Meal Prep
Italian Garlic Parmesan Meatballs
These aren't just good meatballs- they're macro miracles. With 73.7g of protein per serving (nice), they’re the kind of meal prep that feels like a cheat meal but fuels you like a champ. Parmesan in the mix? Check. Garlic for days? Absolutely. A crispy golden crust on the outside with a tender, flavorful center? Oh, you know it. This recipe delivers big time.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
High protein
Italian Garlic Parmesan Meatballs
73.7g protein1012 calories per serving
- Prep Time
- 20 mins
- Cook Time
- 25 mins
- Total Time
- 45 mins
Equipment
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Ingredients
Ingredient links open Walmart products from our grocery planner. Links marked “Walmart search” need your product choice. Confirm package details and local availability at Walmart.
For the Meatballs:
For the Sauce:
For Serving:
Instructions
2 lb 93% lean ground beef, 1 cup breadcrumbs, 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 2 large eggs, 3 cloves garlic, ½ medium onion, ½ tbsp dried Italian seasoning, ½ tbsp garlic powder, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil, 3 cloves garlic
24 oz marinara sauce, ½ tbsp dried basil
8 oz spaghetti, 1 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Nutrition
Per servingEstimates for one serving. Changing the recipe yield scales the ingredients and keeps these per-serving amounts the same.
- Calories
- 1,012 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 83.7 g
- Protein
- 73.7 g
- Fat
- 41.9 g
- Saturated Fat
- 14.25 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 4.31 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 17.79 g
- Trans Fat
- 1.09 g
- Cholesterol
- 275 mg
- Sodium
- 1,923 mg
- Potassium
- 1,662 mg
- Fiber
- 7 g
- Sugar
- 13.3 g
- Added Sugar
- 5 g
- Vitamin A
- 194 mcg RAE
- Vitamin C
- 9.98 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.99 mcg
- Calcium
- 442 mg
- Iron
- 11.33 mg
Estimated ingredient cost
$6.28 per serving · $25.12 for this batch
Estimated US grocery prices for the amounts used, including purchase waste and discarded marinade. Your store, brands, and package sizes may cost differently. Buying full packages can cost more. Price sources and methodology.
Ingredient costs and assumptions
Quantities without exact weights use the nutrition library’s portion estimates. Purchase yields are estimates. Separate citrus ingredients are costed independently; reusing the same fruit for juice and zest can lower your cost. Labor, utilities, and delivery are excluded.
- 93% lean ground beef: $17.15
907.2 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
Authored ingredient weight. BLS lean/extra-lean category average; not an exact 93% lean product quote.
BLS: Ground beef, lean and extra lean · Price checked 2026-09-21
- breadcrumbs: $0.32
108 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 cup = 108 g Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Plain Bread Crumbs, 15 oz · Price checked 2026-09-21
- grated Parmesan cheese: $1.49
121.6 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 tbsp = 7.6 g Shredded Parmesan reference; grated products and brands may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Finely Shredded Parmesan Cheese · Price checked 2026-09-21
- large eggs: $0.28
114 g purchased · Whole purchased item: 57 g each (estimated); includes shell, peel, or seeds.
1 egg (large) = 50 g; Large shell-free egg: 50 g, from King Arthur's ingredient weight chart. Large shell eggs; estimated 57 g purchased weight per egg includes shell.
Walmart: Great Value Large White Eggs, 12 Count · Price checked 2026-09-21
- garlic: $0.16
9 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
3 clove = 9 g; USDA SR Legacy household weights used as an approximate physical conversion for the current ingredient profile; nutrition remains from its own mapped record. Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Spice World Fresh Peeled Garlic, 6 oz, Pouch · Price checked 2026-09-21
- medium onion: $0.10
61.1 g purchased · Editorial purchase-yield estimate: 90% usable; includes discarded peel, shell, or core.
