This website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my disclosure policy.
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs take classic meatballs to the next level! Tender and juicy with melty cheese on the inside. Serve these meatballs as a party appetizer or over spaghetti noodles for a hearty meal!
Reasons to Make These Meatballs
- Quick and Easy Dinner: Mozzarella stuffed meatballs are a quick and easy weeknight dinner! They only take 15 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to bake.
- Fun Twist on Meatballs: Melty cheese on the inside of a meatball? Yes, please! Your family will love this recipe and they’ll want it on repeat!
- Tender and Juicy: The oven bakes your meatballs to tender and juicy perfection! The oven is my favorite way to cook meatballs!
Ingredients to Make Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
The meatball base uses staple ingredients, just make sure to have your cheese on hand because it’s the BEST part of this recipe! Follow the recipe card below for exact measurements.
- Ground Beef: I prefer lean ground beef for this recipe!
- Italian Breadcrumbs: Give the texture and structure of the meatballs.
- Parmesan Cheese: Adds a delicious cheesy flavor to the meatball mixture!
- Egg: The egg helps add structure and bind the meatball mixture together.
- Onion: Finely minced onion for added flavor.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic always.
- Oregano and Basil: Add delicious flavor using Italian seasonings.
- Salt and Pepper: Helps balance and enhance the flavors.
- Mozzarella Cheese: Cubed fresh mozzarella gives the best melty results but I list other options below!
- Homemade Marinara: Use jarred marinara or try my homemade recipe because it is fantastic!
- Spaghetti Noodles: For serving, but use any kind of noodles you like!
How to Make Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
Homemade meatballs are so easy and fun to make! Who wouldn’t love melty cheese oozing out of their meatballs? The best part is that you pop them in the oven and then warm them in your favorite sauce. Easy peasy and the whole family will want these meatballs on the weekly dinner rotation!
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, add the ground beef, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, onion, garlic, egg, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.
- Mix until everything is just combined.
- Take about 1 ½ tablespoons of meatball mixture in your hand and start forming it into a ball. Take one piece of the diced mozzarella, pop it into the center of the meatball, and continue to form a ball around the cheese. The meatballs should be 1 inch in diameter.
- Place the finished meatballs onto the prepared baking sheet pan. Once the meatballs are all formed, place them in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- While the meatballs are baking, cook the noodles according to the package directions. Remove the cooked meatballs from the oven.
- In a large saucepan or pot, add the meatballs and marinara sauce. Cook over medium-high heat until the sauce is heated evenly and the meatballs are all coated in sauce. Remove the meatballs and sauce from the heat and serve with the cooked pasta.
Tips and Variations
Follow my tips for these tasty mozzarella stuffed meatballs! I also have some fun variations below you’ll love!
- Stuffing Tips: The meatballs should be about 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter. No mozzarella should be peaking through the meat once the meatball is finished forming because the cheese will ooze out.
- Cheese: Fresh mozzarella cheese is best and it melts perfectly, but you can switch up the cheese if you prefer. Pepper jack cheese smoked gouda, or even cheddar cheese would work well!
- Switch up the Sauce: You don’t have to use a marinara sauce to serve these meatballs. Alfredo, pesto, or a carbonara-style sauce would be delicious as well!
- Make a Meatball Sub: These meatballs are perfect make a great meatball sub! My kids love it when we have leftovers for this very reason because it’s so yummy!
Storing and Reheating
These mozzarella stuffed meatballs stay juicy and moist and are perfect for lunch or dinner throughout the week. Follow my instructions below for storing and also reheating leftovers.
- In the Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container then place in the refrigerator. Your meatballs will last for up to 4 days.
- In the Freezer: Store in a freezer bag or airtight container for 1-2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- To Reheat: Reheat these meatballs in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through. Add more marinara if needed. You can also reheat these meatballs in the microwave until warmed through.
More Meatball Recipes You’ll LOVE!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs take classic meatballs to the next level! Tender and juicy with melty cheese on the inside. Serve these meatballs as a party appetizer or over spaghetti noodles for a hearty meal!
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ¼ cup Italian bread crumbs
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese pre-grated from the jar
- ¼ cup yellow onion minced, about ¼ small onion
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced, about 2 cloves
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese diced into ½ inch pieces
- Marinara sauce
- Spaghetti noodles for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the ground beef, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, onion, garlic, egg, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix until everything is just combined.
