These Stuffed Baked Meatballs make a perfect dinner or appetizer recipe! There are two tasty ways to make these baked meatballs - mozzarella or cheeseburger stuffed. Serve the mozzarella stuffed meatballs with your favorite marinara sauce, and the cheeseburger meatballs with big mac sauce. Kids love eating these meatballs, and they are really fun to make!
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Why You'll ❤️ Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
There are so many reasons to love cheese-stuffed baked meatballs!
Make-Ahead Appetizer or Dinner
Make these baked meatballs ahead of time and then freeze them. I will often make several batches of meatballs at one time and then freeze them a couple of months before the holidays. That way, I have a super easy, homemade meatball appetizer when I need it!
If serving meatballs for a party, here's an easy trick: thaw meatballs and place them in the slow cooker. Pour marinara over the top and turn the slow cooker on low. Heat on low until meatballs are warmed through. Turn the slow cooker down to warm. Voila! They are super easy, and they stay nice and warm.
Low Carb and Keto Meatballs
Use nutritional yeast and sugar free ketchup to make them low carb and keto meatballs.
fat 14 g | net carbs 5.9 g | protein 18.2 g
Kid-Friendly Recipe!
Kids love eating these meatballs, but did you know they love to make them too? They are fun to make because you get to squish the meat and stuff with cheese. So much fun. As a kid, I always love making meatloaf and meatballs because I would use my hands to mix all the ingredients. I'm still that way today! LOL!
🥘 What You'll Need
Here's what you'll need to make stuffed baked meatballs:
Ground Beef - 80/20 ground chuck has good flavor.
Pork Sausage
Breadcrumbs or Nutritional Yeast - use nutritional yeast if you are following a low carbohydrate plan.
Onion Powder
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Cloves
Salt
Pepper
Eggs
Tomato Paste
Ketchup - use regular or sugar free
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
Dill Pickles
For Serving - Marinara Sauce, BBQ, Ranch, or Big Mac Sauce
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
🔪 How To Make It
Here are the step-by-step instructions for making stuffed baked meatballs:
Mix Ingredients Together
In a large mixing bowl, mix ground beef, sausage, nutritional flakes (or breadcrumbs), seasoning, eggs, tomato paste, and ketchup until combined.
You can use a spoon or you can use your hands! I've always thought it was fun to mix it with my hands!
Shape Meatballs
Divide the mixture into 28 to 32 meatballs. Press the meatballs down.
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
Place a 1/2" to 3/4" piece of mozzarella cheese, wrap the meat around cheese, seal, then place on a baking tray.
Cheeseburger Stuffed Meatballs
Place a 1/2" piece of cheddar cheese and a piece of pickle. Wrap the meat around the cheese, seal it, then place it on a baking sheet.
Tip: you want to have an even amount of meat surrounding the cheese. If you can feel the cheese poking through, cover it with meat.
Bake
Place the meatballs on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes, or until meatballs reach 160 degrees F.
🥗 How To Serve Them
Here's how to serve cheese stuffed baked meatballs:
For an easy dinner, I would serve the mozzarella stuffed meatballs with marinara over pasta, zucchini noodles, or steamed veggies.
As appetizers, I would serve the mozzarella meatballs with marinara or spaghetti sauce, and the cheeseburger baked meatballs with bbq or big mac sauce.
I have to tell you that my family went bonkers over the cheeseburger meatballs! They suggested the next time I make them add a piece of bacon. According to them, everything is better with bacon. Yum. What a great idea! Thanks, fam! 🙂
FAQs
Can I make meatballs ahead of time?
Yes! You can make baked meatballs ahead of time.
Either form them and place them on a tray to bake later in the week, or you can go ahead and bake them and reheat when you're ready. You can also bake them and freeze them for later as well.
Can you freeze meatballs?
Yes! You can freeze these baked meatballs! The meatballs should be cooked first. I love to make meatballs ahead of time and then freeze them for future use. I try to use them within 3 months.
You can make meatballs without breadcrumbs. While breadcrumbs do act as a binder, it is a combination of eggs, moisture, fat content, and how much you press the meat together when forming the meatballs that hold the meatballs together in this recipe.
This recipe also calls for nutritional flakes. I have found they hold together a little when the flakes are added, then if I don't use them.
This depends upon the size of the meatball of course, but a 1-1/2" to 2" meatball will take anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes. The best way to cook a meatball is to bake it until it reaches 160 degrees F. You can tell if a meatball is done is by checking the temperature with an instant-read thermometer.
Depending upon the size of the meatball, it will take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes to cook in an oven at 375. The final temperature of the meatballs should be 160 degrees F.
Meatballs are done when they reach 160 degrees F.
You can do both, but baking is easier because you don't have to stand over a stove. You can place the meatballs on a baking sheet, place in the oven, then go do something else while they're baking.
More Ground Beef Recipes
- Stuffed Big Mac Meatloaf
- Stuffed Italian Meatloaf Recipe
- Frikadeller (Danish Meatballs)
- Reuben Bake With Meatballs
- Taco Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Creamy Beef Taco Soup
- Baked Beans With Ground Beef
- Mexican Ground Beef and Potatoes Recipe
📋 Recipe
Cheese Stuffed Baked Meatball Recipe
Ingredients
Baked Meatball Recipe
- 1 pound ground beef 80/20 ground chuck
- 1 pound pork sausage
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs or nutritional yeast (low carb and keto use nutritional yeast)
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ⅓ cup ketchup (low carb keto: use sugar free)
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese sticks (sliced into ½" pieces)
- marinara sauce (for dipping)
Cheeseburger Stuffed Meatballs
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese (cut into ½" cubes)
- 4 ounces dill pickles (cut into ¼ to ½" cubes)
- big mac sauce (for dipping)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix ground beef, sausage, nutritional flakes (or breadcrumbs), seasoning, eggs, tomato paste, and ketchup until combined.
- Divide mixture into 28 to 32 meatballs. Press the meatballs down and place mozzarella cheese in the center (or cheddar and pickle). Press meat around cheese and seal the meatball. You want to have an even amount of meat surrounding the cheese.
- Place the meatballs on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes, or until meatballs reaches 160 degrees F.
Notes
Nutrition
© 2023 Seeking Good Eats™
Sara says
Hi Kori! This looks fantastic! Do you think this recipe could work with two lbs of ground turkey or chicken instead?
seekinggoodeats says
Hello! I have not made them, but you definitely could! I have some ground chicken and you've inspired me to make them now. 🙂