Best Italian Meatball Subs
If you’re looking for the best Italian Meatball Subs, you’re in the right place! Grandma’s recipe is full of flavor, easy to make, and perfect for a family dinner. These meatball subs are so tasty, you’ll want to make them again and again! After all, who doesn’t love a cheesy Italian meatball sandwich?
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My Nonna
OK, so I have a confession. I never remember my Italian Grandmother making a meatball sub. She did, however, make meatballs. Good meatballs. Lots and lots of homemade meatballs.
Pasta too, from scratch, by hand. No pasta machine necessary. Very old world. This meatball sub is a Grandmother/ Granddaughter collaboration, some 35 years after her passing. I took her meatball recipe and made it into a sub with the cheeses we love.
If you have family recipes, it’s so important to share recipes so they can be remembered through the generations.
My maternal Grandmother immigrated from Foggia, Italy, in 1917 at the age of 16, leaving 9 older brothers and sisters, including her twin, as well as her parents, to live in the United States with a sister.
She met and married my Grandfather, also an Italian immigrant, who worked for Potomac Electric. She was widowed by the age of 40 and left with 3 daughters to raise, the youngest being 9 (my Mom).
Although she achieved her U.S. citizenship, she spoke only broken English. She worked as a seamstress at Raleigh Haberdasher in Washington, D.C., to provide for her family. It wasn’t until her daughters were grown that she remarried and moved to Florida.
She never lost her sewing talent. She made maternity clothes for my Mom. Then made dresses for my dolls and matching aprons for my Mom and me. I still have a few of the dresses and one of the aprons, a Christmas one. My Grandmother died when I was 12, long before I had ANY desire to learn to cook or sew, for that matter.
Ingredients for Italian Meatball Subs
While she didn’t technically teach me to make her meatballs, I do have her recipe from my Mom, who also made her meatballs. These are great all purpose meatballs. Make them smaller for meatball appetizers for a party.
Now I make them all the time, not only for spaghetti and meatballs but also smaller versions for barbecue meatballs as an appetizer and for these meatball subs that my family loves.
- Ground Beef (You could do a mixture with ground pork or ground turkey.)
- Sweet Onion
- Garlic
- Fresh Parsley – I prefer to use Italian parsley.
- Salt and Pepper
- Hoagie Rolls
- Marinara Sauce – Homemade or store-bought.
- Provolone Cheese
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese
Make and Cook the Meatballs
I like to use a cookie scoop to make the meatballs so they are uniform in size and cook evenly. This scoop from King Arthur is my new favorite. I bought it in three sizes. Like when making a meatloaf or hamburgers, you don’t want to overwork the meat when making the meatballs.
I cook the meatballs on the cooktop in a skillet. Feel free to cook them anyway you prefer, you could even bake them in the oven. The reason I like the stovetop method is that the meatballs get a little bit of caramelization on them, which enhances the flavor. This is one of those delicious recipes you’ll make again and again. Use them for main dish meatballs, serving them with pasta too.
Once they are completely cooked, you can either freeze or refrigerate them until you’re ready to make the sub sandwiches. See the make-ahead tip below.
If you want to serve these for game day, make slow-cooker meatballs with the sauce and allow guests to serve themselves.
Make Ahead
Prepare the meatballs in advance and cook them thoroughly. Once cooked, refrigerate them for up to 2 days or freeze them for a month. Reheat them in the marinara sauce until heated through.
Thaw frozen meatballs before heating in the sauce.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below.
Make it a Meal
The meatball subs are great by themselves, but enhance your meal by serving a fried cheese appetizer and Caprese salad as a side. Italian cream cake makes the perfect dessert to top off the meal.
More easy sandwich recipes
I love making and serving sandwiches for weekend lunches and weeknight dinners. Some of our favorites include bacon and Swiss grilled chicken sandwich, chicken Parmesan sandwich, or hot Colby ham sandwiches. This spicy shrimp roll is perfect for a weeknight dinner too.
What wine can I serve with meatball subs?
Italian red wines are the best choice, including a Chianti, Sangiovese, or Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. If you prefer a non-Italian style wine, try a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a comment and 5-star review on the recipe card below. If you really love this recipe, please share it on your social media!
Grandma’s Italian Meatball Subs
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- ½ cup finely chopped sweet onion I like Vidalia onions
- 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 Hoagie rolls uncut
- 1 jar pasta sauce or 18 ounces of your homemade sauce
- 8 slices Provolone cheese
- â…“ cup Mozzarella cheese shredded
- Parmesan to grate over tops of sandwiches
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine ground beef, onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix gently to combine without overworking the meat. Make 12 meatballs from the mixture. (3 good size meatballs for each hoagie roll). (Adjust accordingly for more or less sandwiches).
- In a medium saucepan heat pasta sauce, covered.
- Over medium heat, cook the meatballs in a large skillet, uncovered, adding a small amount of water to the bottom of the skillet. Turn meatballs frequently to avoid burning, adding small amounts of water as necessary. Cook meatballs until no longer pink in center.
- Once meatballs are done, transfer to saucepan with sauce. Let simmer while you prepare the hoagie rolls.
- To prepare hoagie rolls: Do not slice completely through the hoagie rolls. Leave a sort of pocket to cradle the ingredients. In each hoagie roll, place 2 slices of Provolone in the crease of the roll. Top with 3 meatballs and a bit of sauce. Sprinkle shredded Mozzarella cheese over top of meatballs. Grate Parmesan cheese over top of subs, if desired.
- Serve hot.
This sandwich looks so comforting and tasty! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe is so great! My husband would love this meal, I’ll have to bookmark it to make it for him sometime soon!