Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs With Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Traditional meatballs get taken up a notch, they’re stuffed with mozzarella cheese and baked in the oven. When they come out, they’re tossed and coated in an amazing, creamy roasted red pepper sauce. (Jump to Recipe)
Don’t get me wrong, a classic spaghetti and meatball dinner is good, but when you have meatballs that are stuffed with gooey melted mozzarella cheese and coated in a luscious and vibrant roasted red pepper sauce, there’s no going back.
To Make The Best Stuffed Meatballs
Combine ground beef, egg, minced garlic, panko bread crumbs, chopped parsley, Worcestershire sauce, whole milk, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix until all ingredients are well combined.
Form the meatballs by using your hands to roll them into 2-tablespoon sized balls and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. You may also use a cookie scoop for this part to measure out the sizes. You should come out with about 12 meatballs.
Use your finger to make a hole right in the center of each meatball. Stuff each meatball with a mini mozzarella ball. Use your hands, once more, to roll each meatball and cover the opening of the hole. Place them back onto the baking sheet.
Place into the oven and bake for approximately 15-18 minutes on 400 degrees F or until an instant-read thermometer measures the internal temperature to be 160°F.
While the meatballs bake, the roasted red pepper sauce get made.
Combine the roasted red peppers, basil, garlic cloves, 2 tbsp olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Blend the ingredients until the sauce is smooth. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the roasted red pepper sauce to the skillet. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium/low and add the cream. Stir to combine and cook for one more minute until the sauce is heated through.
Once the meatballs are finished baking, remove them from the oven and transfer them to the skillet with the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the meatballs and serve them with pasta, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, or crusty bread.
If you love this stuffed meatball recipe, be sure to check out a few of my favorite!
One Skillet Lemon Parmesan Chicken And Orecchiette
One Pot Greek Couscous Chicken With Lemon Dill Yogurt Sauce
Three-Cheese Italian Sausage Stuffed Shells
Tomato and Basil Tortellini Soup
Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo
If you make these Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I’d love to hear what you think about it, or better yet, see what you’re cooking! Tag me on Insta, @fettysfoodblog with your creation.
Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs With Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
For The Meatballs
- 1 pound ground beef (I use 85% )
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 12 mini mozzarella cheese balls (or 1/2-inch cubed mozzarella cheese)
For The Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- 24 oz jarred roasted red peppers, drained (I used two 12 oz jars)
- 1-1½ cups packed fresh basil leaves – about 20 leaves
- 6 cloves garlic
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Combine ground beef, egg, garlic, panko bread crumbs, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, milk, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix until all ingredients are well combined.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- Form meatballs by using your hands to roll them into 2-tablespoon sized balls. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. You should come out with about 12 meatballs.
- Use your finger to make a hole right in the center of each meatball. Stuff each meatball with a mini mozzarella ball. Use your hands, once more, to roll each meatball and cover the opening of the hole. Place them back onto the baking sheet.
- Place into oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer measures internal temperature to be 160°F.
- While meatballs bake, make the roasted red pepper sauce by combining roasted red peppers, basil, garlic cloves, olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Blend the ingredients until the sauce is smooth.
- Heat skillet over medium heat and add roasted red pepper sauce to the skillet. Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium/low and add cream. Stir to combine and cook for 1-2 more minutes until the sauce is heated through.
- Once meatballs are finished baking, remove from oven and transfer them to the skillet with sauce. Spoon the sauce over meatballs and serve immediately.
