Spicy Holiday Meatball Bites are perfect for holiday parties – easy to assemble, super tasty, and can be either appetizer or main dish
Spicy Holiday Meatball Bites are great for holiday parties – about 2-3 bites of chile-cheese-meatball satisfying flavor. And yes, they are good either hot or cold. This is a simple dish that you just assemble and bake; it makes a great project for the kids.
This is an appetizer that you just assemble and bake. It also scales very easily. Basically, it consists of just store-bought already cooked meatballs, Pillsbury crescent rolls in a can where you unroll the dough, shredded cheese and diced green chiles. One can of crescent rolls (an 8 crescent roll can) makes 12 of these appetizers. They are assembled and baked in a mini-muffin pan, the kind that makes bite sized cupcakes. I think they are best served with a side of your favorite salsa.
I used Amylu Cranberry & Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs from Costco (on sale through Nov 20); despite the jalapeno these are very mild but plenty tasty. Since they are precooked, you can just thaw them and eat them right out of the bag. Italian meatballs are very good in this recipe. Note that since these are cooked in a mini-muffin pan, some meatballs will be too big. You can cut them in fourths or they’ll do fine in a regular muffin pan – they will just be wider and shorter. You can also cut the meatballs in chunks and put a layer on each square of dough. Otherwise all instructions are the same. These are pretty hard to screw up.
If you want to take them to a party and serve them hot, you can make them and bake them ahead of time. Take them to the party in a baking dish (glass ones can be attractive). Before serving, pop them in the oven at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes. You can also microwave them, but they will be soft rather than a little crispy around the edges. You can also assemble these in the muffin pans earlier in the day and bake them right before serving.
This is a simple, fun, and always popular appetizer. Hope you enjoy them!
- 1 tube Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
- 6 precooked store-bought meatballs (Italian is good)
- 1½ cups shredded sharp cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese
- ½ cup diced green chiles, medium hot
- cooking spray
- salsa to serve on the side
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the muffin pans with cooking spray. (Nonstick pans are preferable.)
- If frozen, thaw the meatballs in advance. Cut them in half so they fit in each muffin cup.
- Roll out the crescent roll dough and press the seams together.
- Cut the dough into squares about 3½ inches wide. Press the squares into the muffin pans so the corners are sticking up.
- For each appetizer, put a layer of shredded cheese, a layer of green chiles, and a half meatball. Then top with another layer of cheese and more green chiles. Be generous with the cheese.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Serve hot or cold with salsa on the side.
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