With Italian-style meatballs, sliced baby potatoes, and a few fresh vegetables, this Sheet Pan Baked Meatballs is a complete meal in one. And you’ll love the big flavors in this easy dinner! Tips and prepare ahead instructions included.
Once a week, I make a point of doing a quick fridge inventory. I try pull out any veggies or fresh ingredients that may be forgotten in the back of my drawers, then I might pair them with some protein to make a quick skillet or a sheet pan dinner.
This simple exercise is how things like my sheet pan chicken, foil baked salmon, and today’s baked meatballs dinner came together.
Italian oven baked meatballs + vegetables
Like my Greek version, this Italian-style sheet pan dinner is a great way to use your veggies while stretching one pound of ground beef to feed a family! But the big draw for me here is in the Italian flavors.
The baked meatballs are made from scratch and seasoned with onions, garlic, fresh parsley, dried oregano, mint, and a little grated Parmesan. Bread crumbs and an egg help bind the mixture together. (You can make the meatball mixture one night in advance and keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to put your dinner together the next day).
Once you have your meatballs, you’ll simply arrange them on a sheet pan with well-seasoned fresh veggies, top them with canned tomatoes, and bake to tender perfection.
Meatball seasoning!
The secret to a tasty meatball is in how you season your meat mixture. Here is what’s in my baked meatballs:
- 1 pound ground beef (lean ground beef is fine to use, but don’t go too lean or you’ll have some tough meatballs)
- Yellow onion (grated or very finely chopped)
- Fresh garlic (minced)
- Fresh parsley (a good 1 cup, chopped)
- Dried oregano
- Dried mint
- Kosher salt and black pepper (as a rule, about 1 teaspoon of salt per pound will ensure well-seasoned meatballs)
- Grated Parmesan (1/2 cup)
- Bead crumbs (only 1/4 cup)
- 1 egg to (to bind the mixture together)
- Extra virgin olive oil (try our Italian Nocellara EVOO in this recipe!)
3 Tips for juicy meatballs
This easy meatball recipe is hard to mess up, just keep these small tips to make sure the meatballs are juicy and delicious:
- Use ground beef with some fat. Regular ground beef is about 70% to 77% percent lean. For these meatballs, it is okay to use something leaner like 85% lean ground beef, but I don’t recommend using 96% lean ground beef in this case (unless your health demands it). A little bit of fat is helpful for taste and for texture.
- Do not use too much bread crumbs. You do need some bread crumbs to help bind the meat mixture together, but too much bread crumbs will dry up the meatballs and cause them to fall apart. For this recipe, I used 1/4 cup bread crumbs. You can replace the breadcrumbs with 1 small piece of toasted bread that’s been soaked in water or milk and rung out dry (this is a trick I use in my Soutzoukakia Greek meatballs and produces juicy meatballs every time).
- Use some extra virgin olive oil. Yes, this little bit of good fat (about 1 to 2 tablespoons) will help add moisture to your meatballs, especially if you went with a leaner ground beef.
How long to bake meatballs?
In a 400 degrees F heated oven, your meatballs will cook in about 15 to 20 minutes or so, depending on their size and your oven. For these sheet pan meatballs with vegetables, I like to cover the pan with foil for about 15 minutes to trap the steam and to help the meatballs and veggies to cook on the inside without drying out. The foil is removed for the last 5 minutes of baking to allowing the meat and vegetables to gain some color.
What to serve with meatballs?
In most cases, I love to serve meatballs with pasta, especially if I’ve kept some homemade spaghetti sauce in the fridge. But the beauty of baking your meatballs with veggies all on one sheet pan is that you really don’t need much else to serve along. Maybe a slice of your favorite crusty bread and a big salad to start the meal.
Can I make this recipe with chicken meatballs instead?
You sure can! Ground turkey or ground chicken can be used similarly in this recipe. Keep in mind that turkey and chicken will be leaner and give you a different flavor profile, and the cooking time might also vary. Check out my earlier chicken meatballs recipe for baking instructions.
How to store leftovers
These baked meatballs make great leftovers–just store in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in a medium-heated oven. I like to store leftovers in individual containers for a grab-and-go lunch that’s healthy and easy to reheat anywhere!
More meatball recipes to try:
Browse more Italian recipes. Browse all Mediterranean recipes.
Sheet Pan Baked Meatballs and Vegetables (Italian-Style)
Ingredients
For the Vegetables
- 1 red onion (large, halved and thinly sliced (1/4-inch) )
- 1/2 pound baby potatoes (quartered or sliced small to cook quickly)
- 6 baby bell peppers (any color, cut into 1/4 inch thick batons)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- 28 ounces canned San Marzano tomatoes (whole, peeled with their juices)
- Kosher salt and black pepper
For the Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion (small, very finely chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and position a rack in the center.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the vegetables, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle 2 extra virgin olive oil and toss to combine. Transfer the vegetables to a large lightly oiled sheet pan and spread them out.
- In the same large bowl, combine the meat, onions, garlic, parsley, oregano, mint, Parmesan, bread crumbs and egg. Season with a big pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. Drizzle with a little olive oil (about 1 tbsp). Mix until everything is well-combined. Form the meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs and lightly press the center of the meatballs with your thumb (do not completely flatten).
