🧀 Easy Cheesy Meatball Bake Recipe 🍽️

This easy, cheesy meatball bake is a great way to add variety when you have a lot of ground beef. As the name suggests, it’s simple to make and can be used in sandwiches, eaten with pasta, or served on its own if you’re eating low-carb. Adding pork panko helps add structure and subtle notes of pork flavor without the carbs you’d typically get from breadcrumbs.

This recipe also works well for meal prep, just double or triple the recipe and freeze any leftover meatballs. Make sure to freeze them separately at first; once they’re frozen, you can combine them into a single container. You can jazz things up by adding a tablespoon of ricotta cheese on top of each meatball after the initial baking. I topped mine with pan-fried beef cracklins, as you can see in the image, and it was incredible. Keep an eye out for my beef cracklings recipe in the near future.

Feel free to experiment with different herbs or omit them altogether. You can also substitute fresh herbs with dried herbs, but remember to use less, as dried herbs are more potent. You can prepare the meatballs in advance and bake them when you’re ready, perfect for a busy weeknight. Whether you make them ahead of time, use them for meal prep, or whip them up fresh, you’ll love this recipe for its simplicity, optimal macro ratios, and flexibility, not to mention how amazing it tastes.

Easy Cheesy Meatball Bake Recipe

Difficulty Level:  3 Meatballs

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 25 Minutes

Servings: 4

• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 1/4 cup of pork panko (ground pork rinds)
• 2 egg
• 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, minced
• 3 tablespoons of fresh Basil, minced
• 2 cloves of garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the mozzarella cheese, in a medium-sized bowl and mix until well combined.

Form the ground beef mixture into balls, using approximately 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture per ball (makes 16 meatballs). If you’re not good at eyeballing, like me, you can weigh the entire portion of the meat mixture and divide by 16 to figure out the weight of each ball.

Place the meatballs on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart, and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.

Then cover them with the mozzarella cheese and broil on high for 3–6 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.

Finally, garnish with thinly sliced strips of basil and enjoy with an appropriate portion of pasta or seared paneer cheese.