Mini meatball pasta

This mini meatball pasta is a slightly grown-up super tasty version of those extra saucy lil bit sweet pastas you grew up eating out of a can.

To me, there’s something so nostalgic about spoonable pasta. A super saucy bowl of pasta, a spoon, and everything, no matter what’s going on in the real world, is alright. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s the spoonability of it: the perfect bite, scooped up onto your favorite spoon (you do have a favorite spoon, right?) just feels right.

The ultimate comfort food

If you’re looking for a one pot meal that’s hearty and satisfying, this mini meatball pasta is for you. Tiny, tender, juicy meatballs, a slightly sweet tomato sauce, and pasta cooked right in the sauce so it grabs all the flavor, come together into what I think is one of my top home-cooked comfort meals.

I know it’s still summer, but I’m ready for sweater weather. With August winding down and fall on its way, I’m getting a head start on all of the cozy casseroles, one pot pastas, and soupy noodle bowls.

But why mini meatball pasta?

I confess, I love everything mini and everything giant. Regular-sized meatballs? No, give me either one giant meatball or dozens of dime-sized balls, nothing in between. Mini meatballs are cute, spoonable, and are the best at making a perfect bite of pasta to protein. Sure, it takes some time to roll them, but I find it kind of meditative. I’m just weird like that.

It’s meditative

I know it seems tedious, but making mini meatballs is meditative and to someone like me, who’s always in their head, overthinking everything, really calming. So, if you’re having a super stressful week (or life) I hope you set aside the time to really slow down, stop doom-scrolling, and make yourself a really good meal of mini meatballs and pasta.

I used to think it was so ridiculous, all that talk about doing things with intention and really being in the moment, but now that I’m older, but let’s be real, not any wiser, I realize that life really is all about being present in those small moments.

The best way to make mini meatballs

I have made a lot of mini meatballs in my life and my all time favorite way to shape them is by using a very round teaspoon and a tiny coffee spoon. Specifically, something like this teaspoon and this exact nespresso spoon. This isn’t spon-con, it’s just what I’ve found works in my many years of mini meatball making.

You scoop a level amount of meatball filling into the teaspoon measure and then use the espresso spoon to scoop and shape the meatball mixture into a nice, tight ball. If you’ve ever made a quenelle, it’s kind of like that. If you’re wondering what the heck a quenelle is, it’s essentially a football-shaped oval dumpling shape with three sides. It’s big in high-end dining and French cooking. Quenelles are made with two spoons, so I borrowed that technique to make shaping mini meatballs without rolling them with my hands. It works great and shaping perfect little balls is incredibly satisfying.

The secret to tender meatballs

If you hate dry, overcooked meatballs, mini meatballs are the answer. The bonus of mini meatballs, aside from the fact that they’re mini, is that they cook quickly and are incredibly tender.

Because they’re not giant, they don’t take long to cook, so they don’t get dry or crumbly. Plus, if you’re a seasoned meatball maker, you know that the secret to super tender meatballs is a panade:

What is a panade?

Panade, is a fancy French way of saying “mashed bread.” Dry bread and milk are mixed together to create a mush that helps meatballs stay moist and tender. The bread (or breadcrumbs) soaks up milk and holds it inside the meatball, stopping it from cooking into a dense ball. In this mini meatball recipe, the panade is made with panko, aka Japanese breadcrumbs, and milk.

Mini meatball pasta ingredients

The list looks long, but all the ingredients for mini meatball pasta are super basic, aside from one to two that I think really take the sauce over the top which I’ve listed in the next, optional, section.

Panko

Breadcrumbs + milk are the power couple of juicy, tender meatballs. Really, you can use any kind of breadcrumb you like, but if you need a suggestion, panko is the way to go. Panko is Japanese bread (crustless, of course) that is baked in such a way that it has long gluten strands, which then easily ground into large, airy, jagged shapes instead of the super fine breadcrumbs you sometimes see. The largeness of panko flakes means they hold more moisture which means more moist meatballs.

