by Holly
One thing you need to know about me is that I could literally live on macaroni and cheese. Any kind at all, homemade, frozen, blue box… you name it, I love it! If I make it homemade (which is rare because I eat ALL of it) and we have leftovers, there I am at 8 am in the fridge eating them.
Repin Mac & Cheese Stuffed Meatballs Here
I often serve homemade meatloaf with a side of macaroni and cheese and some salad… and the other day it occurred to me “Hey, Why not serve them together… like, really together!!!”. Let me say the results were ridiculously delicious!
These Mac & Cheese Stuffed Meatballs are filled full of cheddar cheese and rich velvety mac & cheese. Seriously, it doesn’t get better than this! I used my 10 minute Stove Top Mac & Cheese recipe because it’s super fast and easy. You can use ANY type of mac & cheese for this and if you’re in a rush, check your deli counter. They usually sell heat and serve mac & cheese which will work perfectly!
Items you’ll need for this recipe:
* Panko Bread Crumbs * Ground Beef * Baking Sheet *
MAC & CHEESE STUFFED MEAT BALLS!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2 tablespoons onion finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 1.5 oz cheddar cut into 10 small cubes
- 1 cup prepared macaroni and cheese chilled (I used this Quick Stove Top Mac & Cheese Recipe)
- 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce optional
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Combine beef, onion, egg, panko bread crumbs, shredded cheese and pepper. Mix just until combined (over mixing will create tough meatballs).
- Divide meat into 10 equal pieces. Squish each piece of meat into a thin circle. Top with 1 slightly heaping tablespoon of macaroni (as much as can fit) and 1 cheddar cube.
- Fold sides up pinching to seal and form into a meatball. Place meatballs on a parchment lined pan and brush with barbecue sauce.
- Bake 24-26 minutes or until the center of each meatball reaches an internal temperature of 160 °F.
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Here are a few more recipes you’ll love
* Ultra Creamy Mac & Cheese * Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs * Cabbage Roll Casserole *
Crazy question… can these be made with ground turkey? Hoping the cheese and barbecue sauce will provide the flavor
Betty, while I have only made this as written, I think that ground turkey would be a delicious variation!
Wonder if these would be as tasty cooked in a crock pot all day while I am at work…? REALLY want this for my son’s birthday party, and a crock pot would save tons of time! Thoughts?
Happy Birthday to your son! I haven’t tried these in a slow cooker Heather, I would worry the macaroni would be overcooked after all day. I might suggest making them ahead of time and then reheating before serving. If you try it, please let us know how it works out!
This was GREAT! We made this for dinner tonight and every one loved it. We will definitely be making this again. Thanks!
I am so glad your family enjoyed these meatballs Nicole!
This is a great, i can’t wait to make it! Thank you so much for the inspiration. It has my mind abuzz about so many things i can stuff into a meatball. Chicken salad, carbonara, egg salad, bread stuffing. It’s endless! Thank you again, you’re a genius!
Enjoy!
I doubled the recipe and ended up with 18 meatballs. Pretty big ones. I also ended up with a lot of leftover Mac & Cheese from the 2 Kraft mac & cheese boxes, this to the delight of my son! They were cooked to perfection at exactly 24 mins. They opened up and looked like beautiful flowers at the top. I loved loved loved the taste and consistency of these balls. I am going to make some mini meatloaves with the same recipe and serve a tomato dipping sauce on the side.
I am so glad you guys love them Marie! That is such a great idea, thanks for sharing!
What a great marriage of two, all time favorites…meatballs and mac and cheese. Wow! If they were anywhere near me right now, I’d devour them for breakfast. Pinned! Gonna try these sometime :)
Sounds like an amazing breakfast to me!
Oh wow. My mouth is watering. These are two of my husbands favourite meals combined.
This is meatballs heaven!!! Looks so delicious I’m actually drooling right now! Such a great creative idea :)
You’ll love it Natalie!
Now this sounds like a delicious dinner! Great idea stuffing the meatballs :)
A perfect dinner!
These are two of my girls favorite foods so I’m sure they would love them combined. Great thinking!
Mac & cheese is a favorite around here too! They’ll love it!
very creative and delicious looking. I really like this idea and its a must try soon
Enjoy Claudia!
very nice i enjoyed
Hi! These look really lovely and I have added them on to our meal plan this month. I was just wondering what you serve them with? I don’t want to put with pasta as they have that in already but not sure which veg would go with it? Thanks.
I usually just serve them with steamed broccoli, salad and bread. Sometimes the kids like to have fresh cucumbers/tomatoes on the side instead of salad!
I know this completely changes the recipe, but I don’t know if my daughter would care much for the Mac n cheese. Don’t get me wrong, she loves mac n cheese, but not this kind. I have always spoiled my family with my Granny’s baked Mac n cheese, which is quite different than just regular mac n cheese. Ok, now I was wondering what else I could stuff in there and I thought about maybe some shredded hash browns (maybe the flavored southwestern flavor usually over by the eggs, cheese, canned biscuit isle) some bacon bits and maybe just a little bit of chopped green onions, and of course the cheese. I know I know, this changes the whole recipe but was just wondering what your thought are on this change. And what exactly are panko bread crumbs? Is that a certain ‘kind’ or ‘brand’ of bread crumbs? Thanks for any input!! :)
That would be delicious too Christy! Panko Bread crumbs are a Japanese style bread crumb, they are much lighter and crispier than regular bread crumbs. I use them in place of regular bread crumbs all of the time, I find the texture and flavor to be so much better.
My wife is a Mac&Cheese junkie, I will make this for her. It looks good
I think I could eat 100 of these. Yummy! Come link up with us at Tickle My Tastebuds Tuesday!
Julia @ MiniVanDreams.com
Yun