Italian Meatball Sliders for a Crowd
These Italian meatballs sliders are like your favorite meatball sub in a bite-sized package. With mini homemade meatballs, marinara sauce, mozzarella, and garlic butter topping, they're cheesy, savory, and beyond delicious. And you can make them on either Hawaiian rolls or dinner rolls so there's plenty of servings for a crowd!
Ingredients
Italian Meatballs
- 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs (50 grams)
- 1/3 cup whole milk (80 milliliters)
- 2 pounds 80/20 ground beef (908 grams)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onions (70 grams)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic (14 grams/3 big cloves)
- 2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley (8 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (40 grams)
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper, more to taste
Meatball Sliders
- 2 cups marinara sauce (500 grams)
- 20 dinner rolls or Hawaiian rolls
- 12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, roughly torn (340 grams)
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (20 grams)
- 20-40 fresh basil leaves
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (28 grams)
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic (1 big clove)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley (4 grams)
Equipment
- 9x13 pan
Instructions
Italian Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Stir the breadcrumbs and whole milk together in a large mixing bowl. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes, until the breadcrumbs have rehydrated.
- Add the ground beef, onions, garlic, parsley, eggs, Parmesan cheese, Kosher salt, and black pepper to the breadcrumb mixture. Mix the meat mixture with a rubber spatula until it's well-combined. Don't over-mix or the meatballs will be dense.
- Use a #60 scoop to divide the meat mixture into 1 Tablespoon portions. Then, roll each portion of meat into a ball with clean hands. You should have about 60 small meatballs.
- Line the meatballs on the prepared sheet pan, leaving space in-between each one. Bake for 14-15 minutes, until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165°F (74°C). Drain off any extra grease.
Meatball Sliders
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9x13 pan with neutral oil or cooking spray. Heat the sauce gently on the stove until it’s hot. Toss the hot meatballs in the warmed sauce.
- Next, cut the rolls in half and line the bottom rolls in the prepared pan. Add 3 meatballs per roll. Top the meatballs with any leftover sauce. Then, evenly sprinkle the meatballs with the torn mozzarella and grated parmesan. Top each slider with 1-2 fresh basil leaves. Place the top rolls on the sliders.
- Whisk the melted butter, grated garlic, garlic powder, and parsley until smooth. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the rolls with garlic butter. Cover the sliders with foil & bake for 20-25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes, until the rolls are golden brown and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!
Notes
Depending on the size of your rolls, you may need to bake the sliders in 2 separate pans or on one big sheet pan.
I personally like to sauté the onions before adding them to the beef to give the meatballs a deeper flavor. But raw still works great, so just do whatever you like best.
To make the sliders a little easier to eat, you can form the meat into small pucks instead. That's what my husband's family does when they're making subs!
If you're using Hawaiian rolls, please see my note in the blog post to keep the rolls from coming out soggy.
Feel free to swap the homemade meatballs with 28-32 ounces of your favorite frozen meatballs. Just make sure they're bite sized, you'll need about 60 small meatballs total.
Serving: 1slider, Calories: 334kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 18g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 68mg, Sodium: 788mg, Potassium: 295mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 226mg, Iron: 3mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @sundaytable.co on Instagram!