Garlic and onion powder

Yes, powder. I love the fresh stuff, everyone does, but granulated garlic and granulated onion powder are the reason why these meatballs taste, well, soft and squishy. No tiny pieces of onion or garlic, just all the flavor of onion and garlic. If you haven’t been using granulated garlic and onion powder, you’re in for a treat. Essentially they’re dehydrated garlic and onion pulverized into a powder. They add all the flavor with none of the prep or texture. I wanted these mini meatballs to have a homogeneous, smooth feeling and garlic and onion powder is what achieves that. Be sure not to get the salt version of either, you want pure garlic and onion. That said, if you have the fresh stuff, it’ll be good too too. I know it’s a lot to buy two kinds of garlic for one recipe.

Milk

Any kind of milk will work here, the purpose of it is to add moisture to the panko. If you have buttermilk, that’s a lovely choice because it adds a bit of tang and a hint of hmm, something interesting is going on here, but I don’t know what so I’ll just keep eating because it tastes so good. Otherwise, any percentage of milk will do. Also, if you wanted to be over the top and do cream, you could do that too.

Egg

One large egg is going to act as the binder in our meatballs. The egg helps the meatball mix stay tender instead of crumbly as well as keeping the meatballs shaped like balls.

Ground meat

I sound like a broken record, but you can use whatever ground meat you like. Our grocery store sells a mix of ground beef and pork in a 1 lb package that I love to get because Mike and I call it “bork.” I’ve also used all pork, all beef, ground chicken and ground turkey. Bork is our favorite because of the balance of flavor and moisture. Beef gives it that hearty beefy structure and pork gives it a rich juiciness. Of course, it’s unnecessary to buy two 1 lb packages just so you can use half of each, so use your discretion.

Olive oil

Olive oil is your friend. I used to be scared of (all) oil because I was convinced it was un-needed extra calories but the truth is, we need fat to live. Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is the least processed of all of the fats that people generally use to cook. If you tend to think olive oil is too fancy or expensive, give this cute squeeze bottle version a try. I guarantee the joy you get out of squeezing it into the pan will make you feel like you’re in your very own commercial kitchen.

Fresh garlic

I know we used granulated powdered garlic in the meatballs, but in the sauce we need the fresh stuff. This recipe calls for four cloves, but if you’re one of those people who goes all in on garlic, I won’t stop you. The only advice I have is: get a garlic crusher. It will make your life so much more streamlined. Yes, it’s a one purpose kitchen tool, but if you like garlic, you’ll use it all the time. This is similar to the one that we have and we use it all the time.

Carrot

This is a little crazy, but I like to brunoise my carrots for sauce, which is just a way of saying, I’m a little bit cray cray. A brunoise is the smallest, precise dice in cooking, clocking in at just 2 millimeters by 2 millimeters. Why do I have so much time on my hands? I don’t, to be honest, I just love the way tiny carrot dice practically melts into sauce after it’s been caramelized. If you’re not crazy, just do a regular dice. Or, heck, grate the carrots. Grated carrots are actually amazing in sauce, especially if you give it a rough chop before adding.

Tomato paste

Tomato paste used to only come in cans which was super annoying, but now it comes in tubes, like anchovy paste and tubes of tomato paste are amazing. Just like anchovy paste, tomato paste gives you a rich, concentrated boost of umami. And again, you have to cook slash caramelize it for it to reach its maximum potential.

Jarred tomato sauce

You can use your favorite jarred tomato sauce. To be honest, Mike and I don’t have a favorite and I tend to get whatever’s on sale. You could also just go ahead and use crushed tomatoes, but I like the head start you get when you use jarred because it’s seasoned and the tomatoes have already been cooked down. Of course, when you use jarred, you’re not entirely in control of the flavor, so if you are a control freak, just get crushed tomatoes.

Chicken stock

Because we’re cooking the pasta in the sauce, we need a bit more moisture and looseness. Enter: chicken stock. Full of flavor and extra protein (I like to think anyway). Low-sodium chicken stock will thin out the tomato sauce just enough so you have enough liquid to cook your pasta.

