I love taking classic dishes and making them into bite sizes pieces of heaven perfect for snacking on during the big game. These mini meatball sub sliders are a super fun take on a football classic.
Hey, y'all! As you probably gathered from our Saturday's Snacks series, football is a huge deal in our household. Each Sunday my entire family piles into my parent's theater room to watch our Jacksonville Jaguars play their hearts out. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose but no matter what, the food is always on point.
We love football so much that sometimes football food trickles into our dinner menu. Take these Mini Meatball Sub Sliders for instance. This dish screams football! Serve it with a salad and viola you have dinner.
Now you know me, I love taking dishes and making them as simple to make as possible. This is especially true for football food, I mean who wants to spend an entire quarter in the kitchen? Not this chick! Especially this season (we're in the playoffs in case you didn't know!)! For this recipe, I used frozen meatballs, premade Hawaiian rolls, store-bought marinara sauce, and pre-shredded cheese to make this recipe as easy as possible. If you want to use homemade meatballs, go for it! I will only make the sliders that much better!
Begin by heating the frozen meatballs (or homemade) in a skillet with a jar of marinara sauce. (I start this during a commercial break and let them simmer while I watch the game). Line a baking sheet with aluminum (for easy clean up) and line up your rolls on the baking sheet. Place one meatball on the bottom of each roll. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and top off with the remaining piece of the bun. Brush the tops with melted butter, garlic, and herbs and pop into the oven for 10 minutes.
Another way to prepare them is to use your finger to dig a well in the center of your bun, just wide enough for your meatball to fit inside. Cover with cheese and herbs and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Either way, they taste crazy good!
Ingredients: 1 24 count package of Hawaiian Sweet Rolls 1 package of 24+ Italian meatballs, frozen 1 24 oz jar marinara sauce 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded + 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (reserved) 4 tbsp butter, melted 1 tsp Italian herbs 1 tsp garlic, minced
Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup).
2. Simmer frozen meatballs in 1/2 cup of water over medium high-heat. Cover. Stir occasionally until the meatballs are warmed all the way through (about 8-10 minutes).
3. Add the jar of marinara sauce and reduce heat to medium. Once the sauce is simmering, remove from heat.
4. On the lined baking sheet, place the package of rolls still in a large piece/loaf. Use a serrated knife to slice the entire loaf of rolls horizontally. Remove the top half of the rolls. Skip this step if you bought pre-sliced rolls.
5. Place a cooked meatball on each individual roll. Cover the meatballs with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese mixture. Cap the meatball of with the top part of the roll. Save the marinara sauce for serving!
6. In a small dish, combine melted butter, garlic, and Italian herbs. Brush the top of each of the rolls with the butter mixture. Sprinkle the reserved Parmesan cheese on top of the butter mixture.
7. Bake at 425 for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Start checking around 8 minutes so that you don't over brown the bread!
8. Serve right away with the remaining marinara as a dipping sauce.
Don't forget to use the #mandmcooks if you make this dish so we can see how it turns out!