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This recipe is easy to make for beginners but would still impress anyone. Can’t get better than that, right?! If you love cheesy recipes, then these Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs will be a new go-to recipe for you. You can serve them over pasta, on nourish bowls, or even as an appetizer. You really can’t go wrong!
Ingredients
Ground turkey or beef – For the meatball mixture.
Egg – Helps keep the meatball together.
Almond flour – Helps keep the moisture in the meatballs by soaking it up, rather than the moisture (such as the fats) leaving the meatball as it cooks.
Grated parmesan cheese – Helps keep the meatball together.
Diced sun-dried tomatoes – Adds wonderful flavor. Feel free to omit.
Garlic cloves, minced – Adds lots of flavor.
Seasonings – Onion powder, dried oregano, dried basil, salt, black pepper.
Mozzarella cheese – For the cheesy middle!
Pasta sauce – To cook the meatballs in.
Method
- Mix together the meatball mixture then form into meatballs, about 2 Tablespoons each.
- Then press the mozzarella into the side of the meatballs and form the meat around the cheese, making sure no cheese is showing.
- Place the meatballs in the slow cooker and top with the pasta sauce. Cook for 2-2.5 hours until cooked through. Enjoy!
How to serve Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs as an appetizer
If you plan to serve these meatballs as an appetizer rather than over pasta, then I recommend reducing the pasta sauce in the recipe. You’ll still want to add pasta sauce to the slow cooker as moisture to prevent the meatballs from burning. So don’t totally omit it because the sauce helps cook the meatballs evenly. But you can reduce it to 24 oz rather than 48 oz so that you don’t have leftover sauce (since you’ll likely be removing the meatballs from the sauce and placing them on an appetizer dish). The meatballs are wonderful with a little sauce on them though, even as an appetizer, so be sure to drizzle sauce on top of them! You’ll likely want to serve them with toothpicks in them so they’re easy for people to grab and eat.
Another option is to still use the 48 oz of pasta sauce, and you just use the leftover sauce for pasta on another day – it’ll be SUPER flavorful!
How to store Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
Store them with the pasta sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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I hope you love these Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs! Please be sure to leave a review on this recipe – it helps me more than you know! Receiving engagement on my website allows me to continue creating content for you. I appreciate you!!
PrintMozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
This recipe is easy to make for beginners but would still impress anyone. Can’t get better than that, right?! If you love cheesy recipes, then these Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs will be a new go-to recipe for you. You can serve them over pasta, on nourish bowls, or even as an appetizer. You really can’t go wrong!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 17 meatballs 1x
- Category: Lunch, Dinner, Meal-Prep
- Method: Slow-Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
Meatball mixture
1 lb ground turkey or beef
1 egg
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Extra
5 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2” pieces*
48 oz pasta sauce
Instructions
- Lightly coat the bottom of a 6-quart or larger slow cooker with nonstick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all of the meatball mixture. With a fork, break up the meat and stir the ingredients together until combined. Don’t over-work the mixture.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter. You’ll temporarily place the meatballs on it.
- Using a spoon or scoop, roll the meatball mixture into balls, 2 tablespoons each. It’ll make 17 meatballs. You can place them on the parchment paper during this process since you’ll be going back to add the mozzarella to them.
- Once they are all formed into balls, press a mozzarella ball into a the side of a meatball and form the meat around the cheese, making sure there is no cheese showing. Repeat for each meatball.
- Arrange them in a single layer in the bottom of the slow cooker. Throw away the parchment paper.
- Pour the pasta sauce over the meatballs.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook the meatballs on High for 2 – 2 1/2 hours, until the meatballs are cooked through. Slice one in half to check because a meat thermometer won’t accurately read the temperature since the meatball has cheese in the middle.
- Sprinkle with fresh chopped chives or parsley if desired. Serve as desired.
- Please be sure to leave a review on this recipe – it helps me more than you know! Receiving engagement on my website allows me to continue creating content for you. I appreciate you!!
Notes
*I used 17 small mozzarella balls for this recipe, but I would recommend using less and just cutting them in half if you don’t want as much cheese as mine had. I recommend using 1/2″ pieces of mozzarella for a combination that would be a little less cheese and a little more meatball (this will be about 4-5 oz).
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