My baked meatballs and potatoes recipe is a one-pan meal that’s quick to throw together and perfect for feeding the whole family. Juicy, tender meatballs paired with crispy roasted potatoes, all seasoned with a blend of savory spices. This family-friendly meal is so delicious, it’s bound to have everyone coming back for seconds!
Baked Meatballs With Potatoes
Our Meatballs and Potatoes recipe combines a unique twist on the traditional pasta dish with a classic French casserole. I’m skipping the spaghetti, subbing in sliced potatoes, and preparing this potato meatball recipe with tomato sauce and creamy bechamel sauce!
Have you ever heard of a Hachis Parmentier, made with fluffy mashed potatoes, seasoned ground beef, and topped with cheese? I hadn’t until I revised the original recipes! While meatballs are usually served in tomato sauce sitting on spaghetti (like my Baked Spaghetti and Meatballs and meatball casserole), and mashed potatoes are often paired with meat, why not create a new kind of comfort food that marries all the flavors?
This cheesy meatball potato bake could be considered a French version of the classic British Shepherd’s Pie, but I’ve prepared it with an Italian twist. It takes homemade meatballs and potato slices, smothers them in 2 types of made-from-scratch sauces, and sprinkles on shredded cheese.
Bake until golden brown, and you’ve merged Italian and French dishes into one hearty, filling, delicious family-friendly dinner.
Meatballs and Potatoes Ingredients
- Lean ground beef: I used 90/10 ground beef to make my meatballs because it has just enough fat to make them flavorful. You can substitute ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground pork for ground beef if you prefer.
- Sweet yellow onion: Chopped onions add moisture to the meatballs, preventing them from becoming dry. They also provide a subtle sweetness that balances the savory flavors in the meatballs.
- Plain panko bread crumbs: Panko bread crumbs help bind the ingredients together, ensuring the meatballs hold their shape and keep them tender.
- Egg
- Italian seasoning: You can substitute fresh herbs, like oregano, basil, and thyme, for the dried Italian seasoning.
- Kosher salt
- Fresh parsley: I used curly parsley, but you can substitute flat-leaf parsley.
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- Yukon Gold potatoes: You can substitute russet potatoes for the Yukon gold potatoes if you prefer.
- Crushed tomatoes
- Salted butter: The butter adds a rich, creamy flavor to the béchamel sauce and provides the fat needed to create the roux, which thickens the sauce.
- All purpose flour: Flour combines with the butter to form a roux, which thickens the Béchamel sauce.
- Whole milk: Whole milk adds richness and creaminess to the béchamel sauce. Using it at room temperature helps prevent lumps when added to the roux.
- Ground nutmeg: Nutmeg adds a warm, nutty undertone that enhances the flavor complexity of the béchamel.
- Freshly shredded mozzarella: When it melts, mozzarella spreads evenly across the surface, ensuring a consistent cheesy covering for the meatball and potato casserole.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Meatballs and Potatoes
- Make The Meatball Mixture: Combine the ground beef, onion, bread crumbs, egg, Italian seasoning, parsley, salt and black pepper.
- Roll Round: Scoop out the meat mixture and roll into a ball. Space the meatballs 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
- Bake The Beef: Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
- Prepare The Potatoes: Boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and rinse them under cold water. Once cool, slice to ⅛ inch thick.
- Make The Tomato Sauce: Stir together the crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Make The Cream Sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy bottom saucepan. Whisk in the flour until completely combined. Cook for about 1 – 1 ½ minutes, while whisking, then whisk in the milk until the cream sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat, then whisk in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
- Assemble: Line the bottom and up the sides of the baking dish with a layer of sliced potatoes. Place the meatballs on top of the bottom layer of potatoes in a circular, bullseye pattern. Finally, fit the remaining potato slices in between the meatballs.
- Bake Until Brown: Spoon the tomato sauce over the the meatballs and the cream sauce over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake for 45 minutes, or until the top begins to turn golden brown.
- Serve: Allow the meatballs and potatoes to rest for about 10-15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
The meatballs and tomato sauce will release some liquid, so I recommend allowing the dish to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. This allows the potatoes to relax and soak up all the meatball and tomato sauce. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve immediately after the rest time.
This meatball potato casserole is packed with protein and complex carbs. To round out the meal, serve with our Olive Garden salad or veggies on the side.
What To Serve with Leftover Meatballs
Instead of piling your meatballs on top of pasta or baking them with potatoes, why not stuff them in my homemade Garlic Bread Meatball Bombs instead? Or you can make Meatball Subs, serve them like a low carb Meatball Parmesan over zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice, or with cauliflower breadsticks on the side.
Tips & Variations
- Pick Your Protein: You can substitute ground turkey, ground chicken or ground pork for ground beef. Please remember that ground beef has a higher fat content than ground turkey and ground chicken. This means that you can reduce the panko crumbs to ¼ cup, or add 2 eggs instead of 1.
- Prepare The Potatoes: If you prefer the skins to be removed from the potatoes before slicing, simply peel off the skins after you have microwaved them. If you decide against pre-microwaving the potatoes and prefer to use raw sliced potatoes, you will need to add 30-45 extra baking minutes. The raw potatoes take much longer than the microwaved potatoes. You can also peel and parboil the potatoes before slicing.
- Cook Your Casserole: You can use either a 9-10 inch cast iron skillet, 9×9 baking dish or a 3-3 ½ quart casserole dish. I have used both a 10 inch cast iron skillet and a 3 ½ quart casserole pan for this recipe. It comes down to your personal preference. Make sure to spray your baking dish with nonstick cooking spray before assembling.
- Skip A Step: If you’re short on time and need a shortcut, you can use frozen meatballs, but I highly recommend making fresh meatballs from scratch.
