Cheese Stuffed Meatballs combine seasoned meat stuffed with a melty cheese center. These bites offer a rich and delicious burst of flavor to pasta dishes, sandwiches, or appetizer platters.
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
Our Cheese Stuffed Meatball recipe is so easy to make using a seasoned meat mixture that’s scooped, flattened, filled with a chunk of mozzarella cheese, and rolled into round meatballs.
These mozzarella stuffed meatballs are baked in the oven until the cheese in the center becomes hot, soft, and melted; then, when you take a bite, you get the best gooey surprise that oozes from the center.
Simmer your cheese-filled meatballs in a homemade tomato basil pasta sauce, serve them straight from the oven, or serve them over a plate of spaghetti – they are the perfect party appetizer and make a delicious meal for dinner.
Why We Love Stuffed Mozzarella Meatballs
- Quick and easy to make in under an hour from start to finish.
- Uses a handful of simple ingredients.
- Baked meatball recipes are made with minimal effort and are less messy than their fried counterparts.
- It’s always fun to find a cheesy surprise hidden inside your food!
- Perfect party appetizer or game day snack, but is also a delicious addition to a spaghetti dinner.
Cheese Stuffed Meatballs Ingredients
- Lean ground beef: I like to use 93% lean ground beef. It’s not overly greasy while still containing a bit of fat to make the meatballs moist and juicy.
- Ground mild Italian sausage
- Egg
- Breadcrumbs: You can use gluten-free breadcrumbs to make this a GF meal.
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Yellow onion
- Half & half
- Garlic
- Dried Italian seasoning blend
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Mozzarella cheese
- Tomato & basil marinara sauce: Use your favorite jarred sauce or make a homemade marinara.
- Fresh chopped parsley (optional garnish)
Substitutions and Additions
- Substitute The Sausage: You can substitute a ½ pound of ground hot Italian sausage for the mild if you like a little extra heat in your meatballs. I like to buy my Italian sausage in the package without any casing. If you can only find sausage links (uncooked), then be sure to remove the casing before adding the sausage to the meatball mixture.
- Make With A Different Meat: Feel free to make your meatballs with ground chicken or ground turkey meatballs instead of beef and pork. Or you can make all-beef meatball or all-pork meatballs if you prefer.
- Cut The Carbs: To keep this dish low carb and keto friendly, replace the breadcrumbs with crushed pork rinds as the meatball binder.
Recommended Tools
- Large rimmed baking sheet
- Aluminum foil
- Olive oil cooking spray
- Mixing bowl
- 2-inch-sized cookie scoop
- Medium skillet
How to Make Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
- Make The Meat Mixture: Combine the ground beef, Italian sausage, egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, onion, half & half, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Scoop And Stuff: Scoop out the meatballs, flatten each one into a disc, and place a cheese cube into the center. Fold the sides up and around the cheese cube and roll the meat into the shape of a meatball.
Pro Tip: Make sure that none of the cheese is exposed. - Bake: Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and the meat has no pink remaining.
Pro Tip: Cut one of the meatballs open to check for doneness at the 20-minute mark. - Serve With Sauce: Heat the marinara sauce on the stovetop and then spoon some onto the serving plate. Add the meatballs and top them with more warmed sauce. Garnish with a sprinkle of grated parmesan and fresh chopped parsley. Serve and enjoy!
Tips For Making The Best Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
- You can make this an all-beef meatball if desired. I suggest sticking with the leaner ground beef when making these meatballs as I find that the fattier ground beef gives off too much liquid fat when baked, and the cheese tends to run out of the meatball more often.
- This recipe uses traditional plain breadcrumbs. You can use Italian-seasoned bread crumbs and skip the addition of Italian seasoning in the mixture.
- The half & half adds a little extra moisture to the lean ground beef without making the meatballs too fatty. You can substitute whole milk or even heavy cream in place of the half & half.
- Be sure not to overmix your meatball mixture, or it will get tough.
How To Serve Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
You can serve these meatballs in a roll to make a meatball sub or meatball sliders. For a quick weeknight dinner, use them in a baked spaghetti and meatball casserole, or make them as a main meal with roasted cauliflower.
You can also pile your meatballs over a plate of pasta or zucchini noodles, or serve them with a side of garlic bread and house salad for a Sunday supper.
