My 1 smart point meatballs and this 0 point marinara sauce come together to make one of the most epic meatball sammies!

Lunch is something I struggle with daily. I’m more of a breakfast and dinner fan. When I think of lunch I think of salads (which can be boring at times), sandwiches, and soup. Once you make this meatball sammie you will want to have this for a couple of days each week and add it to your meal rotation.

These meatball sammies are easy to meal prep. Just make the marinara sauce on a Sunday and the meatballs. Store the sauce in a separate container and the meatballs in another. Keep both items in the fridge and once you are ready to have one take out your buns, cheese, sauce, and meatballs. Assemble your sandwich and warm it up in the air fryer until the cheese is bubbly and melted. I’ve been using my air fryer to make warm sandwiches and they are almost like a panini.

Meatballs

My meatballs are only 1 smart point. Make these while you are waiting for your marinara sauce to get done. I chopped up 1 onion and cooked them in a bit of olive oil and then transferred a ½ cup of the onions to the bowl my meatball mixture was in. Then I saved the reserved onions for the marinara sauce. Pretty smart huh?

Meatballs can be made in your air fryer. Place them in your basket and use the temperature 350 and 8 minutes for the cook time.

Marinara Sauce

Well people, I finally did it. I created a 0 smart point marinara sauce that actually tastes good. Most of the store-bought marinara sauces are about 3 to 5 points per serving and what really gets those store-bought sauces high in points is the olive oil. I used 2 tsp of olive oil when cooking my onions and it still baffles me that didn’t cause my sauce to be higher in points.

Instead of buying tomato paste in a can buy tomato paste in a tube. This is a lifesaver! You can store the tomato paste in your fridge and keep it airtight. Whenever I open up the small cans of tomato paste the recipe I needed it for only called for 2 tablespoons and by the time I got to it again it was all moldy. Gross.

Buns

The brand of buns I really like is Village Hearth buns. 80 calories and only 2 smart points. Boom.

Not sponsored or anything I just really like these.

Cheese

I used swiss cheese Sargento Reduced Fat Swiss cheese slices. 2 smart points for 1 slice. That makes the whole entire meatball sammie 7 points. Sargento also makes ultra-thin baby Swiss slices. 1 slice is 1 smart point. Just giving you options here folks.

Meatball Sammies

My 1 smart point meatballs and this 0 point marinara sauce come together to make one of the most epic meatball sammies!

Author: Jenna

Ingredients

For the Marinara Sauce

24 oz of crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons of tomato paste; Amore Tomato paste in a tube
1/2 cup of water
2 tsp of garlic
2 tsp of olive oil
1/2 of onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon of dried basil
Salt and pepper (optional, I like my sauce low sodium but feel free to add it)

For the Meatballs

1 lb 93/7 lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 cup of diced onion (dice really fine)
2 tsp of fresh garlic (I use the garlic in a jar)
1 tablespoon of dried parsley flakes
1oz of grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper

6 slices of Sargento Thinly sliced Swiss cheese

6 Lite Hamburger Buns such as Village Hearth

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Add 3 tsp of olive oil to a pan and cook the onions until soft. Stir in garlic and tomato paste. The tomato paste and onions will look thick so add in 1/2 cup of water. Let the water and onions simmer for a bit and add in the basil and then the crushed tomatoes. Let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Adding salt and pepper is optional. I do not add any salt because I have to watch my sodium intake.
Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.
In another saucepan, cook the onions until they are soft and tender. Let them cool for a bit before you add them to the meatball mixture.
Mix together ground beef, onion, bread crumbs, garlic, egg, cheese, salt, pepper and parsley in a large mixing bowl.
Form into 1-inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until meatballs are browned and cooked through.
Lay 3 Swiss cheese on the bottom bun along with 3 meatballs and 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce. You can toast the sandwich however you like. I did mine in my air fryer for a couple of minutes at 350.

Notes

7 smart points for 1 sandwich