Proper Storage
- To Store: Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the baked meatballs and potatoes for up to 1 month. Allow the dish to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating and serving.
- To Reheat: Reheat in the microwave or oven until heated through.
More One-Pot Meals
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Meatballs and Potatoes
Serves — 8
Meatballs and Potatoes combine 2 kinds of comfort food into one delicious casserole dish! A creamy, cheesy, tomato-saucy meat and potato meal!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Rest Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground beef I used 90/10
- ½ cup finely chopped sweet yellow onion
- ⅓ cup plain panko bread crumbs
- 1 extra large egg beaten
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley I used curly parsley, but you can substitute flat leaf parsley (Divide 1 teaspoon for the meatballs and 1 teaspoon for garnish)
- ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Potatoes
- 5 medium size Yukon Gold potatoes or 6-7 if you have the smaller size, washed and dried (You can peel the potatoes if you prefer, I left my skins on)
Tomato Sauce
- 1½ cups crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Bechamel (Cream) Sauce
- 4 tablespoons salted butter sliced into pats
- 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2¼ cup whole milk warmed to room temperature
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella
- 2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the ground beef, finely chopped onion, bread crumbs, egg, Italian seasoning, fresh chopped parsley,kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to a medium (2-3 quart) size mixing bowl. You can either use a spoon, or your hands to knead the meatball mixture. (I prefer to use my hands to mix the meatball mixture. If you do choose to use your hands, since you are handling raw meat, I strongly recommend that you use nitrile disposable gloves. This will help keep down any chance of cross contamination)1 pound lean ground beef, ½ cup finely chopped sweet yellow onion, ⅓ cup plain panko bread crumbs, 1 extra large egg, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 2 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- Use a 1 ½ tablespoon scoop to scoop out the meatball mixture. Roll the meat into a ball and set on the prepared baking sheet. Space the meatballs 2 inches apart. You should end up with 22-23 meatballs
- Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes. While the meatballs are baking, prepare the potatoes.
- For the potatoes, you will need to boil the potatoes (you can peel the potatoes or leave the skin on. I prefer to leave the skin on) for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Immediately drain and rinse the potatoes under cold water to not only stop the cooking process, but to cool the potatoes so you can slice.5 medium size Yukon Gold potatoes
- For the tomato sauce, add the crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to a small mixing bowl. Stir to combine.1½ cups crushed tomatoes, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- Next comes the cream sauce. Add the sliced butter to a 2-3 quart heavy bottom saucepan over medium high heat.4 tablespoons salted butter
- Once the butter has completely melted, whisk in the flour. Whisk continuously until the flour and butter are completely combined. Allow the flour mixture to cook for about 1 – 1 ½ minutes. Keep whisking.5 tablespoons all purpose flour
- Slowly whisk in the milk, whisking constantly until all of the milk has been added. Keep whisking constantly until the cream sauce has thickened to just about the consistency of white gravy (Sawmill or milk gravy). Remove from the heat, and whisk in the kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and nutmeg.2¼ cup whole milk, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Once the meatballs have baked, remove them from the oven.
- Slice the potatoes ⅛ inch thick. (Be sure to remember that the potatoes may still be a bit hot, also keep the ends that you cut, just in case you need them)
- You can use either a 9-10 inch cast iron skillet, 9×9 baking dish or a 3-3 ½ quart casserole pan. (I have used both a 10 inch cast iron skillet and a 3 ½ quart casserole pan for this recipe. It comes down to your personal preference) Generously spray your baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Line the bottom and up the sides of the baking dish with a single layer of sliced potatoes.
- Place the meatballs on top of the bottom layer of potatoes. Make a circle that shrinks to a bullseye in the center of the pan.
- Next fit the remaining slices of potatoes in between the meatballs. Making sort of a meatball/sliced potato fort.
- Next, spoon all of the tomato sauce over the tops of the meatballs.
- Spoon the cream sauce over the layer of tomato sauce. (You will need to stir the cream sauce before spooning it over the tomato layer. You should use all of the cream sauce)
- Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top of the cream sauce. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top begins to turn golden brown.1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella
- Allow the meatballs and potatoes to rest for about 10-15 minutes before serving. The meatballs and tomato sauce will release a bit of liquid, and allow the dish to rest for 10-15 minutes. This lets the potatoes relax and soak up all the meatball and tomato goodness. Garnish with the remaining fresh chopped parsley. Serve immediately after the rest time.2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley
Jenn’s Notes
Storage:
- To Store: Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the baked meatballs and potatoes for up to 1 month. Allow the dish to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating and serving.
- To Reheat: Reheat in the microwave or oven until heated through.
- You can substitute ground turkey, ground chicken or ground pork for ground beef. Please remember that ground beef has a higher fat content than ground turkey and ground chicken. This means that you can reduce the panko crumbs to ¼ cup, or add 2 eggs instead of 1.
- If you prefer the skins to be removed from the potatoes before slicing, simply peel off the skins after you have microwaved them. If you decide against pre-microwaving the potatoes and prefer to use raw sliced potatoes, you will need to add 30-45 extra baking minutes. The raw potatoes take much longer than the microwaved potatoes. You can also peel and parboil the potatoes before slicing.
- You can use either a 9-10 inch cast iron skillet, 9×9 baking dish or a 3-3 ½ quart casserole dish. I have used both a 10 inch cast iron skillet and a 3 ½ quart casserole pan for this recipe. It comes down to your personal preference. Make sure to spray your baking dish with nonstick cooking spray before assembling.
- You can use frozen meatballs if you’re short on time and need a shortcut, but I highly recommend making fresh meatballs from scratch.
Nutrition Info
Calories: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 886mg | Potassium: 940mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 529IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 218mg | Iron: 4mg
