Meatball Boats
A tasty and entertaining take on traditional meatballs, meatball boats are served in a bread or other vessel. They are excellent as an appetizer or a filling dinner! This is a simple recipe for meatball boats:
Components:
- 12–16 1-inch meatballs, either homemade or frozen
- Four French bread or hoagie buns (for the “boats”)
- One cup of pizza sauce or marinara sauce
- One and a half cups of mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
- One teaspoon of dried oregano or Italian seasoning
- For garnish, fresh parsley or basil is optional.
- Olive oil (for brushing, optional)
Optional Extras:
- Sautéed bell peppers or onions
- Pepperoncini or sliced olives
- Flakes of red pepper (for a spicy kick)
Directions:
- Set the oven’s temperature to 375°F (190°C).
- Prepare the meatballs: Cook your homemade meatballs until they are cooked through, or reheat frozen meatballs according the directions on the package. To absorb the flavor, cook the meatballs in marinara sauce over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Get the rolls ready: Cut the hoagie rolls in half lengthwise, leaving enough of the sides to create a “boat” shape, then hollow out the inside of the bread a little. Some of the soft bread within can be carefully removed with a spoon; if you’d like, you can keep this to make breadcrumbs.
- Put the boats together: The hollowed-out rolls should be put on a baking pan. Add the meatballs to each boat after spooning a little marinara sauce into it. You can fit roughly three to four meatballs each boat, depending on the size of your rolls.
- Add cheese on top: After the meatballs are in the buns, cover them with additional marinara sauce. Next, evenly distribute mozzarella cheese over the meatballs and then sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Top with oregano or Italian seasoning.
- Bake: Put the meatball boats in the oven and bake for ten to twelve minutes, or until the bread is brown and just beginning to crisp up, and the cheese is melted and bubbling.
- Garnish and serve: After taking the meatball boats out of the oven, top them with parsley or fresh basil and, if you’d like, a little olive oil. Serve warm and dig in! Depending on your preference, these can be served with a fork or eaten with your hands.
Advice:
- Bread option: If you like smaller quantities, you may alternatively use tiny sub rolls or baguette slices.
- Additional flavor: Before adding cheese on top, add sautéed onions, bell peppers, or mushrooms to the boats.
- For a spicier twist, add some pepperoncini slices or red pepper flakes.
These cheesy, flavorful, and very gratifying meatball boats are ideal for a fun family supper, game day, or parties.