How to Bake Meatballs

You’ll love this little trick for how to bake meatballs that are just as crispy and amazing as pan fried.

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.

This post originally appeared in January 2018 and was revised and republished in June 2025.