Turkey Free Sunday Sauce with Herb-Spiced Meatballs
Rich, slow-simmered tomato sauce with herb-spiced meatballs is the kind of Sunday cooking that makes the whole house smell incredible for hours. The meatballs combine ground beef and ground pork — no poultry in sight — seasoned with fennel seeds, turmeric, fresh parsley, and garlic for a deeply savory, aromatic bite. Almond flour stands in as the binder, keeping things tender without any breadcrumb filler that might sneak in unwanted ingredients. The meatballs get roasted at high heat first, which builds a gorgeous browned crust before they ever touch the sauce. From there, they nestle into a Dutch oven full of crushed San Marzano tomatoes and tomato paste that's been coaxed into a deep, brick-red base with onion, garlic, and a whisper of red pepper flakes. A long, low simmer — anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour — lets everything meld into something that tastes like it took all day, because it basically did. Finish with torn fresh basil and a drizzle of good olive oil, and you've got a bowl that's genuinely hard to stop eating.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
For the meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef (85% lean)
- ½ lb ground pork
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the sauce
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 cans (28 oz each) whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
- 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
For serving
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, ground pork, almond flour, eggs, parsley, minced garlic, fennel seeds, turmeric, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper. Mix with your hands until just combined — stop as soon as no streaks remain.
- 2
Roll the meat mixture into balls about 1½ inches in diameter (roughly 24 meatballs) and arrange them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and roll to coat.
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