These succulent mozzarella stuffed meatballs have a crispy coating topped with a simple marinara sauce and a sprinkle of fresh basil. They're the perfect two-bite appetizer to pass around during the holiday season, or anytime you have a special gathering!
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs, a Delectable Two-Bite Treat
There's something magical about festive gatherings that really encourages us to truly indulge in good food with utter abandon.
Perhaps it's the spirit of merriment and playfulness that prompts us to take so much wonderful pleasure in a tasty spread, placing a little of this and a little of that onto our plates, piling everything deliciously high.
Whatever it is, I absolutely adore it, and find it gloriously present during the holiday season, which is one of the reasons I love this time of year so very much!
Lately, I find myself going through my mental rolodex of favorite recipes fit for special occasions, and I'm getting excited to whip up pretty and colorful little dishes that just seem to taste best when we're celebrating a little.
These mozzarella stuffed meatballs are exactly such as recipe, perfect for passing around and savoring in two bites!
Beef meatballs are stuffed with fresh, creamy mozzarella, then coated in a flavorful mixture for extra crispiness before being browned then baked, and finally topped with fresh, zesty marinara and a sprinkle of basil.
This succulent mozzarella stuffed meatball recipe has all the festive colors of the holidays—lots of red and green—making it a terrific and scrumptious option to prepare and pass around to tantalize everyone's appetite this time of year.
All you have to do is stick some toothpicks in these two-bite treats, and watch them disappear!
How to Make Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs Kissed with Italian Flavors
Preparing a juicy and savory mozzarella stuffed meatballs recipe is not only easy, but fun as well!
It's all about putting together a flavorful meatball mixture to begin with, one that has lots of Italian flair from a hint of parmesan cheese, fresh and dried Italian herbs, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and a good kick of garlic.
The other Italian flavors come from the finishing topper of zesty, homemade marinara sauce and a little flourish of julienned fresh basil for irresistible flavor!
Here's a glance at my mozzarella stuffed meatball recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe further down...)
- First, I combine all my ingredients for the beef meatball mixture, then portion out ¾ ounce portions (roughly 32 meatballs).
- Each portion is then flattened into a teeny burger patty shape, and a pea-size piece of fresh mozzarella cheese is placed in the center; then, the meat is formed over top of that, and gently rolled into a meatball with the mozzarella stuffed in the middle.
- The meatballs are chilled, and while they are chilling, I prepare my homemade marinara (you can also certainly use store-bought to save on time).
- Next, I coat the chilled meatballs in a mixture of parmesan and panko for crispiness, quickly brown them in a pan, then bake until cooked through and the cheese melted.
- To finish, each mozzarella stuffed meatball is topped with a touch of marinara, a sprinkle of basil, and fitted with a toothpick for easy pick-up!
Recipe
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
by Ingrid Beer
Category: Appetizer
Cuisine: Italian-American
Yield: 32 meatballs
Nutrition Info: 91 calories per meatball
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatball Ingredients:
- 1 to 1 ¼ cups fresh breadcrumbs (about one 2 to 3 ounce french roll, processed)
- 4 tablespoons milk, or half & half
- 1 pound ground beef (85/15 ratio)
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup grated parmesan, divided use
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 8 mini fresh mozzarella balls (or about 3 ounces of a larger, fresh mozzarella ball), quartered to make 32 pea-sized pieces
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- Olive oil
- ¼ cup basil leaves, finely julienned
Simple Marinara Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 (14 ounce) can organic crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- To a large bowl, add the breadcrumbs and the milk (or half & half), and combine to moisten; next, add in the ground beef, the egg, ½ cup of the parmesan, and the remainder of the ingredients up to and including the chopped parsley.
- Using your hands, combine all of the ingredients until well mixed; next, scoop out about 32, ¾ ounce portions.
- Take each of those portions, and flatten them out on the palm of your hand (like a mini burger patty), and lay one piece of the pea-sized mozzarella in the center; then, fold the meat over the mozzarella piece, and gently roll between your palms to create the meatballs.
- Chill the meatballs for about 20-30 minutes.
- While your meatballs chill, prepare your simple marinara sauce, if making: to a small saucepan, add all of the sauce ingredients, and whisk to blend.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat, and once the sauce begins to simmer, reduce to low and allow it to gently simmer, uncovered and undisturbed, for 10 minutes.
- Serve while warm, or if preparing ahead, allow to cool and keep covered in fridge until ready to use.
- Once the meatballs are chilled, preheat your oven to 350°, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the remaining ¼ cup of parmesan with the panko breadcrumbs, and roll each meatball in the mixture.
- Place a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, and drizzle in a little of the oil; working in batches, add some of the meatballs into the pan, and allow them to brown, turning them on all sides, for about 2-3 minutes; then, place the browned meatballs on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat the process with the rest of the meatballs.
- Once all are browned and on the baking sheet, bake the meatballs for 10 minutes until the cheese is gooey, and the meatballs are cooked through.
- Top with a dollop of marinara sauce and a sprinkle of julienned basil, and serve with toothpicks.
Tips & Tidbits for my Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs:
- Lean but juicy beef: I've found that a ratio of 85/15 lean to fat ground beef is perfect for these meatballs. There's just enough fat so that the meatballs are tender and juicy rather than tough and a bit dry, yet also not greasy. Organic, grass-fed beef is the best quality here, if you can use that.
