Cheesy Meatball Sandwich with Marinara Sauce
This cheesy meatball sandwich is made with homemade meatballs and a quick and easy marinara sauce.
Even though there are a number of ingredients in this meatball sandwich recipe, it’s pretty easy to make.
Because you just put everything in a big bowl, mix it together, roll the mixture into balls, and bake them in the oven.
Done.
No need to dirty up your stove top by frying meatballs in a skillet.
And the homemade marinara sauce is easy to make and tastes wonderful.
Just add all ingredients to a pan, let simmer for 20 minutes, and wella…done.
One of my first jobs ever was at a pizza place and every day that I went into work, the restaurant smelled so good.
Then after work I smelled like the restaurant did…like Italian food.
In addition to delicious pizzas, their meatball sandwiches tasted amazing.
It was way too tempting to eat pizza and meatball sandwiches at work each day.
About this Recipe
In this meatball sandwich there are 3 homemade meatballs in each sandwich as well as 2 layers of delicious marinara sauce and lots of cheese.
The sliced cheese used in this recipe is a provolone-mozzarella blend but if that’s not available, just combine slices of mozzarella and slices of provolone cheese.
Let’s check out the ingredients.
Meatballs – ground beef, Italian sausage, bell pepper, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, egg, plain bread crumbs, salt, and pepper
Marinara Sauce – olive oil, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, dried oregano leaves, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper
Sandwich – cooked meatballs, marinara sauce, French rolls, sliced Provolone-Mozzarella blended cheese (or sliced mozzarella and provolone cheese), and Parmesan cheese
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
A printable recipe with the measurements and instructions is located at the bottom of this post.
For the Meatballs:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Chop the bell pepper, onion and garlic.
To a large bowl, add ground beef and Italian sausage (that’s been squeezed out of the casing).
To the bowl, add bell pepper, onion…
…garlic…
…Worcestershire sauce,
onion powder,
bread crumbs,
salt,
pepper,
and egg.
Mix all ingredients together.
Form 6 large meatballs.
Set the meatballs on a small baking pan and bake uncovered in a preheated oven until they’re completely cooked through and browned (about 17 to 20 minutes).
Remove from the oven and let rest for 8 minutes.
Keep the oven on for use to melt the cheese in the sandwich.
For the Marinara Sauce:
Make the sauce while the meatballs are cooking.
Heat a medium size pot on medium heat and add olive oil.
Then add chopped onion and garlic.
Sauté and stir for 4 minutes.
Then, to the pan add tomato sauce,
dried oregano,
red pepper flakes,
pepper,
and salt.
Stir all ingredients together and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
For the Sandwich:
Cut the rolls in half lengthwise but not all the way to the bottom.
Leave about an inch uncut at the bottom of the roll and slightly open each roll.
Ladle 1/2 cup* of marinara sauce along the inside of each roll.
*Depending on how sturdy and thick the bottom of the roll is, this amount of marinara sauce may need to be less or omitted so that the bottom of the roll doesn’t get soggy.
Cut the meatballs in half…
…and lay 3 halves in each roll (cut-side towards either side of the roll).
Ladle another 1/2 cup of marinara sauce on top of the meatballs in each roll.
Top with Parmesan cheese.
Lay 3 pieces of the sliced cheese on top of the meatballs in each roll.
Bake in a preheated oven (at 375 degrees F.) until the cheese melts (about 8 minutes).
Lay the remaining meatballs over the melted cheese (cut-size down) in each sandwich and ladle on more sauce.
There may be some sauce leftover.
Top with more Parmesan cheese and serve warm.
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Meatball Sandwich with Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 3/4 pound lean ground beef
- 1 Italian sausage just the meat squeezed out of the casing
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons plain bread crumbs
For the Marinara Sauce:
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) tomato sauce
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and diced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
- 3 dashes salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
For the Sandwich:
- 2 large French rolls or just Mozzarella is fine tooMeatballsMarinara sauce2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 6 large slices of Provolone-Mozzarella cheese
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, add ground beef, Italian sausage, bell pepper, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and egg.
- Mix all ingredients together and form 6 large meatballs. Set the meatballs on a small baking pan and bake uncovered in a preheated oven until they're completely cooked through and browned (about 17 to 20 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and let rest for about 8 minutes. Keep the oven on for use to melt the cheese on the sandwich.
- After the meatballs have rested, carefully cut each one in half. Set aside for a moment while prepping the sandwich roll.
For the Marinara Sauce:
- While the meatballs are cooking, heat a medium size pan on medium heat an add add olive oil. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté and stir for 4 minutes.
- Then, to the pan add tomato sauce, dried oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Stir all ingredients together and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.
For the Sandwich:
- Cut the rolls in half lengthwise but not all the way to the bottom. Leave about an inch uncut at the bottom of the roll and slightly open each roll.
- Ladle 1/2 cup* of marinara sauce along the inside of each roll. *Please note - depending on how sturdy and thick the bottom of the roll is, this amount of marinara sauce may need to be less or omitted so that the bottom of the roll doesn't get soggy.
- In each roll, add 3 meatball halves (cut-side towards either side of the roll).
- Ladle another 1/2 cup of marinara sauce on top of the meatballs in each roll. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the sauce.
- To the sandwiches, lay 3 pieces of the sliced cheese on top of the meatballs in each roll.
- Bake in a preheated oven (at 375 degrees F.) until the cheese melts (about 8 minutes).
- Lay the remaining meatballs (cut-side down) on top of the melted cheese in each sandwich and ladle on more sauce. There may be some sauce leftover.
- Top with the Parmesan cheese and serve warm.
Notes
TIP:
- Depending on how sturdy and thick the bottom of the roll is, the amount of marinara sauce added to the bottom of the bread may need to be less or omitted so that the bottom of the roll doesn't get soggy.
This recipe was originally posted on September 23, 2013.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this meatball sandwich for lunch or dinner with a side dish such as “Antipasto Salad with Salami“, “Oven-Roasted Steak Fries with Smoky Ketchup” or “Light and Crispy Onion Rings“.
Recipes with Homemade Marinara Sauce
Here are more recipes with homemade marinara sauce you may like “Linguine and Tomato Cream Sauce“, “Italian Sausage and Radiatore Pasta” and “Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce and Sautéed Mushrooms“.
Sandwich Recipes
More Sandwich Recipes You May Like:
Grilled Burger Sliders with Teriyaki and Pineapple
Cheeseburger with Onions Sautéed in Wine
Nacho Jalapeno and Salsa Grilled Cheese
Comfort Food Recipes
Here are some comfort food recipes you may like:
Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes) with Pecans and Marshmallows
Biscoff Cookie Butter Blondie Brownies
Baked Herb and Parmesan Potato Slices
Flavor was great. The sauce soaked through the bottom bun and it fell apart when I picked it up. I would recommend only putting marinara on the top bun.
Hi Mariah, thank you so much for letting me know how you liked this and for your suggestion about the bottom layer of sauce.