatballs on the parchment paper? Shouldn’t they be removed from the baking/parchment paper then broiled? Wouldn’t the parchment burn or catch on fire?
Joan, I’ve never had a problem with this, probably because the pan is under the broiler for a short time. However, it’s true that parchment paper is not deemed safe under the broiler. It is therefore probably much safer to either use aluminum foil. I think it would be a bit annoying to have to transfer them though. I think that if you spray your aluminum foil with cooking spray, you can use it from the beginning and the meat won’t stick to it, or won’t stick badly. And then you can just broil them straight from there.
I am about to make these meatballs; but most importantly, I searched the internet (Google) for what I thought sounded like the best recipe. And this one resonated perfectly with me. I’ll email back once they’re done! Yum!
Kelly, That’s great! When you get a chance, come back and let us know what you think 🙂
very easy, Thank you
You’re welcome, David!
I’ve used a version of this recipe many times. The results are better than my go-to Italian restaurants because the browning you get in the oven – without the oil and splatter of pan-frying – is amazing. (And you can still cook them further in sauce if you’d like, which I sometimes do,) I’m telling you, this is the way to make meatballs, with all due respect to my half-Italian aunt and my 100%-Italian grandmother. I recommend adding a half-cup Romano cheese (not Parmesan, because you want a little edge) to the recipe, along with 2+ minced garlic cloves. Also, if your grocery store or butcher sells a combo of beef, veal, and pork, then even better. Whenever I make these amazing meatballs, I make two pounds, which allows me to serve more than enough for our family of two adults and two young kids, then freeze a pound in a ziplock freezer bag for later. Thank you, Jamie, for providing what has become a standby for me. I will gladly take credit each time I make them, but I so appreciate you providing this recipe. Thank you!
Thank you so much, Jason! That’s wonderful to hear and I’m glad that this recipe is a standby.
My Sicilian Mama cooked her meatballs on the stove, as did I for years. But this is SO much easier, doesn’t take half as long, and frees up the cook to do something else while they’re baking. A life-saver when you’re making a large quantity. I put mine in muffin tins-mini and regular size. Great tip about microwaving a small bit to taste.
That being said, NO onions, around 2 garlic cloves, minced/lb of meat, and grated Parmesan/Romano cheese, about 1/4 cup/lb of meat. Yum!
Cate, Thanks for the feedback! I love how much easier baking them is too.
It costs a lot more to bake than fry, so I fry. All I have right now is regular ground beef. I want to get rid of the extra grease, but the breadcrumbs will soak it up. I think I can’t make meatballs with reg ground beef, just crumbles. Suggestions?
We love pan fried meatballs too, Marie! That’s how we show how to prepare them in this post – https://thecookful.com/how-to-make-meatballs/ Sometimes people need a more hands off approach though, especially if they need to make large quantities which is why we show how to bake them as well.
I want to know if you bake the meatballs in your oven wi) it splatter grease thru out your oven
No, Sam, this shouldn’t make a mess of the oven.