These homemade Meatball Subs are topped with a simple Italian marinara sauce on a toasted bun with melted cheese. This warm comfort meal is perfect for feeding a crowd or as a freezer meal!
Looking for more sandwiches? Try my Meatloaf Sandwich, Cuban Sandwich, or French Dip!
Why I love this meal:
- Feeds a Crowd – Easy to double and keep in the crock pot to allow people to serve themselves when feeding a large group!
- Pantry Ingredients – This recipe uses real ingredients that are probably hiding in your pantry or fridge!
- Freezer Friendly – The meatballs can be frozen raw or cooked. Make a double batch and freeze half for an even easier meal in the future.
How to make Meatball Subs:
Combine saltine crackers, beef broth, egg, and spices (everything EXCEPT for the meat and flour). Stir and rest for 10 minutes so the crackers can soak up the liquid.
Add ground meat and mix just until combined.
Form 15 meatballs, dredge them lightly in flour and place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake meatballs for 20 -25 minutes, or until cooked through.
Make Sauce: Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, sugar, and garlic salt to a saucepan and stir to combine. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Slice hoagie rolls in half and top with provolone cheese. Broil on high for 2-3 minutes or until rolls are toasted and cheese is melted. Remove from oven
Assemble. Place 3 meatballs on each sub, followed by a large spoonful of sauce. Serve immediately.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The homemade meatballs and the sauce can both be made in advance and kept in the fridge for 2 days.
To Freeze: The sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months. The meatballs can be frozen raw or cooked.
- Cooked Meatballs: Allow them to cool completely after baking, then store in a freezer safe bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and rewarm meatballs in sauce on the stove.
- Raw Meatballs: After making the meatballs and assembling them into small balls, store them in a freezer container bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking as instructed.
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Recipe
Italian Meatball Subs
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1/2 cup saltine crackers , crushed
- 1/4 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
- 1 large egg , lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour , for dredging
For the sandwiches:
- 5 hoagies or sub rolls
- 10 slices Provolone cheeses , or mozzarella
For the sauce:
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Instructions
Meatballs:
- In a large bowl combine all of the meatball ingredients together EXCEPT for the meat. Stir and rest for 10 minutes so the crackers can soak up the liquid. Add the meat and mix just until combined (don’t over mix).
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet, or line with aluminum foil. Form 15 meatballs, about the size of golf balls, and gently sprinkle them all around with flour.
- Place the meatballs one inch apart on the baking sheet and bake for 20 -25 minutes or until cooked through.
- While the meatballs cook, make the sauce.
Sauce:
- Add all of the sauce ingredients to a saucepan and stir to combine. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- When the meatballs are finished baking, transfer them to the sauce.
- Slice the hoagie rolls in half and layer with cheese. Broil on high for 2-3 minutes or until rolls are toasted and cheese is melted. Remove from oven.
- Place 3 meatballs on each sub, followed by a large spoonful of sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Cooked Meatballs: Allow them to cool completely after baking, then store in a freezer safe bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or warm meatballs in sauce on the stove.
- Raw Meatballs: After making the meatballs and assembling them into small balls, store them in a freezer container bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before cooking as instructed.
Nutrition
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*I originally shared this recipe in June 2014. Updated April 2019 and October 2021.
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I LOVE this recipe. I’ll triple the meatball recipe using 1 pound ground beef, 1 pound turkey, 1 pound mild Italian sausage. I also sub saltines for Ritz crackers, simply because the first time I made this recipe that’s what I had on hand. My family loved it so much, so I didn’t bother switching to saltines. These meatballs are the best; I like to bake and freeze them ahead of time and pull them out for my kiddos to have spaghetti and meatballs while the adults enjoy this recipe as Italian meatball subs.
Delicious! My picky son loved the meatballs. Thank you, Lauren, for your wonderful recipes and for sharing!!
The whole family loved this meatball sub recipe! Easy to make and great for leftovers. My teenager responded … “Can you please make this when my friends come over”!
My kids love it and used to eat at school so I made it at home they freaking exciting
Okay so I put cayenne instead of red pepper flakes and added some hot sauce and these are absolutely amazing
Ingredient list includes marjoram but I don’t see it listed in directions. Does it go in sauce or meatballs?
Hi Kathi! I don’t see Marjoram listed in the ingredients. Are you using a meal plan perhaps?
These were amazing followed the recipe exactly but I did add a little more garlic but other than that everything stayed the same was a big hit for dinner tonight thanks for the recipe it’s a keeper!
I’ve made and eaten a lot of meatballs in my life and these are some of the best and easiest to make. My whole family loved the subs, even my persnickety children. So glad I found this recipe!
I made the meatballs tonight! I cheated & didn’t do the sauce. I used Rao’s marinara sauce that I spiced up with Italian seasoning & garlic. My boys said it was the best meatball subs they’ve ever had! Thanks for the recipe!! Definitely a keeper!
I was able to make 21 1 inch meatballs with this recipe. It was great for a dinner and some leftovers for my gf and I, one tip in my opinion too many red pepper flakes, the amount suggested made the flavor overpowering. We both like spicy foods but all we could taste with every bite was red pepper, if someone wanted to make this i suggest cutting the measurement in half to make it perfect. Also when preparing this yourselves do much smaller amounts of flour at a time and refill if needed,, i had to throw away nearly 1/2 a cup of flour. Will try again with these suggestions myself in the future.
