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Planning to serve meatballs tonight for a party or a get-together? Yet, you don’t know what to serve alongside? No worries! There are various side dishes that you can serve with meatballs which are equally delicious. So, if you are wondering what to eat with meatballs, we will be presenting a ton of options and you can decide which option to go with depending on the kind of meal you are going to have.
1. What to Eat with Meatballs?
Homemade meatballs can taste amazing but you can find it a task to decide what to serve with meatballs. They can be served with almost anything as long as you know what will go well with your sauce. They are also a good alternative to chicken and sausages and you can even pair them up with veggies and pasta for a good evening snack.
1.1. You Can Have Roasted Green Beans
Green beans are a classic dish to serve with meatballs. Green beans and meatballs roasting on a large pan which is seasoned with rosemary and Italian seasoning are absolutely delicious to taste and will definitely make you want more. You will need just a few ingredients to make this recipe.
You will need green beans and another crunchy veggie to bake together and meanwhile, you will have to make meatballs. Once you are done with it, separately place the meatballs in an empty tray and bake them too. After it’s done, stir the green beans with meatballs, sprinkle pepper, and caramelized onions, and you are good to go.
1.2. You Can Try Udon Noodles
Another way of serving meatballs is to serve with udon noodles. Udon is a Japanese cuisine that is made of wheat flour. Try them with Asian-inspired meatballs as they taste delicious. You can use veggies such as bell peppers and glazed carrots to serve with meatballs. To add a fusion twist, you can even toss the noodles in peanut butter sauce and have them with meatballs.
1.3. Mashed Potatoes is Amazing to Serve With Meatballs
Mashed potatoes alongside a meatball dish is a classic pairing. To make this classic recipe, place the potatoes in a large pot and cover them with water to boil. Make sure that you boil the potatoes on a medium to high flame. Boil them for around 10-15 minutes until they get tender enough to be mashed with forks.
Once, the potatoes get boiled, remove them from the pan and drain the hot water. You can use a fork or a potato masher to make mashed potatoes and mash them until you get your desired consistency. After they are well mashed, you have to add cream and butter and sprinkle salt and pepper. You can even add roasted garlic to give an interesting flavor to the mashed potatoes.
These creamy and buttery mashed potatoes taste great with a creamy sauce of meatballs such as Swedish meatballs. Swedish meatballs have a creamy gravy that tastes delicious with roasted garlic mashed potatoes. The same flavor also goes incredibly well with barbecue meatballs.
1.3. Egg Noodles are Great to Serve With Meatballs
Swedish meatballs are great to serve with egg noodles. Meatballs are generally served with classic spaghetti but you can always twist up things a bit and what’s better than egg noodles honestly? Egg noodles taste so good because of the creamy sauce of the Swedish meatballs.
Zucchini noodles can also be a good alternative pasta. You can make meatballs with rich tomato sauce and pair them with zucchini noodles to get that ‘wholesome dinner’ feeling.
1.4. Red Roasted Potatoes to Serve With Meatballs
To make this simple recipe, you need to chop the potatoes first. Drizzle those chopped potatoes with olive oil and season them with fresh herbs, salt, and pepper. Bake those seasoned potatoes for around 25 minutes and you have got extremely delicious baked potatoes.
Baked potatoes taste amazing as a side dish with meatballs as roasting or baking them brings out their natural flavors they are also starchy and fulfilling which makes them taste wonderful and your whole family can enjoy them as evening snacks.
1.5. Garlic Bread is a Good Side Dish to Serve With Meatballs
Juicy meatballs covered with marinara sauce are amazing to have with garlic bread. Meatball subs are one of the best anyone can have for a fulfilling wholesome meal. You just have to make sure that you use thick and crispy bread to make garlic bread otherwise, it can end up being soggy.
If you are willing to serve buffalo meatballs, it is better to use toasted French bread for your recipe. Also, use tomato sauce and melted cheese to make those meatballs and make it a lip-smacking meatball sub. In the case of Greek meatballs, use pita bread and make pita pockets to go well with it.
