The Ultimate Homemade Meatball Sub Recipe

4.89 from 9 votes

Delicious, flavorful meatballs are placed on rolls, smothered with sauce and cheese, and toasted until they reach melty, saucy bliss.

Prep Time20

Cook Time35

Total Time55

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: meatball sub recipe

Servings: sandwiches

2 pounds extra lean ground beef
2 large eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1.5 teaspoon salt
1/2 onion very finely diced
1/4 cup all purpose flour you could also use 1/2 cup bread crumbs, if you have some leftover or stale sourdough bread
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend

To make the meat mixture, in a large bowl, add the ground beef, eggs, parmesan cheese, salt, diced onion, seasonings, and flour.
Mix well with your hands until completely combined.
Roll meatball mixture into 1″ balls, or balls weighing about 33 grams each, and place in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. The edges should start to turn brown and the internal temperature should read 165 degrees.
Add pasta sauce to meatballs in a cast iron skillet and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Cut hoagies in half using a sharp serrated knife, brush them with a little bit of olive oil, and toast them (cut side down on a hot cast iron skillet) for about one minute.
Add hoagies to a parchment lined baking sheet.
Smother buns with some pasta sauce and top with meatballs and shredded mozzarella cheese.
Broil meatball sub for about 2 minutes with the top bun off. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. Once the cheese melts, remove from the oven, place the top bun back on top, and serve.

For these sandwiches, I prefer to make these sourdough sandwich rolls from scratch.
This recipe can easily be made ahead of time. Make the meatballs the day before, then the next day all you have to do is heat the meatballs in the sauce and assemble the sandwiches.
Starting with wet hands when rolling the meatballs helps prevent them from sticking, and makes it a cleaner process.
Make sure to watch the meatball sub in the oven while it is broiling. It is easy to forget about it and burn the sandwiches.