Bubble Up Meatball Parmesan has a biscuit base, Italian meatballs, marinara, and delicious cheese. It’s a fun, family friendly bubble up recipe that you can whip up easily.
I have made a couple of bubble up recipes on my blog. Three of them to be exact. And they’re all for breakfast or brunch recipes. After the last one I made, bubble up hot brown casserole, I was thinking of trying to make one for dinner. Because the breakfast casseroles were so good, how could a dinner casserole go wrong?
Well, let me tell you I’ve tried this recipe three times. They can go wrong. Fail number one was a gooey mess. I thought I had cooked it long enough, but the biscuits were only cooked around the edges. I am blaming fail number 2 on the frozen meatballs I purchased. They just did not taste right. They were fine by themselves, but not in this Italian inspired dish.
Third time is a charm!
This time I made my own meatballs. It’s the standard recipe I always make for Italian meatballs. I really should make them and share them separately. At least the recipe is written, and I can easily do that. They’re great in spaghetti sauce, on subs, in this bubble up biscuit casserole, and turned into tasty meatball sliders. They’re a great all-around meatball recipe.
You layer all the ingredients in the casserole, and you say to yourself, “That just doesn’t look like it’s going to make enough to feed 8 people.” Trust me when I say it will… wait for it…
BUBBLE UP!
Bubble up recipes are called as such because the biscuits expand and bubble up. They create this delicious biscuit-y garlicy base for the meatballs, cheese, and sauce to float on. It’s sort of like a meatball pizza casserole. I probably should have called it that, but there’s not a pizza crust. And, well, it’s a bubble up casserole.
I honestly have no idea why this one was so difficult for me to make. The other three seamed super easy to make. Why this one was a problem child I have no idea. Well, setting the crappy meatballs aside, it’s just a matter of making sure the biscuits are cooked through. The first attempt I cooked for at least 40 minutes. And I thought, based on recipes I read, that the cooking time was long enough. But it wasn’t.
Maybe my biscuits were bigger? Maybe the meatballs were larger? There are so many variables to recipes these days. It’s the point where I almost want to provide links to all the products I use for reference. I try to do that with the air-fryer recipes I make. There are so many air-fryer out there that I think the make and model are almost as important as ingredients and time.
Just look at that bowl of goodness right there! You can’t say your mouth isn’t watering. Mine is and I had it for dinner. The meatballs are full of flavor. The biscuits are infused with the garlic butter and parsley flavor. The cheese and sauce just round out the total package.
Confession, yes I did drop a few of the Italian meatballs in the bowl so you can see them. With all that sauce and cheese topping on this easy meatball dinner you can’t see them. And since they’re super delicious and perfect for so many uses, I wanted y’all to see them.
Can I prepare this ahead of time?
I’m trying to anticipate questions here. I don’t think this is something you could assemble ahead of time. The biscuits might not enjoy sitting in all that for more than an hour or so. They might not bake up properly if you try to make this ahead of time. And, well, it doesn’t take any time at all to assemble. Minutes. Five minutes at the most if you stack the biscuits and cut them 2 or 3 at a time. It will take longer to preheat your oven.
Yes, I should have one focused on the meatballs since they’re the start in this bubble up bake recipe. But, like I said earlier, I will be sharing this as a separate recipe later on. You’ll just have to keep your eyes peeled for it. They’re super simple and baked in the oven which makes them even easier to throw together. AND you can freeze them for use later.
How can you not be drooling over that bowl of cheesy meatball goodness? And it you can easily reheat this for lunch. Because I did. It was super delicious for lunch the next day. And people wonder why I don’t go out for lunch at work. Because my leftovers are better than restaurant food any day of the week!
National Meatball Day is tomorrow! That’s why we’re celebrating with meatball recipes today. So, you have a several to choose from to make tomorrow I celebration. I’ve included a list of the meatball recipes I’ve made over the years and the bubble up bake casserole recipes I’ve made, too. I hope you enjoy them and make a few of them. They’re oh so delicious, but I am biased!
Bubble Up Meatball Parmesan
Bubble Up Meatball Parmesan has a biscuit base, Italian meatballs, marinara, and delicious cheese. It's a fun, family friendly recipe that you can whip up easily.
Ingredients
- 8 large canned buttermilk biscuits
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon chopped parsley
- 28 ounces marinara
- 16 Italian meatballs
- 2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
For the meatballs:
- 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cut the biscuits into 4 pieces.
- Combine the melted butter with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and chopped parsley.
- Dip the biscuit pieces into the butter and place in the bottom of a casserole dish coated with cooking spray.
- Spread 1 cup of the marinara on top of the biscuits and top with 1 cup Mozzarella cheese.
- Top the biscuits with the meatballs, remaining marinara, and remaining Mozzarella cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
- Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the Parmesan cheese I melted.
- Allow to cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
For the meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Combine the milk with the breadcrumbs in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined.
- Form into 1 1/2 to 2 inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
- Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 834Total Fat 49gSaturated Fat 19gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 25gCholesterol 157mgSodium 1932mgCarbohydrates 53gFiber 5gSugar 10gProtein 44g
That's a bit far fetched. Eat at your own risk.
Meatball Madness
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Bubble Up Bake Recipes
Bubble up biscuit casserole recipes.
Audrey says
oh yes PLEASE! This is simple to throw together and would be a wonderful comforting meal.
Chris says
Super easy to throw together! Thanks!
Inger @ Art of Natural Liivng says
These made my keto heart beat madly (without the biscuit 🙂 )! Anything Parmesan is a classic for a reasono!
Chris says
Yeah I don’t know if you can make this keto. Can you make biscuits?
Karen says
Why have I never heard of Bubble Up casseroles? This does sound so good! Thanks for sticking with it until you found the right formula.
Chris says
I don’t know why you haven’t. They’re fun and once you get the formula down you can make them in an infinite number of ways.
Hezzi-D says
This looks so good! It’s like an all in one Italian dish and I’m loving it!
Chris says
Right? It’s such a fun recipe.
Cindy says
What a cute idea! I never heard that term before! I can’t wait to try it!
Chris says
I hope you do! They’re so fun and delicious.