Pasta Night Spaghetti & Meatballs Bar
One recipe–endless ways to enjoy!
- Milk
- Wheat
Bring dinnertime joy to everyone at the table with spaghetti, beef meatballs, and two sauces: marinara and pesto. We've included tons of toppings, like balsamic glaze, toasted panko, Parmesan, and chili flakes, so everyone can make their perfect pasta bowl. Order broccoli for a veggie side or swap in ground turkey and be a meatball hero!
Ingredients
½ cup
Pesto
(Contains: Milk)
2 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
1 tablespoon
Italian Seasoning
6 ounce
Spaghetti
(Contains: Wheat)
1 unit
Crushed Tomatoes
5 teaspoon
Balsamic Glaze
3 tablespoon
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
½ cup
Panko Breadcrumbs
(Contains: Wheat)
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
10 ounce
Ground Beef
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Cooking Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. • Place packet of pesto in a cup of warm water to bring to room temperature.
• In a large bowl, combine beef*, stock concentrate, half the panko, half the garlic powder, half the Italian Seasoning, 2 TBSP water, 1⁄2 tsp salt, and pepper (4 TBSP water and 1 tsp salt for 4 servings). Form into 10-12 1 1⁄2-inch meatballs (20-24 for 4). • Place meatballs on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Roast on top rack until browned and cooked through, 14-16 minutes.
• Once water is boiling, add spaghetti to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Drain, then return to pot. • Toss with 2 TBSP butter (4 TBSP for 4 servings) and a pinch of salt and pepper. TIP: If you added any other items to your meal (apps, sides, and/ or dessert), you can get started on them now!
• While pasta cooks, melt 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium heat. Add remaining panko and cook, stirring, until golden brown, 3-5 minutes. • Turn off heat. Transfer to a small bowl; season with salt and pepper. Wipe out pan.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for panko over medium-high heat. Add crushed tomatoes, remaining garlic powder, remaining Italian Seasoning, 1⁄4 tsp sugar, 1⁄2 tsp salt, and pepper (1⁄2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt for 4 servings). Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is warmed through, 2-3 minutes.
• Serve spaghetti, meatballs, toasted panko, red sauce, pesto, balsamic glaze, and Parmesan family style and let everyone build their own plates (if you’ve got some on hand, serve with chili flakes from your pantry if desired). (Don’t forget to serve with any extra items you may have ordered to build out your meal!)
Ground Meat is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the variety, with pesto and balsamic glaze adding delicious depth to the classic marinara 🍝.
- Ease of prep: Fun and easy to make, though some found it involved too many steps or pots for a weeknight.
- Suggestions: Consider simmering the marinara longer to develop flavors; add roasted garlic or herbs for extra depth.
- Portions: Several mentioned needing more pasta to balance the generous amount of sauce.
- Meatballs: Some found the meatballs delicious, while others suggested adding onion or seasoning for more flavor.
Reviews from our home cooks
I loved most of this but couldn't wrap my head around toasting panko and using sweet glaze on my pasta. I always love the tomato sauces you provide but the pesto was surprisingly up to my standards and generous portions! I'd probably order this again just because it was pretty easy and made a lot.
Super easy and delicious! Great simple dinner to put together. Would have appreciated more spaghetti and an option for angel hair, but that's super minor.
The ability to create your own dish is a great idea. I increased the servings with additional ingredients for a family of 9 and they loved it.
Delicious meal. I was skeptical about the balsamic drizzle but it really brought out the flavor of the red sauce.
This was okay because it was spaghetti, which is hard to completely mess up. But this was not good spaghetti. The meatballs were tough and not flavorful, and the sauce was too acidic. I actually added sugar to try to counteract that, but it needed to simmer longer to allow flavors to develop and to cook the tomatoes down. This would have been better as a baked pasta, with a tomato sauce that incorporated the pesto and balsamic glaze, and browned ground beef - topped with cheese and toasted panko.
This was fun to make one meal, but each person was able to put their own flavor to their spaghetti.
Love the bar options idea, so people could choose what they wanted on their spaghetti
Too much sauce and not enough pasta. This could've easily been a 4 person meal with just more pasta.
This was great, the sauce was perfect and the meatballs were amazing. Would try again!!!
Love! Anything husband and daughter approve is a win. P.S. daughter doesn't like spaghetti and it was still a win
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