Updated on September 9th, 2025
If you love both pizza and meatballs, this recipe is a fun way to bring them together in one dish. These pizza meatballs are stuffed with gooey mozzarella cheese and baked until tender, then tossed in a flavorful pizza sauce with bits of pepperoni mixed in. It’s a recipe that skips the stovetop since everything comes together easily in the oven. Served with pasta or on their own, they make a comforting and cheesy meal that’s hard to pass up.
Why this recipe works
- Cheesy surprise inside: Each meatball has a cube of mozzarella tucked inside, so every bite melts into that stretchy, cheesy goodness.
- No frying needed: Baking the meatballs keeps things simple, less messy, and still gives you juicy, fully cooked meatballs.
- Pizza-inspired flavor: Garlic salt, onion, seasoned breadcrumbs, and the addition of pepperoni in the sauce bring all the familiar pizza flavors into play.
- Kid and adult friendly: This is one of those recipes that kids love for the cheese factor and adults appreciate for the comforting, pizza-like taste.
- Easy to pair: Since they’re coated in sauce, these meatballs can go with pasta, bread, or even be served as an appetizer.
Serving suggestions
- With pasta: Toss the pizza meatballs with spaghetti, rigatoni, or penne for a dinner that feels like a cross between pasta night and pizza night.
- On sub rolls: Pile the meatballs into toasted sub rolls, sprinkle on extra mozzarella or provolone, and you’ve got a meatball sub with a pizza twist.
- Party appetizer: Stick toothpicks in the meatballs and serve them as a crowd-pleasing snack at gatherings, with extra sauce on the side for dipping.
- Family dinner night: Add a green salad and garlic bread on the side to round out the meal into something filling and complete.
- Freezer-friendly meal: Prepare and bake the meatballs ahead of time, freeze them, then reheat and toss with fresh sauce when you need a quick dinner.
Pizza Meatballs Recipe
Try this pizza meatballs recipe for an easy dinner idea with gooey cheese centers, delicious sauce, and all the flavors of pizza night.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2lbs ground beef
- 2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup dried minced onion
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 (8 ounces) block mozzarella cheese (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
- 28 ounces pizza sauce
- 1 cup diced pepperoni
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, milk, minced onion, garlic salt, and ground black pepper. Mix well using your hands until well combined. Shape the mixture into 48 small meatballs. Push a mozzarella cube into the center of each meatball, covering the cheese completely with the meat. Place onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Place into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until the meatballs are fully cooked (the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees F.).
- Pour the pizza sauce into a medium saucepan and add the pepperoni. Cook until heated through over medium heat.
- Toss the meatballs with the pizza sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 338
- Sugar: 7.5 g
- Sodium: 1240.7 mg
- Fat: 6.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.7 g
- Protein: 36.8 g
- Cholesterol: 71.4 mg