how long to cook meatballs in sauce

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If it's Sunday, it's time for Sunday sauce and meatballs. This low and slow simmered tomato sauce yields the most tender meatballs and will make your house smell like home.

Is there any aroma better than a pot of tomato sauce simmering on the stove? Or the bite of a perfectly cooked meatball, browned and tender?

A Family Recipe for Sunday Sauce

I grew up eating sauce and meatballs every Sunday. The sauce would cook on the stove all day, filling the house with the most delicious smells, garlic and herbs wafting from the kitchen. I've continued the tradition with my own family, though I'm not a stickler for sauce every Sunday. (I even make it on the occasional Monday!)

But I am a stickler for cooking sauce and meatballs just the way my father taught me and I follow his recipe and method almost to a T.

I use tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and tomato puree (I love the intense tomato flavor that canned tomatoes provide). A splash of red wine, a pinch of sugar, and a healthy scoop of grated parmesan cheese round out the sauce.

The key is cooking the sauce over low, low heat for a long, long time and adding browned (but not fully cooked) meatballs to the sauce to finish cooking. A little milk, not too many breadcrumbs, and not over-mixing yield a wonderfully tender meatball.

Are you drooling yet? Let's get cooking!

Let's make Sunday Sauce and Meatballs

1. Saute the onions and peppers (reserve some for the meatballs).
2. Add the garlic and saute 2 minutes more.
3. Mix in the tomato paste.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, and water.
5. Stir in the grated cheese and red wine.
6. Add the herbs, seasonings, and sugar.

7. Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl.
8. Mix together with your hands.
9. Roll the meatballs and heat the olive oil in a saute pan.
10. Brown the meatballs on all sides over medium heat, but they won't be fully cooked through.
11. As the meatballs brown, simmer the sauce over very low heat.
12. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for 2 – 3 hours over very low heat, stirring occasionally.

Tips for success

• To save time, you can saute the onions, peppers, and garlic for the sauce and meatballs together. Remove the sautéed onion/pepper/garlic combo for the meatballs and set aside to cool.
• Low and slow are the magic words for this sauce. The longer it cooks, the better it tastes. Adjust the heat to very low so the sauce is just simmering as it cooks.
• Stir the sauce frequently, being sure to always mix from the bottom.
• When combining the ingredients for the meatballs, I find that mixing them with my hands works best. Be careful not to overmix!
• Brown the meatballs over medium heat and rotate them frequently so they don't burn. If you burn a meatball, DO NOT add it to the sauce. The burnt flavor will permeate the sauce and it will be ruined.
• This sauce tastes even better the next day (if you have leftovers)!

More Family Favorite Recipes

• Italian Cookies
• Braised Veal and Peppers
• Banana Bread
• Pasta e Fagioli

If it's Sunday, it's time for Sunday sauce and meatballs. This low and slow simmered tomato sauce yields the most tender meatballs and will make your house smell like home.

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: meatballs, sunday sauce

Servings: 12 servings

Calories: 345 kcal

Sunday Sauce

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 28 oz can tomato puree
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning, dried
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped (1 tsp dried can be substituted in you can't find fresh)
• salt and pepper to taste

Meatballs

• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
• 1 lb ground beef, 80/20 meat:fat ratio
• 1 lb ground beef/veal/pork mix, ground beef can be substituted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cups bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped (1/2 tsp dried can be substituted in you can't find fresh)
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Sunday Sauce

1. Heat olive oil over med/high heat in a dutch oven or large heavy bottomed pot.

2. Add bell pepper and onion and saute until translucent and just beginning to brown, about 3-4 mins.

3. Stir in garlic and continue to cook 2 more minutes.

4. Add tomato paste, then fill the can with water and add water. Stir until well blended.

5. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato puree, then fill with 1 1/2 cans of water and add water. Stir well.

6. Pour in wine, add cheese and sugar. Stir well.

7. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, basil, parsley and oregano.

8. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

9. Reduce heat to low until the sauce is just barely simmering.

Meatballs

1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over med/high heat in small pan.

2. Add bell pepper and onion and saute until translucent and just beginning to brown, about 3-4 mins.

3. Stir in garlic and continue to cook 2 more minutes.

4. Remove from heat and let mixture cool to room temperature.

5. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl, add in pepper/onion/garlic mixture.

