Meatball Sub Cupcakes – Great for lunch, dinner or a party! All the flavors of a meatball sub in individual servings. Cream cheese, frozen meatballs, marinara, and mozzarella stuffed in crescent rolls and baked in a muffin pan – SO good!! Ready to eat in under 30 minutes! Can freeze leftovers for a quick meal later.
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Pin This RecipeMeatball Sliders with Crescent Rolls
These Meatball Sub Cupcakes were inspired by the Chicken Parmesan Cupcakes I posted a few weeks ago. I took all the flavors of my favorite Meatball Sub Casserole and put them in these individual “cupcakes”. We loved these! SO good. We ate these for dinner, but they would also be great for tailgating and parties! Just whip up some pasta or throw together a salad and you are set!
How to Make Meatball Sub Cupcakes
These savory cupcakes are super easy to make. Start with cutting crescent roll dough into 12 squares. Press the dough into a muffin pan. Spread cream cheese and Italian seasoning into the bottom of each muffin cup. Top with meatballs, spaghetti sauce, and cheese. Pop them in the oven and bake.
- I used 1-oz frozen Italian meatballs and they were the perfect size.
- There is no need to precook or thaw the frozen meatballs before baking. They will cook along with the crescent rolls.
- Can substitute a can of refrigerated pizza dough for the crescent rolls.
- My favorite jarred spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), Rao’s, and La Famiglia DelGrosso.
- Can freeze leftover cupcakes for a quick snack later.
What to Serve with Muffin Pan Meatball Subs
These Meatball Sub Cupcakes are a favorite at our house. They are super quick and easy to make and they taste great. We usually serve these with some pasta and a salad. Here are few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with these meatballs:
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Creamy Italian Dressing
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Meatball Sub Cupcakes
Ingredients:
- 1 (8-oz) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
- 4- oz cream cheese, softened
- ¾ tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 12 (1-oz) frozen meatballs
- 1¼ cup spaghetti sauce
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Spray 12 regular size muffin cups with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Remove dough from can; press seams to seal and press into an 8×18 inch rectangle. Cut dough into 12 squares. Press squares into muffin pan cups.
- Combine cream cheese, Italian seasoning and ½ cup mozzarella cheese.
- Divide the cream cheese mixture in the bottom of each muffin cup. Place meatballs on top of cheese; top each meatball with 2 tablespoons spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.
Notes:
- I used 1-oz frozen Italian meatballs and they were the perfect size.
- There is no need to precook or thaw the frozen meatballs before baking. They will cook along with the crescent rolls.
- Can substitute a can of refrigerated pizza dough for the crescent rolls.
- My favorite jarred spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), Rao’s, and La Famiglia DelGrosso.
- Can freeze leftover cupcakes for a quick snack later.
Steph
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Do you think that I could put everything together and put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours until I’m ready to bake it? I’m traveling for Christmas Eve and I really don’t want to have to put everything together at the party. It would be nice to get everything in the muffin tin the night before, stick it in the refrigerator, and then just bring it to the party to bake.
I think that would be fine
Would it work without the cream cheese? Maybe ricotta instead? My family doesn’t care for cream cheese.
Sure
You might want to try Mascarpone cheese.
Just made this and it came out delicious! I didn’t have any regular cream cheese so I used the whipped buffalo cream cheese that I had instead. My oven gets really hot so I baked mine at 350F for 12 minutes. Came out perfect!!
I made these today and they are absolutely delish! I used turkey meatballs. Thank you for this delectable delight.🥰
How do I keep warm for a take along to a party?
I like this Pyrex set: https://www.target.com/p/pyrex-4pc-portables-easy-grab-baking-dish-set/-/A-13796563#lnk=sametab
These were delicious! Thank you!
Made these for tailgating and they were a big hit! I used grands flaky biscuits and split them in half instead of using crescent rolls. Easy and delicious!
Can you use the grands crescent rolls and pull them apart as I’ve done for other recipes?
Any changes and substitutions to the recipe are up to you.
Did you put them in paper muffin cups before putting them in muffin tin ?
I don’t use paper liners but you can
How do you heat them up after they are frozen?
Covered in the oven or in the microwave
Cream cheese required? Can do without??
Make it however you want
Not sure what I did wrong but meatballs where still raw. Had to double the cooking time. When finally done they where soggy from the grease from the meatballs. I will try again but will cook the meatballs first next time.
Frozen meatballs are fully cooked when you buy them. You are just reheating them. Did you make your own meatballs?