My husband is not a big fan of sandwiches for dinner… unless they are hot. When you’re eating cold sandwiches for lunch at least 3 days a week the last thing you want to have for dinner is a cold sandwich! (Well him anyway, I could eat a cold veggie or turkey sandwich probably for every meal ;)
Meatball subs are such an easy and yummy meal. I was already buying ground beef for another meal when I was doing my weekly shopping, and then I saw day old bakery hoagie rolls on sale so I quickly swapped out another meal for the week and replaced it with this. Bonus was I already had italian bread crumbs and fresh mozzarella at home too! I love planning meals out that work with the same ingredients so I don’t have to buy as much.
There are a couple ways you can make meatballs—some people pan sear them, then bake them or just bake them—I like to bake them and then throw them in the crock pot with tomato sauce to let them simmer. Then I can get dinner ready in the afternoon and it’s still hot by dinnertime. Also helps the flavors meld together. Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredients:
- 1 package soft hoagie rolls or nice bread
- Fresh parmesan cheese (mozzarella works great too if you don’t have parm)
- Tomato sauce (I used jarred sauce this time but you can make your own too if you have some old over ripe tomatoes! Here is the link for homemade tomato sauce.)
- 1/2 lb. – 1 lb. ground beef
- 1-2 c. Italian bread crumbs (or you can use plain bread crumbs and season them with italian seasoning)
- 1 egg
- Garlic powder
- Salt/Pepper
- Cooking spray
First get out a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium sized bowl turn out meat, crack egg, and dump in bread crumbs. Depending on how much meat you have you may have to add more bread crumbs. The more bread crumbs the easier the meatballs are to roll, but they are juicier with fewer bread crumbs.Take off your rings and mash together with your hands.Then add 1 tsp of garlic powder and a couple shakes of salt and pepper. Mash together until the meat mixture doesn’t stick to your hands. Roll out into 1 inch size balls and cook at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Break open a meatball to see if they’re done. The number of meatballs will depend on how big you make them, but this made me about 15.
Dump a jar of tomato sauce into the crock pot and set it to low. Spoon cooked meatballs into the crock pot and let simmer until dinnertime (if you need them ready faster just put them on the stovetop in a saucepan with red sauce). Spoon over soft hoagie rolls and top with grated cheese. Serve immediately! My husband likes to eat 2 or 3 sandwiches because they are that good… so make enough! This is also a great meal for parties or get togethers because you can keep the meatballs warm in the crock pot.