Barbeque meatballs can be used to make a good sub or burger. Just, make sure to add pickles and honey mustard sauce to enhance the taste of your meatball sub. You can even use Hoagie rolls as a bread alternative.
1.6. Try Ratatouille to Serve With Meatballs
If you are craving crunchy veggies, then this meatball recipe is definitely for you. Ratatouille is best served with Italian meatballs. This vegetable dish contains yellow squash, baked beans, eggplants, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, and mascarpone cheese.
All you have to do is to slice these veggies and saute them. Season those veggies with olive oil, salt, and pepper and once the ingredients get perfectly mixed, remove them from the heated pan and add fresh basil. Then, make a herb seasoning by mixing basil, garlic, olive oil, thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper, and spoon the seasoning over the veggies.
Olive oil is indeed an important ingredient in this recipe. You can even add glazed carrots if you want. Once, you are done seasoning the veggies, put them in a pan, cover the pan with foil, and again bake for around 35 minutes. Then it’s time for you to uncover the pan for more than 20 minutes and you are done with making ratatouille. Serve them hot with Italian meatballs for your whole family dinner.
1.7. Try Broccoli to Serve With Meatballs
One of the easiest side dishes to try with meatballs is broccoli. All you need is garlic and lemon juice to toss with broccoli and it will help turn your broccoli into a flavorful and tangy side dish. Hawaiian meatballs are the best to try with this. You can even add Brussels sprouts and cauliflower along with broccoli to give a twist to this side dish.
Brussels sprouts and cauliflower can be added to broccoli while you are sauteeing it with garlic and lemon. This combination of Brussels sprouts and broccoli tastes the best with traditional flavors such as brown sugar barbecue meatballs and Swedish meatballs.
1.8. You Should Try Roasted Asparagus to serve with Meatballs
If you are going to have a meatball dinner with your whole family, what’s better than roasted asparagus alongside your classic meatballs or Swedish meatballs? All you have to do is to toss the asparagus with garlic butter and lemon and you can either bake or microwave it. After this is done, you are good to have it with your juicy meatballs.
1.9. Any Kind of salad to Serve with Meatballs
You can have potato salad or any kind of vegetable salad as it will act as a light side dish to your meatballs. If you want to have Asian-inspired meatballs, then you can have a green salad with Greek yogurt. You can try a tangy coleslaw salad if you are having buffalo meatballs and a perfectly loaded salad with greens for Italian-based meatballs.
If you want to have a classic potato salad, corn on the cob, or chicken broth mixed rice, then you can go for sweet and sour meatballs as they pair up really well with each other.
1.10. Spaghetti As a Side Dish to Serve With Your Meatballs
If you have frozen meatballs in your refrigerator, what’s better than to cook them with your spaghetti? Put the frozen meatballs in your microwave and then cook them in a pot with olive oil, garlic, and tomato sauce. You can even use the spaghetti squash to add that flavor to your meatballs.
After you are done cooking the meatballs, time for you to make the spaghetti. Add butter, cloves of garlic, and shredded parmesan cheese to make your spaghetti. Cook it until the parmesan cheese melts. Serve the yummy spaghetti as a side dish with meatballs once ready.
1.11. You Can Serve Rice with Meatballs
You will be amazed to know that even a simple bowl of rice tastes amazing with meatballs. You can go for meatballs with a creamy sauce as it will blend really well with the rice. You can even have mushroom rice, cauliflower rice, and even brown rice to twist it up a little.
You can even use tomato sauce or balsamic vinegar as it will act as a double seasoning for your rice. Fried veggies taste delicious alongside meatballs, so you can level up your rice game by adding those veggies and it will make for a perfect wholesome dinner with your loved ones.
1.12. You Can Try a Good Caesar Salad
Who doesn’t love a good and yummy Caesar salad? Caesar salad is the easiest to make and adds a light touch to your yummy meatballs. Certain ingredients that are necessary to make your Caesar salad are mayonnaise, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese or feta cheese.
Mix these ingredients together and then take a lot of veggies such as fried cabbage and cherry tomatoes. Fried cabbage will add a good crunch to your Caesar salad. Once you add those veggies, toss them with the dressing that you have prepared, and then it is ready to serve with your meatballs.
