Mozzarella stuffed meatballs – the perfect quick dinner or make them mini, stick them on toothpicks and serve as an appetizer with BBQ or marinara sauce!
Today I have the perfect little treat that not only kills it at dinner time but also happens to double as the perfect little appetizer as soon as you stick a toothpick through them…mozzarella stuffed meatballs!
Spaghetti & meatballs is one of our favourite meals. It’s right up there with spaghetti bolognese in terms of quick & easy meals to throw together and is serious comfort food! And even though we’re almost through comfort food season, this also falls into the category of “it’s hot, I can’t really be bothered cooking, what shall we have?” Perfect for lazy summer meals.
Plus, if you wanna get super fancy on it you can make them mini and turn them into a party snack! Little dipping pots of BBQ or marinara sauce and you’re looking at the plate that gets snapped up the fastest. Because nobody can resist mini meatballs – especially when they are filled with gooey melty mozzarella!
A little trick that I’ve picked up with cooking meatballs is to bake them rather than fry them. They tend to hold their shape a lot better and this way I’ll quite often bake them earlier in the day, and then come dinner time I can just heat up some sauce (homemade marinara sauce anyone?), throw the meatballs in to heat through, cook some spaghetti and dinner is ready in 20 minutes!
And obviously, top with more cheese 🙂
- 500 g beef mince
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- 1/2 onion optional
- Salt & pepper
- 100 g mozzarella cheese cut into 1cm cubes
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Add all ingredients except mozzarella cheese to the bowl of a food processor and process until combined. Alternatively, add to a large mixing bowl and combine by hand.
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Take a cube of mozzarella and form a meatball around it, using about 1 TBSP of mince (depending on how big you want your meatballs)
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Place formed meatballs on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
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Store covered in the fridge until ready to cook.
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To bake, pre-heat oven to 180°C and cook for 20-30 minutes until cooked through - the meatballs will be golden brown and the cheese may be starting to spill out.
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Serve immediately with toothpicks and BBQ or marinara sauce to dip, or stir through marinara sauce and serve with spaghetti for dinner.
Thanks for the tip of using a food processor for meatballs! My least favorite part is combining everything by hand.
Me too Gina! It totally grosses me out – I was so excited when we got our food processor – I use it for everything now!
Oh wow… that gooey cheese looks SO good. I love the idea of mini meatballs for appetizers, too! They’re so cute! 🙂
Thanks Claire! The cheese gets me every time!