These easy mozzarella stuffed meatballs are simple yet flavorful. Make these low-carb, cheese-filled meatballs in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.
PIN FOR LATER
Updated 2019 with Instant Pot instructions
There are several meatball recipes on this blog because…I love meatballs. They’re quick to make, healthy (as you want to make them) and you can use them in countless recipes. Since I’m on a low-carb, cheese kick I thought why not make mozzarella stuffed meatballs to switch things up a bit.
Low-Carb/Keto Meatballs
These might look fancy but trust me, they’re pretty effortless. I used Butcher Box ground beef for my meatballs but by all means, use your preferred meat whether it’s beef, turkey, pork, chicken. I made my meatballs low-carb/keto by using almond flour instead of breadcrumbs. You don’t have to use my meatball recipe. If you have your own, of course you can use that instead.
9 large mozzarella stuffed meatballs
How Meatballs?
How many meatballs should you make? I used a 6-quart slow cooker and I purposely made my mozzarella stuffed meatballs larger than usual so I got 9 meatballs. Make as many meatballs as your slow cooker or Instant Pot will hold and yes you can stack them on top of each other if you are using a smaller appliance. You should get anywhere from 9 to 12 meatballs using one pound of meat. If you’re feeding a large crowd, you can double the recipe.
before (slow cooker)
Other meatball recipes you might enjoy:
Slow Cooker Meatball Zoodle Soup (Low-Carb, Paleo, Whole30)
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs (Low-Carb, Paleo, Whole30)
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Italian Meatball Dinner (Paleo, Whole30)
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Zoodles & Meatballs (Low-Carb, Paleo, Whole30)
after (slow cooker)
Adding The Mozzarella
I stuffed one single 1/3 oz ciliegine mozzarella balls in each meatball. You doesn’t matter what form your mozzarella comes in. Meaning, you don’t have to go out and buy ciliegine mozzarella balls. They can be expensive, I know. Another options is to take shredded mozzarella and ball it up with your hands. What’s most important is that you use mozzarella that’s a good ratio to the meatball. Trust me, it’s rather disappointing to open up a large meatball and have barely any mozzarella oozing out.
How To Serve These Meatballs
Are you living a specific dietary lifestyle? For low-carb/keto I suggest serving these over zucchini noodles (zoodles), spaghetti squash, riced or mashed cauliflower or eat them as-is with a nice simple salad. If you’re not on a particular diet, serve these mozzarella stuffed meatballs the old-fashioned way – with pasta!
Slow Cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs VIDEO:
{VIDEO} Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs (Low-Carb, Keto)
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 tsp oil for IP
- 4–6 ounces mozzarella
Sauce:
- 28 ounces crushed or diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp dried onion flakes (or 1 small onion, diced)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground meat
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp almond flour
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
Slow Cooker
- In a large bowl, mix together MEATBALLS ingredients. Taking 2-4 tbsp of meat*, form into a ball and then flatten the ball in the middle.
- Add mozzarella to the center of the flattened meat. Re-form meat around the mozzarella and shape into a ball. Repeat until all the meat is used.
- Pour SAUCE ingredients into the slow cooker. Add the meatballs.
- Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
Instant Pot
- In a large bowl, mix together MEATBALLS ingredients. Taking 2-4 tbsp of meat*, form into a ball and then flatten the ball in the middle.
- Add mozzarella to the center of the flattened meat. Re-form meat around the mozzarella and shape into a ball. Repeat until all the meat is used.
- Set Instant Pot to the high saute setting. Once hot, add oil.
- Add meatballs and brown on each side, 3-5 minutes. Remove meatballs from pressure cooker. You might have to brown them in batches.
- Add sauce ingredients and stir to mix well. If needed, deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon. Add the meatballs back into the pressure cooker.
- Close and seal vent. Select manual setting and set time for high pressure, 7 minutes. Quick-release pressure when cook time is completed.
Notes
*You can make the meatballs as large or as small as your slow cooker will hold.
If some of the cheese seeps out of the meatballs when they cook, don’t worry it’s normal. I think of it as a good thing because it makes the sauce nice & cheesy. For the seasoning, if you don’t have an Italian seasoning already, use this one:
I used a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe.
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Disappointed. I was looking forward to the oozy melted cheesiness but ALL the cheese disappeared from nearly every meatball and the sauce was greasy and watery-like. I spent a good hour meticulously crafting those meatballs and was ultimately let down. I’m going to try to thicken the sauce with cornstarch tomorrow, and hopefully make it usable. I will likely post my results.
I used Gluten Free Panko bread crumbs. My meatballs are falling apart. Any idea why? Does being Gluten Free matter? Being Panko?
Only a few fell apart. Namely the ones I tried to brown.i used enough oil, but no matter what, they kept sticking to the bottom and getting ripped apart when trying to (gently) loosen them. I only attempted to brown 1 batch because of this.
★★★
Can you just use store bought spaghetti sauce instead of making your sauce?
Absolutely!!
SO GOOD!! Obsessed with how yummy these were. Going to make them for the second time in a row!
★★★★★
I made these last night. Everybody really liked them. I didn’t take a picture. In the future I will take a picture. Also are used shredded cheese instead of the Mozzarella balls. Next time I will use the mozzzarella balls.
★★★★★
High pressure for 7min? My meatballs i made are 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 round. Not big. Would the time still be the same? Its my first time in an instapot. Im used to using a crockpot for hours.
Yup just 7 minutes, the time is the same regardless of the size. The Instant Pot is a completely different appliance than the crockpot, food doesn’t need to cook for hours unless you’re using the slow cooker function (which I do not recommend). Particularly here, the meatballs are browned first.
What setting on the instant pot? High or low?
High pressure. Thanks for catching that, the blog post has been updated.
Made these for dinner tonight using the instant pot. They’re terrific. Quick and easy. I’ll definitely be making these again!
★★★★★
I made these and I can’t get over how easy it was to do. I made this on a weeknight using the Instant Pot. Dinner was ready in no time!
★★★★★
How do you deal with the burn notice?
What a beautiful visual. I can just smell them cooking now. Guess what I’m taking to my next potluck event!
What a great idea! Thanks for showing the pics of how to stuff the meatballs