Sunday Supper, Meatball Sub Casserole
There’s something wonderful about biting
into a saucy Italian meatball submarine sandwich,
but meatball sandwiches are pretty messy~
Instead of having marinara dripping down your chin
or on your clothes,
turn a meatball sandwich into a casserole!
This casserole has all the elements of a meatball sandwich
and eliminates the mess
It is basically a meatball sandwich baked in a dish
This is a great make ahead meal
and it starts with your favorite Marinara Sauce
I doctor jarred sauce up a bit
The Pioneer Woman said she uses a jar of Marinara occasionally
She said Ina Garten [both are Food Network chefs] does it too~
so it’s professionally approved!
I am all about time saving short cuts!
To make this even more quickly and easily,
use frozen prepared meatballs
Put the Marinara Sauce into the crockpot
with garlic powder & Italian seasoning
add a dash of sugar, it cuts the acidity of all that tomato
Let the sauce simmer in the crock pot on low for 3-4 hours
The meatballs are made with ground beef and Italian sausage
an egg, panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese
chopped onion, milk, Italian seasoning,
salt & pepper, and garlic powder
Mix it all together in a bowl and use a cookie scoop or a spoon
to make the 1 inch meatballs
Place your meatballs on a rack, sprayed with cooking oil,
over a foil lined baking sheet
Bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes
French bread or rolls, mayo, cream cheese, grated Italian cheese
and garlic seasoning or garlic powder are the rest of the ingredients
Slice bread into thick slices or slice the rolls in 1/2
and place the bread in a prepared baking dish
Mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise and garlic seasoning
(or use garlic powder, salt & pepper)
Spread 1/2 of this mixture on the roll bottoms or 1/2 of the bread slices
Put them in a sprayed casserole dish and top with grated cheese
Spread remaining cream cheese garlic spread mixture
on roll tops or remaining French bread slices
and sprinkle with finely grated Parmesan
Toast these later to serve along side casserole
When the meatballs are done
Arrange some on top of prepared bread in casserole
and freeze the rest for later use
Top with Marinara sauce
and more cheese
At this point the dish can be covered and refrigerated until later
At dinner time, bring dish to room temperature
and bake at 350 about 30 minutes until bubbly.
Serve with a knife and fork to eat the meatballs
with the toasted bread on the side
So much easier to eat than a meatball sandwich!
MEATBALL SUB CASSEROLE
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- 1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 12 oz mild Italian sausage
- 8 oz ground chuck
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- S&P
Casserole
- 16-20 meatballs
- 3 cups Marinara Sauce*
- 4 bakery Italian or french rolls or french bread loaf
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 4 oz Italian cheese blend with Parmesan Mozzerella & Romano
- 2 oz mayo
- dash of garlic bread spice mix [Johnny Garlic’s]
- finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Meatballs**
- Combine ingredients and shape into large meatballs, about 1” in diameter.
- Place meatballs on a sprayed rack on a baking sheet lined with foil.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Makes 28 meatballs
Casserole**
- While meatballs are baking, prepare the bread. Slice rolls in half or slice loaf into 8 1” thick slices.
- Combine cream cheese with mayo and garlic spice mix.
- Spread the cheese mixture on one side of the cut rolls/ bread. Put the roll bottoms or half of the french bread slices into a casserole dish. Set roll tops or one half of the slices of french bread aside for toasting right before serving.
- Sprinkle the roll bottoms or french bread slices with 1/2 of the Italian blend cheese.
- Top bread with 4-5 meatballs and pour Marinara Sauce over all.
- Top casserole with remaining Italian cheese blend and bake at 350 until bubbly, about 30 minutes.
- Top remaining bread slices with finely grated Parmesan and serve with the casserole.
Notes
This recipe made about 28 1 inch meatballs
Share or freeze the remaining meatballs and sauce for a later date
I use the Marinara jars to store extra sauce,
spoon it back in,
leaving about 1 inch of space at top for expansion,
label and freeze
Dinner’s ready!
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Sundays on Silverado/ Happiness is Homemade
What’s for Dinner / Love Your Creativity
Between Naps on the Porch / Monday Linky Party
Wednesday Linky Party / Karin’s Cottage Linky Party / Creative Crafts
Comments
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Such a clever idea! And it looks super tasty too.
Thanks Angie, have a great week ahead!
Yum, you have such great ideas!
Thanks Carole!
My family would love this! Serving as a casserole rather than a sandwich is easier for the little ones to eat. It looks delicious. Happy Sunday, Jenna!
Thanks Pam! Today is a good day for comfort food!
This looks like a fun dish for a Sunday!
Cold and rainy here today, we need a dinner like this!
This casserole looks delicious! It is cold and rainy here today. This would make a perfect Sunday supper. Happy Sunday, Jenna!
Thanks Shannon, it’s cold and rainy here too, stay cozy!
Cold and rainy too in Oklahoma. Having spent a lot of years in NM, I never complain about moisture. Yummy casserole!
Thanks Linda, and good weather for reading!
Aren’t you clever!
How delicious!
Thanks Nancy!
Fabulous idea Jenna. And, any shortcut is always appreciated.
Thank you Bernadette, I love short cuts!
That looks super tasty — and hearty, too!
Thanks Jeanie!
This casserole is full of surprises – yum!
Thanks Mary, nothing fancy, but it does taste good 🙂
Oh, this looks so good Jenna! I love the idea of slow cooking the doctored marinara and that you can make as little as you want. Our local deli makes up italian balls ready to be cooked so that would be the way I would go. Easy peasy. Thanks for another wonderful recipe. Pinning for sure!
Thanks Kim, and with the deli meatballs you will have dinner in no time!
I love meatballs, or “polpette,” as they call them in Italy. Thanks for sharing
Cold weather comfort food Jenna! Sounds so tasty ♥
Thanks Mary 🙂
These sound so good, Jenna! I have frozen meatballs even! These would be great for the Super Bowl.
Thanks Kitty and with frozen meatballs it will be a cinch to make!
It really would be easier to eat and looks amazingly delicious. I always use jarred marinara sauce when I cook.
Thank you Judee, jarred marinara is so good, and such a great short cut~
Just made meatballs last night – wish I had seen this then!! Yum! Happy Valentine’s Day! Thanks for sharing the What’s for Dinner party – have a fabulous day!
Thank you Helen, this is really easy if you have meatballs on hand~