Delicious Homemade Meatball Sub Sandwich Recipe and Tips

[jrstephens]

I love them from Subway but as much as I have been eating them here latey (I guess it's a craving ) I think I could do them cheaper at home.

How do you make yours?

Do you make the meatballs or buy them frozen? If you make them what is your recipe? I thought about making some and then freezing them.

What do you use for sauce? Ragu?

 

[etteluap70PC]

Ragu? Bite your tongue!!!!! LOL!
I shamefully admit I have used frozen meatballs from time to time but they are no contest to the ones I grew up with. I grew up in an Itilian house where sauce and meatballs were made from scratch. While I can not give out my meatball recipe I bet you could find a good one online. I will say that I regularly use the Hunts canned sauce and just add some garlic and our Itilian seasoning. It's not too expensive and is pretty close to what I grew up on.

 

[cmdtrgd]

Why can't you give out your recipe?

 

[kspry]

I make my own meatballs - I can't find a frozen brand in this area that tastes good. I kind of make up the recipe - it has bread crumbs, milk, minced onion, drymustard & salt. I bake them in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes.

Ragu & Prego have a lot of sugar. I prefer Classico or the local Italian restaurant brands better, or make my own marinara.

 

[etteluap70PC]

It's kind of a family secret..... My Nanie would Kill me!

 

[jrstephens]

Oh Paulette I would love REAL Italian food! The closest I get to that in Alabama is Olive Garden!, ha!

I thought about making my meatballs in the mini muffin pan. I have made them before but it has been forever and I do not remember what I did.

 

[cmdtrgd]

Hmmmm....what Nanie doesn't know won't make her mad

 

[Paula R. Lewis]

Jennifer,
A friend of mine actually served meatball sandwiches at her stepson's graduation party...a huge hit! Her secret "recipe"? Meatballs purchased from Sam's Club served over hoagie type rolls, then coated with Ragu PIZZA sauce and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese!!
So simple! And, as fan of one who usually makes her own spaghetti sauce, I must say, it was quite tasty!

Good luck!
Paula

 

[jrstephens]

Paula, that is probably what I will end up doing b/c it's so easy!!



Paulette: And I won't tell Nanie if you don't!

 

[MissChef]

I make my own meatballs - I can't find a frozen brand in this area that tastes good. I kind of make up the recipe - it has bread crumbs, milk, minced onion, drymustard & salt. I bake them in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes.

Ragu & Prego have a lot of sugar. I prefer Classico or the local Italian restaurant brands better, or make my own marinara.

and I do this except I add fresh pressed garlic, our Italian seasoning, a pinch of kosher salt and a little of the spaghetti/pasta sauce. I don't do dry mustard though, that is twist I haven't heard of! I bake them on the bar pan of course! ... and I DON'T bake them until they are well done, because I put them in the sauce before I dish them and then I do one more step, explained below. Another thing I do is toast my hoagie rolls so that the bread won't get soggy, and I cut the meatballs in 1/2, they lay down nicer on the bread and don't "pop out" as easily!!! When they are all in there I add mozarella chese and put it under the broiler for about 1 minute! These are a hit in my house!

 

[RebelChef]

An Italian restaurant I used to manage had the best meatball sandwiches but I can't remember the sauce recipe. They used frozen meatballs but they were actually good. I haven't been able to find any good ones. Now I use the McCormick's meatloaf seasoning and follow the directions then roll them into balls and bake on the large bar pan. They don't get hard on there and I love that. I usually use the WalMart brand garlic and onion sauce because I like it better and can't find 5 Brothers anymore. (I can't stand Ragu but Prego's ok.) Put the meatballs and sauce on the poboy bread and top with mozzarella. Bake on a stone at 450 until the cheese melts. The stone keeps the bread from getting too hard. Dang this sounds good right now. lol

One tip to keep the meatballs from popping out...cut the tunnel out of the top of the bread like Subway used to cut their bread. It keeps everything inside easier than cutting from the side.

 

[lkprescott]

I love them from Subway but as much as I have been eating them here latey (I guess it's a craving ) I think I could do them cheaper at home.

How do you make yours?

Do you make the meatballs or buy them frozen? If you make them what is your recipe? I thought about making some and then freezing them.

What do you use for sauce? Ragu?

I don't eat beef so I use the premade veggie equivalent of 'ground beef' that comes in a tube like package. I think it's made by Lifeline or something like that. I've tried the frozen ones from Vegelicious but... neither I nor my family liked them (they were grainy, fell apart and tasted like... :yuck: ). The ones that come from the refrigerated section of the produce aisle are nice, I get to roll them to my own size and shape, I pan fry them and then let them mellow with some jarred sauce... really whatever I have on hand.. usually Prego... they're sturdy, great texture and taste great.

 

[etteluap70PC]

Ok there are probably better ones out there but this is what I grew up on:

1 Lb ground beef
1/4 cup grated romano cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I use the Itial Flav Kind but original recipe is for just plain bread crumbs)
Garlic (pressed) 1-2 cloves (can add more if you love garlic!)
Parsley1-2 tsp
2 eggs
salt 1/2 tsp
pepper 1/4 tsp


Cook by your favorite means till mostly cooked then add to sauce to finish cooking.

This is a really old recipe so for some things there are no measurements so I will guess. To be honest when I was taught to make these as a kid I tasted the mixture. Yuck I know raw meat!!! I could also tell if they were right by the smell. But I was making these myself every Sunday by the time I was 8.

 

[chefann]

There's a pizza and grinders (subs) chain around me that has good meatball subs that are easy to eat. They slice the meatballs and pile the slices on the bread. They end up looking like they've been run through an egg slicer. Great. Now I'm hungry for one, and it's only quarter to 9 - AM!

 

[KellyTheChef]

Paulette~

I used to work with a 100% Italian girl...she came to my house once to teach me how to make homemade ravioli and your meatball recipe is the same stuff we put into the raviolis! Sooooooooooooo good! I think it's the parmesean cheese that is the "secret".

I am not even a big fan of meatball sandwiches, but you all are making me want to make them for dinner!

 

[etteluap70PC]

There's a pizza and grinders (subs) chain around me that has good meatball subs that are easy to eat. They slice the meatballs and pile the slices on the bread. They end up looking like they've been run through an egg slicer.

Great. Now I'm hungry for one, and it's only quarter to 9 - AM!

OMG!!!! That's how I grew up eating meatball sandwiches!!! Mu hubby thinks I am so wierd when I do it that way!

Oh and the secret is actually to use Romano cheese. Parm is good too but there is something about the Romano! MMMMM........ now I may have to make some this weekend!

 

[KellyTheChef]

OMG!!!! That's how I grew up eating meatball sandwiches!!! Mu hubby thinks I am so wierd when I do it that way!

Oh and the secret is actually to use Romano cheese. Parm is good too but there is something about the Romano! MMMMM........ now I may have to make some this weekend!

Oops! I read your recipe so quickly that I messed up when I was typing!
Thanks again for sharing...we will keep it a secret for you!