• Home
    • Recipes
      • Recipe Index
      • VIDEO SERIES: Learn to Cook on a Budget
      • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
      • Popular Recipes
    • Meal Plans
      • Weekly Meal Plans
      • Freezer Meal Plans
      • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
    • Classes
      • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
      • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
      • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
      • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
      • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
      • My Efficient Kitchen Course
    • Store
    • Blog
    • Contact
      • About
      • Press
    • Login

    $5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

    Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

    Join Erin's 5-Ingredient Challenge in 2023

    Spinach Meatballs with Spaghetti

    October 22, 2010 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 28 Comments

    117 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

    Spinach Meatballs with Spaghetti | 5DollarDinners.com

    Look at these green babies simmering in homemade spaghetti sauce. After rummaging through the freezer and pantry last week, I discovered that I had everything on hand for these Spinach Meatballs.  A reader mentioned them on Facebook recently, and I had to make them.

    I was really worried that the boys wouldn’t eat the meatballs because they had “green stuff” in them, but it turned out to be useless worry.  All 3 of the boys gobbled them up. Hopefully your little ones will too!

    A two dish, one plate dinner for ya!

    Prepare the spinach and drain it. Drain it good. (Well, I mean.) I used the bottom of a measuring cup to press out the liquid.

    In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, spinach, bread crumbs, egg and garlic cloves.

    Form into 1 inch meatballs.

    In a large skillet, add the olive oil and brown the meatballs on all sides.

    Once browned, set them aside on a plate and drain any excess grease.

    Prep sauce ingredients. Crush the garlic. Rinse the fresh herbs, pat dry and run your knife through them.

    In the same skillet that you browned the meatballs, add the canned tomatoes with the liquid.

    Stir in the tomato paste plus 1 cans worth of water.

    Stir in the fresh herbs, garlic and salt and pepper.

    Place the meatballs back into the skillet with the sauce.  Spoon the sauce over the top and cover.  Let simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Serve over noodles.

    A one plate dinner. A delicious one plate dinner. A kid-friendly one plate dinner. A mom-approved one plate dinner.  Enjoy!

    Spinach Meatballs with Spaghetti

    Ingredients

    • 1 12 oz box frozen spinach, cooked and well drained ($.25) Sale price and coupon
    • 1 lb. ground beef ($1.59)
    • 1 cup homemade bread crumbs ($.25)
    • 1 egg ($.10)
    • 2 garlic cloves ($.10)
    • 2 Tbsp olive oil ($.20)
    • 15 oz can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning ($.24) Sale, store promotion and coupon
    • 1 6 oz can tomato paste ($.19) Sale plus $1 Muir Glen coupon
    • 2 garlic cloves ($.10)
    • Parsley, oregano and rosemary from the garden
    • Salt and pepper to taste
    • About 3/4 lb. whole wheat spaghetti ($.38) On sale with coupon for $.50/lb.

    Directions

    • In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, spinach, bread crumbs, egg and garlic cloves. Form into 1 inch meatballs.
    • In a large skillet, add the olive oil and brown the meatballs on all sides. Once browned, set them aside on a plate and drain any excess grease.
    • Crush the garlic. Rinse the fresh herbs, pat dry and run your knife through them. In the same skillet that you browned the meatballs, add the canned tomatoes with the liquid.  Add the tomato paste plus one cans worth of water. Stir in the spices, garlic and salt and pepper.
    • Place the browned meatballs back into the skillet with the sauce. Cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
    • Serve Spinach Meatballs over noodles.

    Cost $3.48

    Print This Post
    117 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Filed Under: Beef Recipes, Budget Friendly Recipes, Dairy Free Meal Ideas, How To Cook, Pantry Staple Recipe Ideas, Pasta Recipes, Skillet Dinner Recipes Tagged With: spinach

    Comments

    1. Rona says

      October 22, 2010 at 6:43 pm

      This looks amazing.
      Oh, I attended your FB chat yesterday and wanted you to know I had a great time.

      Reply
    2. Debbi says

      October 22, 2010 at 6:45 pm

      I have everything to try this! Looks yummy!

      Reply
    3. Maria says

      October 22, 2010 at 7:54 pm

      I love the spinach in there! Great meal!

      Reply
    4. Alea says

      October 22, 2010 at 7:56 pm

      Love, love, love the idea of adding spinach to meatballs! I can’t wait to try this recipe!

      Reply
    5. Debbi Does Dinner Healthy says

      October 22, 2010 at 8:09 pm

      I would LOVE spinach meatballs! Unfortunately, my husband would wrinkle his nose at spinach without even trying it! I’ll make these for me and the kids, they look delicious! Thanks!

      Reply
    6. Tricia @Hodgepodge says

      October 22, 2010 at 10:09 pm

      How smart!! I will be trying these too. Thank you.

      Reply
    7. Wendy says

      October 22, 2010 at 10:33 pm

      I’m not a spinach fan (although I do love spinach and artichoke dip), but for some reason I do like collard greens. I wonder if they could be used instead (or Swiss chard). Aren’t they all basically alike nutritionally?

      Reply
      • Sarah says

        January 18, 2015 at 11:58 pm

        I make a recipe very similar to this, and honestly, I don’t think you will taste the spinach. No one in my family every tastes it . I used CHOPPED frozen spinach so mine doesn’t look as prominent as the ones in these pictures, but I highly recommend you give it a try just once.

        Reply
    8. Claire says

      October 22, 2010 at 11:04 pm

      This looks amazing, I can not wait to make this. Thank you for creating and sharing!

