20 Leftover Meatball Recipes That Are Creative, Easy and Enticing (2024)

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Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Let’s get the usual suspects out of the way, shall we? Whether your leftover meatballs are ready to reheat or waiting to be cooked, you can’t go wrong with al dente pasta, marinara sauce and lots of Parmesan cheese.

Spend with Pennies

Same goes for this hearty classic, which stars bread slathered in garlic butter (!!!). If your leftover meatballs are already baked, simply simmer them in the pasta sauce. If not, bake them until they’re cooked, then simmer them.

Secrets of Great Second Meals

This breakfast beauty will most definitely keep you full ’til lunchtime, but a slice served with a green salad would also be a delightful dinner.

Linda Pugliese/Help Yourself

The recipe calls for lamb spiced with coriander, cumin, oregano and turmeric, but small sausage or beef meatballs would be fine substitutes.

Erin McDowell

Aka the most foolproof party appetizer of all time. Transform leftover ground chicken meatballs with a simple two-ingredient sauce that your guests will go gaga for.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Either spruce up surplus ground beef with allspice and nutmeg or drench leftover meatballs in fresh gravy—that’s what really counts anyway. (And the mashed potatoes.)

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Instead of layering the casserole with ground beef, nestle chopped meatballs between the ravioli and let your oven do the rest.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Complete with a mound of cauliflower rice. We’re betting the creamy, oniony sauce would taste divine on salmon, too.

EE Berger/Grist

Not to be confused with risotto, this creamy, tender side is made with pearled farro.

Photo/Styling: Katherine Gillen

If your chicken meatballs are already made, add the spare scallions and grated ginger to the sauce for maximum flavor.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Is anyone else dying to try the sticky sriracha glaze on meatloaf or is it just us?

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Low-carb, satisfying and ready in the flash. Feel free to use ground chicken or beef instead of turkey if that’s what you have on hand.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Sliced meatballs suit this ooey-gooey dish just as well as ground Italian sausage. (Just don’t skip the pancetta—it offers so much savory flavor to the tomato sauce.)

Michael Kartes/Rustic Joyful Food: Meant to Share

We have it on good authority that the yogurt sauce infused with cilantro, scallions, parsley and basil will taste heavenly on just about any meatball imaginable.

Simon Smith/Vegan 100

Sure, the odds of you having tofu-chia meatballs hanging out in your fridge are slim. But the three-ingredient sauce that they’re slathered in is nothing short of delicious (and it would taste particularly great on pork).

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Tender udon noodles, carrot ribbons and sliced scallions > plain old spaghetti.

Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell

Ideally, you should start with ground chicken so the meat can be seasoned with cumin, coriander and fresh cilantro. But if you have precooked chicken meatballs, you can easily make the decadent sauce on its own and douse them in it once it’s ready.

Feast: Food of the Islamic World

This Syrian-inspired dish starring ground lamb is destined for your next co*cktail party.

Tieghan Gerard/Half Baked Harvest Super Simple

The beef meatballs are cooked in the oven instead of pan-fried for speedier preparation (but you can save even more time if you use precooked ones).

What’s Gaby Cooking

At the end of the day, all it takes to resurrect leftover meatballs is a killer tomato sauce, fresh basil and lots of melted mozz.

For even more great recipes, check out our first cookbook, Only the Good Stuff.

Food Editor

Taryn Pire is PureWow’s food editor and has been writing about all things delicious since 2016. She’s developed recipes, reviewed restaurants and investigated food trends at...