Pasta
Spaghetti & beef meatballs in tomato sauce
Tender parmesan-and-herb beef meatballs browned, then simmered in a rich tomato sauce and tossed with spaghetti — a family favourite done properly.
- 60 min · 30 min hands-on
- Serves 4
- Large deep frying pan with lid, large saucepan, mixing bowl
- Contains milk, egg, wheat, gluten
- Complete meal
One serve gives you
Daily needs: Female 31–50- Protein 48 g · 31%
- Carbs 72 g · 46%
- Fat 16 g · 22%
- Fibre 7 g
Highest in this recipe
Black shows one serve; the rest of each bar is left for the day. * Partial ingredient data.
Ingredients
Weights for 4 servings. Per-serve nutrition stays the same.
- 40 g
- 40 g
- 500 g
- 50 g
- 20 g
- 15 g
- 10 g
- 2 g
- 1.5 g
- 1 g
- 20 g
- 150 g
- 30 g
- 800 g
- 100 g
- 320 g
- 20 g
- 10 g
Check product labels and cross-contact. Ingredient notes are not an allergy-safety guarantee.
Method
5 steps · about 60 min- In a large bowl, stir the breadcrumbs into the milk and leave for 5 minutes to soften. Add the beef mince, egg, 20 g of the parmesan, 5 g of the garlic, the parsley, oregano, iodised salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until just combined, then roll into 20 meatballs of about 35 g. Chill while you start the sauce if you have time.
- Heat 10 g of the olive oil in a large deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs in two batches for 5–6 minutes, turning, until browned all over; they will finish cooking in the sauce. Move them to a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 10 g oil and the onion. Cook for 6 minutes until soft, then add the remaining garlic for 30 seconds and the tomato paste for 1 minute. Add the canned tomatoes, breaking them up, and the 100 g water. Simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Return the meatballs and their juices to the sauce, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes, turning them once, until the meatballs reach 71°C in the centre and the sauce is thick and glossy.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling water until just tender, reserving 125 ml of the cooking water before draining. Toss the spaghetti through the sauce, loosening with a little of the pasta water so it coats the strands. Serve topped with the meatballs, the remaining parmesan and torn basil.
Add optional toppings or substitutions to your saved copy to include them in the calculation.
One serve gives you
Daily needs: Female 31–50- Protein 48 g · 31%
- Carbs 72 g · 46%
- Fat 16 g · 22%
- Fibre 7 g
Highest in this recipe
Black shows one serve; the rest of each bar is left for the day. * Partial ingredient data.
Calculation limitations
- Further heating in this recipe is not covered by the food record or a reviewed cooking factor. Reported contributions remain estimates.
Every nutrient, and where it comes from
152 nutrients and food components, and the ingredients that supply each one.
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Every vitamin, mineral, fat, sugar and amino acid in this recipe, per serve or for the whole batch, and which ingredients supply each one. Free, no card needed.
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About this recipe and its sources
Editorially reviewed for ingredient-method agreement, flavour structure, moisture control, practical timings and food-safety cues. Compound products and cross-contact remain label-dependent.
MorselMetrics kitchen ideas · MorselMetrics original recipe content
Original AI-assisted recipe development for MorselMetrics. Editorially reviewed. Nutrition calculated from attributed food-composition sources.
Calculation assumptions & recipe adaptations
Estimated from weighed edible ingredients using existing source-backed food records. Cooking changes without a supported model remain unadjusted; unknown nutrient values remain unknown.
- Dried breadcrumbs: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Full-cream milk: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Lower-fat beef mince, raw: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Egg, about 1 large, without shell: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Parmesan, finely grated, for the meatballs: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Garlic, finely chopped, divided: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Dried oregano: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Iodised salt: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Ground black pepper: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Olive oil, divided: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Brown onion, finely diced: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Tomato paste, no added salt: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- No-added-salt canned tomatoes, undrained: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Water: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Dry spaghetti: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Parmesan, finely grated, to serve: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Fresh basil leaves: Whole-recipe edible weight.
AFCD attribution, data & methods
Food matches used for nutrition
- Dried breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs, white
- Full-cream milk: Milk, cow, fluid, regular fat (~3.5%)
- Lower-fat beef mince, raw: Beef, mince, lower fat, raw
- Egg, about 1 large, without shell: Egg, chicken, whole, raw
- Parmesan, finely grated, for the meatballs: Cheese, parmesan, fresh, regular fat
- Garlic, finely chopped, divided: Garlic, peeled, fresh, raw
- Flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped: Parsley, continental, fresh, raw
- Dried oregano: Oregano, dried
- Iodised salt: Salt, table, iodised
- Ground black pepper: Pepper, black, ground
- Olive oil, divided: Oil, olive
- Brown onion, finely diced: Onion, mature, brown skinned, peeled, raw
- Tomato paste, no added salt: Tomato, paste, no added salt
- No-added-salt canned tomatoes, undrained: Tomato, whole, canned in tomato juice, no added salt, undrained
- Water: Water, tap
- Dry spaghetti: Pasta, white wheat flour, dry
- Parmesan, finely grated, to serve: Cheese, parmesan, fresh, regular fat
- Fresh basil leaves: Basil, green, fresh, raw