Just Like Nonna’s Spaghetti & Meatballs
2x the delicious portions!
- Wheat
- Soy
- Milk
OF COURSE your nonna’s spaghetti and meatballs is the best! But does hers come right to your door, ready to roll and big enough to serve a crowd? You’ll roast up juicy beef meatballs beside seasoned zucchini. Toss spaghetti with tangy marinara, add those meatballs, sprinkle with lots of Parmesan, and serve it all with crusty garlic ciabatta. This recipe is double the typical servings, providing 4 servings and 8 servings for a 2 person and 4 person box respectively.
Ingredients
28 ounce
Marinara Sauce
½ cup
Panko Breadcrumbs
(Contains: Wheat)
2 unit
Ciabatta
(Contains: Wheat, Soy)
2 unit
Zucchini
1 clove
Garlic
2 tablespoon
Italian Seasoning
6 tablespoon
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
2 unit
Beef Stock Concentrate
20 ounce
Ground Beef
12 ounce
Spaghetti
(Contains: Wheat)
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
2 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Sugar
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust racks to top and middle positions and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry produce. • Peel and mince garlic. Trim and quarter zucchini lengthwise; halve crosswise. • In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine minced garlic and 2 TBSP butter (4 TBSP for 8 servings). Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until butter has melted, 30-60 seconds. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine beef*, panko, stock concentrates, garlic powder, half the Italian Seasoning (you'll use the rest later), and a big pinch of salt. Form mixture into 8 21⁄2-inch meatballs (16 meatballs for 8 servings). • Place meatballs on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
• On a second baking sheet, toss zucchini with a drizzle of oil, salt, and pepper. • Roast meatballs on top rack and zucchini on middle rack until meatballs are cooked through and zucchini is tender, 25-30 minutes.
• Once water is boiling, add spaghetti to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Turn off heat. Drain and set aside in strainer. Wipe out pot.
• In empty pot used for pasta, combine marinara, remaining Italian Seasoning, 1 tsp sugar (2 tsp for 8 servings), and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium- low heat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until warmed through, 5-8 minutes. • Add drained spaghetti to pot; toss to evenly coat. Season with salt and pepper. TIP: If needed, cover to keep warm until ready to serve.
• Halve ciabattas lengthwise and toast until golden brown. • Spread cut sides with garlic butter and halve each piece on a diagonal.
• Serve family style, or divide pasta and zucchini between plates in separate sections; top pasta with meatballs and sprinkle with Parmesan. Serve with garlic ciabattas on the side.
Ground Beef is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Some found the sauce bland or too sweet; others enjoyed the tasty meatballs. Consider adding extra herbs or spices for more depth 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Many felt like pro chefs with this simple recipe, though a few had trouble with cooking times.
- Suggestions: Reduce oven time slightly to prevent overcooking meatballs and zucchini. Add more marinara sauce for better coverage.
- Portions: This big batch recipe provided ample servings, with some finding it too much food.
- Vegetables: While some loved the zucchini, others found it mushy or bland. Consider roasting for less time or trying different veggies.
Reviews from our home cooks
Absolutely delicious meal! The meatballs were tasty and so easy to make. I loved the zucchini stix with this meal. They were a perfect side along with the garlic bread.
Fantastic! Oven cook time was a bit long and I will adjust the next time. Zucchini and meatballs were slightly overcooked at 25 minutes. Otherwise great!
I felt like a pro chef with this one, absolutely delicious recipe, made simple!
This recipe could use some updating. I cooked the zucchini less than what was called for and it was very mushy. Also adding sugar made the sauce so sweet that I had to dump in another jar of sauce to make it palatable.
Too much food, bread was good. Kept the zucchini for another time.
I added a bit of my own flare to this. Accidentally cooked the meatballs too long, they were good but I got distracted.
Somewhat bland flavor but this could also be because the panko and stock concentrates were missing from the bag. I turned this into meat sauce and added more garlic so it was ok.
This was good but not great. I wouldn't order it again. I don't say that often about Hello Fresh meals.
Meatballs were too big and got over done. Not enough sauce. Wanted to eat the bread without the butter and garlic to reduce calories, but it was dry even with olive oil and balsamic dip.
The meal only came with 2 small cups of marinara - not the 28 ounces listed in the ingredients.
