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Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs are a fun twist on the classic recipe – serve these meatballs as a party appetizer or over a big plate of spaghetti for a hearty meal!
It’s Sara from Dinner at the Zoo and today I’m bringing you these amazingly delicious mozzarella stuffed meatballs. Spaghetti and meatballs is one of the few meals that all three of my kids will eat, so it’s on a regular rotation at my house. While you certainly can’t go wrong with the classic version of spaghetti and meatballs, you can definitely upgrade the original, which I’ve done here by stuffing each meatball with mozzarella cheese. It’s an unexpected surprise to bite into a meatball and find the cheesy filling!
I make these meatballs with lean ground beef. I typically use the 90% lean ground beef, although ground turkey would also work well. The meat is combined with breadcrumbs, egg and seasonings and then wrapped around cubes of mozzarella cheese. I prefer to make these meatballs on the larger size, about 2 inches in diameter. If you’d like to go smaller on the meatballs, simply cut your cheese into smaller cubes and take a few minutes off the cook time. I like to broil my meatballs; it uses way less oil than cooking meatballs in a pan and you can cook large batches at a time. I often make a double batch of these meatballs and freeze half the cooked meatballs for a later date. I typically use a high quality jarred marinara sauce on top of my meatballs, but you could definitely make your own sauce if you prefer.
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Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 pounds ground beef 85-90% lean
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons water
- 6 ounces mozzarella cheese cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 cups marinara sauce homemade or store bought, warmed
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler. Line a sheet pan with foil and coat the foil with cooking spray.
- Place the beef, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, egg and water in a bowl; mix until thoroughly combined. You may need to add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to get a smooth mixture.
- Take approximately 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture and roll it into a ball. Press a cube of cheese into the ball of meat, making sure that the meat completely surrounds the cheese. Place the meatball on the sheet pan and repeat with remaining meat and cheese.
- Spray the tops of the meatballs with cooking spray. Broil for 10 minutes or until meatballs are just done - do not overcook or the cheese filling may start to spill out.
- Place the meatballs on a plate and pour the marinara sauce over the top, Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.
Notes
•Finedine Mixing Bowls
•The Recipe Critic Apron
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
You can serve these meatballs as an appetizer, with spaghetti, or as a pizza topping, and they also make an amazing meatball sub sandwich. No matter how you serve them, these meatballs are sure to be a hit!
This has become a go-to recipe for me. I substitute the bread crumbs for almond flour because I am doing keto and they turn out delicious. I made a batch and they last me the whole week for my lunches at work. Thank you.
Missy,
How much Almond Flour did you use? I’m also doing Keto.
These were great! I cut the breadcrumbs in half so it would be lower in carbs, and it still turned out great. Served this with Victoria’s marinara sauce(lower in carbs then most of the sauces ) over spaghetti squash and it was great and easy to throw together.
MMM!! That sounds great! I am going to have it to try your way! Thanks so much sharing! XOXO
If frozen how would you reheat them? Thaw first or reheat from frozen?
Sticking them in the oven or microwave frozen should be great! Hope that helps! XOXO
What is the nutritional value your these? Trying to eat healthy and used ground turkey meat instead.
I like to use skinny taste.com or myfitnesspal.com for any nutritional information. Hope that helps you find the answers you are looking for.
Everything on this site looks amazing! Thank you for sharing. We are starting out with the meatballs and are working through the recipes on your site. Kids are excited for the meatballs…. me too.
Hi! I want to make these for xmas eve and want to make ahead of time. Would you recommend fridge or freezer? And how would you reheat them without the cheese melting out? Was hoping to heat them in the crockpot…Let me know! Thanks!
These meatballs were amazing! I used milk instead of water and cooked at 400 for 15 minutes before cooking in the sauce a few minutes. I served these as sandwiches on french bread. Absolutely delicious, will make again.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing! I am so glad you were able to make them your own! Sounds delicious! XOXO
These meatballs are so special! Mozzarella inside meatballs is like a good heart in a good person – it makes her even better! 🙂 Really impressed with how this dish looks so please count me in to make this sometime in the near future!
Can these be prepped the night before, or will the cheese not be any good being in the center of raw meat for that long?
No issues with contamination (cook thoroughly as you would normally). May possibly help “set” the meatball and prevent cheese seeping out.
I seem to have trouble keeping the cheese inside the meatball. I enclosed the cheese in the meatball and rolled it around to make a ball but the cheese seeps out when it cooks.
I also had trouble with tthe cheese leaking out and I think it was because some of the mozzarella chunks were too big. Will try again with smaller pieces of cheese.
These were amazing! Made my own breadcrumbs with saltine crackers, since I didn’t have any on hand.
Oh wow!! That is a great idea! Thanks for sharing! XOXO
Absolutely beautiful. So easy to make and so tasty mmmmmmm 🙂 thank you
So delicious!!!! Very tender and moist. Made a double recipe and everyone, even the pickiest eater of our family of 7, loved them! Had a few leftover and made DH a meatball sub for lunch the next day. Will definitely keep this recipe, Thank you!
Mozzi sticks work perfectly for this. Just lob off a piece. Looks good. Pinned.
I put the broiler on low and put them on the bottom rack of the oven. Rolled them on the other side 10 mins in. Then put them in the crockpot with my fav sauce for 6 hours on low. Turned out amazing.
Hi! 6 hours and no cheese leaking? Soaking in the sauce that long sounds amazing, I just don’t want to lose the cheese.
Whice temperature, high or low, should I put the broiler on?
oh yummy! These look amazing!