Spicy meatballs sub sandwiches are perfect for satisfying the biggest of appetites! This classic sub recipe features seasoned beef meatballs that are seared then slow cooked and drenched in spicy habanero-tomato sauce. Just the right amount of spice and HUGE on flavor!
Mike's Recipe Highlights
- Double Dose of Heat: I'm incorporating Habanero Hot Sauce both in the meatballs and the tomato sauce for a consistent and robust spiciness through the dish.
- Homemade Meatballs: These meatballs are made from scratch using ground beef, minced onion, garlic, panko, and Parmesan cheese for a fresh and flavorful base.
- Simmered in Spicy Tomato Sauce: After searing, the meatballs are slow-cooked in a habanero-infused tomato sauce, making them extra tender and flavorful.
Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches Recipe
Whether you're making these for the big game, a neighborhood potluck or just a party with friends, these meatball subs are sure to be a huge hit.
These bad boys are especially popular during football season - when it comes to game day tailgating or homegating, wherever you’re throwing the party, you GOTTA have good food to make the day complete.
Featured Reader Comment
From Adriana: "What a great recipe to transform a classic. Love the subs and meatballs but adding habanero it makes them even better Thanks for sharing your yummy recipe with us."
Ingredients for Spicy Meatball Subs
- Olive Oil
- White Onion
- Garlic
- Whole Peeled Tomatoes
- Tomato Sauce
- El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
- Dried Basil
- Salt and Pepper
For the Meatballs:
- White Onion
- Garlic
- Ground Beef
- Egg
- Panko
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- Dried Basil
- El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
- Salt and Pepper
- Olive Oil
For Serving:
- French Rolls
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
How to Make Meatball Subs
Let’s get cooking! Start by getting your sauce going. You’ll heat up a large pan with a bit of olive oil and cook down the onion a few minutes, then the garlic for about a minute until you can smell it.
Cooking garlic is SO GOOD. Next, add the whole tomatoes and break them up a bit, the tomato sauce, basil, a bit of salt and pepper, and hot sauce.
Bring to a quick boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, let’s get to work on the meatballs. Go ahead and add the meatballs ingredients to a large mixing bowl – ground beef, minced onion and garlic, beaten egg, panko, Parmesan cheese, basil, salt and pepper, and plenty of hot sauce.
The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, but you can easily add more to your personal preference. I freely admit I added more.
Mix it all together by hand, but be careful not to over-mix. If you over-mix it, the end meatballs can become mealy, and you want them meaty, not mealy.
Form them into 18 meatballs, like so.
Sear up the meatballs in a bit of oil in a large pan, just enough to nicely brown the edges, then cover them with your red sauce.
Lower to heat and simmer the whole thing about 20-30 minutes to cook the meatballs through.
You can let them simmer a while at low heat. Once your party guests arrive and are ready to eat, serve these up on some French rolls or hoagie rolls, top them with grated Parmesan cheese and extra El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce and you’re good to go!
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Scale up if needed. With 2 pounds of meat PLUS all of the other ingredients, that should work out to 18 meatballs of roughly 2 ounces each. If you serve 3 meatballs on a sub, this will give you 6 good sized meatballs sub sandwiches. If you’re throwing a larger party, scale up accordingly, or add in more ingredients to make bigger meatballs.
- Simmer for an hour if you can. I like mine to simmer about an hour to REALLY let the flavors develop, but half hour is no problem if you’re in a rush. I check it a few times as it cooks and adjust with salt, pepper and more hot sauce to my personal tastes.
- Don't assemble until you're ready to serve. As soon as those saucy meatballs are on the bread, you're gonna want to serve them right away! If you wait too long, the bread will get super soggy and the subs will be no good.
I hope you enjoy the game! And your spicy meatballs subs!
Try Some of My Other Popular Spicy Meatball Recipes
If you make this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations. Thanks! -- Mike H.
Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 white onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 15 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE MEATBALLS
- 1 small white onion minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pounds ground beef or a bit more for larger meatballs
- 1 egg beaten
- ½ cup panko
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons dried basil
- 2-3 tablespoons El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
FOR SERVING
- French rolls or hoagie rolls extra grated Parmesan cheese and more El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce.
Instructions
- Get your sauce going first by heating a sauce pan to medium and adding olive oil. Add the onion and cook about 4 minutes to soften, then add garlic and stir. Cook another minute until you can smell the garlic. Mmmm.
- Add whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce, basil, and salt and pepper to your preference. Stir it up!
- Bring the whole thing to a quick boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer at least 30 minutes. An hour is better to let the flavors mingle.
- Next, get your meatballs going by adding the minced onion, minced garlic, ground beef, egg, panko, Parmesan cheese, dried basil and El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce to a large mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Hand mix the seasoned meat, but do not overmix, or the meatballs can become mealy. Form them into 18 meatballs.
- Heat a large pan to medium heat and add olive oil. Add meatballs and cook a couple minutes per side to brown them up. Pour the red sauce over them and let the whole thing simmer about 20-30 minutes to cook through.
- Serve the meatballs onto hoagie or sub rolls. Top with extra Parmesan cheese and habanero hot sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 2/2/25 to include new information and highlights. It was originally published on 1/3/17.
Mary Jane McDermott says
Sooooo yummy! I made these in my slow cooker and they were outstanding and everyone was drooling over them! There was no leftovers!!!
Mike Hultquist says
Oh yeah! Thanks, Mary Jane. Glad you enjoyed them! I love this one.
Dan says
Any recommendation on doing this in a slow cooker?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Dan, you can form then brown the meatballs in a pan, then transfer them to a slow cooker with the sauce ingredients and cook on low for a couple hours until they cook through. Let me know how it goes for you. Enjoy!
Dan says
I made these substituting Tabasco for the hot sauce. Outstanding recipe!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sounds great, Dan! Perfect! Glad you enjoyed them.
John says
Made this recipe a few times now. Delicious! I just read a Mexican meatball soup recipe on another site. Looked interesting but it had me thinking that CPM would likely had a better recipe. Low and behold it did and I have made it before. I am going to incorporate the above zestiness with the soup characteristics of the other for a collaborative flavor-bomb soup.
Stay spicy,
John
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
VERY COOL, John! I better get on making a Mexican meatball soup recipe, too! Always LOVE IT when you stop by! Have a good one.
Dude says
Thank you, this was excellent!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Dude! I'm a huge fan of meatball sandwiches.
adriana says
What a great recipe to transform a classic. Love the subs and meatballs but adding habanero it makes them even better Thanks for sharing your yummy recipe with us =) ~ client