These mozzarella-stuffed meatballs are nice enough to impress but shockingly easy to put together, either on the stove or in a slow cooker!
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Happy Tuesday folks!! Today I’m sharing a killer meatball recipe that will please even the pickiest eaters.
Is it just me, or do people fall in one of two camps when it comes to spaghetti? Most of my friends are either “marinara and meatball” people or “bolognese” people. I grew up happily in the latter category and never missed meatballs, especially given my addiction to my mom’s spaghetti sauce. But one day, my husband came home on a tear for us to try to make meatballs. He’d seen the idea of stuffed meatballs on the internet and after doing some testing, this is what we created!
For some reason, I always thought of meatballs as being a lot of work. I’m not sure where I picked this us, but this recipe reminded me just how wrong that was! Even with the added step of “stuffing” the meatballs, the prepwork for this dish is only about 20 minutes.
This dish probably serves at least six people. I say probably because this is so easy that its typically a weeknight meal I make for the two of us, with plenty leftovers for lunches the rest of the week. It also gets better with time: the spices develop with the sausage after a night in the fridge!
There’s two ways to make it: the better way involves a few hours in the crockpot. The faster way is on the stove, which I’ve shown below.
Start by cubing the cheese, then put it back in the fridge until you’re ready for it.
Combine cheese, breadcrumbs, beef, sausage, spices, eggs, and milk.
Mix by hand, making sure that the egg especially gets evenly distributed.
Take a golf ball-sized amount and wrap it around a cube of cheese, rolling in your palms to make a sphere.
Mozzarella-stuffed Meatballs
Ingredients:
- 1 lb hot Italian sausage
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesean cheese
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp dried parsley
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- ~8 oz low moisture mozzarella cheese
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 16 oz marinara sauce
Steps:
- First, cut the mozzarella into small cubes (roughly 1/2 inch). In a crockpot, pour a thin layer of sauce on the bottom and grease the sides.
- Mix the meat, cheese, milk, eggs, and spices together by hand. Wrap the mozzarella cubes in a layer of meat, making golf ball-sized meatballs. Put the meatballs on top of the sauce.
- When all meatballs are formed, pour the sauce over the meatballs and cook on high for 2-2 1/2 hours. When the meatballs are nearly done, make the spaghetti.
- Alternate: if you’re in more of a hurry and don’t have two hours, you can always cook in a big pot on the stove. Cook on medium-low for about 25 minutes, stirring occaisionally. Be gentle, don’t pop the meatballs!
That’s it! Super simple. If it’s a weeknight, I usually just buy a jar of premade (I love Barilla and Classico) and boost it with some spices, but if you’ve got a killer a marinara recipe then go for it!
What’s your favorite meatball recipe?
