Scrumptious Italian Meatball Subs
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Italian Meatball Subs better than subway!
I love meatballs. They’re always so satisfying to me. Whether they’re in Spaghetti & Meatballs with Classic Marinara Sauce or Cheesy Meatball Casserole, meatballs rock! I just love these juicy delights, they never get old! The combination of Marinara Sauce, meat and cheese never fails to put a smile on my face. Sometimes I want to enjoy the meatballs on their own, like in the case of the meatball casserole, or with some spaghetti.
What’s the third epic way to enjoy meatballs? A meatball sub sandwich of course! If you’re new here, maybe I should make it clear that I also really love bread. I have a ton of sandwiches & wraps recipes to go through! I also love burgers, and the bun matters. Sorry protein-style burgers, but I need my bun to complete it! A burger is not a burger without a soft, toasted, buttery bun!
So, let’s envelope our meaty, saucy and cheesy masterpiece in some buns shall we? You may have had the famous meatball sub from Subway. Okay, I’ll be honest and admit I’ve never had the Subway meatball sub. It looks good, but I’ve never tried it. I just wanted to make my own and I guarantee that it’ll be better fresh out of your kitchen with meatballs made from scratch! Trust me, making it yourself is going to be so much better! It’s surprisingly easy to do, so save yourself the trip and the cash and let’s get to making our epic Italian Meatball Sub Sandwiches right form the comfort of your own kitchen!
What Meat Should I Use for Meatballs?
Meatballs are traditionally made with a combination of beef and pork. However, you can make these meatballs with meat of your preference, such as beef, pork, chicken or turkey. I was actually going to make these meatballs with beef and pork, but oddly enough the grocery store didn’t have any pork! So this recipe will feature all-beef meatballs, but I totally recommend you try the beef and pork combination!
What bread should I use for meatball subs?
For the Best Italian Meatball Sub, you want a soft, large bun. You could use typical hot dog buns, but I don’t think they’d be as satisfying! In this recipe, I’m using Portuguese buns. Another good bun option are Hoagie buns. You could also use Ciabatta buns, but those are slightly crustier so you won’t get the same softness from the former two options. If you don’t have anything else, standard hot dog buns will work just fine!
I’m using store-bought Portuguese buns. If you want to make your own bun, then by all means go for it! That would really be epic and insanely delicious! Let me know if you’ve made this sub with your own bread!
What Toppings are used for a Meatball Sub?
This Italian Meatball Sub Sandwich will be topped with mozzarella and provolone cheeses. These cheeses are the dynamic duo for a meatball sub that will have lots of cheese pulls and tons of flavour! Mozzarella on its own is stringy, but does not have much of its own flavour.
Tips for the BEST meatball sub sandwiches!
Use the freshest meat to prepare the meatballs, if you use high quality ingredients you will taste the goodness.
Soak the Panko breadcrumbs in milk until completely mushy and drain and excess milk. These breadcrumbs helps make the meatballs fluffy, light and helps to keep them juicy.
Use fresh parsley, as much as I would like the convenience of substituting with dried parsley, it just does not work. Fresh parsley is one of the key flavours in these meatballs and irreplaceable.
Be generous with Parmesan cheese, the creaminess helps round of also helps with binding the flavours and add a wonderful nutty flavour.
The buns should be soft enough to create a pocket for our toppings once you have cut the slit down the center.
While broiling the subs, you can broil until the buns are lightly charred or stop before this stage. I love the char, because these Portuguese buns taste just like a napoletana once charred! Yum.
The subs can also be broiled in an air fryer if you set it to Air Broil mode and bake for 5-7 minutes.
Ingredients for scrumptious italian meatball subs
This Italian Meatball Sub recipe has three components:
Meatballs
Marinara Sauce
Sub sandwich itself
Let’s review the ingredients we’ll need for each component. Remember, the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD is at the bottom of this post! Scroll down so you can print it and save it for later, and so you can easily scale the quantities depending on how many sandwiches you want to make!
