Creamy Tomato Basil Meatballs

What I Love About My Creamy Tomato Basil Meatballs

Tomato and basil is a classic Italian pairing, and I love doubling down on it in both the meatballs and the sauce.

• Every bite has tomato flavor twice over. I mix sun-dried tomatoes into the meat for little pockets of sweet, concentrated tomato, then whisk tomato paste into the cream for a rosy, savory sauce.
• The meatballs come out juicy and tender, with plenty of creamy sauce clinging to every one.
• I use fresh basil twice: mixed into the meatballs and stirred into the sauce at the very end for that bright, sweet herb aroma.
• Whisking in a little sour cream and Parmesan, I give the sauce a gentle tang and a salty, nutty finish.
• Dinner is on the table in about 35 minutes, since I make the sauce while the meatballs cook.

Key Ingredient Notes

• Ground beef and pork: Beef and pork together are the key to a juicy, tender meatball. I prefer 80/20 ground beef here because that extra fat keeps the meatballs moist.
• Dense bread: I use a dense bread as the binder. It holds onto moisture, so the meatballs stay tender and keep their shape. For gluten-free meatballs, use gluten-free bread.
• Vidalia onion: Vidalia is a sweet onion with a mild flavor, so it blends into the meatballs without any sharp bite. Any other sweet onion is a good substitute.
• Sun-dried tomatoes: These are tomatoes dried down to a sweet, concentrated flavor with a little chew. I use the dry kind that comes in a bag. If all you have is oil-packed, squeeze out the oil before dicing and they’ll work just fine.
• Fresh basil: Fresh basil is the star herb in this recipe. Between the meatballs and the sauce, I use six tablespoons total.
• Heavy whipping cream: Heavy cream has a high fat content, which lets it stand up to acidic tomato without curdling. Milk is much more likely to split in a tomato sauce.
• Tomato paste: Tomato paste is tomatoes cooked down to a thick, concentrated paste. Three ounces is half of a standard 6-ounce can, and I use it for the sauce’s rosy color and deep tomato flavor.
• Sour cream: I add just two tablespoons for a gentle tang that balances the richness of the cream.
• Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated Parmesan melts smoothly into the cream sauce, so I grate my own off the block. Pre-shredded Parmesan has an anti-caking coating that keeps it from melting as smoothly.

How to Make Creamy Tomato Basil Meatballs

1. Mix the meatball mixture. Add some milk to bread in a small bowl while gathering other ingredients. Squeeze it out when ready to crumble into the meatball mixture. Add the ground beef, ground pork, egg, crumbled bread, onion, garlic, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Mix very well, until the basil and sun-dried tomatoes are spread evenly through the meat.
2. Shape the meatballs. Roll the mixture into meatballs about 1 1/2 inches wide. Use a cookie scoop to keep them the same size so they cook at the same rate. Make them larger or smaller if you like and adjust the cooking time.
3. Cook the meatballs covered. Heat a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the meatballs, cover with a lid, and cook until almost done, turning them halfway through. They finish cooking in the sauce.
4. Make the tomato basil cream sauce. While the meatballs cook, heat the olive oil in a sauce pot over medium heat and sauté the garlic until fragrant. Add the heavy cream, then whisk in the tomato paste, sour cream, Parmesan, and salt to taste. Keep whisking until the sauce is smooth and an even blush color. Once it’s hot, stir in the basil and set the pot aside.
5. Drain and simmer together. Drain off most of the meat juices from the pan so the sauce stays creamy and not greasy. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and simmer over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Keep it at a gentle simmer, since high heat can make a cream sauce separate. Check the center of a meatball with a thermometer: ground beef and pork are done at 160°F.

How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat Creamy Tomato Basil Meatballs

• Store: in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Let the meatballs cool first, but get them into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking.
• Reheat: in a covered pan over low heat, stirring gently, until the meatballs are hot all the way through, usually about 8 to 10 minutes. If the sauce thickened in the fridge, loosen it with a splash of cream. I prefer the stovetop over the microwave for cream sauces.
• Can I Freeze It? I don’t recommend freezing these meatballs in the cream sauce, because dairy tends to separate once it’s frozen and thawed. What you can do is cook the meatballs completely and freeze them on their own, without sauce, for 2 to 3 months. My guide on how to freeze meatballs walks through every step. Thaw them in the refrigerator, then simmer them in a fresh batch of sauce.

Creamy Tomato Basil Meatballs Recipe FAQs

More Recipes From Me

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Creamy Tomato Basil Meatballs Recipe

Meatball night gets my family genuinely excited, so I love creating different meatballs with different flavors. For these creamy tomato basil meatballs, I mix sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil right into the beef and pork mixture. To finish them, I made a silky tomato cream sauce. It's a rich, restaurant-style meatball dinner that comes together in about 40 minutes on a weeknight.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 About 30-36 meatballs

Calories: 837kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• ▢ 1.25 lb ground beef use 80%/20% lean for juicier meatballs
• ▢ 1 lb ground pork
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 2 oz dense bread soaked in milk, milk squeezed out crumbled
• ▢ 1/2 cup minced Vidalia onion
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves pressed
• ▢ 3 Tbsp minced fresh basil
• ▢ 1/4 cup diced dry sun-dried tomatoes
• ▢ Salt to taste
• ▢ Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Sauce:

• ▢ 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 3-4 garlic cloves presssed
• ▢ 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• ▢ 3 oz tomato paste
• ▢ 2 Tbsp sour cream
• ▢ 3 Tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• ▢ Salt to taste
• ▢ 3 Tbsp minced fresh basil

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the meatballs.
• Mix very well, until all ingredients are evenly incorporated throughout.
• Form meatballs that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. (You can make them bigger or smaller if you prefer.)
• Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat and add a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil.
• Place meatballs in the pan, cover with a lid and cook until almost done, turning the meatballs over half way through the cooking.
• In a sauce pot, add olive oil and preheat the pot over medium heat.
• Add pressed garlic and saute until flagrant.
• Add heavy whipping cream and whisk in tomato paste, sour cream, dry Parmesan cheese and salt to taste. Whisk well and let the sauce heat through.
• Stir in minced basil.
• Once the sauce is hot, set it aside. Drain off most of the the meat juice from the pan with meatballs and add the creamy tomato basil sauce to the meatballs.
• Let the meatballs simmer over medium-low heat for a few minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 837kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 71g | Saturated Fat: 33g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 27g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 243mg | Sodium: 342mg | Potassium: 913mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1618IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 151mg | Iron: 4mg

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