      Reply
    9. Candi says

      October 23, 2010 at 6:39 am

      I do this too, but I puree the spinach in my Magic Bullet so the hubby doesn’t know the meatballs, meatloaf or hamburger patties are filled with spinach. 🙂 I have to be sneaky so he’ll get his vitamins 🙂

      Reply
    10. Mary W says

      October 23, 2010 at 12:38 pm

      Wendy -I ‘m sure it would work with swiss chard. I’ve found you can substitute swiss chard for spinach in any recipe where it’s cooked. Swiss chard grows year round in my garden. Not sure about collard greens…I don’t grow ’em so don’t ear ’em.

      Reply
    11. The Prudent Homemaker says

      October 23, 2010 at 6:23 pm

      I love meatballs! And I love spinach! Swiss chard and beet greens grow more readily for me, so we’ll hav to try it.

      You didn’t say if that price for ground beef was a sale price, but I have never seen ground beef that low here in Las Vegas. On a good sale it is $1.99 a pound.

      Reply
    12. Christina Baita says

      October 23, 2010 at 9:37 pm

      I made them tonight! I have made other meatballs that used the “green puree” from the Sneaky Chef cookbook. Steamed spinach, broccoli and peas all pureed then added to tomato puree (it turns brown wink wink) then the rest of the stuff and voila! The are so good and all three kids loved them. Each one doesn’t like one of those veggies alone.

      Reply
    13. Samantha says

      October 24, 2010 at 7:03 pm

      While I already have a favorite meatball recipe, I love the idea of adding spinach to sneak some more vegetables into our diet, I like to use some bran in place of some of the bread crumbs in my recipe to up the nutritional level, some spinach would really make them something great to serve! These look delicious!

      Reply
    14. Nicole says

      October 26, 2010 at 7:10 pm

      Looked good, but just made this – blech – not a hit in this household, sorry.

      Reply
    15. meghan says

      November 8, 2010 at 3:15 pm

      I am so making these.
      I know my little guy won’t eat them, he doesn’t do meatballs.
      Sigh.
      I, though, will devour them!

      Reply
    16. MH in OH says

      November 8, 2010 at 5:08 pm

      Why cook the frozen spinach? I just thaw, squeeze the water out, and add to the meat mixture.

      Reply
    17. Nadine says

      November 15, 2010 at 12:57 am

      I used ground turkey instead of ground beef with fresh steamed spinach … The recipe was a hit!
      We also included a salad and garlic bread with this meal. 🙂

      Reply
    18. Heidi says

      January 11, 2011 at 1:49 pm

      We liked these and I love the idea of spinach in them, but I thought the meatballs were a bit bland. I would make these again, but I would add some more seasoning to the meatballs.

      Reply
    19. Allison Rushton says

      March 8, 2011 at 12:15 pm

      This looks so good! I printed this off awhile ago and am determined to make them one of these days! I’ve never tackled meatballs before and haven’t found any in a store that are without dairy or soy – thank you for being so thorough with the photos. I will share my outcome on my blog once I give it a go. 🙂

      PS – I just started following you on Twitter and have been passing this website on to a lot of people!

      Reply
    20. Julia says

      August 7, 2011 at 4:54 pm

      Last year for Christmas I made spinach meatballs VERY similar to this recipe. EVERYONE said they were the best meatballs they’d ever had. I’m sold, spinach meatballs are the best meatballs! This reminds me I need to make them again!!!

      Reply
    21. Erica says

      June 20, 2013 at 7:17 pm

      I made these tonight for my fiance and his sister (had to impress her, but with a college student budget). They were a hit! I didn’t have any fresh herbs on hand, but I did have dried Italian seasoning. Worked like a charm! Thank you so much! I will definitely be making these again.

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. $5 Dinners Will Fatten Your Holiday Wallet | Westcreek at River Oaks | Houston says:
      December 8, 2010 at 2:14 pm

      […] via $5 Dinners var addthis_pub = 'ncicsherpa'; var addthis_language = 'en';var addthis_options = 'facebook, […]

      Reply
    2. Picky Eaters: Spinach Meatballs « Mommy Hates Cooking says:
      January 22, 2011 at 8:07 am

      […] Eaters: Spinach Meatballs I recently saw this Spinach Meatballs recipe on $5 Dollar Dinners.  When I saw this I immediately thought that would be perfect not only […]

      Reply
    3. Meatball Calzone « Mommy Hates Cooking says:
      January 25, 2011 at 7:02 am

      […] Pizza Crust 6 Cooked Spinach Meatballs 1 Cup Meat Spaghetti Sauce 1 Tbsp Olive Oil 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder 1/2 Tsp Garlic Salt 1/2 Tsp […]

      Reply
    4. Meatballs! | 1000Cooks says:
      January 24, 2012 at 8:18 pm

      […] Spinach Meatballs and Spaghetti « Dill Dip […]

      Reply
    5. Spinach Meatballs Spaghetti says:
      February 6, 2015 at 1:18 pm

      […] Find the recipe at 5dollardinners.com […]

      Reply
    6. Spinach Meatballs Spaghetti - Fun Healthy Recipes says:
      February 10, 2015 at 7:02 pm

      […] Find the recipe at 5dollardinners.com […]

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    I’m Erin Chase…

    Also known as the
    $5 Dinner Mom.

    I have a little problem. I cannot make a meal that costs more than $5.
    It’s a fun challenge,
    and my pocketbook
    thanks me.
    Want to join me?

    Learn more here!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Search $5 Dinners

    Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

    Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

    © 2023 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



    Copyright © 2023 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in