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Easy Garlic Bread Meatball Sub Cups Recipe

Easy Garlic Bread Meatball Sub Cups

Flaky refrigerated biscuits become golden garlic bread cups filled with marinara, Italian-style meatballs, and melted mozzarella. This easy muffin-pan recipe makes 8 portable meatball sub cups in about 30 minutes.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Garlic Bread Meatball Sub Cups
  • 1 can (16.3 ounces), 8 biscuits Refrigerated flaky biscuits
  • 8 about 1 ounce each, frozen or refrigerated Fully cooked Italian-style meatballs
  • 1/2 cup, plus extra for serving if desired Marinara or spaghetti sauce
  • 1 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese
Garlic Butter
  • 1/4 cup Unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon Minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons Grated Parmesan cheese
Pan Preparation
  • as needed Nonstick cooking spray

Method
 

Step-by-Step
  1. Heat the oven to 375°F and coat 8 wells of a standard muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. If using frozen meatballs, thaw them according to the package directions or microwave briefly until they are no longer frozen in the center.
  3. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, minced garlic or garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and grated Parmesan cheese.
  4. Separate the biscuits and flatten each one into a roughly 4-inch circle. Press one flattened biscuit into each prepared muffin-pan well, shaping the dough into a small cup.
  5. Brush the biscuit dough lightly with some of the garlic-butter mixture, focusing on the inside and base of each cup.
  6. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of marinara into each dough cup. Place one meatball in each cup and top evenly with the shredded mozzarella.
  7. Brush a little more garlic butter around the exposed biscuit edges so the bread develops a fragrant, golden finish as it bakes.
  8. Bake for 15–18 minutes, until the biscuit edges are golden brown and the mozzarella is melted. If the meatballs were not fully cooked beforehand, continue heating until the centers reach 165°F.
  9. Let the meatball sub cups rest for 3–5 minutes before carefully removing them from the pan. Serve warm with extra marinara for dipping.

Notes

Use fully cooked meatballs and thaw or warm them first so the biscuit dough can brown before the filling becomes overcooked. Avoid overfilling the cups with sauce because excess sauce can make the bottoms soggy.