- Tiny little fresh mozzarella pearls: If you can find the “ciliegine” mozzarella, then opt for those. These are the smallest fresh mozzarella balls, and when quartered, create the perfect pea-size piece of mozzarella to stuff the meatballs with. Otherwise, you'll need about 3 ounces of fresh mozzarella (the kind packed in brine), and just cut that down to smaller size needed.
- Prepare ahead for easy mozzarella stuffed meatballs: To make these a day or two ahead of time, simply prepare the meatball mixture, stuff the portions with mozzarella, roll into meatballs, and coat in the panko/parmesan coating; next, place onto a small baking sheet or tray, wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until ready to make. Then, quickly brown in a pan and finish by baking in the oven (as directed), garnish, and serve.
- Homemade marinara, or store-bought: My recipe below for simple marinara is super quick to prepare (10 minutes!) and very flavorful, but feel free to use your own favorite marinara if you prefer.
- Serve with toothpicks for easy pickup: To make it easier for folks to pick up, simply stick a toothpick in the center of each meatball once you have them on your serving platter.
Hungry for more delicious meatball recipes? Check out these Crispy Chicken Meatballs, this Minestrone Soup with Meatballs, this Albondigas Soup, these Swedish Meatballs, this Rigatoni Meatball Soup, or this Italian Meatball Sandwich!
Cook's Note: This recipe was originally published in 2014, and has been updated with even more love!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
What delicious little appetizers these caprese meatballs would make! Perfect for a Christmas party I have coming up!!
Liz
Lovely recipes. Thanks so much.
The Cozy Apron
Thank you, Liz! Happy Holidays to you and yours! 😉
Rachel
Gosh, these look delicious!
The Cozy Apron
Thank you, Rachel!
June G.
Just made these. Best meatballs ever! I mean EVER! As my husband likes to say, "that's a spicy meatball". Haha!
The Cozy Apron
Hi June, I'm so excited to read that! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing your experience with the recipe!
Amanda
Hi,
Planning to make these for a party on Saturday. They look so delish. Which part of this can I do a day ahead. Don't want to overload my Saturday.
The Cozy Apron
Hi Amanda, so excited you are planning on preparing these! You can very easily prepare the actual meatballs on Friday, and then go to the next step of "chill", only you can chill them over night. Then on Saturday, you can coat them in the panko mixture and fry them, then into the oven to finish. (If you are also preparing the sauce, you can also do that the day before, and keep it in the fridge, then reheat.)
Amanda
Thanks so much. Love love your blog.
The Cozy Apron
Thank you so very much!
Megan
Hi! Is there a version of these with no pan frying, only in the oven? They look delicious and I want to make them for my Christmas party, but I'm trying to do as make make-ahead, bake off when ready appetizers as possible. Please let me know. Thank you!!
The Cozy Apron
Hi Megan, yes, I think if you wanted to skip the browning in the pan, you could.
Since I haven't tested the recipe this particular way, please know that I'm "guesstimating" here, but I'd cook at 350° for roughly 25 or so minutes.
I'd suggest that you sneak a meatball and test it out at around 20 or 25 minutes into the baking, and see how it looks—make sure the meat is cooked through and the cheese melted. If more time is needed, go for an additional 5 minutes, etc...
Hope this helps, and I hope you and your guests enjoy!
Paul Leopard
Can these be frozen until ready to cook them?
The Cozy Apron
Hi Paul, great question!
I would not recommend freezing these, and it's because of the fresh mozzarella in the center.
Cheese doesn't do all that well if frozen, taking on a bit of a mealy quality. But you can absolutely prep these several days ahead of time, either to the point of breading and browning them (then let them cool, wrap, and keep in fridge until ready to bake off and serve), or up to the point before you'd bread and brown them in the pan. Then, on the day of, you'd simply bread, brown and bake.
Hope this helps!
Aline dina
Hello there!!!
Sounds amazingggg...going to try these but I was wondering...
Can I deep fry these meatballs you think? I suppose its quicker and should turn out crispy?
What so you think?
The Cozy Apron
Hi Aline, why not? It sounds very tasty, and I'm sure they'll come out crispy.
Not exactly sure on the time in the fryer however, as I haven't tested; perhaps try with one meatball first to see the doneness? And allow them to drain for a moment or two on paper towels so they're not so greasy. 🙂
Hope you enjoy!
Tina
After I sear the sides of meatballs in frying pan can I put them in my crockpot to cook the rest of the way with marinara on top
The Cozy Apron
Absolutely, Tina!
Patty Martens
Wow, wow. This was the hit at our party. I had searched for something bite size, for a crowd and came across this recipe. Tonight we were house one of our 4 house community progressive holiday party. I chose this recipe as one of our appetizers. Everyone, and I mean everyone wanted the recipe. I did make 2 changes. I didn't have fresh bread crumbs so used the dry and still added the milk. The other change was I didn't brown them, instead i put them right in the over for about 15 to 20 min. These were the most flavorful meatballs I've ever had. I even impressed myself with how easy they were to make and how deliciouse they turned out. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
The Cozy Apron
Hi Patty, I am so thrilled to read your comment!
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experience with this recipe with me, as it truly makes my heart happy to know that these tasty little meatballs were so enjoyed by all, and even easy and fun for you to prepare. When a recipe of mine is passed along, there's nothing quite so magical...ultimately, it is the reason why I do what I do, to pass some coziness and deliciousness along to others to share with their friends and family.
May you enjoy the holidays, and happy cooking to you, Patty!