All the flavors of a great meatball sub are combined in this easy casserole! Made in one pan, and using frozen/pantry items, it’s a favorite among both kids and adults!
This Meatball Sub Casserole is one of my favorite meals to cook for my family. We really love one pot meals, and this one is always a winner… like my Cheesesteak Pasta and Chicken Parmesan Pasta! This is one of my One Pot Meals I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
This post was originally sponsored by Cooked Perfect Meatballs.
MEATBALL SUB CASSEROLE
If you love a great meatball sub, you’ll love this bubble up bake! Made with everyday ingredients, and in one pan, this meal is ready and on the table in less than an hour.
How are you all doing with the COVID-19 pandemic? This is such a confusing and ominous time, and I think most of us are still spinning and trying to figure out how to shift our lifestyle to cope with bare grocery shelves, lack of schooling, and restaurants closing (at least in my area).
I just wanted to say that I’m here for you – and I’ve gone through my entire recipe collection to catalog all the recipes that are freezer-friendly. This is a great time to not only make some freezer meals for yourselves, but for your elderly neighbor, or a friend who’s pregnant, etc.
You stay home, stay safe, and I’ll keep working on recipes for when the world settles down again… we all have to eat right?
HOW TO MAKE MEATBALL SUB CASSEROLE
- Cut each biscuit into 8 pieces. Cutting them this small allows them to fully cook, as well as make them more bite-sized.
- Add biscuit pieces to oven-safe skillet. I love using my cast iron for this, but a regular 13×9 pan will work as well.
- Top with marinara and seasonings. For ease of preparation, I love to use my favorite bottled brand, but if you have homemade on hand, you can use that.
- Stir to coat biscuits in mixture.
- Nestle in the meatballs. I prefer to use thawed meatballs here, so nothing gets soggy.
- Cover with 1/2 the cheese. I like to only use half now, so when the last half gets added, it’s nice and gooey.
- Cover with foil. To help the cheese not stick to the foil, spray one side of the foil with cooking spray and cover with the sprayed side down.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then uncover, top with last 1/2 cheese and bake 15 minutes more. Baking it covered for most of the time ensures the biscuits will be cooked all the way through.
The best part about this meatball sub bubble up bake is that during that 45 minute cook time, it’s totally hands off! All you have to do is uncover the skillet about 30 minutes into the cook time.
So you can hang out with your family, go oversee the homework, fold some laundry, or just go sit down and relax!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH THIS CASSEROLE
To go alongside this meal, I like to serve a Caesar salad.
Since the bubble up bake has bread in it, I usually don’t serve bread, but if you’re feeling like you need some extra garlicky goodness in your life, this cheesy garlic bread is our family’s go-to!
VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE
- GARLIC HERB – For extra flavor, melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter and stir in some minced garlic and dried Italian seasoning. Toss biscuit pieces in garlic herb butter before adding to skillet.
- HOMEMADE MEATBALLS – I love using frozen meatballs for convenience, but every now and then I like to switch it up and make my own. I use this meatball recipe, and bake at 400 F degrees for 20 minutes.
- TOPPINGS – Feel free to add any additional toppings you like! Mushrooms, peppers, etc.
MAKING MEATBALL SUB CASSEROLE AHEAD OF TIME
I’ve not tried to assemble this casserole ahead of time and refrigerate it, so I can’t say for certain if that would work well.
FREEZING
This recipe is great to make and freeze! Bake about 10 minutes less than directed, then cool completely and freeze.
To thaw, place overnight in the refrigerator, and then bake at 350 F degrees for about 20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
STORAGE
Leftover should be refrigerated in an airtight container and consumed within 5 days.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
- Cast Iron Skillet – I use my cast iron pan for SO many things, you love it!
I hope you all give this meatball sub bubble up bake recipe a try… I’m sure you’ll love it!!
BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT OTHER READERS’ COMMENTS FOR TIPS AND REVIEWS.
AND DON’T FORGET, IF YOU’VE MADE THIS RECIPE, LEAVE A COMMENT AND PLEASE GIVE IT A STAR RATING LETTING ME KNOW HOW YOU ENJOYED IT!
Recipe originally published in 2017 and has been updated in 2020 with additional information.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 can 8 count refrigerated biscuits
- 14 oz bag Frozen Italian Style Meatballs, thawed (I use the 1/2 oz size meatball, which has about 28 meatballs in the bag)
- 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- fresh basil or parsley, minced (optional - for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees and spray a large oven safe skillet or 3 qt baking dish with non stick spray. Set aside. Lightly spray one side of a piece of aluminum foil with non stick spray and set aside.