For the Meatballs
Ground beef: I understand what it’s like to be on a budget, but I really recommend you use the best beef you can find. From my experience, the tenderness and taste of the meatballs really is dependent on the quality of the meat. A tip to save on money is to go to a butcher and ask them to cut the portion you need. That way there’s no food waste, and you’ll get the freshest meat!
Egg yolk: These help to bind the meatballs.
Breadcrumbs: I would recommend you use plain Panko breadcrumbs, as these hold the meatballs best.
Milk: I can’t make meatballs without milk! You’ll want to soak the Panko breadcrumbs in milk before making your meatballs to get light, fluffy meatballs.
Parsley: You can use fresh or dried parsley, but I recommend fresh parsley for a fresher flavour. This adds a fragrant flavour to the meatballs.
Onion: This is optional, but some red onion really adds a nice strong flavour to your meatballs.
Garlic cloves: Minced garlic is just mandatory for some tasty meatballs and to add flavours in general!
Olive oil: For cooking.
Seasoning: All you need is salt and pepper here because the parsley does so much!
Cheese: Parmesan cheese is an essential for me!
For the Marinara Sauce
Salt to taste
Garlic cloves, minced
Red chilli flakes, to taste
Olive oil
For the Meatball Subs
Buns
Mozzarella and provolone cheeses
Chili oil
Basil
Make the most amazing meatball sub sandwich
For the Marinara Sauce
Place the tomatoes in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds to break down the tomatoes.
Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Add garlic and chilli flakes and sauté for 30 seconds.
Add in the pulsed San Marzano tomatoes and salt. Bring sauce to a simmer. Lower heat and cook for 10-15 minutes or until your sauce reduces and has a thick consistency.
For the Meatballs
In a mixing bowl, add the breadcrumbs. Pour in the milk and mix well. Allow the breadcrumbs to rest until they completely absorb the milk, about 10-15 minutes.
To prepare the meatballs, add the beef, pork, onion, egg yolk, garlic, parmesan, and fresh parsley in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the soaked breadcrumbs into the mince, discarding any excess milk and combine well.
Divide the meatball mince into 6-8 equal portions. Using the palms of your hands, form the mince into round, even balls and place them on a plate or baking sheet.
Cooking the Meatballs
I remember growing up watching Hell’s Kitchen and one line that Gordon Ramsay said in one of the episodes has always stuck with me.
“If it’s brown it’s cooked, if it’s black it’s fudged”
If you know Ramsay as well, you know what that line really said. But it makes so much sense. There’s nothing worse that grey, boiled meatballs. Giving the meatballs a quick sear to brown them adds so much more flavour. Then, they can be finished off in the pan itself, or in the marinara.
Heat a pan on medium heat and add the olive oil. Cook the meatballs until evenly browned all over and completely cooked inside, about 12-15 minutes.
How Do I Know the Meatballs are Cooked?
The meat should no longer be pink once the meatballs have finished cooking. The meat should read a minimum internal temperature of 160 F in the thickest part by an instant read thermometer according to Health Canada.
You can also use a sacrificial meatball and cut it down the middle to check if it is completely cooked.
Assembling the sandwich
Cut a slit down the center of the buns and place the buns over a wire rack on a baking sheet.
Spread 2-4 Tbsp of the marinara sauce.
Scatter mozzarella and provolone over the sauce and place 2-3 meatballs over the cheese.
Top with more marinara, mozzarella and provolone.
Make sure the oven rack is adjusted to the middle rack and place the baking sheet on the oven rack.
Change the oven to Broil mode and bake until the cheese has molten and the buns are toasted. You can toast until the buns have a slight char or stop right before it.
Top with fresh basil, brush the buns with chili oil and serve hot with marinara sauce to dip.
Watch How to Make Scrumptious Italian Meatball Subs Here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!