Meatballs in Marinara Sauce

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 lb lean ground beef (can substitute lean ground turkey if you prefer)

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium yellow onion (diced)

2 tbsp garlic (minced)

1/2 cup fresh parsley (finely chopped)

3 sprigs fresh rosemary (finely chopped, makes about 1 tablespoon)

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

28 oz crushed tomatoes (from a can)

6 good sized fresh basil leaves (chopped, makes about 1 tablespoon)

2 sprigs fresh oregano (chopped, makes about 1 tablespoon)

2 tbsp garlic (minced)

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions

In a large skillet sauté diced onions and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium to medium-high heat. Cook until onion is translucent, approximately 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine your ground beef, parsley, rosemary, egg, salt, pepper, and sautéed onion and garlic. Roll into meatballs the size you prefer. Mine are approximately 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter. This produces 16 - 18 meatballs. You can of course make them smaller if you like.

Add your remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet over medium high heat. Brown your meatballs on all sides (you may need to do this in batches so you have room to flip them). This takes about 3 minutes per side. Continue rotating the meatballs so that all sides are getting some browning. Remove meatballs from pan and set aside.

Scrape up all the remaining bits in the skillet and leave them in there. That's going to make your sauce even better. (If you have a lot of grease I recommend draining that. You should be fine if you used a very lean beef.)

Add crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, garlic, onion powder, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Stir to combine. Add additional salt and pepper if desired.

Place your browned meatballs in the sauce. Cover and simmer on low for 5-10 minutes. Use a knife to slice open one meatball and make sure it's cooked all the way through. Larger meatballs may take a bit more time.

Garnish with chopped basil. Enjoy!

Nutrition

• Calories: 318 kcal
• Total Fat: 13 g
• Saturated Fat: 4 g
• Cholesterol: 121 mg
• Sodium: 1064 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 13 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3 g
• Total Sugars: 6 g
• Protein: 36 g