Easy and Delicious Meatball Subs

Indulge in the ultimate comfort food with our mouthwatering meatball sub recipe! Bursting with savory homemade meatballs, tangy marinara sauce, and melted cheese, this classic Italian-inspired sandwich is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

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Meatball subs aren’t really my thing. That is a very weird way to start a blog post about a Meatball Sub Recipe, for sure. However, it is the truth. Whenever we go to a sub shop, it’s not really on my radar. Maybe it’s because the meatballs are well…not good. When I was making the menu for this month, meatball subs just sounded SO GOOD. I even tried to order one at Subway and as predicted…it fell short.

A good meatball sub needs to start with a good meatball.

Luckily we have a fantastic meatball recipe! This is the recipe we used for this meatball sub.

Ingredients

Meatballs

Our star of the show. If you need to save time, you can absolutely use a frozen meatball. Time saving shortcuts are sometimes necessary in life and no one should be shamed for them. As a mom I understand that sometimes we need to decide between making meatballs or helping our kid with their homework. If you do have time, please try out our meatball recipe. They are tender little jewels bursting with flavor.

Sub Roll

Perhaps someday in the future we will have a great recipe for a subway sub roll that we will link…right…here. But in the meantime, just go ahead and buy some premade rolls from the store or bakery. Any kind of roll you prefer will work.

Cheese

Fresh mozzarella is hands down my favorite cheese to use if I’m using mozzarella. Pricing on fresh mozzarella can be prohibitive. If this is the case, then of course, use any mozzarella you prefer. Personally I would only use mozzarella in this recipe. If you experiment with other cheeses or prefer other cheeses, let me know!

Sauce

Stay tuned for an amazing sauce recipe to accompany this meatball sub. But for now, use your favorite sauce. If you don’t have time to make sauce, you can absolutely buy your favorite jarred sauce.

Instructions

Start by making your meatballs. For this recipe, I used the sauté-first-then-finish-in-the-oven method of making the meatballs. My recipe made 22 meatballs. So for my four subs I did 5 meatballs for Mini-Me and myself and 6 meatballs for Mr. Chef Alyssa.

While your meatballs are cooking, heat your sauce.

Using a serrated knife, cut the sub rolls open.

Butter each half.

Toast each half of the roll, butter side down on a griddle. Don’t worry if the halves separate. Once the rolls are nice and toasted, remove them from the griddle and place the bottom rolls only on a silicone baking mat lined baking sheet.

Spoon a small amount of the hot sauce on the bottom rolls. Arrange your meatballs in a straight line on top of the sauce.

Ladle another layer of sauce on top of the meatballs.

Slice the fresh mozzarella if using.

If you are using shredded cheese, sprinkle the cheese over the sauce covered meatballs. For the fresh mozzarella layer the mozzarella over the meatballs in a single layer.

Place the baking sheet with the cheese layered subs into the oven set on broil. Mine was set to 500º F.

Leaving the oven door opened at least a crack, allow the cheese to melt. About 5-10 minutes. Do not leave unattended! Cheese being broiled can go from cold to on fire (literally) quite quickly.

Once the cheese is hot and melty remove from the oven. Replace the top bun.

Enjoy immediately.

If you are going to be eating later, do not put the sauce on. Layer the meatballs and the cheese, you can either toast now, or wait until you are ready to eat. Then you can either dip the sub into the sauce or you can pour it on and enjoy!

Easy and Delicious Meatball Subs

Print Recipe

Discover the perfect comfort food with our tantalizing meatball sub recipe! Packed with homemade meatballs, tangy marinara, and gooey cheese, this classic promises to delight every palate.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword 1 pound ground beef recipes, beef, beef recipe, cheese, dinner recipe, easy dinner, easy recipes, Hearty Comfort Food, lunch, marinara, meatballs, mozzarella, Sandwich, Simple Weeknight Dinner

Servings 4 People

Author Chef Alyssa McCord

Ingredients

• 1 Recipe Meatballs https://www.semperpotpie.com/the-ultimate-meatball-recipe/
• 1 Quart Marinara Sauce
• 4 Each Sub Sandwich Rolls
• 1 Pound Fresh Mozzarella Or 8oz shredded Mozzarella
• 8 Tbs Butter Softened, optional

Instructions

• If using our meatball recipe, form the meatballs, brown the bottoms and place in a 375º oven to finish cooking. 10-15 minutes.
• While the meatballs are cooking, set the marinara on the stove top to heat.
• Using a serrated knife, cut the sub rolls in half. If desired, butter each half of the rolls and toast, butter side down on a griddle.
• Toast 3-5 minutes or until golden.
• Place the bottom half of the rolls on a lined baking sheet. We use a Silpat.
• Spoon a small amount of sauce on the bottom of each roll.
• Line up 5-6 meatballs on each roll. Ladle sauce over the meatballs.
• If using fresh mozzarella, slice the mozzarella into thin slices.
• Layer the mozzarella over the sauce covered meatballs.
• Place the rolls under the broiler. Leave the oven door open slightly and watch the rolls. Be sure the rolls do not burn. Cook 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. The cooking times will differ for sliced fresh mozzarella vs shredded low-moisture cheese.
• Remove the baking pan from the oven. Carefully move the roll to a plate. Place the top bun on top of the melted cheese.
• Enjoy immediately.

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