6. Mix (I use my hands) until everything is combined, being careful not to over-mix!

7. Form into balls, about 24. Again, don't over-handle or the meatballs will become tough.

8. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil over med/high in large non-stick frying pan.

9. Cook meatballs in 2-3 batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.

10. Brown meatballs on all sides, turning frequently so they don't burn. Reduce heat if necessary.

11. Add browned meatballs directly into sauce. They will continue to cook in the sauce.

12. Cook sauce and meatballs uncovered at a very low simmer, stirring occasionally for at least 2 hours (can simmer for hours on the stove).

13. Serve over pasta.

Yields about 25 meatballs.

• To save time, you can saute the onions, peppers, and garlic for the sauce and meatballs together. Remove the sautéed onion/pepper/garlic combo for the meatballs and set aside to cool.
• Low and slow are the magic words for this sauce. The longer it cooks, the better it tastes. Adjust the heat to very low so the sauce is just simmering as it cooks.
• Stir the sauce frequently, being sure to always mix from the bottom.
• When combining the ingredients for the meatballs, I find that mixing them with my hands works best. Be careful not to overmix!
• Brown the meatballs over medium heat and rotate them frequently so they don't burn. If you burn a meatball, DO NOT add it to the sauce. The burnt flavor will permeate the sauce and it will be ruined.
• This sauce tastes even better the next day (if you have leftovers)!

Nutrition Facts

Sunday Sauce and Meatballs

Amount Per Serving

Calories 345 Calories from Fat 207

% Daily Value*

Fat 23g 35%

Saturated Fat 7g 44%

Cholesterol 89mg 30%

Sodium 1143mg 50%

Potassium 349mg 10%

Carbohydrates 13g 4%

Fiber 1g 4%

Sugar 4g 4%

Protein 21g 42%

Vitamin A 475IU 10%

Vitamin C 13.6mg 16%

Calcium 161mg 16%

Iron 3mg 17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Update Notes: This post was originally published in November 2015 but was republished with tips and step by step photos in March 2019.

My Sunday Sauce and Meatballs Inspiration…

When I came downstairs this morning, I had a childhood flashback to the smells of Sunday morning. These were not your typical Sunday morning smells. No bacon frying or bread toasting, but instead our house smelled like my favorite Italian restaurant…garlic and onion seeping into my pores before I was even fully awake.

Every Sunday my Dad would make sauce and meatballs right after he had breakfast and while I was still clinging to the last bits of sleep. I would stumble out of bed, head to the kitchen, and instantly want to skip over breakfast and move right on to dinner.

We never tired of my Dad's sauce. We ate it every Sunday and then depending on how much was left over, we would fashion at least one or two weekday meals from the rest.  It really didn't matter what type of pasta we were having, the sauce was the star of the show. We even referred to it as "having sauce" for dinner. Not gravy (that's for turkey in my book), not pasta, just simply "sauce".

The sauce and meatballs would simmer on the lowest flame all day, being carefully stirred and secretly sampled by my brothers and me. The aroma of the sauce filled the house and never failed to get our stomachs rumbling and our incessant "how long until dinner???" chant started.

My dad was the cook of all things Italian in our house. One of fourteen children born to Italian immigrants, he often hung around the kitchen while his mother cooked for the family. Of course, he adapted his mother's recipe for sauce and meatballs over time, but the essence of it remained.

This is a rich tomato sauce slowly simmered until thickened (but not too thick) and filled with meatballs that are perfectly browned in a frying pan before being tossed into the bubbling pot to finish cooking.

I still consider my Dad's meatballs the best I've ever tasted. They taste like home. And while mine come pretty close to his, I never mind when my boys declare Grandpa's their favorite too.

The secret to this sauce and meatballs is not to rush.  The longer it simmers, the better it gets.  The flavor has time to develop and it's honestly even better later in the week (if you still have some left).  I don't make sauce every Sunday, but when I do, I often feel a twinge of nostalgia.  It reminds me of being a kid and plucking a meatball out of the pot with my fork and gobbling it up before giving it a chance to cool down.

It reminds me of family, comfort, and tradition.  I hope my boys have similar memories and one day they make a pot of Sunday sauce to share with a family of their own.

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About Cathy Roma

My food philosophy is simple: everything in moderation. Sweet, savory, healthy, decadent…food, like life, is all about balance. I rely on my background as a trained chef/mom to create family-friendly recipes that will inspire you to cook, not complicate your life.

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how long to cook meatballs in sauce

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