Cheesy Meatball Bombs

These are the BEST cheesy meatball bombs that are easy to make, landing in garlic butter bread and topped with mozzarella cheese and marinara. Perfect as a meal, appetizer or snack.

 

Did you know that March 9th is National Meatball Day? I didn’t either and now I’m busting at the seams trying to settle on a recipe to prepare for my family. Meatballs go far beyond the classic spaghetti and meatballs or a meatball sub, but these are the perfect blend of both.

What could be better than pizza dough basted with garlic butter, dotted with a tender meatball and then topped with marinara, mozzarella and Parmesan? Nothing!

There are just so many delicious meatball recipes out there! We are fans of anything prepared in a muffin tin, so I decided on Cheesy Garlic Meatball Bombs!

The Perfect Meatball Bombs

Yes, everyone claims theirs to be the best and perfect, but ours are a little different and I’ll tell you why…

• Not Wrapped in Bread– Many are wrapped in bread, which is a great idea in theory, but have you tried to do this? It is really difficult to mend the seams to prevent the meatball, cheese and sauce from bubbling out. Not to mention preventing the bread from getting soggy and not staying doughy on the bottom.
• Garlic Bread– We still use bread, but make them into little meatball flowers, if you will, prebake it so the bottoms actually bake and then baste them with garlic butter for extra flavor.
• Premade Meatballs or Homemade Meatballs– You can use whatever floats your boat for this recipe, just make sure they are cooked and thawed (if frozen). Go a step further and use a cheese stuffed meatball or spicy sausage meatballs.

Ingredients

A few store bought ingredients will make these cheesy meatball bombs taste just like home-cooking!

• Meatballs – You can use frozen meatballs or homemade. Make sure they are cooked and thawed if using frozen.
• Refrigerated pizza dough – By all means, make your own if you prefer, we just like to simplify things when able to. This also tastes great with biscuit dough.
• Salted butter – I almost always use unsalted butter, but because I’m not using any extra salt here, salted will be fine.
• Seasonings – I just use a simple blend of garlic powder, onion powder and ground black pepper. Add in some sea salt if you used unsalted butter.
• Marinara sauce – You can either make homemade marinara sauce, or you can use your favorite jarred variety.
• Mozzarella cheese – Personally I like to shred my own cheese. Pre-shredded cheeses have an additive to prevent sticking. That additive also prevents it from melting smoothly.
• Parmesan cheese – If you’re a cheese lover like me, you’ll want to garnish these delicious bites with extra parmesan.
• Parsley – A little green never hurt anyone! Parsley is a great garnish to dress these bites up, but you can leave it off too.

How to Make Cheesy Meatball Bombs

Using store-bought dough and a few simple steps, you’ll love how easy it is to make this quick snack.

1. Prepare oven and pan. Preheat the oven and coat a muffin tin with cooking spray or rub with vegetable shortening.
2. Prepare dough. Roll out the pizza dough on a work surface and cut into twelve equal squares. Press each square into the muffin tin. Bake.
3. Make butter mixture. Meanwhile, whisk together the melted butter, garlic powder, onion powder and ground black pepper. Baste over each piece of par-baked pizza dough with a pastry brush.
4. Add meatballs, sauce and cheese. Place one cooked meatball in each muffin well. Evenly divide with the marinara sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake again. Heat for an additional few minutes or until cheese has melted and edges of the bread are golden brown.
6. Garnish and serve. Remove and garnish with Parmesan cheese and minced parsley, if desired.

What to Serve with Cheesy Meatball Bombs

Cheesy Garlic Meatball Bombs can be served alongside a leafy green salad as dinner or even as a fun appetizer at parties or potlucks.

You can pair these meatball bombs with other appetizers like italian pinwheels, mini beef wellington or even antipasto pasta salad. Any or all would be perfect for any get together or party.

Variations

There are plenty of ways you can make these cheesy meatball bombs your own.

• Meatballs – If you prefer to make homemade meatballs rather than using frozen, be my guest! With a blend of ground beef, Italian breadcrumbs and other ingredients, you can make juicy, homemade meatballs perfect for these bombs.
• Dough – If you can’t find pizza dough at your grocery store, you could also use refrigerated biscuit dough. This dough is a little thicker, so the baking time might be a little longer.
• Wrapped meatballs – Alternatively, you can wrap dough completely around the meatballs to fully enclose all the goodness in pastry.

Storage and Freezing

You might not have any leftovers with how delicious these are, but if you do, here are the instructions on how to store them.

How to Store Cheesy Meatball Bombs

If you have any leftover meatball bombs, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that the sauce will make the bread a little soggy.

Can I Freeze Cheesy Meatball Bombs?

I do not recommend freezing these bites after they’ve been cooked. The bread will be quite soggy once thawed.

More Meatball Recipes

Meatballs are a surprisingly versatile dish! You can turn them into a whole meal or just serve as an appetizer. Here are some of our favorite meatball recipes.