- Take about 1 ½ tablespoons of meatball mixture in your hand and start forming it into a ball. Take one piece of the diced mozzarella, pop it into the center of the meatball, and continue to form a ball around the cheese. The meatballs should be 1 inch in diameter.
- Place the finished meatballs onto the prepared baking sheet. Once the meatballs are all formed, place them in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- While the meatballs are baking, cook the noodles according to the package directions. Remove the cooked meatballs from the oven.
- In a large saucepan or pot, add the meatballs and marinara sauce. Cook over medium-high heat until the sauce is heated evenly and the meatballs are all coated in sauce.
- Remove the meatballs and sauce from the heat and serve with the cooked pasta.
Notes
Originally Posted December 12, 2016
Updated on September 24, 2024
Nutrition
Calories: 270kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 28gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 108mgSodium: 825mgPotassium: 344mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 349IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 261mgIron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!
These are so delicious! I made a few adjustments to the directions though. After I had the meatballs all rolled out I put them in a skillet to pan fry the outsides (on all sides) to help lock in the moisture before I put them in the oven at 400 for about 7-9 minutes. Then I put the sauce in the same skillet I used to pan fry the meatballs in and simmered on low heat while the meatballs were in the oven. Once the meatballs were done I put them in the sauce and continued to simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Served on white sandwich/sub rolls topped with some shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese.
Yummy! Will definitely make again!!
Made these tonight for dinner- such a hit!! Thank you!
I freeze my cheese cubes before making so that the cheese do not leak out! Works great
That is a great idea! Thank you for sharing!
Great tip! Thanks for sharing ? going to try these soon.
Just attempted to make these and I’m just lost.. idk how they are suppose to cook in 10 min. My temp was still at 130 in 10 minutes broiling in the oven and the cheese burst. So now I’m baking them in the oven at 400 but I’m disappointed because the cheese is all spilt out.. obviously next time will use smaller cheese cubes but can you direct me as to how in the world the cook in 10 minutes broiling and if they are not done yet what I should do? Hoping they taste better than they look..
I am not sure what or why your broiler is set at 130 degrees. It should be increased and the 10 minutes help bake the inside quickly and the outside a little crispiness. The cheese will spill out of a few if there is a little too much in each meatball. It could determine how big your meatball is too. I used a 1 inch scoop.
These weren’t as juicy as I thought they would be. Next time I plan on using minced onion and garlic, instead of powdered, and some fresh bread, instead of the bread crumbs to give them a little more fluff. They were still very good though and my kids ate them up!
Gonna try this tonight…so excited!
This recipe is amazing!
Used mozzarella string cheese that I sliced – recipe was delicious! My mother went back for seconds. Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.
Made these tonight for my family of 6. EVERYONE loved them!!
How many mtballs does this make?
This makes about 12 to 14 meatballs. Hope you can enjoy them soon! XOXO
Can these mozzarella stuffed meatballs be baked instead of broiled? Don’t have a broiler! Details please if baked! Thank you!
Yes, that sounds great! You will want to bake them longer and check them occasionally until they are cooked thoroughly. Enjoy! Let me know how they turn out for you! XOXO
I’m getting ready to do the meatballs with mozzarella in the middle.
Step #1 is to preheat broiler. I’m using my oven, so what temp. do you recommend?
My kids loved these and they were so easy to make. I’ll definitely make them again sometime.
Stop. Please stop. I am getting addicted to your site. Lol.
LOL! BEST.COMMENT.EVER!! Thank you so much! You are too sweet! Thanks so much for following along with me! XOXO
Nutritional facts for these?
I like to use skinny taste.com or myfitnesspal.com for any nutritional questions that I have on recipes! They are both simple to use! Hope that helps! Thanks so much for following along with me! XOXO
Do you offer Cookbooks? If so how can I get one or two!
AW! You are too sweet!! I don’t have a cookbook at this time but I am working on an ebook that will be coming soon! I will let everyone know about it when it is released on my site! Thanks so much for your support and following along with me! XOXO
How many meatballs does this make? Trying to figure out if I need to double the recipe for our group or not.
The meatball recipe is a serving size of 6 people. Hope that helps give you an idea of how many you would need to make. Thanks so much for following along with me! XOXO