These Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls are the perfect appy. We’re talking juicy chicken meatballs, stuffed inside bread rolls that are slathered with a yummy garlic butter sauce, topped with marinara sauce and loaded with mozzarella cheese!
Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls
Today’s recipe is a winner in my book! I would consider this a classic Italian chicken meatball, kind of like a meatball Parmesan but better because the meatballs are stuffed inside dinner rolls that have been slathered with a yummy garlic and parsley butter sauce. Then I toast them up till they’re nice and crisp, top them with marinara sauce and then load, and I mean load them with good Mozzarella cheese.
Chicken Meatballs?
I made these with ground chicken, I for one love a good chicken meatball, but I know some people are afraid they can come out too dry. However, these meatballs are not dry at all, they’re nice and juicy and I fried them until golden brown, so they’re crispy on the outside. This recipe will also make quite a lot, 24 of these rolls to be exact, so there is plenty to feed a crowd, a huge hungry crowd.
Ingredients In Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Garlic butter
- Butter –Â Unsalted, melted down to slather our entire dish with.
- Garlic –Â Use as much or little as you like.
- Parsley –Â Fresh and chopped up for a great fresh herb-y butter sauce.
- Red pepper flakes –Â We want a bit of heat to our dish, if you’re spice averse feel free to skip this ingredient.
- Seasoning –Â Salt and pepper.
Meatballs
- Chicken –Â Pick up some ground chicken at your local grocer.
- Onion –Â Finely chopped or grated with a metal cheese grater, one of my favorite little meatball tricks.
- Breadcrumbs –Â Panko is my crumb of choice but any kind will work.
- Parmesan –Â Freshly grated, believe me you’ll want to go for the fresh stuff.
- Parsley –Â Fresh chopped up. If using dry keep in mind that 1 teaspoon dried equals 1 tablespoon of the fresh stuff.
- Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
- Eggs –Â The binder in our meatballs.
- Spices –Â Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes, that’s it!
- Seasoning –Â Salt and pepper to taste.
- Olive oil –Â We want something with a neutral flavor to fry up our little meatballs.
Rolls
- Dinner rolls – I highly recommend using my Dinner Rolls recipe, but store bought will also work.
- Sauce – I used store bought marinara sauce.
- Cheese – Some good freshly grated mozzarella cheese to get all melty in our dish.
- Parsley – Fresh chopped up nice and fine. If using dry keep in mind that 1 teaspoon dried equals 1 tablespoon of the fresh stuff.
How To Make Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Prep
- Preheat oven: To 375 F degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Prepare the dinner rolls: Using a sharp knife, cut holes in the top of each dinner roll, big enough to stuff a meatball in it.
- Create the sauce: In a small bowl whisk together the garlic butter ingredients. Using a pastry brush generously brush some of the garlic butter inside the rolls. Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes or until they just start to brown and crisp up.
Meatballs
- Combine the meatballs: In the meantime, prepare the meatballs. In a large bowl combine all the meatball ingredients together (minus the olive oil) and shape the meat mixture into meatballs, about the size of golf balls. You should get around 24 meatballs.
- Fry the meatballs: In a large skillet, add 1 tbsp of the olive oil and fry the meatballs until golden brown all around, should take around 7 minutes. You will need to do this in 2 batches, 12 meatballs at a time, using the remaining olive oil for the second batch.
- Combine your dish: Spoon about 1 tsp of marinara sauce into each dinner roll, then place a meatball inside each roll. Spoon another tsp or so of marinara sauce over each meatball then sprinkle with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese over each dozen rolls.
- Finish the rolls: Bake for 10 minutes until the cheese melts and is bubbly then garnish rolls with parsley, and red pepper flakes. Serve warm.
What Else Can I Use In Cheesy Meatball Rolls?
Meat
You don’t have to use just chicken! Other lean meats like pork, beef, or turkey work just as well. You can even combine these ground meats to make a more complex and interesting flavor in your meatballs.
Cheese
You can use cheddar, Monterey Jack, Gouda, Provolone, or even Asiago! Anything that melts down nicely that you have in the cheese drawer can work in this dish.
Rolls
If you’d like to scale down this recipe feel free to slice up a baguette and make a your own little meatball sub. Although if you’d going in the sub direction I highly recommend checking out my Godfather Meatball Sub recipe.
Tips For Making The Best Meatballs
- Fresh breadcrumbs will really set this dish off so feel free to go in this direction if you’d like. This page is a great guide for making your own.
- If you find your meatballs are a bit dry, try cubing up some bread nice and small and soaking in a bit of milk before incorporating into the meatballs. This is a traditionally Italian way of ensuring moisture.
- Don’t crowd your pan when frying these up, this is to ensure that the meatballs brown properly.
- If you’re still having trouble with your meatballs, try referencing this page to trouble shoot what exactly is going wrong.
Storing Leftover Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls
In an airtight container these meatballs will keep for up to 3 – 4 days in the fridge. To freeze, just spread the cooked meatballs separately on a baking sheet and place in the freezer till they’re just frozen. Remove them and place in a freezer bag or other airtight container and place back in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to eat allow these meatballs to thaw overnight in the fridge and pop them in your rolls and follow the instructions above to finish the dish. Freezing the entire finished dish could result in soggy lacklustre bread so I recommend incorporating the rolls when ready to eat.
Craving More Meatballs? Try These Delicious Recipes:
- Chimichurri Meatballs
- Greek Meatballs
- Sweet and Spicy Korean Meatballs
- Dutch Meatballs
- Stout Meatballs with BBQ Sauce
- Porcupine Meatballs
- Firecracker Meatballs
- Meatball Parmesan
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Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls
Ingredients
For Garlic Butter
- 8 tbsp butter unsalted and melted
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper ground
For Meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs I used Panko
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1/2 cup parsley chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper ground
- 2 tbsp olive oil for frying
For Rolls
- 24 dinner rolls
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce I used store bought
- 4 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a sharp knife, cut holes in the top of each dinner roll, big enough to stuff a meatball in it.
- In a small bowl whisk together the garlic butter ingredients. Using a pastry brush generously brush some of the garlic butter inside the rolls. Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes or until they just start to brown and crisp up.
- In the meantime, prepare the meatballs. In a large bowl combine all the meatball ingredients together (minus the olive oil) and shape the meat mixture into meatballs, about the size of golf balls. You should get around 24 meatballs.
- In a large skillet, add 1 tbsp of the olive oil and fry the meatballs until golden brown all around, should take around 7 minutes. You will need to do this in 2 batches, 12 meatballs at a time, using the remaining olive oil for the second batch.
- Spoon about 1 tsp of marinara sauce into each dinner roll, then place a meatball inside each roll. Spoon another tsp or so of marinara sauce over each meatball then sprinkle with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese over each dozen rolls.
- Bake for 10 minutes until the cheese melts and is bubbly then garnish rolls with parsley, and red pepper flakes.
- Serve warm.