I will often heat up extra sauce if I am planning on serving these with pasta so that I can have plenty of sauce to add to my pasta as well.
How to Store Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
- To Store: Once your meatballs have cooled completely, you can store them in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Store the baked and cooled meatballs in a freezer-safe, airtight container for up to two months in the freezer.
- To Reheat: To reheat, place the meatballs into a saucepan on medium-low heat to warm through with any excess sauce that remains.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
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- Cajun Shrimp Pasta
- Meatball Casserole
- Teriyaki Meatballs
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Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
Serves — 15
Cheese Stuffed Meatballs are stuffed with mozzarella in the middle and baked until browned and the cheese is melty.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef (93%-7% fat)
- ½ pound ground mild Italian sausage
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese (plus additional 1-2 tablespoons for garnish)
- ⅓ cup yellow onion very finely diced
- 2 tablespoons half & half
- 2 teaspoons grated garlic
- 1½ teaspoons dried Italian seasoning blend
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 15 cubes (¾-inch) mozzarella cheese (from an 8-ounce block)
- 24 ounce jar of tomato & basil marinara sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil. Spray the foil with olive oil cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine together the lean ground beef, mild Italian sausage, egg, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, finely minced yellow onion, half & half, grated garlic, Italian seasoning blend, salt, and black pepper. You can use your hands, or a wooden spoon, to make sure that all the ingredients are fully combined. Be sure not to overmix your meatball mixture, or it will get tough.1 pound lean ground beef, ½ pound ground mild Italian sausage, 1 large egg, ⅓ cup breadcrumbs, ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese, ⅓ cup yellow onion, 2 tablespoons half & half, 2 teaspoons grated garlic, 1½ teaspoons dried Italian seasoning blend, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Using a 2-inch-sized cookie scoop, scoop out the 15 meatballs and place them onto a plate until all the meat mixture is used.
- Taking one meatball into the palm of your hand, gently flatten it into a disc about 3½ inches wide.
- Place one mozzarella cheese cube into the center of the flattened disc, then carefully fold the sides up and around the cheese cube. Gently roll the meat into the shape of a meatball. Make sure that none of the cheese is exposed.15 cubes (¾-inch) mozzarella cheese
- Place the mozzarella cheese-filled meatball onto the prepared baking sheet. Continue filling and rolling until all the stuffed meatballs have been formed and placed in rows onto the baking sheet.
- Bake the cheese-stuffed meatballs for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and the meat is cooked thoroughly with no pink remaining. You can cut one of the meatballs open to check for doneness at the 20-minute mark.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and allow them to rest for five minutes on the baking sheet.
- While your meatballs are resting, you can heat your jar of tomato & basil marinara in a medium skillet on medium-low heat.24 ounce jar of tomato & basil marinara sauce
- Once your sauce is warm, spoon some of the sauce (about ½-¾ cup) onto the serving plate, add the meatballs, and spoon another ¾ – 1 cup of the warmed sauce over the top of the meatballs. You will have some sauce left over.
- Garnish the cheese-stuffed meatballs with a sprinkle of grated parmesan and fresh chopped parsley.1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
Jenn’s Notes
Storage:
- To Store: Once your meatballs have cooled completely, you can store them in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Store the baked and cooled meatballs in a freezer-safe, airtight container for up to two months in the freezer.
- To Reheat: To reheat, place the meatballs into a saucepan on medium-low heat to warm through with any excess sauce that remains.
- You can make this an all-beef meatball if desired. I suggest sticking with the leaner ground beef when making these meatballs as I find that the fattier ground beef gives off too much liquid fat when baked, and the cheese tends to run out of the meatball more often.
- This recipe uses traditional plain breadcrumbs. You can certainly use Italian-seasoned bread crumbs and skip the addition of the Italian seasoning in the mixture.
- The half & half adds a little extra moisture to the lean ground beef without making the meatballs too fatty. You can substitute whole milk or even heavy cream in place of the half & half.
- Be sure not to overmix your meatball mixture, or it will get tough.
Nutrition Info
Calories: 136kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 492mg | Potassium: 305mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 271IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2mg
a 5 stare
Yum, these looks amazing. Got to make very soon. Look so good.
My kids are obsessed with them!