Description
Meatball Sub Recipe – a delicious, flavorful meatball sub recipe on soft hoagie buns with herbed garlic butter, fresh mozzarella and dipping sauce!
Ingredients
Scale
Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 heaping teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
- 1/4 cup yellow onion, grated
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs (regular or gluten-free)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 24 oz marinara sauce
- 15oz can diced tomatoes
Herbed Garlic Butter:
- 2–3 tablespoons butter, room temp
- pinch of kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh herbs, minced (thyme, rosemary and/or oregano)*
Subs:
- 5 large hoagies
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (more if desired)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Combine ground beef, ground pork, Italian seasoning, lemon zest, grated onion, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
- Take approx. 2 tablespoons of the meatball mixture at a time and form into a meatball. Set aside on a plate until all the meatballs are formed.
- Bring a 12 inch cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Add butter and let melt; swirl to coat the pan. Add meatballs and sear on all sides. Add marinara sauce and diced tomatoes. Cover and let simmer 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are simmering, combine the Herbed Garlic Butter in a small bowl.
- Turn the oven to Broil.
- Prepare the hoagie buns by ensuring they are sliced halfway open. You *can* remove some of the soft insides if you feel there is too much – this is optional. Spread some Herbed Garlic Butter in the inside of each hoagie. When the meatballs are done add 3 meatballs to each hoagie (Note: save any leftover marinara sauce for later – it will be our dipping sauce!). Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes – watch closely – once the cheese is melted and just starts to brown a bit, remove from oven. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with the excess marinara sauce from the skillet so you can dunk your subs!!!
Notes
- Herbed Butter: if you don’t have fresh I would simply use a teaspoon or two of a dried italian seasoning here.
- Meal Prep: make the meatballs ahead of time and store in refrigerator in an airtight container – when it is time to make dinner simply warm up the meatballs quick, assemble the subs and broil until cheese is melted!
- Dairy-Free: to make this dairy-free use a dairy-free parmesan cheese in the meatballs, shredded dairy-free mozzarella cheese and vegan butter.
- Gluten-Free: to make this gluten-free use gluten-free breadcrumbs in the meatballs and a gluten-free hoagie bun.
- Servings: makes 5 meatballs subs, 2 servings per sub
- Hoagie Buns: you can just use a hot dog bun if you want – in which case I would probably make the meatballs a bit smaller – as written, they are pretty big and meant for a bigger hoagie-style bun.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: half a sub
- Calories: 448
- Sugar: 18.5 g
- Sodium: 1982.3 mg
- Fat: 18.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 44.2 g
- Protein: 23.6 g
- Cholesterol: 81 mg