- Arrange the meatballs (or patties) in the same sheet pan with the vegetables. Pour the canned tomatoes all over. Season with kosher salt and drizzle the top of the tomatoes generously with extra virgin olive oil.
- Cover the sheet pan with foil and bake in the heated oven for about 15 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 4 to 5 minutes or until the meatballs are fully cooked through.
Video
Notes
- Prepare Ahead Notes: You can prepare the meatballs one night in advance. Line a tray with parchment paper and arrange the meatballs on top, then cover tightly and refrigerate until you’re ready to put your dinner together. Similarly, you can chop your vegetables and keep them in the fridge for the next day (potatoes tend to get dark, so it’s best to slice them before cooking).
- Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a good 4 days or so. If you like, store leftovers in separate containers for lunch.
- This recipe will serve 4 to 5 people for dinner with a side of crusty bread and your favorite salad to start the meal.
- Review the full post for additional tips on keeping your meatballs juicy.
- Visit Our Shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including extra virgin olive oils and spices.
You’re reciepes look so delicious. I can’t wait to try them .Thanks for sending them . Going to make the meatballs and vegetables soon .
Hope you enjoy the recipe, Donna!
Wow! Another amazing dish! Suzy, you are my 100% favorite chef, your recipes almost always exceed any expectation and the flavors are perfect. This meatball dish was so easy, I loved the veggie combination. I added 10 minutes cook time as I made the meatballs larger (just wasn’t paying close attention at that time to the recipe-lol),
Thanks for sharing these wonderful meals- you are making me look like a great chef at home!!
My pleasure, Darci! Thank you for the sweet comment!
Made this dish tonight but potatoes were not cooked within the timeframe, even though I gave it an extra 5 minutes. I put the tray back into the oven for another 15 minutes and then all was cooked.
I have to say the meatballs were fantastic but the vegetable combo was not a hit. I was a bit wary of the 20m cooking time for the potatoes and added another 10 minutes but even with the extra time they were hard. The addition of a can of whole tomatoes added nothing to the dish and just made a very thin watery sauce. I will be making the meatballs again but not with the veggies.
I think the addition of Cherry tomatoes would have been be a better option over the can of whole tomatoes. This is the first recipe from your wonderful website which was just OK, Oh well you can’t win them all.
Thanks for the feedback, Martin.
This looks terrific. I’m wondering if you have tried making the meatballs with ground lamb. The dried mint in the recipe made me think of your terrific lamb burger recipe. 😊
I haven’t, but it sounds like a fun idea!
This has become part of our weekly or bi-weekly rotation! We use veggie meatballs and seasonal veggies, depending on what’s more available at the market. Thank you for the inspiration and another healthy and simple meal!
Thanks, Virginia!
Please give some suggestions for substitutes for the peppers. I have family members that can’t eat them. I was thinking about Brussel sprouts, Green beans or Zucchini but I don’t know if the baking time would work to be done but not overdone. Suggestions please. Thank you.
Hi, Bonnie. I think you could try this recipe with any of those veggies. I often swap out the peppers with other veggies I have in my fridge, and it turns out great!
These were easily the most delicious meatballs I’ve ever tasted and SO easy! I messed up the potatoes a bit by cubing instead of slicing so they didn’t cook as quickly but that’s easily fixed next time. Your constant wonderful ideas for easy, delicious and nutritious food have saved me here in Melbourne where we have now set a record for the world’s most locked down city. Thank you ❤️
Thank you for the kinds words, David!
Made this last night but with italian sausages and a LOT of peppers and huge red onion, those tomatoes are wonderful and now my favorites! Just snuck a pepper cold from the fridge and it’s still good. Thanks Suzy!
So glad you enjoyed it, Barbara!
I like this dish a lot! 2 tweaks 1) I did not have mint, so used herb de provence. I highly recommand trying this out 2) Once served, I added graded cheese on top of the dish. I wonder how olives will work in here? Served over rice. Will make again for sure.
I love sheet pan recipes. They are so satisfying and easy.
I made this recipe tonight and subbed zucchini for the potatoes, which worked beautifully! Served over pasta for my son and over spaghetti squash for me and my husband. I didn’t have mint, so I left that out. Loved it!! It was so pretty coming out of the oven on the sheet pan that I sent pics to some of my friends and they wanted the recipe! So I told them to check out Suzy’s website! Fans already. Thank Suzy !!
Yay! Thanks so much, Sara!
We are always looking for easy sheetpan meals, and this was so delicous. Thanks so much for the amazing recipe!
I love easy sheet pan dinners and this recipe looks so flavorful and satisfying – it will be perfect for dinner with our extended family coming up next weekend! Can’t wait to make it soon!
I love all in one pan meals. I have never tried using mint in meatballs before but I will give it a go.
i was drooling so much I had to make this immediately and it was amazing! fantastic meatballs and love the addition of the tomatoes!!!
Glad you enjoyed it, Heather!
This dish was so easy to make and I used ground chicken for the meatballs. Three ingredients and is was delicious and a hit with the family.
Yay! Thanks Lizabeth!
This recipe was so delicious! Easy to make, and a huge hit! I love your sheet pan dinners.
Thanks, Natalie!