Meals · Pasta & noodle bakes

Spaghetti and meatballs

Name: Spaghetti and meatballs
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 1/3 lb 90% lean ground beef; 2/3 cup breadcrumbs; 1 egg; 1/2 cup grated parmesan; 3 cloves garlic, minced; a handful fresh parsley, chopped; 1 tsp salt; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes; 1 tsp dried basil; 500 g dry spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente

The Sunday-dinner icon: proper beef meatballs simmered in marinara over spaghetti. Two of the most-searched foods on earth on one plate, measured as they actually get eaten.

Time: 60 min (25 prep + 35 cook)
Servings: 6
Per serving: 656 kcal
Protein: 38 g

Both directions are legitimate — the score measures fullness per calorie, not virtue. Every version is the same dish, rebalanced.

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 1/3 lb 90% lean ground beef600 g
2/3 cup breadcrumbs60 g
1 egg50 g
1/2 cup grated parmesan40 g
3 cloves garlic, minced10 g
a handful fresh parsley, chopped10 g
1 tsp salt5 g

Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil25 g
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes800 g
1 tsp dried basil2 g

500 g dry spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente1180 g

Every ingredient links to its food page — same data, same score, same formula.

Steps

Mix the meatball ingredients with your hands until *just* combined and roll into 18 balls. Overworking is what makes meatballs dense.
Brown the meatballs in the oil in a wide pan — they don't need to cook through, just build a crust. Work in two batches.
Pour in the crushed tomatoes and basil, scrape the browned bits up, and simmer the meatballs in the sauce 20 minutes. They finish cooking there, and the sauce gets the better end of the deal.
Toss the drained spaghetti with most of the sauce, and serve the meatballs on top with the rest.

Why simmer the meatballs in the sauce instead of baking them?

Simmering the meatballs in the sauce instead of baking them dry is the old way, and the right one — the starch from the pasta water clings, the sauce seasons the meat, and nothing dries out.

Why this score

moderately filling

No single route carries this one — a moderate amount of protein, volume and fiber.

Three routes to fullness — one is enough

24% of kcal

68% water

10 g/Mcal

What pulls it down

Nothing here converges the way engineered food does — no sugar, no savoury and no alcohol penalty.

How scores work

Computed on the finished dish, not an average of the parts: 3939 kcal goes into the pot, 2782 g of ingredients comes out as ~2630 g of food → 150 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water, and energy density is the score's biggest lever — so we show the math. Full formula here.

Per

Calories: 150
Protein: (24%); 9 g
Fat: (28%); 5 g
Carbohydrates: (49%); 18 g
of which sugar: 2 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sodium: 236 mg

Percentages are the share of calories from each macronutrient.

Computed from the ingredients' USDA data — nothing typed by hand. Every number is traceable, every score recomputable.

More meals

Photo: AI-generated. Nutrition and score are computed from the ingredients with the published formula — this recipe hasn't been kitchen-tested by us yet.