This ultimate beef meatball casserole includes tender homemade beef meatballs bathed in a bright marinara sauce, sprinkled with handfuls of fresh spinach, then smothered with ooey-gooey cheese. And since it comes together in one-pan and is ready in 45 minutes, you’ll be digging into this savory, comforting casserole in no time.
Meatball Parm Casserole Freshened Up
This cheesy, tomatoey meatball casserole has quickly become one of my favorite recipes I’ve ever made – and that’s saying something!
For this fresher take on meatball casserole, I leaned on the classic flavors of meatball parm subs (savory meatballs, fresh tomato sauce, and melty cheese), to create an irresistible one-pan meal.
Now, I get that homemade meatballs might sound a bit extra, but truly they’re simple to make – all you do is combine ground beef (ground turkey, chicken, or pork works too), bread crumbs, minced garlic, parmesan cheese, and salt, then roll and go.
Sear the meatballs in a large skillet (the same one they’ll cook in later so, you know, fewer dishes!) then add your marinara sauce (love this easy homemade version) and fistfuls of spinach, top with cheese, and slide the skillet into the oven to cook off the meatballs and get the cheese all golden and gooey.
As a side note, I intentionally left pasta out of this casserole, because I wanted to keep it light and give lots of options for serving.
So, if you want pasta, you can serve the casserole on top of your favorite cooked pasta.
Orrrrrrrrr, go for gold by serving the saucy, cheesy meatballs meatball-parm-sub-style on toasty buns or with the ultimate garlic bread — hello yum!
But for real, if you just can’t wait to dig in, I think scooping up meatballs with toasty bread straight out of the pan would totally be acceptable (I may or may know this works from personal experience).
Make Meatball Parm Casserole Gluten Free
For a gluten free version, replace the meatballs with these 5-ingredient gluten free meatballs.
Welcome to My Kitchen! Let’s Make Cheesy Meatball Parm Casserole
Make Ahead for An Easy Weeknight Meal
Casseroles are excellent make ahead meals! For this cheesy meatball casserole, you can make the meatballs ahead of time, cook and freeze. When you’re ready to eat, assemble the casserole using the frozen meatballs. You will need to bake an additional 10 minutes with the foil on.
Cheesy Beef Meatball Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 4 cups chopped baby spinach (about two big handfuls)
- ½ cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450F.
- In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, ¼ cup Parmesan, basil, garlic, salt, and egg, mixing well.
- Add the ground beef and gently mix until well combined.
- Roll the beef mixture into small meatballs about 1-inch in diameter–about 30-40 meatballs.
- Heat a large 12-inch high sided oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and the meatballs in an even layer, avoiding overcrowding. Cook for 5 minutes, or until browned on one-side, then flip and cook an additional 3-4 minutes (they do not need to be cooked all the way through at this point).
- Turn off the heat and add the spinach and marinara sauce, stirring gently until just combined, being careful not to break apart the meatballs.
- Cover with an even layer of the mozzarella and sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons of Parmesan.
- Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.
Notes
Nutrition
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