Garlic Bread Meatballs are traditional meatballs with processed garlic bread crumbs added in for maximum garlic bread flavor in the meatballs!
Garlic Bread Meatballs
I had this idea one day when I was making some homemade meatballs, and my husband brought home a loaf of garlic bread too. Why not throw some garlic bread in the food processor and make garlic bread breadcrumbs to add to the meatballs? And then this easy recipe came to be.
🛒 Ingredients Needed:
- garlic bread
- ground beef
- ground pork
- eggs
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- fresh Italian parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- cream
- marinara sauce
✏️ How to make Garlic Bread Meatballs:
*The complete, printable recipe with all ingredients and instructions is at the end of this post.
PREPARE THE GARLIC BREAD BREADCRUMBS:
Tear off about ⅓ of the garlic bread, break it into pieces and add it to a food processor. Process into crumbs. You’ll need 1⅓ cups of garlic bread breadcrumbs (or maybe a little bit more) for the meatballs. Set it aside. You can use the rest of the loaf of garlic bread to broil garlic bread to go with your meal.
PREPARE THE MEATBALLS:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground meats, breadcrumbs, eggs, Parmesan, parsley, salt a couple of grinds of pepper and a splash of cream. Mix together well with clean hands. If the mixture is too wet, incorporate more garlic bread crumbs.
Roll into 32 1½-inch balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Place the baking sheet with the meatballs into the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to firm them up a bit.
➡️ Tips and Substitutions:
- You can certainly make your own garlic bread, using French bread topped with the best garlic bread spread.
- You can certainly use regular breadcrumbs for this recipe instead of garlic bread. But you would want to add 3 minced garlic cloves to the meatball mixture.
- Use all ground beef or add in some ground veal. It’s okay to experiment with proportions of ground meats that add up to 24 ounces.
Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned.
✔️ How to serve Garlic Bread Meatballs:
There are many ways to eat meatballs in marinara sauce. You can simply enjoy them in the sauce. Serve them over freshly cooked pasta. Add them to a roll to make a meatball sandwich. Serve them over polenta. Slice the meatballs to add to pizza. Be creative!
Add marinara sauce to a large pan, add the meatballs to the sauce, and simmer until warmed. Then your meatballs in the sauce are ready to eat!
❤️ What I Love About This Recipe:
- These are so delicious with the garlicky bread crumbs added in!
- I love making these ahead of time and eating up the meatballs in various ways throughout the work week.
- I love that there will be extra garlic bread to make to go with my meal.
Best Garlic Bread Recipes:
Garlic Bread Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups garlic bread breadcrumbs (SEE INSTRUCTIONS– you'll need a loaf of store-bought garlic bread)
- 16 ounces 90% lean ground beef
- 8 ounces ground pork
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 splash cream
- 6 cups marinara sauce
Instructions
PREPARE THE GARLIC BREAD BREADCRUMBS:
- Tear off about ⅓ of the garlic bread, break it into pieces and add it to a food processor. Process into crumbs. You'll need 1⅓ cups of garlic bread breadcrumbs (or maybe a little bit more) for the meatballs. Set it aside. You can use the rest of the loaf of garlic bread to broil garlic bread to go with your meal.
PREPARE THE MEATBALLS:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground meats, breadcrumbs, eggs, Parmesan, parsley, salt a couple of grinds of pepper and a splash of cream. Mix together well with clean hands. If the mixture is too wet, incorporate more garlic bread crumbs. Roll into 32 1½-inch balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Place the baking sheet with the meatballs into the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to firm them up a bit.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Add marinara sauce to a large pan, add the meatballs to the sauce, and simmer until warmed. Then your meatballs in the sauce are ready to eat!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
