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Home / Recipes
50 minutes
5 from 7 votes
10 Comments

Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls

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by: Joanna Cismaru
06.20.19
Updated: 07.21.20

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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!

a spatula lifting a chicken meatball roll with cheese stretching

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.

Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls on parchment paper

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 – Unsalted, melted down to slather our entire dish with.
  • Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
  • Parsley – Fresh and chopped up for a great fresh herb-y butter sauce.
  • Red pepper flakes – We want a bit of heat to our dish, if you’re spice averse feel free to skip this ingredient.
  • Seasoning – Salt and pepper.
Meatballs
  • Chicken – Pick up some ground chicken at your local grocer.
  • Onion – Finely chopped or grated with a metal cheese grater, one of my favorite little meatball tricks.
  • Breadcrumbs – Panko is my crumb of choice but any kind will work.
  • Parmesan – Freshly grated, believe me you’ll want to go for the fresh stuff.
  • Parsley – 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 – The binder in our meatballs.
  • Spices – Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes, that’s it!
  • Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Olive oil – 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.
process shots showing how to make Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls

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.
dinner rolls on a pan stuffed with chicken meatballs and covered in cheese

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.

overhead shot of Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls

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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overhead shot of cheesy chicken meatballs rolls with one missing

Cheesy Chicken Meatball Rolls

5 from 7 votes
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 50 mins
Author: Joanna Cismaru
Serves: 24
Print Pin Rate
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!

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
US Customary – Metric

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.

Video

Recipe Notes

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.
These meatballs are also great with ground turkey, beef or pork.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
 

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1rollCalories: 158kcal (8%)Carbohydrates: 4g (1%)Protein: 9g (18%)Fat: 11g (17%)Saturated Fat: 5g (31%)Cholesterol: 55mg (18%)Sodium: 316mg (14%)Potassium: 159mg (5%)Vitamin A: 475IU (10%)Vitamin C: 3.3mg (4%)Calcium: 125mg (13%)Iron: 0.7mg (4%)
Course:Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine:Italian
Keyword:appetizer, game day, snack
Tried this recipe? Rate it belowtag @jocooks on instagram and hashtag it #jocooks!

Meet Joanna Cismaru

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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Comments

  1. Frank Rizzo says

    July 23, 2019 at 12:42 am

    5 stars
    Made it tonight! It was a hit. Great flavour in the meatballs, i did have to add more breadcrumbs than called for as the meat mixture was pretty moist. I did use large eggs but would consider using 1 egg (or more binder) in the future. Also used 3/4 of a large onion and it almost was too much to bind. Probably would use a medium or small onion next time. Last modification… saw another recipe video for meatball rolls where they cut the whole tray of buns in half first, spread part of the garlic butter mixture on the bottom half and toasted for a few minutes… spread some cheese on the bottom portion and heated until it melted… then spread with marinara before adding the top of the buns (with holes bored) brushed with the remaining butter mix and baked again as described. Those steps just helped spread the flavour through the whole bun and more evenly distributed the butter. Awesome taste! PS, i used salted butter and omitted the salt from the butter spread.

    Reply
  2. Sarah says

    September 19, 2018 at 10:53 am

    5 stars
    This pasta was fantastic and easy to make. I did substitute chicken thigh for chicken breasts. Everyone was a fan and I was encouraged to “keep the new recipes coming” after making last night.

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      September 19, 2018 at 11:52 am

      I’m so glad you enjoyed this! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Angie says

    May 25, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    Does this reicoe use frozen dinner rolls or already made dinner rolls that you can buy at the store?

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      May 27, 2018 at 9:16 am

      They were not frozen, already made, but you could make this with frozen dinner rolls, they’d have to be baked first.

      Reply
  4. Beatriz says

    September 11, 2017 at 8:35 am

    5 stars
    Simplemente deliciosos estos rollos

    Reply
  5. Tricia @ Saving Room for Dessert says

    August 31, 2017 at 12:45 pm

    I am seriously lusting after these rolls! What a brilliant recipe Jo – and I know about 20 people that would kiss me for a pan of these 🙂

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      September 1, 2017 at 7:52 am

      Thanks, Tricia! It’s worth 20 kisses, don’t you think? : )

      Reply
  6. Mike Hultquist says

    August 28, 2017 at 9:46 am

    5 stars
    These look CRAZY AWESOME, Jo! I think they’d be perfect for a party or game day gathering. Nicely done.

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      August 28, 2017 at 5:52 pm

      Thanks, Mike!

      Reply

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I'm Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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