1 onion = 110 g Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Fresh Yellow Onions, 3 lb Bag · Price checked 2026-09-21
- dried Italian seasoning: $0.06
1.5 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 tsp = 1 g; Editorial dried-leaf blend estimate: 1 g/tsp. Nutrition uses the separately documented composed blend. Representative product; brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Italian Seasoning · Price checked 2026-09-21
- garlic powder: $0.05
4.9 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 tbsp = 9.7 g Representative product; brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Garlic Powder · Price checked 2026-09-21
- salt: $0.00
3 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 tsp = 6 g Iodized table salt reference; not a kosher salt price.
Walmart: Great Value Iodized Salt · Price checked 2026-09-21
- black pepper: $0.05
1.2 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 tsp (ground) = 2.3 g; texture=ground Ground black pepper reference; cracked pepper may cost differently.
Walmart: Great Value Ground Black Pepper · Price checked 2026-09-21
- marinara sauce: $2.06
680.4 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
Authored ingredient weight. Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Marinara Pasta Sauce, 23 oz · Price checked 2026-09-21
- olive oil: $0.36
27 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 tbsp = 13.5 g Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 17 fl oz · Price checked 2026-09-21
- garlic: $0.16
9 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
3 clove = 9 g; USDA SR Legacy household weights used as an approximate physical conversion for the current ingredient profile; nutrition remains from its own mapped record. Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Spice World Fresh Peeled Garlic, 6 oz, Pouch · Price checked 2026-09-21
- dried basil: $0.05
1.1 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 tbsp (leaves) = 2.1 g; texture=leaves Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Basil Leaves, 0.8 oz · Price checked 2026-09-21
- spaghetti: $0.62
226.8 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
Authored ingredient weight. Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Spaghetti, 16 oz · Price checked 2026-09-21
- olive oil: $0.18
13.5 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 tbsp = 13.5 g Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Great Value Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 17 fl oz · Price checked 2026-09-21
- chopped fresh parsley: $2.03
15 g purchased · Uses the reviewed ingredient quantity before cooking or marinade losses.
1 cup (chopped) = 60 g Representative product for this ingredient; your brand and package size may differ.
Walmart: Fresh Parsley, 0.5 oz Clamshell · Price checked 2026-09-21
Make it yoursRecipe notes & meal-prep tips
Macro breakdown
- Protein73.7g29%
- Carbs83.7g33%
- Fat41.9g38%
Per serving · Share of calories from macros
Calculated using 4 calories per gram of protein and carbs, and 9 for fat. Rounding and fiber can affect the listed calorie total.Triple B's Meal Prep Notes
Spaghetti and meatballs are easy to portion well if you treat them as two separate jobs. Divide the pasta first, count the meatballs into four groups, then spoon the marinara over each serving. That keeps the last container from ending up with a mountain of noodles and only a couple of meatballs. It also makes the meatball format useful when you are packing lunches for more than one person.
Dice or grate the onion finely so it mixes evenly into the meat, and stop mixing once the ingredients are combined. Get the trays into the oven before working on the garlic-marinara sauce and spaghetti. A store-bought marinara is already part of the recipe, so choose one you enjoy rather than feeling you need a separate homemade sauce project to make this meal worthwhile. Leave the spaghetti a little firm before draining. It will spend time under marinara in the fridge, so cooking it completely soft on day one works against the later servings.
For a refrigerated serving, microwave on high for 90 seconds, stir, then heat for another 45 seconds. Use that as a starting point and continue in short intervals as needed until the food reaches 165°F throughout. Loosen the spaghetti gently and turn the meatballs during the pause, adding a small splash of water if the sauce is thick. Keep any fresh parsley for after heating. A shorter pasta could be worth trying if you prefer easier forkfuls at work; use its own cooking time and account for the ingredient change. For another red-sauce direction, browse the Italian-inspired recipes or other pasta meal preps.
Notes from your kitchen
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From the community
★★★★★
This one exists because some flavor combinations never miss. Garlic, parmesan, and Italian seasoning felt like a layup worth perfecting. Does this feel like a meatball classic to you?