Meatball Bake

What does a cast iron skillet, meatballs, marinara and cheese have in common?

Together, they create the most delicious meal (in 20 minutes or less).

You might have seen my pork and zucchini meatball recipe. It’s one of my most popular recipes and featured on Feeding Our Toddlers and Home Cook Hustle’s Instagram accounts. I have served the meatballs by themselves, but I’ve also served them with butter noodles. My most recent pairing is in a cast iron skillet with marinara and cheese.

You’ll make the meatballs the exact same way you see here, but instead of putting them on a baking sheet to broil, you’ll put them in a cast iron skillet and in the broiler on high for 7-10 minutes. They’ll begin to brown exactly like on the baking sheet.

Check out the below recipe to read about the next steps to make this delicious Meatball Bake.

Meatball Bake

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 15 minutes | Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork sausage ( I love Red Barn Farm, so if you’re in the Highland, IL area– get their pork!)
1/3 cup milk (I use 1%)
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs dried oregano
1/2 cup crispy fried onions, crushed
1/2 cup zucchini, shredded using a zester
24 oz tomato sauce (I use Ragu)
2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (or mozzarella)
1 loaf of Italian bread

Recipe

Preheat your broiler on high heat.
While that’s preheating, begin making your meatball mixture. Grab a large bowl and add all of the ingredients into the bowl.
Using your hands, mix it all together until it’s all combined.
Grab a cast iron skillet and begin forming the meatballs.
Roll them into 1 to 1 1/2 inch meatballs and set them in the cast iron skillet ensuring the meatballs are not touching.
Put them into the broiler for 7-10 minutes, checking to see when the tops get dark brown, but not burnt.
Pull the skillet out of the broiler WITH AN OVEN MITT and pour the tomato sauce over the top so it coats the meatballs and around the bottom of the skillet.
Sprinkle with gruyere cheese or mozzarella cheese.
Put them back in the oven for 3-5 minutes, just enough to warm and melt the cheese. Watch closely so it doesn’t burn.
While that’s in the broiler, cut up slices of Italian loaf bread or Texas toast.
Serve the meatballs over the bread or use the bread as a shovel. Either way, it’s delicious!
Enjoy!