What To Serve With Meatballs for Dinner
Need ideas for what to serve with meatballs? If you’re like me, you love making (and eating) meatballs because you know that both homemade meatballs are easy to make and have infinite variety.
Do you love spaghetti and meatballs? Barbecue chicken meatballs? Baked chicken and apple meatballs? Asian pork meatballs? Or maybe you want a vegetarian quinoa ball instead of a meatball. What goes with meatballs will depend on your meatball. But, whichever your favorite, read more for tons of suggestions for side dishes for meatballs!
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What to serve with Italian meatballs
When you hear “meatballs for dinner,” you probably think of these babies. Italian meatballs are braised in tomato sauce for tender and juicy meatballs that are packed with flavor. They make the perfect spaghetti and meatball dinner.
What to serve with Italian meatballs? Try simple vegetables and side dishes like steamed green beans or roasted broccoli. Or one of the Italian-inspired salads and salad dressings below will always go well. Don’t forget the garlic bread!
Don’t forget bread or a dinner roll to sop up all that yummy marinara sauce. My semolina bread recipe is inspired by the Italian Pane Siciliano. Make it as a free-standing, rustic bread loaf for a crusty bread to serve with your Italian meatballs.
If we’re drinking, go Italian. You’d probably find a medium-bodied red table wine or an Aperol Negroni or Negroni spritz in my hand.
Sides for BBQ meatballs
People swoon over these BBQ chicken meatballs, braised here in barbecue sauce. Make the BBQ sauce ahead of time or use your favorite store-bought bottle, and you’ve got dinner in 30 minutes.
Some sides for BBQ meatballs include mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, coleslaw, baked beans, or my cavatappi mac and cheese. One reader even had the great idea to use them in a meatball sub. These meatballs are comfort food that will forever be a family favorite in your household as it is in mine.
What are we drinking? These BBQ meatballs would go well with a beer, a dry martini, or this spicy margarita.
What goes with Mediterranean meatballs
Here are three options for your Mediterranean meatball dinner: Greek chicken meatballs with feta and olives. And there’s one with lamb meatballs and a related Meatless Monday option with quinoa balls with pine nuts and raisins. The pine nuts, raisins, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, and cloves will make you dream of travel.
Center these meatballs in a bowl meal with Middle Eastern sides like a cucumber tomato salad, hummus, feta, and olives. Serve with rice or couscous. And a creamy lemon tahini dressing or sour cream sumac sauce would go well here. Don’t skip the homemade pita!
What are we drinking? Big flavors call for big reds, and I love a Syrah (Shiraz) to go well with the lamb meatballs. Or try either one of these with the Cinnamon Toast from Shake, Strain, Done.
What to serve with chicken meatballs
Meat and fruit complement each other in these chicken and apple meatballs just like in those lamb meatballs or my pork tenderloin with bourbon apples. For sides for chicken meatballs, serve with wild rice and mushrooms and some spicy pickled onions for contrast. These meatballs would also go well added to cavatappi alfredo or to soups!
What are we drinking? For wines, pick a crisp white wine, like a Pinot Grigio or a dry Riesling. Or go with a perfect brandy Manhattan if you’re in a cocktail kind of mood.
What to serve with Asian pork meatballs
These shrimp and pork meatballs bring back memories of Sunday dim sum with my family, a large cavernous dining room, and carts of goodies being wheeled between tables. For sides, serve your pork meatballs with rice or noodles, steamed green beans, and some chopped cabbage. Or drop them into a noodle soup.
What are we drinking? Asian flavors are often a challenge to pair with wines, but you will never go wrong with a glass of bubbly or a French 75.
Meatball side dish FAQs
I love my medium cookie scoop for most meatballs to get them all about the same size.
If you have leftovers after your meatball dinner, grab a tortilla and make a meatball wrap for lunch. Or make a batch of pizza dough and use your leftover meatballs to inspire all sorts of pizza recipes your next pizza night!
Yes, meatballs freeze perfectly. Freeze braised meatballs in their sauce in a Tupperware type container or use a freezer bag for baked meatballs.
What’s next
If you make any of these meatball dinner ideas or you want more ideas for what goes well with meatballs, please leave a comment and rating. Pretty please.
I’ve started a new Facebook group for Meatball and Meatloaf lovers. Please join the conversation!
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This collection of recipe ideas for what goes with meatballs for dinner was first posted on January 7, 2023. It was last updated on June 24, 2023.