1.13. You Have to Try Caprese Salad
Caprese salad is an Italian salad that you can try with meatballs. This salad contains mozzarella cheese, onions, tomatoes, basil, salt, and olive oil. You have the fry the onions in a pan and fry them until they get caramelized. Mix the tomatoes, basil leaves, salt, and olive oil, and then sprinkle the caramelized onions on top. Pair the Caprese salad with meatballs and you are good to go.
1.14. Meatballs With Creamed Spinach
As you have got to know about the best side dishes for your meatballs, you can now add a different twist to your meatballs by adding creamed spinach. The ingredients that you need for this recipe are meatballs, olive oil, finely chopped onion, finely chopped garlic, and packaged frozen chopped spinach. You will also need wheat flour, reduced-fat milk, ground pepper, ground nutmeg, and mozzarella cheese.
Start with preparing the meatballs. Heat oil in a large pan and add onions and garlic. Stir them and then add spinach, stirring it occasionally. After it’s thawed, sprinkle flour on it and then add milk to cook it. Do not forget to stir occasionally. Once the mixture gets thickened, add pepper and nutmeg to the mixture.
Put the cooked meatballs into the creamed spinach and then sprinkle mozzarella on top. After it’s done, take the mixture out from the pan and put it in an oven. Wait for 3-4 minutes until the cheese on top starts turning brown in some spots. Once it’s done, take out the meatballs and serve it hot.
These are some amazing recipes and side dishes that are easy to make and pair up really well with your meatballs. Follow the recipe of these side dishes and you can enjoy them any time of the day with your loved ones.
2. How Long Will It Take to Bake Meatballs?
While you have learned about the kind of side dishes that you can serve previously in this article, there might be confusion for some people as to how long will it take for your meatballs to bake perfectly. Baking meatballs is the last step to making meatballs and this can be a game changer as this will decide whether your meatballs are a hit or a miss.
When your microwave is set to 350 degrees F, then the appropriate time to bake the meatballs is approximately 30 minutes. When the first twenty minutes will pass, you will notice your meatballs changing their color to brown and get bubbly. You will get a delicious smell of your meatballs by that time. However, if you want to check if your meatballs are perfectly cooked, you can take a knife to cut the meatball from the center.
If you notice that your meatball has changed its pink color, that means it is perfectly cooked and you can taste it. While your meatballs get cooked in the oven, you can prepare other meals that you want to present alongside your meatballs such as rice, noodles, or pasta.
Final Note
Serving meatballs with side dishes is an amazing idea if you are throwing a party or a get-together and you know you have to attend to your hungry guests. Apart from these side dishes, you can serve potato fries, avocados, and even coleslaw on the side to add a delicious touch to your meals. In case you are going to a German party, you can serve a potato and crunchy veggie salad as it will add a nice tanginess to your smoky meatballs.
If you are just going to have a get-together with your close ones, go for a combination of mashed potatoes and roasted beans with your meatballs and they surely won’t be able to resist but if you are alone and just need a portion of comfort food for yourself, you can have your meatballs with just garlic bread or a mac and cheese on side and it will definitely do the job.
FAQs
1. Can I have gluten-free pasta with meatballs?
Yes, gluten-free pasta is a yummy side dish to try with meatballs. However, you can go for other alternatives as well such as Fried cabbage and egg noodles, zucchini noodles, and even peanut butter noodles.
2. Why do I need to boil meatballs before frying?
If you boil meatballs before frying, then you will notice that your meatballs have become juicier and also the shape of your meatballs will be round and plump as it is cooked in a liquid. Boiling the meatballs will also make your meatballs cook thoroughly without being burned.
3. Why do my meatballs fall apart whenever I am trying to fry them?
There might be a possibility that you are using too much bread crumbs for coating and as a result, your meatballs are falling apart when you are trying to fry them. You can use less amount of bread crumbs to get the desired shape and effect of your meatballs.
4. Why should I add water to my meatballs?
You should add water to your meatballs as water will provide moisture to your dish. Without water, the protein that is present in your meatballs will cause them to shrink and produce a tough texture while you try to fry them.
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