Meatball Toasties

Meatball Toasties is a simple but elegant appetizer idea you will love! Hearty meat bakes onto the bread, topping with marinara and mozzarella cheese!

If you’re searching for a visually captivating appetizer but not as much work as some “individual appetizers,” this is the recipe for you!

You’ll take ground beef and mix up my tried-and-true meatball recipe. Then, spread this onto a hearty slice of French bread and bake until the “meatball” is cooked. Add marinara sauce and fresh mozzarella to the top of each toastie.

These meatball toasties get added to a plate, drizzled with balsamic glaze and a sprinkling of fresh basil ribbons.

Just glorious! And SO delish!

What is a meatball toastie? It’s basically a smashed meatball sandwich bite.

How to Make Meatball Toasties

Let’s start gathering your ingredients:

You’ll need everything you need for your meatball recipe.

• Ground Beef
• Seasonings
• Breadcrumbs
• A couple of eggs
• Ricotta cheese
• Parmesan

I like to use skinny and long French bread; it’s the perfect two-bite appetizer size when sliced. Be sure to slice your bread “on the bias,” as this creates better visual appeal and a more effective way to eat the appetizer recipe.

You’ll need a jar of your favorite marinara (or pizza sauce would work, too!) and some fresh mozzarella.

Meatballs for the Toastie

Let’s mix up some meatballs, y’all!

We all have our favorite meatball recipes, but this Spaghetti and Meatball recipe is my go-to! That recipe uses sausage and ground beef, and if you want to use both, GO FOR IT! The recipe card below reflects how I made them exactly in the video above.

It’s got ricotta cheese, which helps make it incredibly tender.

It is packed with flavor from garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Add some red pepper flakes if you like a little bit of spice!

Mix all this up and then use a spreading knife to schmear each bread slice with the raw meat. Yes, I said raw!

Have you seen any viral videos about raw burger meat on tacos? Well, this is similar… But you’re using bread and meatball mixture!

The ground beef melts into the bread and soaks in all that delicious flavor. I have many ideas for other bite-size appetizers to make along these lines!

Before baking the meatballs and bread together, I drizzled it with olive oil to give the bottom of the bread something to soak in and help with the browning of the top.

I did this because I used super-lean ground beef. The olive oil isn’t necessary if you use ground chuck or some other version.

And, yes! You can definitely make this with ground sausage, ground chicken, or ground turkey!

Serving this Easy Appetizer Recipe

You can spread each slice of bread with the meat mixture and keep them covered in the fridge until you need them.

If I were making these ahead of time, I would make the meatball toasties right up until I add the sauce and cheese.

You’ll spoon marinara sauce on top of each meatball toasty; then, each gets a hefty slice of mozzarella cheese. I like using fresh mozzarella here, but feel free to use shredded!

Bake the toasties until the cheese is melted, and you might need to turn on your broiler to get that golden brown goodness we all know and love!

Remove each toasty from the baking tray and place it on your serving platter.

Drizzle with balsamic glaze, and sprinkle basil ribbons on top.

I mean, does it get any better, y’all?!

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