This Grilled Cheese is loaded with the easiest and most delicious Spaghetti and Meatballs!
Carb fiends – this one’s for us. I mean have you ever witnessed something so unnecessarily necessary in all your life? 😂 C’mon, let me show you around…
Spaghetti Meatballs
Spaghetti sandwiches are typically stuffed with either spaghetti and meatballs, spaghetti bolognese or just spaghetti. Today we’re going meatballs.
‘Cheatballs’
There’s already a few steps to this sandwich, and I’m usually an ambassador of homemade meatballs, but this trick is way to nifty to do. Just grab some pork sausages (preferably herby or Italian sausages), squeeze out small chunks of meat and roll them into mini meatballs. If you want to use ‘proper’ meatballs you can make your own or grab some store-bought, you’ll just need to roll them much smaller so they fit in the sandwich.
Marinara Sauce
Okay, food snob alert. But meatballs are where I draw the line. This sauce is way too easy not to whip up. Okay fine. Maybe I’ll let you off if you know a really good jarred sauce 😛
Can I turn this into a Bolognese/Meat Sauce?
Yep! Just use the same weight of sausage in ground beef. The sauce will work for meatballs or ground meat.
Process shots: fry meatballs (photo 1), fry onion & garlic (photo 2), pour in passata and add basil, oregano, chilli flakes and s&p (photo 3), simmer until thickened (photo 4), add spaghetti (photo 5), toss to combine (photo 6).
Garlic Butter
One of the key aspects of this recipe is the garlic butter. This essentially turns the bread into garlic bread and turns the whole sandwich into a darn good time.
Garlic Butter Ingredients
- Garlic – You ideally want to finely grate it then use the blade of your knife to rub/mash it. I find by just finely dicing it you leave it prone to burning on the direct heat of the pan.
- Butter – Slightly softened and preferably salted!
- Parsley – Fresh and very finely diced.
Process shots: add butter, garlic and parsley to small pot (photo 1), mash to combine (photo 2).
Spaghetti Sandwich
Alright, here’s where things get intense. Yes, you’re essentially making a grilled cheese stuffed with spaghetti meatballs. It’s happening.
What Bread to use?
I recommend a white loaf, and make sure it’s big thick slices. There’s a lot of filling so the bread needs to be sturdy enough to contain it all!
What Cheese to use?
I use mozzarella for the epic cheese pull and parmesan for a good punch of flavour. Both Swiss Cheese and Cheddar would work nicely too.
Low ‘n’ Slow!
It’s key to fry this sandwich over a fairly low heat. This will allow the cheese to melt at the perfect rate the bread toasts. The lower heat will also prevent the garlic and parsley from burning!
Process shots: spread garlic butter over bread (photo 1), flip (photo 2), add mozzarella (photo 3), add parmesan (photo 4), add spaghetti (photo 5), add parmesan (photo 6), add mozzarella (photo 7), add bread with garlic butter (photo 8).
Serving Spaghetti Sandwiches
Realistically these are gonna be for dinner. I typically serve them as they are, but you could serve a Side Salad too if you fancied!
Can I make these ahead of time?
I don’t recommend making the whole sandwich ahead of time, but you could certainly make the garlic butter and spaghetti sauce ahead of time!
Can I use leftover Spaghetti?
These sandwiches are perfect to load up with leftover spaghetti from the night before!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these spaghetti sandwiches shall we?!
How to make a Spaghetti Sandwich (Full Recipe & Video)
Epic Spaghetti Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Equipment
- Large Pan & Wooden Spoon
- Large Pot & Colander
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Small Pot (for garlic butter)
- Fine Cheese Grater (for parmesan)
- Pasta Tongs
Ingredients
Spaghetti
- 1/2lb / 250g Dried Spaghetti
- 3 cups / 750ml Tomato Passata (pureed/strained tomatoes in US)
- 6 Pork Sausages, optional (see notes)
- 1 small/medium Onion, finely diced
- 1 small bunch (1oz/30g) Fresh Basil, finely diced
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano
- 1/4 tsp Chilli Flakes, or to taste
- Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
- Olive Oil, as needed
Garlic Butter
- 6 tbsp / 3.2oz / 90g Butter
- 3 cloves of Garlic, finely grated then mashed into a paste with the blade of your knife
- 1 heaped tbsp very finely diced Fresh Parsley
Sandwich
- 8 large thick slices of Bread
- 12 square slices of Mozzarella (or 3 cups/300g shredded)
- 1 cup / 80g freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Meatballs: squeeze small chunks of meat from the sausages (around 4-6 per sausage) and discard the skin. Roll the chunks into mini meatballs, then fry in a large pan over medium-high heat with a drizzle of olive oil until golden and nearly cooked through the centre.
- Sauce: Lower heat to medium and add in onion and garlic. Fry until they begin to soften and lightly brown, then pour in passata. Add basil, oregano, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Give it a good stir, then lower heat and simmer until it begins to thicken (20-30mins).
- Spaghetti: Meanwhile, add spaghetti to salted boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain and toss through the sauce. Turn off heat.
- Garlic Butter: In a small pot combine butter with garlic and parsley. Spread over one side of each of the slices of bread.
- Sandwich: Flip over half the slices so they're butter-side-down, then top with mozzarella and parmesan. Use your tongs to top with the spaghetti, then top with more parmesan and mozzarella. Add another slice of bread butter-side-up.
- Cook: 2 at a time, add them to a pan over low-medium heat and fry both sides until golden, with the cheese nice and gooey in the centre (don't crank up the heat or the garlic butter will burn).
- Serve: Repeat with remaining sandwiches then slice in half and enjoy!
Quick Demo
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition:
For another pasta sandwich check out my Mac and Cheese Grilled Cheese!
Hungry for more? Check out these similar sandwiches!
Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
- Leftover Bolognese Grilled Cheese
- Italian Sausage Grilled Cheese
- Pizza Grilled Cheese
- Bruschetta Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
If you loved this Spaghetti Sandwich Recipe be sure to Pin it for later! Already made it or got a burning question? Give me a shout in the comments below!
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