Baked Sausage and Spinach Meatballs

One dish meals such as Greek Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner are the perfect way to pack a ton of flavor into a single dish without the mess of a pile of dishes. Unlike many meatball recipes that have you rolling and frying meatballs before draining them and adding them to your sauce, these easy meatballs come together effortlessly.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Easy Process - Skip the frying and slide your meatballs directly int the oven. Not only are they baked in the oven but they're finished with marinara sauce in the same baking dish.
• Familiar Flavors - If you love Italian meatballs you will love these. The use of sausage packs a ton of flavor while the spinach keeps them moist and tender.
• Versatility - You can serve these up as an easy appetizer or use them as part of your entree.
• Meal Prep - These meatballs can be rolled and then stored in the refrigerator until ready to bake. They can also be baked, cooled, and then portioned out to use for the rest of the week.

Ingredients

Baked Sausage and Spinach Meatballs only require a handful of simple and easy ingredients. These go from oven to table in less than an hour.

• Sausage - There's no need for too many ingredients when you start with sausage as the base of your meatballs. You can do all sweet Italian sausage, hot Italian sausage, or a combination of both.
• Spinach - Gives these meatballs their tender texture and a boost of veggies. Your kids will never know they just ate spinach!
• Egg
• Breadcrumbs - This is the binder that helps hold the meatballs together along with the egg.
• Parmigiano-Reggiano - Gives nutty, salty umami to every bite. Freshly grated is always the best.
• Garlic - Gives a bright, pungent and savory note to these meatballs without overpowering the flavor of the sausage.
• Marinara Sauce - Use your favorite homemade sauce such as Pomodoro Sauce or your favorite store-bought sauce to make this extra quick and easy.
• Fresh Parsley - Adds an herbaceous bright finishing note and a pop of color.

How to Make Baked Sausage and Spinach Meatballs

Pop open a nice bottle of red and channel your inner nonna. This meatball recipe barely even requires any chopping, letting the food processor make quick work of chopping your spinach. While some Italian dishes require hours of simmering away, these meatballs will give you everything you crave with an effortless process.

Time needed: 45 minutes.

Sausage and spinach meatballs are the perfect tender, savory, and boldly flavored bite. Combining just a handful of ingredients with an easy process, these are sure to become a new favorite.

1. Mise en PlacePreheat your oven to 425 degrees. You will need a cast iron pan or oven safe baking dish for this recipe.
2. ChopAdd the spinach to a food processor and pulse until your spinach is finally chopped.
3. MixAdd the sausage, spinach, egg, Parmigiano-Reggiano, breadcrumbs, and garlic to a bowl and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.

FormUse a scoop or spoon to portion out equal sized balls. Roll gently and place into the cast iron skillet or baking dish. If the meat mixture gets a little sticky you can wet your hands.

BakeAllow the meatballs to bake for 20 minutes.

Finishing TouchCarefully remove the pan from the oven and pour in your marinara sauce. Allow the meatballs to bake for an additional 10 minutes. Top with fresh parsley and enjoy!

Variations

If you like things a little spicy, add a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes to your meatball mixture. You can also use a spicy arrabiata sauce in place of the marinara.

Are you a cheese lover? Top your meatball skillet with slices of fresh mozzarella or more freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

How to Serve Baked Sausage and Spinach Meatballs

These meatballs work equally well as an appetizer or part of a main course. Here are a few ideas on how to serve up these delicious sausage meatballs.

• Crusty Bread
• Meatball Sub
• Pasta
• Polenta
• Spaghetti Squash
• Rice
• Risotto
• Pizza

Storage

Meatballs of all forms are great for meal prep. You can make them ahead, allow them to cool, and then transfer them to an airtight container and keep them refrigerated for up to a week. You can also freeze them. Let them cool completely and then transfer them to freezer safe bags. They will last for up to three months in the freezer.

You can also form your meatballs ahead of time and place them on a baking sheet and carefully cover with plastic wrap. Let them refrigerate until you're ready to bake them off. They can be made up to two days in advance.

Tools

Using an ice cream or cookie scoop to help portion out your meatballs is a great tip to create uniform sized meatballs. This will allow them to cook evenly and make it faster to form them.

In addition, using the food processor to chop your spinach will not only make it easier, but allow the spinach to be finely chopped making it easy to mix in with the sausage.

Top Tip for Baked Sausage and Spinach Meatballs

Meatballs are as much about texture as they are the flavor. You want them tender and moist. The combination of sausage and spinach helps with this, but so does how you mix your ingredients. Use a gentle hand and don't over work the meat. If your meatballs seem like they're getting too soft as you roll your meat mixture, pop them in the refrigerator and allow them to chill for 15-30 minutes before baking.