So, I’ve been hungry for meatball subs. Ā They’re so simple to make, but we just never seem to do it at home. Ā I shared the photo on social media, because I’m weird like that and it annoys people, and some people seemed to dig it. Ā wanted to share how easy it was withĀ a minimal amount ofĀ effort.
So, the wife got a pound of ground meat from Aldi the other day, and I picked up the rest of the stuff that we didn’t already have at Giant Eagle on my way home from work. Ā I probably could have gotten all of this from Aldi.
So this is what I used…
- 1 lb. of ground beef
- a handful or two of finely shredded fancy 6 cheese “Italian” stuffĀ – I started with a 2 cup bag. Ā We always have this or something similar around.
- Whatever “shake cheese” you put on spaghetti. I have Parmigiano-Reggiano because they think it needs to sound fancy.
- A handful of crackers. Ā We had “club” crackers from Aldi
- Italian Dressing (we seem to really dig Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian)
- A jar of cheap-ass pizza sauce Ā (I probably should have used some better marinara sauce)
- Spices (Season All, cracked black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, Italian seasoning, paprika …whatever floats your boat.)
- Brown sugar
- Sub buns (I like the Cellone’s or bakery ones, but I was being cheap this shopping trip and got some weird mass-produced ones.)
- EVOO
- Butter
And this is what I did…

MEAT.
Turn the oven on first so you don’t have to worry about it later. Ā Put it on 375° because that’s always what they seem to say to put it on. Ā I don’t know why. Ā I don’t even know who they are.
I made some meatballs with the meat, some hand-crushed crackers, a dash of the pizza sauce, a dash of Italian dressing, a dash of whatever spices I grabbed off the rack (probably pepper, season all, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika),Ā a bit of theĀ Parmesan shake cheese and the mysterious “six cheese Italian” stuff.
I put some spices on the outside because why not, and tossed them into a frying pan with EVOO and a small pat of butter on the bottom. Ā I pre-heated it to high, then turned it to 6 before I tossed in the balls. Ā 6 is at about 6:00 on my stupid electric stove top.
I melted a bit of butter in the microwave. Ā I quickly cut open the buns, put them on a baking sheet, spread on some melted butter with a brush and added… garlic powder, onion powder, a dash of shake cheese, and “Italian seasoning” to the buns. Ā No Italian seasoning for my wife, and no garlic powder for my 2½ year old. Ā I popped them in theĀ 375° oven on the middle rack for a bit.
I used tongs to turn the meatballs over & popped a lid on the pan.
I dumped the remaining pizza sauce into a soup cup (it was a little jar), and added a sprinkle of brown sugar. Ā I nuked it for 45 seconds or so. Ā Why? Ā I like sweet sauce, and grandma always said “it cuts the acid.”
I turned the meatballs on to an undone side, and got the sub rolls out of the oven. Ā I knew they were done because… I didn’t even look at them. Ā I just took them out. Ā They looked fine. Ā Plus, we’re not totally finished. Ā I added some pizza sauce and some of the finely shredded awkwardly named cheese to the buns.
I made sure the meatballs weren’t going to kill us with the food thermometer. Ā They weren’t. Ā I put those on the buns and added more sauce, shredded cheese, and shake cheese.
I set some meatballs aside for my 10 month old. Ā The sandwich was a little much for him, but he will eat just about anything you put in front of him. Ā Seriously. Ā even if it’s not edible.
I put the now built subs into the oven and cranked the knob to 400° because I am impatient and my 2½ year old kept asking if lunch was ready. Ā I turned the light on in the oven and watched the cheese melt. Ā Not only was that fun, I could also make sure I wasn’t going to burn the bejesus out of things. Ā I didn’t. Ā I took it out in time.
Well, some of the cheese that fell on to the baking sheet burned, because I made a mess. Ā Oh well.
These were pretty good, although next time I will use different/better sauce. Ā That squeeze stuff isn’t bad. Ā Maybe I can make a simple marinara. Ā Also, homemade-ish deli rolls or Cellone’s are worth it… and I would cut a little triangle out of the top like Subway used to, before we were over-saturated with them and they started to serve terrible cream-of-deathfish.
At any rate. Ā This is easy to do. Ā You could buy your own meatballs or bake your own bread or use cheese slices to make this as easy or as difficult as you like. Ā I cut my 2½ year old’s into 3 sections so she had sliders. Ā I cut my wife’s in 2. Ā I ate the whole thingĀ in one big sandwich like a hungry hungry pig. Ā I refuse to apologize.
Share photos of yours or links to your own blogged recipe in the comments!
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