For more than 25 years, I have been making this spaghetti dish that I received from a close family member. We have never tasted homemade meatballs and sauce quite like this. Additionally, I recently cooked the meat, mixed it with the sauce, and made lasagna with it.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 3 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (29 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
- 19 fluid ounces tomato juice
- 1 (5.5 ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
- 16 soda crackers, crushed
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 (16 ounce) package spaghetti
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Combine tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato paste, onion, parsley, salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper, thyme, and cloves in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and let simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Meanwhile, combine beef, crackers, eggs, Parmesan cheese, garlic, parsley, and thyme in a bowl. Form into large meatballs and place into a broiler pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until browned and no longer pink in the centers, about 30 minutes.
- Transfer meatballs to sauce and continue to simmer, 2 to 2 1/2 hours more.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain.
- Serve sauce and meatballs over cooked spaghetti.
- You can use 1 teaspoon garlic salt instead of fresh garlic, if preferred.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 384 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 48 g |
| Cholesterol | 86 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 23 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 759 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This recipe may have ok, however, the addition of cloves made this awful to inedible. Do not add clove to this recipe!
Meatballs were great but I didn’t care for the sauce, too thick and not much flavor.
Great!
Too many of you spent too much time debating “homemade” ….This was the first spaghetti & meatballs meal I didn’t just open a jar to make – it was wonderful. Tasted like I was eating at a very good Italian restaurant. I encourage all to try it…and call it “homemade” if you want to!
I have not actually made this but I think it sounds delicious and had to respond to some of the comments. You guys are a tough crowd. I think the “homemade” in the title refers to the sauce and meatballs, not the actual spaghetti. The sauce is homemade even if canned tomatoes are used. I actually like sauce/gravy better when made with canned tomatoes as they are not as acidic as fresh tomatoes.
Meatballs need 1/3 ground pork added and fresh breadcrumbs not crackers. I also had Italian dry wine to my meatball mixture & pecorino Romano cheese. Meatballs need to be gently folded while mixing. Brown meatballs in a pan, turning to brown each side. Add meatballs to simmering sauce. Start to Boil water for spaghetti , once water is a hard boil add salt, then add spaghetti & cook. Meatballs will be cooked & tender by the time the pasta is Al dente. And try making homemade pasta…It’s easy and you’ll never want to make it out of a box again. Mangia! Mangia!
Horrible sauce. Tasteless except for the heat from the crushed red peppers. Probably the worst sauce I’ve ever made
Recipe was misleading — it was not HOME MADE SPAGHETTI (from scratch) but from a box Have not made — might use recip[e for the sauce(gravy) and meatballs
Great recipe! I added some garlic to the sauce as well, but otherwise made exactly as described. It was a hit!
I followed the recipe to a T, substituted the garlic clove for garlic salt, like it said at the end. It had bit of a kick with the red pepper flakes, so I will use less next time. I loved it!!