Italian meatballs sitting in a flaky biscuit cup with sauce topped with melted mozzarella cheese and finished off with grated parmesan cheese and fresh parsley. This quick meal takes a classic comfort food recipe and turns them into meatball cups the whole family will love.
This recipe is great to serve as a game day appetizer that is basically meatball subs in bite sized form. It is also a great appetizer to make for a family movie night and is also a great lunch for kids as it includes really simple ingredients. It is also great to serve as an appetizer for parties. These meatball cups are perfect to add to your easy recipes list. This is definitely a crowd-pleasing appetizer and is quickly going to become your favorite meatball recipe.
This was inspired by my Tuna Tarts on this site, and pairs well with this Truffle Parmesan Fries Recipes.
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Ingredients
- frozen Italian meatballs
- traditional pasta sauce or marinara sauce
- mozzarella cheese
- parmesan cheese
- pre-made can of biscuits
- fresh parsley
- cooking spray
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Preheat the oven depending on the directions on the frozen meatball package. Cook the meatballs for about 9-10 minutes. They will finish cooking in the biscuit cups.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Remove the biscuit dough from the package. Carefully separate each piece of biscuit dough into two halves. Separate dough using your hands. Form each half to the muffin tin.
In the dough cup, place about 2 teaspoon of pasta sauce. You will need about ½ cup marinara or spaghetti sauce total. Place meatballs in each biscuit cup. Top with extra pasta sauce and about ½ cup mozzarella cheese that is already shredded.
Bake for 9-11 minutes or until biscuits become golden brown. Grate fresh parmesan on top of each cup and add freshly chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Hint: for an extra pop of flavor, top each meatball with Italian seasoning. This will compliment the meatballs perfectly and add a little extra flavoring and provide the best results.
Substitutions
- Dairy Free - use vegan cheese instead of shredded mozzarella
- Biscuit Dough - use gluten free biscuit dough for a gluten free recipe
- Vegetarian - add plant-based meatballs to the biscuit cups to replace the meat
Variations
- Buffalo Chicken- use chicken meatballs and toss in buffalo sauce for a buffalo chicken meatball variation
- Deluxe - make homemade meatballs with high end ground meat for a deluxe version
See this Buffalo Chicken Meatball recipe on my website!
Equipment
For this recipe you will need a baking dish, muffin pan, a cheese grater and a microplane. If mixing your own meatballs you will need a small bowl to do that.
Storage
Store the finished meatball sub cups in an airtight container or zip-loc bag in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
This recipe does stand up well to freezing for up to 2 months.
Top tip
Make your own meatballs for extra texture and flavor. Using the frozen meatballs makes this recipe very easy but using homemade meatballs stuffed with fresh ground beef seasonings such as garlic powder and Italian seasoning and using binders like bread crumbs and egg creates a delicious twist of this meatball cupcakes recipe. You can also make your own biscuit dough to fill the roll of the bread cup. These are the only changes I would make though to assure the recipe still tastes the same.
FAQ
This recipe has all the same characteristics of a meatball sub in bite sized pieces. It has the flavorful meatballs, the sauce, the cheese and has the bread element from the biscuit dough.
These meatball sub cupcakes are a great party food and will quickly become one of your favorite recipes. It is great for party prep because it only takes about 15-20 minutes from start to finish.
Crescent rolls are another great dough that you can use to form to the muffin pan to create these delicious meatball cups. They still fit a whole meatball and can be another delicious ingredient for this recipe.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Meatball Parm Biscuit Cups:
Meatball Parm Biscuit Cups
Equipment
- 1 Muffin Pan
- 1 small baking dish
- 1 Cheese Grater
- 1 microplane
Ingredients
- 6 pre-made biscuits raw
- ½ cup traditional pasta sauce
- 12 frozen meatballs
- ½ cup mozzarella shredded
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven depending on the directions on the frozen meatball package. Cook the meatballs for about 9-10 minutes. They will finish cooking in the biscuit cups.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Remove the biscuit dough from the package. Carefully separate each piece of biscuit dough into two halves. Form each half to the muffin tin.
- In the dough cup, place about 2 teaspoon of pasta sauce. Place meatballs in each biscuit cup. Top with extra pasta sauce and then shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until biscuits become golden brown. Grate fresh parmesan on top of each cup and add freshly chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Notes
- The biscuits tend to have 8 in a package. When separating your biscuits in half, if one breaks or ends up being too thin, utilize one of the extra biscuits.
- Don't forget to slightly bake the meatballs prior to assembling, you don't want them to be cold in the middle.
- Grate the parmesan on top of the biscuit cups after baking.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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