Stuffed with a saucy meatball and lots of gooey melted cheese, these Meatball Bombs are comfort food at its best! Made with store-bought dough and frozen or homemade meatballs, they are simple to make in just 30 minutes.
Our Favorite Hearty Meatball Appetizer Recipe
These Meatball Bombs deliver all the flavors of a meatball sub in a perfect handheld appetizer size. Jorge and I have been making them since we first got married in 2008. I finally shared this recipe on our site back in 2016, and recently decided it was time to give it a well-deserved update.
Some recipes just have that magic — with simple ingredients, easy prep, and a guaranteed hit. Meatball Bombs are exactly that! Soft, buttery dough is wrapped around cheesy, saucy meatballs. Then we brush the tops with garlic butter and baked them to golden perfection! They are the kind of appetizer that has everyone asking, “Wait, who made these?!” (And trust me, you’ll want to take full credit.)
Ready in just 30 minutes, these meatball bites are easy to make, impossible to resist, and perfect for any occasion. You can even prepare them in advance and pop them into the oven as your guests arrive!
Looking for more hearty meatball appetizers? Try my grape jelly meatballs, crockpot bbq meatballs with easy homemade sauce, or these flavorful Asian chicken meatballs!
Key Ingredients
Store-bought biscuit dough has never been so good. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Biscuit Dough: Homestyle Butter Tastin’ is my favorite store-bought biscuit dough to use for this recipe! However, any buttermilk biscuits will work just fine.
- Meatballs: Homemade Italian meatballs always hit the spot. Frozen meatballs are also great, just make sure they’re fully thawed to room temperature prior to using.
- Marinara Sauce: If I have an excuse to make some homemade marinara sauce, I’m doing it! Of course, store-bought marinara or even pizza sauce both work too.
- Cheese: Shredded mozzarella or Italian blend both add the perfect touch to this versatile recipe.
How to Make Meatball Bombs
You only need about ten minutes out of your day to prep these easy meatball bombs! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll down to the recipe card for full instructions.
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- Flatten: Flatten each refrigerated biscuit so they’re about 4 inches around. I like to use my hands for this step, but a rolling pin also does the trick.
- Assemble: Place a meatball with some marinara in the center of each flattened biscuit. Add cheese, then wrap the dough around the filling and press the edges together to create a seal. Try to avoid overstuffing! I’ve done this before and my meatball bombs turned into full-blown explosions.
- Bake: Place the bombs seam side down on a baking sheet and leave a little wiggle room for spreading. Whisk together the butter, garlic, and seasonings, then top each bomb with this golden goodness. Bake, then serve warm and enjoy!
Chef’s Tips & Variations
- Serve Fresh: This isn’t the best make-ahead recipe. When the meatball bombs sit around for too long, they tend to get soggy from the marinara on the biscuit.
- Cheese Choices: While mozzarella is classic, try using provolone, cheddar, or even a spicy pepper jack for a different flavor profile.
- Dough Options: If you prefer, use pizza dough or crescent roll dough instead of biscuit dough for a different texture.
- Spicy Kick: Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes inside each bomb for those who like it spicy.
Meatball Bombs
Ingredients
- 1 (12 oz) can Homestyle Butter Tastin’ refrigerated biscuits, or buttermilk biscuits
- 8 cooked Italian meatballs, if using frozen, let thaw completely
- 1 cup marinara sauce, or pizza sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheese, mozzarella or Italian blend
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- pinch of salt
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten each biscuit into a 4 inch round.
- Place 1 meatball and 2 tablespoons marinara in center of each dough round. Top with 2 tablespoons of cheese. Wrap dough around meatball and cheese, pressing edges to seal. Place seam side down, leaving room for spreading on prepared baking sheet. Continue until all biscuits have been completed. Do not overstuff or they can bust open when baking.
- In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt. Evenly spoon on top of each biscuit.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm!
