Meatball Subs Recipe
Do you ever get hungry for meatballs? Don’t ask me why because I don’t have a clue, but I do. My mom and grandmother both made them often when I was growing up so maybe that’s why. They were usually making them to add to spaghetti but in this case I wanted to make subs out of them with lots of gooey cheese, onions and peppers. The problem begins when you try to photograph this sub and make it look as good as it tastes.
I fried the meatballs for these subs but you can make the meatballs and bake them too. Either way will work just great. I rarely fry them but wanted to see if I thought it would make a difference and it didn’t other than the added fat which most of it I poured off. I wouldn’t skip toasting the buns, I think that takes these subs up another notch.
I used a really good ground beef for these, if you can I would do a minimum of 85% and no more than 93% fat. 93% may even be pushing to the dry side of the finished meatballs. One thing I learned a long time ago is when making meatballs or sausage is to mix the mixture thoroughly, the longer you mix it the more you will see the mixture become more cohesive which will make better meatballs. I always mix meatballs up with my hands, a spoon just won’t give you the right results.
Ingredients
- Meatballs
- 1 1/4 lbs. ground beef
- 1 cup cracker crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced green peppers
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian spices
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sauce
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes 14.5 oz.
- 1 1/2 cups sliced onions
- 1 1/2 cups sliced green pepper
- 2 teaspoons basil
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 2 - 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 - 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 cup water
- Sub buns
- butter
- Italian or Mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Combine all of the above ingredients but the olive oil in a bowl Mix together with your hands for a couple of minutes until everything is thoroughly combined at least 3 - 4 minutes.
- Roll the balls about the size of a walnut. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the meatballs, do not crowd them. Fry until browned on all sides. Remove from pan and finish the rest of the meatballs. Pour any leftover grease from pan.
- Add sauce ingredients to the pan. Cook for 15 minutes. Add the meatballs back into the sauce. Cook for 10 more minutes.
- Cut sub buns in half. Spread with butter. Toast buns in a pan or under the broiler.
- Add the meatballs and top with cheese. Put under broiler until cheese melts.
I’m craving this right now. It looks so good and I know Grumpy would be digging in! One of our favorite types of subs!
One of my favorite subs too!