How to Make Mario Carbone’s Legendary Meatballs at Home to Celebrate National Meatball Day
Few dishes capture the essence of Italian-American comfort food quite like a perfectly executed meatball. At CARBONE, these tender, flavor-packed morsels have become nothing short of iconic. And now, in honor of National Meatball Day on March 9, you can bring a piece of that culinary magic into your own kitchen with Mario Carbone’s official meatball recipe—As seen in CARBONE by Assouline, the evocative new coffee-table book commemorating a decade of one of New York City’s most celebrated dining destinations.
“For our meatballs, we use sweet Italian sausage instead of ground pork, which provides distinctly Italian-American umami. We also use milk-soaked bread instead of breadcrumbs, which evokes a panada, the centuries-old European technique for making hearty boiled bread to infuse with all sorts of flavors, both savory and sweet. The meatballs are gently fried in olive oil and smothered in tomato sauce before being cooked low and slow to a precise internal temperature, just like a Sunday roast. We insist on mixing the blend by hand, gently folding the ingredients with the same delicacy required to make a soufflé, to achieve the tenderest result.”
Mario Carbone, Co-Founder of Major Food Group
From the meticulously hand-mixed meat blend to the slow-cooked tomato sauce that brings it all together, every detail in this recipe is designed to create a plate of meatballs that rivals the ones served at CARBONE. Ready to cook like a chef? Let’s dive in.
Mario Carbone’s Famous Meatballs Recipe
Serves: 6 | Prep Time: 35 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour
Meatballs:
Ingredients
2 - ¼ Cups of day-old or stale white bread, crust removed, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 Cup plus 3 tbsp of whole milk
3 Tbsp of olive oil, plus more
½ Cups of finely chopped yellow onion
12 garlic cloves, finely chopped
⅓ Cup of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbsp of kosher salt
½ Pounds of ground beef, preferably 80/20
12 Ounces ground veal
12 Ounces of sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Cup of finely grated 24-month-aged parmigiano-reggiano
Instructions
Place the bread and milk in a small bowl and soak together.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent but not browned, 16-18 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and scrape everything into a large bowl.
Stir the parsley and salt into the large bowl and cool to room temperature.
Once cooled, add the ground meats, egg, and parmigiano-reggiano to the bowl, and gently combine until evenly mixed.
Add the soaked bread last, discarding any milk that was not soaked up, and continue to mix gently, making sure not to overmix.
Form into 2 ¼ inch balls; you should get about 22 meatballs.
Transfer to a plate and refrigerate while you make the tomato sauce.
Tomato Sauce:
Ingredients
5 - ½ Cups of canned crushed tomatoes
3 - ½ Tsps of kosher salt
2 - ¼ Tsps of granulated sugar
1 Tbsp of olive oil
Instructions
In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
Once the sauce comes to a simmer, remove the pan from the heat.
Alternative
Two Jars of Carbone Fine Foods Marinara Sauce - link to purchase
To Serve:
Ingredients
Olive oil as needed to cook
¾ Cup of finely grated 24-month-aged parmigiano-reggiano, plus more to freshly grate for garnish.
¼ Cup finishing olive oil
Picked Basil Leaves, fried, to garnish
Cooking Instructions
Ladle about 1 heaping cup of the tomato sauce into a large roasting pan or ceramic baking dish and spread over the bottom; keep the remaining sauce nearby while you cook.
Heat a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat, and coat the bottom with a thin layer of olive oil.
Working in batches, add just enough meatballs to fit loosely in the pan and cook, turning as needed until lightly browned all over, 4 to 6 minutes per batch.
Add the cooked meatballs to the roasting pan with tomato sauce, nestling them into a single layer.
Once all done, top the meatballs with ¾ cups of grated parmigiano-reggiano.
Heat the oven to 325 F.
Cover the pan of meatballs tightly with foil, and bake until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 140 F on an instant-read thermometer, 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile, rewarm the tomato sauce over low heat.
Once the meatballs come out of the oven, uncover the pan and gently transfer each meatball to the pot of sauce, turning each to ensure they’re coated in sauce.
Finish cooking the meatballs in the sauce until its internal temperature reaches 160 F, about 5 minutes, and remove the pan from the heat.
Serving Instructions
Spoon the meatballs onto a large serving platter or individual dishes and top with spoonfuls of sauce.
Freshly grate parmigiano-reggiano over the top and drizzle with the finishing olive oil.
Top each meatball with a Fried Basil leaf to serve.
Bringing CARBONE Home
There’s something deeply satisfying about crafting restaurant-quality Italian cuisine in your own kitchen—especially when it’s a dish as beloved as Mario Carbone’s signature meatballs. Whether you’re celebrating National Meatball Day or just in the mood for a plate of pure comfort, this recipe is the ultimate way to experience the magic of CARBONE, no reservation required.
Now, the only thing left to decide is… who’s bringing the red wine?