I’m a huge fan of simple and incredible dishes and mozzarella stuffed meatballs and spaghetti is a fun twist on a classic. If you love Italian dishes, be sure to check out my popular and family-friendly Baked Spaghetti Casserole, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, and One Pot Bruschetta Chicken Pasta next! We love meatballs at our house! Whether they are baked Greek feta meatballs, my super popular Swedish meatballs, or more classic Italian spaghetti and meatballs, they are always a hit with the whole family. These mozzarella-stuffed meatballs are a simple and exciting way to change things up from our regular approach to an easy spaghetti dinner. Serve them with a fresh, crisp salad with copycat Olive Garden salad dressing or my creamy parmesan peppercorn dressing and some homemade breadsticks and you’ve got a meal that your whole family will be raving about for days!
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatball Ingrediens
Bread crumbs: Plain bread crumbs act as a binding agent inside the meatballs while also keeping them soft and tender.Milk: Milk helps to soak the breadcrumbs, adding flavor and moisture to these meaty spheres.Ground beef: 1 pound of ground beef is good. I like to use 80/20 or 85/15 ground beef as it’s not too greasy or dry.Parsley: Fresh Italian flat leaf parsley is preferred, but dried parsley can be used in a pinch.Seasonings: I use a combination of onion powder, garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper to build flavor in these meatballs.Cheeses: Not only do we stuff the centers of the meatballs with cubes of mozzarella cheese, but there is also freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in the meatball mixture.Egg: This is another binder that helps to hold the meatballs together.
Spaghetti & Sauce
Pasta: We need a 1 pound (16-ounce sized) box of spaghetti noodles, but of course you could add meatballs to any pasta you want!Onion: Adding this aromatic really makes sauces “come alive” with flavor.Olive oil: Just a little to help cook down the onions and garlic and keep the sauce from sticking to your pot. It also helps to add a great flavor to the sauce, so it works well for several reasons.Garlic: Freshly chopped garlic will add flavor to the sauce that tastes great. Crushed tomatoes: Canned crushed tomatoes will be our “tomato” for the base of this red sauce.Seasonings: We will need a combination of dried basil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper.
How to Make Spaghetti and Stuffed Meatballs
Tips on Storage and Shortcuts
Bottled sauce: If you prefer to use bottled marinara sauce, I highly recommend the Rao’s brand, which tastes closer to homemade than any other I have found. I always have a couple of jars of this in the pantry for nights when I haven’t planned ahead and just don’t have time to make my own sauce.Make-ahead: These meatballs can be made a day or two in advance and kept in the fridge until you are ready to cook them. Or shape them and freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet, then throw them in a freezer-safe zip-tight bag for longer term storage up to 2 months.
How to make mozzarella stuffed meatballs in the oven
Prepare the round cheese stuffed meatballs as directed in the recipe card. Instead of cooking them in the sauce as directed, instead, place them on a lined baking sheet in the oven at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes until cooked thoroughly. But sometimes it makes sense to cook the meatballs separate from the sauce, and in that case baking them is the way to go. To bake the meatballs, just cook them in a 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper for easy cleanup.
Can you freeze mozzarella stuffed meatballs?
If you do the oven baked method you can let your meatballs cool before placing in an airtight container or zipper topped baggie and freeze for up to 6 months. Then simply thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating or add to sauce as it’s warming and cook from frozen.
Can you make mozzarella stuffed meatballs with Italian sausage?
Yes, you can use and good ground meat as a replacement for beef if you’d like a more traditional feel. You can even substitute half of the ground beef for sausage or ground pork if you’d like to.
More Italian-inspired Recipes
Grilled Garlic BreadEasy Creamy Chicken MarsalaItalian Wedding SoupCreamy Garlic Shrimp PastaZuppa ToscanaGrilled Caprese Panini
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