These were an ABSOLUTE hit today on Mother’s Day for my wife! We are originally from Ct where subs are on every corner, but here in Az it’s all tacos! I made them exactly to the recipe, only difference is I didn’t flour them and I added meatballs into the sauce when out of the oven.
Very Good!!! Easy to make! I used ground turkey, the whole family loved it!
This is my husbands favorite!!!! We now make this once a week! Quick and easy to make! 🙂
I don’t normally leave reviews on recipes I try out but I Love this recipe! I just did a few things different but Thank you for this recipe!!! I skipped baking the meatballs in the oven and fried them in a little bit of olive oil in a large pan so I could just skip the extra dishes lol Most of them held up but some did crumble since I was a bit rough with them! After they were browned I added the sauce stuff! but Instead of 28 oz of crushed tomatoes I used 1 can diced and 1 can sauce! I added a little bit more garlic to it than what was called for, and ended up making subs out of a white bread recipe! Turned out delicious!!!! Definitely a recipe worth writing down!!!!
This is a great recipe! I made it for my family with just a few modifications. I used ground chorizo in place of beef to make spicy pork meatballs (I don’t eat beef), I substituted breadcrumbs for crushed saltines, and I served the meatballs with homemade, straight out of the oven, sourdough. Highly recommend this recipe for a delicious dinner anytime of the year, and it is also very flexible.
I loved this dish. And my partner liked it just as much.
This was beyond amazing. I am dreaming of the next time i can make it. Wow- its amazing! Joey would be head over heels for this meatball sub!
House smells amazing. Cant wait for the finished product.
These are sooo good and so easy to make! I topped mine with mozzarella and parmesan cheese at the very end (we love cheese) and they were perfect!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It has become a staple at my house. I always wind up doubling the recipe for the meatballs and typically use half beef with half spicy sausage. If you like a little spice they are amazing that way.
Soooooooooo good!
This recipe is amazing. I used pepper jack and provolone cheese and it gave the sandwich some zing. Thank you
Love that idea! Thanks for sharing.
Just reading this recipe has me drooling on my tablet. Looks soooooo delish that I must make it. Writing out a grocery list and will be omw to the store to buy the ingredients. Plan on making these subs this week. TFS
Made this for my family last night. It was amazing & not a drop left on any plate. I have already shared with friends. Wonderful!!!!!!
Awesome! It is truly one of my favorites! Thanks for the great feedback!
Last night my husband made fabulous fries in the deep fryer. We usually make oven chip roasties but we’ve had so much snow and so many storms that last night we needed ‘cabin fever’ comfort food so out came the deep fryer. Before we put the oil away, he said he was going to try homemade onion rings tonight. That got me thinking.
He made amazing meatballs the other day with vegetarian ground round and I was thinking about how we could have them with the sure-to-be amazing onion rings. I’m going to get out the bread maker and whip up some buns and use a jar of marinara sauce that I canned using our wonderful garden tomatoes. I can’t wait for supper tonight. With the homemade marinara sauce (with memories of our summer garden and heat) and the snow blowing around outside right now, it will be like summer meets winter. Thanks for the great recipe idea. P.S. We both cook but my husband is fabulous in the kitchen.
It’s cooking now. They smell amazing. The only thing I added was tiny diced green pepper and sweet onion to the meatballs. Hoping the family approves. This is based on the recipe and fragrance so far.
This is one of my families very favorite recipe! I have made them many many times! Just wanted to hop on and say THANK YOU!
These meatballs are wonderful. I’ve already made it twice and have frozen them so I have meatballs anytime I want. They smell fantastic
Aren’t they yummy?! Thanks for sharing Jane–I’m happy you liked them!
Just made this. I used 1/4 cup of flour instead of 3/4, otherwise, I followed recipe exact. Excellent.
Can’t wait to make this! How many lbs of meat do I make to the recipe?
Hi Jasmine, you need 1 lb of meat (ground beef or ground turkey)
Made these tonight for a great drizzly fall evening dinner….we’re fantastic (I did use beef consummate instead of broth as that’s what I had on hand)Found you on Pinterest I’m so glad I did thank you for an excellent dinner
Thanks Trudy! Glad you found me and even happier that you lived the meatball subs!
Thanks for the recipe. I cooked this tonight and it was delicious! My husband loved it!
Thanks Brittany, so glad you liked it! It’s always a hit with the husbands 😉
I have made these for dinner. The kitchen smells marvelous. Since we are low carbing, I am serving these with the cheese topping and the sauce only.
I am going to serve them with a veggie on the side and a salad. I can hardly wait.
Yumm! I think they will taste great even without the bun! The meatballs and sauce are soo yummy! I hope you like it!
Yum! My hubs would love me forever if I made this! It’s going on my next week menu! Thanks lady! P.S. Love the new headshot!
Yay, I hope you like them! Thanks for your sweet comment 🙂
Those look wicked good!!! My hubby would love it if I made these! Thanks for the yummy dinner idea! xoxo
~Laura
Thanks Laura, my husband is CRAZY about these!
Well, it’s not even 8am and I want a meatball sub. haha I can’t wait to make this!!!
I know right? My mouth is watering! They are seriously yummy!
These look seriously mouthwatering! That cheesy bun…I want to take a big bite!
The cheesy bun is the deal-maker! SOO good! Thanks Amber!