Parmesan cheese

I don’t think I need to say anything about parm except make sure it’s real parm and use as much of it as you want, you don’t have to follow the recipe. Cheese is life and cheese is flavor, and that brings us to:

Optional Ingredients

These ingredients are optional because I know not everyone wants to buy all new stuff for just one recipe, but they’re here because they are major flavor bombs. I saw this meme on the internet the other day that was like “Stuff Asian Chefs use for flavor: [all this stuff]” vs “Stuff white chefs use for flavor: butter” – it’s not true but it got me thinking, everyone should be encouraged to add more flavor into their cooking:

Anchovy paste

I don’t know about you, but we have several tubes of anchovy paste the in fridge because whenever we’re at the grocery store and intending to make pasta we ask each other: do we have anchovy paste at home? Neither of us ever know so we have 3 half used tubes right now. Anchovy paste is one of those secret ingredients that all Italian restaurants use in their pasta sauces. Just like fish sauce or Worcestershire, anchovy paste adds a HUGE hit of umami. You can skip it if you don’t like flavor, but I may judge you. Make sure you cook slash render the fat out of the anchovy paste to really activate the flavors.

Sweet soy sauce

Being Asian, Mike and I love using soy sauce to season. In this case, sweet soy sauce adds just the right amount of sweetness to offset any sort of tomato acidity in this sauce. The sweet soy sauce adds hint of dark caramelization that you don’t get if you just use sugar. But, if you don’t have sweet soy sauce, you can skip it. I won’t judge you on this one, but sweet soy sauce is truly amazing, so I will feel sorry for you.

Small pasta

Small pasta is my favorite pasta shape. It’s spoonable, diminutive, cute and just all around the superior pasta. Mike is a long pasta person but for me, small pasta is great because you can easily cook it sauce, spoon it up, and it fits in the pot better. What’s not to love?

If you’re in Italy or have access to a grocery store that is well stocked, you know that there is an entire world of small pasta out there. Anything that comes in regular size comes in small. They’re called pastina and they’re usually used for soups. I admit, pastina is a bit too tiny, so really what we’re looking for is short pasta, but the mini version. Think: anellini (little rings aka spaghetti-os!), conchigliette (little shells), ditali/ditalini (little tubes), farfalline (little bow ties), storitini (little macaroni), mezze penne (half penne), or any of the mezze pastas, which mean half-cut. Heck, even macaroni is nice and spoonable. In this case, I actually used a non-mini pasta (gasp) because it’s always mini: orecchiette. Choose your fighter 🙂

<h2 data-heading="How to make mini meatball pasta

I made this the other day and Mike asked me if I realized how long it took me. I have time blindness, but even I know that it took me a while. It’s not the fastest recipe but it is maybe the most meditative. Here’s how to make mini meatball pasta.

1. Make the meatball mix

Make the panade: Mix together panko, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the milk and egg and stir everything together, until it’s saturated and homogenous.

Then, add the ground meat and gently, using a cutting and scooping motion (like how you would fold flour into cake batter) combine the ground meat with the seasoned panade. Make sure everything is smooth and combined.

2. Shape the meatballs

Use two tiny spoons or a teaspoon and tiny spoon to scoop out and shape the meatballs. Be sure to press the meat mixture against the spoons to really shape the mix into balls so they hold together. Place the finished mini meatball on a lightly oiled plate or baking sheet and repeat times a million, then set aside.

3. Cook the meatballs

I pan-fried these guys, but if you’re particular about them staying completely round, you can bake them (more on this below).

4. Caramelize the garlic and carrot

Now that the meatballs are happy, it’s time to caramelize the garlic and carrot. There should still be quite a bit of oil in your pan, but if not, add a bit more extra virgin olive oil and the crushed garlic. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the garlic is soft and tender and incredibly aromatic. Add the carrots and cook, stirring, low and slow, until soft. If needed, add extra extra virgin olive oil: you want enough to cover the carrots.

