What To Serve With Meatballs for Dinner

Do you need some ideas for what to serve with meatballs? If you’re like me, you love making (and eating) meatballs for dinner. Meatballs come together quickly and, like meatloaf, have an infinite variety.

Name your favorite. Spaghetti and meatballs? Barbecue meatballs? Baked meatballs? Asian meatballs? Or maybe you want a vegetarian quinoa ball instead of a meatball.

a cast iron pan filled with chicken meatballs and barbecue sauce.

Whatever your desire, I’ve got you covered. And I’ve got tons of suggestions for what to serve with meatballs of every flavor to give you nearly a week’s worth of different meatball dinner ideas.

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What to serve with Italian meatballs

A plate of spaghetti with three braised meatballs in tomato sauce.

We’ll start with classic meatballs. These Italian meatballs are braised in a hearty marinara sauce for tender and juicy meatballs that are packed with flavor. They make the perfect spaghetti and meatball dinner.

Serve with a simple green vegetable like steamed green beans or roasted broccoli. Or make one of the Italian-inspired salads and salad dressings below.

Peach Burrata Caprese Salad
This peach and burrata Caprese salad is made with ripe peaches, tomatoes, and basil and some creamy burrata. It's the perfect example to illustrate that food doesn't have to be fussy to be both beautiful and delicious.
Check out this recipe
a peach and burrata caprese salad from above with sliced peaches, two different sliced tomatoes, whole basil leaves, and two balls of burrata.
Watermelon Panzanella with Sourdough Croutons
This watermelon panzanella combines sourdough croutons and fresh watermelon into a fresh summer salad. It's the perfect side to bring to a potluck or take on a summer picnic.
Check out this recipe
a serving bowl containing watermelon panzanella made with sourdough croutons
Creamy Pesto Dressing
This creamy pesto dressing is super simple to make with store-bought or homemade basil pesto. Reach for it when you want a tangy salad dressing or spread for your favorite sandwich.
Check out this recipe
a small bowl of pesto dressing alongside a bowl of pesto, salad bowl, utensils, and two tomatoes.

Don’t forget a bread or dinner roll to sop up all that yummy marinara sauce. My semolina bread recipe is inspired by Pane Siciliano. Make it as a free-standing, rustic bread loaf for a crusty bread for your meatball dinner.

Semolina Bread Recipe
This semolina bread recipe makes a soft and nutty-flavored bread loaf with semolina flour that's perfect for your favorite sandwich. Or make it as a free-standing, rustic semolina loaf and serve it aside your favorite soup and salad.
Check out this recipe
a loaf of yellowish semolina bread, four slices, and a bread knife on a cutting board.

What are we drinking? Go Italian. You’d probably find a medium-bodied red table wine or an Aperol Negroni in my hand.

What to serve with BBQ meatballs

a cast iron pan filled with chicken meatballs and barbecue sauce.

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.

These BBQ meatballs are fabulous over mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, or my cavatappi mac and cheese. It’s the perfect comfort food that I promise will be a family favorite in your household as it is in mine.

Cavatappi Mac and Cheese
This cavatappi mac and cheese recipe uses the broiler for a heavenly, gooey homemade mac and cheese with a crispy browned top. You'll never make macaroni and cheese any other way ever again.
Check out this recipe
cavatappi mac and cheese in a bowl.
Mashed Purple Sweet Potatoes and Banana
These mashed purple sweet potatoes make an easy side dish. If you like both mashed sweet potatoes and banana, this is the recipe for you.
Check out this recipe
a bowl of purple mashed sweet potatoes garnished with banana next to a potato masher and cut purple sweet potato.

If you have leftover meatballs, grab a tortilla and make a meatball wrap for lunch. Serve warm or room temperature. Your choice.

BBQ Meatball Wrap
This meatball wrap recipe is a great way to eat meatballs braised in BBQ sauce. Make a wrap or two to pack into lunch boxes or take them on your next picnic.
Check out this recipe
a sliced bbq meatball wrap on brown paper.

What are we drinking? I’d go with a beer, a dry martini, or this spicy margarita.

What to serve with Mediterranean meatballs

lamb meatballs with pine nuts and raisins atop fried chickpeas and purple cabbage.

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 drizzle on a creamy lemon tahini dressing or sour cream sumac sauce.

Don’t skip the pita!

Mediterranean Lamb Bowl
This Mediterranean bowl with lamb meatballs is a bowl dinner with a variety of tastes and textures inspired by Mediterranean flavors.
Check out this recipe
bowl with lamb meatballs, Israeli couscous, hummus, vegetables, and pine nuts.
Pumpkin Couscous Salad
This pumpkin couscous salad is a Mediterranean-inspired pasta salad made with Israeli couscous, roasted pumpkin, dried apricot, pine nuts, and feta. It's an easy, colorful, and slightly sweet side dish to bring to a potluck or to accompany your next Mediterranean meal.
Check out this recipe
large bowl of pumpkin couscous salad with pine nuts and sprinkled parsley over a green napkin.
Creamy Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce
Spoon this creamy lemon herb tahini sauce over your favorite Mediterranean meal. Whether dinner is lamb meatballs with pine nuts and raisins and a side of pita, or you've discovered the joy that is fawaffle, this sauce is a quick and easy flavor-matched accompaniment.
Check out this recipe
a small bowl of lemon herb tahini sauce on a green napkin with three pita, parsley, and a lemon.
Pita
Homemade pita pockets are easy to make. Serve them with your next Middle Eastern or Mediterranean-inspired meal to stuff meatballs or dip into hummus.
Check out this recipe
eight pita in a wire bread basket.
four quinoa balls on a pita with feta, lemon herb tahini sauce, and parsley on a plate.

What are we drinking? Big flavors call for big reds, and I love a Syrah (Shiraz) with the lamb meatballs. Or try either one of these with the Cinnamon Toast from Shake, Strain, Done.

What to serve with chicken meatballs

a plate of chicken and apple meatbals with quinoa, cooked mushrooms, and chopped parsley.

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. Serve with wild rice and mushrooms and some spicy pickled onions for contrast. You can also add these meatballs to cavatappi alfredo or to soups.

Spicy Pickled Onions
These spicy pickled onions are easy to make and provide heat and crunch in your favorite tacos and sandwiches. Once you make them once, you'll be adding these pretty pink pickled onions to anything and everything!
Check out this recipe
a glass jar of spicy pickled onions with sliced jalapeno peppers.
Strawberry Applesauce
Fresh strawberries add natural sweetness to unsweetened strawberry applesauce. Enjoy it with yogurt or waffles or just eat it with a spoon!
Check out this recipe
a glass bowl of unsweetened strawberry applesauce surrounded by apples and strawberries.
Cavatappi Alfredo
This cavatappi alfredo recipe makes an easy, creamy, warm pasta dish in just 15 minutes. Add peas or pumpkin or crisp bacon for variation!
Check out this recipe
a bowl of cavatappi alfredo with peas
Easy 4 Ingredient Potato Soup Recipe
This 4-ingredient potato soup recipe is perfect for a weeknight. It's silky smooth and richer than you'd expect with just 4 ingredients. Add garnishes or try out some of the suggested variations.
Check out this recipe
a bowl of 4 ingredient potato soup garnished with bacon, cheese, and scallions.

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 meatballs

a plate shrimp and pork meatballs made with a minced pork recipe over noodles and vegetables next to a flute of purple cocktail

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. Serve them 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.

What’s next

If you make any of these meatball dinner ideas or you want more ideas for what to serve with meatballs, please leave a comment and rating. Pretty please.

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