Stuffed

Cheesy Meatball Stuffed Bun

Hands pulling apart a sesame seed-topped bun filled with melted cheese, creating a stringy effect. In the blurred background, there are glowing candles and a white ceramic object. - 1

Prep

30 minutes

Cook

40 minutes

Yield

12 buns

This cheesy meatball Stuffed Bun recipe is everything you need in your life. It is cheesy, it’s tasty, and so dang delicious!

Oh baby! You’re going to love this delicious Stuffed Bun recipe. This dish is the perfect one to make for when you’re having the gang over to watch the game, or just for a fun lunch idea. For this recipe, I took all the goodness of cheesy meatballs and stuffed them inside a fluffy bun. Think of this as an elevated, adult Pizza Pocket.

❤️ Why You’ll Love Stuffed Buns

Easy: The longest part about making these Stuffed Buns is just letting the dough rise for the buns. Although that does make things a little more time-consuming, the recipe itself is so easy and delicious.
Delicious: The fluffy homemade buns that are stuffed with cheesy meatballs are a match made in heaven. These are the ultimate comfort food!
Versatile: You can seriously use this recipe as a base and stuff these buns with whatever your heart desires. Get creative!

🍲 Ingredients

Yeast – For this Stuffed Buns recipe you’ll use a rapid rise (instant) yeast. An instant yeast just makes things a little quicker because it’s already ready to use. If you have non-instant yeast, that’s no problem. All it means is you’ll need to activate it before you add it to the other ingredients.

Hemp Hearts – I love hemp hearts because they are so versatile and you can add them to anything for a little added nutritional boost. Hemp hearts are a good source of fiber, and you can sprinkle them on salads, buns, or bread, into yogurt, and so much more.

A hand lifts a freshly baked, sesame seed-covered dinner roll from a white baking dish. Several rolls remain in the dish. A small bowl of dipping sauce is nearby, set on a light-colored table. - 3

👩‍🍳 How to Make Stuffed Buns

For the meatballs

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix together ground beef, grated onion, minced garlic, salt, pepper, egg, chopped mint and breadcrumbs. Once combined, form into meatballs using about 1 tablespoon per meatball and place spaced apart on the baking sheet.
Bake meatballs for 15 minutes and then turn to low broil for 5 minutes, watch carefully so they don’t burn. Set meatballs aside.

For the buns

In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. The butter will foam up and might spatter a bit. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the butter turns golden brown and the milk solids turn from yellow to chestnut red to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Immediately transfer to a heat-proof bowl and let cool.
Grease a large bowl with the vegetable oil.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the milk until a thermometer registers 120°F – 125°F. Add the milk to the dry ingredients and stir until mixed. Add the egg and stir to mix well. Knead until a smooth dough forms, 5 to 10 minutes.
Gradually mix in ½ cup of the cooled browned butter. The dough will separate a bit, but keep on mixing and it will come together. Knead until the dough is soft and completely combined. Transfer the dough to the greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a tea towel and set in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, butter a 9×13-inch baking pan with the reserved brown butter.
Transfer the dough to a work surface. Press into an 8×10-inch rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 12 equal pieces.
Working with 1 piece at a time, press into about a 3 ½-inch square or round. Sprinkle with 1 rounded tablespoonful of the shredded mozzarella cheese and place one cooled meatball in the middle. Pinch the edges firmly together, then turn over and roll into a ball. Place in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough – you’ll use 12 meatballs so whatever is leftover you can enjoy another time!
Cover the rolls with a tea towel and set in a warm area until doubled in volume, 40 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. In a small bowl, make the egg wash by whisking the egg and milk together. Brush the egg wash generously over the tops and sides of the rolls. Mix together the hemp hearts and sesame seeds and sprinkle over the rolls.
Bake the rolls on the rack in the bottom third of the oven until deep golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack.
Make the garlic butter by melting the butter with the minced garlic, once the butter is melted, cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Immediately brush over the buns and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. While the buns cool, warm the marinara sauce in a small pot over medium-low heat. After 10 minutes, serve the buns with the warm marinara sauce for dipping.

Hands pulling apart a sesame-seed-topped bun, revealing melted cheese inside. A blurred background shows candles and ingredients on a table. - 4

🗒 Tips and Tricks

Get creative: The filling is where you can let your creativity shine. Use anything from savory meats and vegetables to cheeses.
Don’t overfill: Overfilling the buns can make them difficult to seal and may cause the filling to leak out during baking.
Let Meatballs Cool: Allow the filling to cool before using it to prevent it from making the dough soggy.

🗒 Variations

Making your own bread opens up a whole new world that you’re going to become so obsessed with. Not only does it taste better but by making it yourself you are limiting all the preservatives they put in the stuff you buy in the store.

Fluffy Greek pita Bread
Easy Focaccia Bread
Twist Bread

🗒 Substitutions

Ground Beef: If you prefer, you can swap the ground beef in the meatballs for lean ground turkey or chicken, pork, lamb, or a mix of any of those options.
Vegetarian: You can make these Stuffed Buns vegetarian by altering the stuffing. Use a plant-based ground “meat” in place of the ground beef, or stuff them with something entirely different like veggies and cheese, falafel, or whatever your heart desires.
Mint: If you don’t have or don’t love the mint in the meatballs, you can sub for parsley or even basil.

🗒 Best served with

Original Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe
Maroulosalata aka my Mama’s Salad
Italian Chopped Salad

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days and microwave when you’re ready to eat. You could also totally freeze these thaw out, and heat up when ready to eat.

🤔 Common Questions

If your dough is sticky, add flour little by little. Make sure to not add too much as this can make your dough tough.

There could be a few reasons. One reason could be you’re not using fresh yeast (aka it’s expired). Test it by mixing it with warm water and a pinch of sugar. It should foam up. It’s also ideal that you let your dough sit in a warm environment. One hack if it isn’t warm enough in your house is to place it in the microwave with a cup of hot water. Don’t turn the microwave on, just let it sit in there.

Absolutely but it’s important to note that not all flour can be substituted out at a 1:1 ratio so make sure you have the ratio right when you substitute it.