Notes
Video
Nutrition
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More of the Best Meatball Recipes
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I just made these with the crescent rolls because I couldn’t find the other dough. The are good! I hope my husband likes them
Can i use Pillsbury crescent rolls for this?
Hi Holly, Yes! It will be a little thinner dough once cooked, but definitely still tasty!
Did you say you use uncooked meatballs in this recipe? I’d prefer to make my own, but wasn’t sure if I needed to go ok them BEFORE putting them in the dough? Thanks’
Hi Tricia! You will want the meatballs cooked before you put them into the dough to bake. You can absolutely use homemade meatballs, just cook them before using them in this recipe!
Fantastic recipe, Jessica!
All seven of us (even my picky 8-year-old) loved them!
We veganized and tripled the recipe, and my wife wanted to change the name for some reason (?) so we voted and they will be ‘pizza pillows’ from now on.
Can’t wait to make them again. Thanks for a winner.
what do you serve as a side with these
I usually serve them as an appetizer with a bunch more appetizers as a game day feast. But if you wanted to serve these for dinner, I think they would be great with a side salad and some kind of roasted vegetable like broccoli!
Broccoli rabe would be great !!
Me and my family are in love with the idea of meatball bombs; however, we all agreed Italian seasoning and the texture of biscuit weren’t quite right for us. I had leftover meatballs that were fantastic and I needed a way to re-imagine the leftovers. Canned biscuits have a wang or off taste to us; so I made buttermilk biscuit dough and sized for my meatballs. We’re going to try this again in the future but maybe use pizza dough or puff pastry would be really easy and delicious!! Overall it was still really good.
GREAT idea!! & Thank you!
Just the perfect recipe to use up my leftover meatballs. I bought the small package of biscuits that have only five in them. As a single person, this recipe is perfect for me. One dinner and one snack served with a salad. I’m sure reheating the next days snack wont be a problem. Low and slow in the micro.
What a gem! I’ve kept premade Italian meatballs in my freezer for easy night dinners. This night I wanted something a little different than spaghetti or subs but still time sufficient. I came across this recipe and decided to give it a go. I did add some ricotta I had but everything else was the same as far as the recipe calls for. This was definitely a favorite from the first bite! I can’t tell you enough how easy and wonderful this recipe is. Try it, you just might love it!
Can these be frozen? And at what point?
Can they be made ahead?
Thank you!
These meatball bombs just look so incredibly delicious and I am so craving a slice right now! Can I post it on my blog?
Made these meat bombs tonight for dinner they were a big hit. My husband doesn’t like anything foo foo so I also made just plain meatballs. After I explained that the meat bombs weren’t just homemade rolls he decided to try one and really liked it. My daughter tried one then went back in the kitchen came back with 5 on her plate. So great recipe I made my meatballs from scratch I cooked them on the stove first and my oven cooks things pretty fast so it only took ten minutes in the oven.
I grew up hating meatballs. Just gross, yuck, blah. But…grew up, Moved to Florida, got to buy my own groceries and … Like you said the magic word for me PUBLIX meatballs OMG I can not wait to try your recipe with them. Thank you for sharing!
Made these, but family preferred to use the marinara as a dipping sauce instead of putting inside the dough with the meatballs and cheese. Still delicious though.
Made these tonight. Rescued the meatballs from a failed crockpot spaghetti and meatballs recipe. Husband is an Italian crockpot spaghetti was way too soggy. He refused to eat more than a couple of bites. He loved the meatball bombs as an appetizer. He also had a salad . I served him a pizza with the works. He was very happy. He Loved the meatball bombs!
I’m having troubles with the bottoms cooking??? Seems the oil or butter is not letting the dough cook???
Can you make them ahead and bake later
I would like to know how you would reheat them, I’m going to try them but I want to make lots for leftovers
Hi, thanks for sharing this delicious recipes, …great job!
It was soooo good. The whole family went crazy!
Made using homemade sauce and meatballs sooooo good my kids loved them!!!