- Remove biscuit dough from can and slice each biscuit into 8 pieces. Add to greased skillet or baking dish.
- Top with marinara sauce, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Stir around to mix seasonings into sauce and coat dough in sauce.
- Nestle thawed meatballs into and on top of the dough pieces. Cover with half the shredded cheese, and cover skillet or dish with foil, sprayed side down.
- Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil, add remaining cheese, and bake another 15 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted. If desired, broil a minute or two.
- Serve hot, garnished with fresh herbs, if using.
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Chef Tips
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Stephanie says
Our family loved this recipe, easy and quick meal for a school night!
Ellie-Sue Sunström says
Wonderful kid friendly recipe for a weeknight dinner after lyrical dance class for my daughter and my son’s font club meeting at school. They both are active and this means I’m active. It’s a perfect twist to the old favourite pizzeria meat ball hero. Thanks Chunky Chef!
Csrolann says
Sounds so good Amanda. Love your recipes.thank you Happy New.year.
Kimberly says
I made this recipe as written but most of the biscuits did not properly cook and I was left with raw dough pieces in the casserole. I’m guessing it needed to cook longer and at a higher temperature to fully cook the biscuits. The sauce tasted good though. I might try it again.
Sue Turnbeau says
Used Carando Meatballs and loved it!! Easy to prepare, lots of flavor and plenty of food!!
Angie says
I rolled my biscuits in Parmesan olive oil and it turned out amazing!!!
Hannah says
This was SO good! I mixed the biscuits with garlic butter as recommended and it was amazing. Definitely keeping this recipe on hand. Thank you.
Rosie says
I don’t have grand biscuits. Bit I have the pillsbury cornbread. Do you think that would taste weird?
Amanda says
Personally, I don’t think I would enjoy the taste of cornbread with the other ingredients in this recipe, but everyone has different tastes, so it’s up to you 🙂 I’ve only tested it as written though.
Dina says
Do you think I could use sausage instead of meatballs? Or would it be too greasy? My family doesn’t care for them.
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain if that would work. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Rhonda says
Should I do anything different if I’m using dinner-sized 1oz meatballs? I guess I could cut them in half after they are thawed, before cooking!
The Chunky Chef says
To make it a bit easier to enjoy a bite that’s more than just meatball, I’d cut them in half, but other than that, no changes necessary 🙂
Sakina Z says
Could you sub canned biscuits for canned croissants??
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written, so I can’t say for certain, but I think it would work well.
Vieva J. Becker says
This sounds so good, I have to try it. Thank you…
Amy says
So delicious, we’ve made it twice this week!
Danielle says
We tried this last night and it was delicious. We will definitely be making this many more times!
Love news ideas says
Hi i live in australia no such thing as canned refridgerated buscuits what do i use instead?
The Chunky Chef says
Do you have any frozen biscuits? You could thaw those.
Michelle says
Biscuits are usually cookies in the UK and I think in Australia as well, so I don’t think there are any equivalents (closest is probably a savoury scone). We have frozen pizza rolls, dough balls, and croissants, I know that it won’t quite be the same texture as a US biscuit but figure it would be a bit of a similar idea?
Ella-Sue Sunsström says
Maybe try a baguette or pizza dough.
Ella-Sue Sunström says
Good points you make. You could probably get pizza dough and cut it up and use that. Keep an eye on it because the pizza dough may take longer to cook. I bet it will taste delicious. If pizza dough isn’t available I’d try and find either an uncooked baguette or if it’s already baked just adjust your cooking times.
Mike says
Can you use a 9inch cast iron skillet instead of 12 for this recipe?
The Chunky Chef says
You can, although it may be a tad full.
Alana says
What biscuits are you actually using?
The Chunky Chef says
I usually use Pillsbury Grands biscuits.
Nic says
Sounds yummy! If using homemade meatballs, would they need to be precooked before adding to casserole or could they go straight into the casserole and cooked all together?
The Chunky Chef says
I’d probably bake them about halfway through, just so they stay together and the casserole doesn’t get greasy 🙂
Robin says
This was fantastic and fun! I did make my own meatballs and so glad I did. Way better then any sub!
Thank you.
Stay safe and healthy.
RF
Deseree says
A casserole that will go down in my family’s history! Meatballs and casseroles are the best!