5. Add seasonings

If you’re not using anchovy paste, you can skip this step but you are skipping out on flavor. Add anchovy paste to the garlic and carrot and cook, rendering out those lovely umami oils while stirring. The anchovy paste will look like it’s breaking apart and that’s exactly what we want.

Sweet soy sauce: Same as above.

Then, add tomato paste and cook until everything looks very brown. Don’t worry, it’s not burnt, it’s just flavor. Oh, but if it is burnt, don’t use it. All of this should be done over low heat.

6. Simmer

Stir in chicken stock and the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer over high heat. When bubbly, add in your short pasta. Stir and let the sauce come up to a simmer, then turn the heat down so that the sauce is still bubbling but not spraying tomato paste all over the counter.

If your pasta is sticking out above the sauce, add 1/4 cup chicken stock at a time, making sure to adjust the temperature as needed to maintain a simmer. Stir and cook the pasta according to the package directions. Taste and when it’s to your liking, it’s time to finish the dish.

7. Add parmesan and the meatballs

Stir in the cooked meatballs and parmesan cheese, scoop into a bowl and settle in with a spoon, your favorite beverage, and a sense of satisfaction as well as leftovers for days.

Baked mini meatballs

Baked mini meatballs will hold their shape better, but cooking them in the pan gives you a harder sear. I do both and I like both so I can’t say I recommend one over the other but for these photos I did the pan-sear so that this ended up being a one-pot deal.

To pan fry: Heat up a generous amount of oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and add the meatballs, not crowding the pan and cook until they form a golden crust, shaking and flipping as needed.

If you want to bake them: heat the oven to 475°F and bake for 8-9 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. When the meatballs are cooked through, set them aside and start on the sauce.

<h2 data-heading="Substitutions

• If you don’t have panko, you can sub breadcrumbs
• Fresh garlic and onion can sub for their powders
• Olive oil is great but regular oil works too, especially if your budget is tight
• Any stock will work in place of chicken stock, or even water

Happy mini meatball making!
xoxo steph

Mini Meatball Pasta

A slightly grown-up super tasty version of those extra saucy lil bit sweet pastas you grew up eating out of a can.

Serves 4

No ratings yet

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Meatballs

• 1/2 cup panko or breadcrumbs of choice
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 lb ground beef or pork, or both (bork)

Pasta Sauce

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 small carrot brunoised
• 1/2 tbsp anchovy paste optional
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce optional
• 24 oz tomato sauce ~1 jar
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 lb pasta mini pasta preferred
• 1 cup finely grated parmesan

• In a large bowl, combine panko, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Stir in the milk and whisk in the egg. Add the ground meat and mix until just combined, without over working.

• Use teaspoons or hands to shape tiny, quarter-sized meatballs, wetting your hands if needed so the meat doesn’t stick. Place finished meatballs on a tray or plate. Continue until all the meatball mixture is rolled.

• In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add mini meatballs and cook, searing, until golden and brown. Shake the pan as needed. When the meatballs have a golden crust and are cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside. Be careful not to let any roll off the countertop.

• There should still be quite a bit of oil in the pan. Turn the heat down to low and add the crushed garlic, stirring to deglaze the pan. When soft and fragrant, but not brown, add the carrots and cook, low and slow until very soft.

• Stir in the tomato paste, sweet soy sauce, and anchovy paste, if using. Caramelize, stirring, for about 2-3 minutes.

• Add the chicken stock and tomato sauce to the pan and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add the pasta to the sauce and let it come to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally until the pasta is cooked according to the package directions. If needed, add chicken stock, 1/4 cup at a time, to the pan if the sauce starts to get too dry or thick.

• When the pasta is cooked, stir in the meatballs and parmesan. Taste and season, and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Mini Meatball Pasta

Amount Per Serving

Calories 925
Calories from Fat 325

% Daily Value*

Fat 36.1g56%

Saturated Fat 5.6g35%

Cholesterol 67mg22%

Sodium 1413mg61%

Potassium 422mg12%

Carbohydrates 98.5g33%

Fiber 10.9g45%

Sugar 11.2g12%

Protein 52.8g106%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.