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Easy Meatball Sliders

Easy Meatball Sliders are the answer to a quick weeknight dinner or game day food for a crowd. Great way to use up leftover marinara sauce and a bonus is you can freeze the meatballs and sauce for another meal.
Author: Lisa Kerhin

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

  • 1/2 green pepper diced
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 jars 26 oz each of your favorite marinara sauce
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper

For the Meatballs:

  • 1 lb ground beef I use 90% lean
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1/2 cup oatmeal or Panko bread crumbs
  • 1 small onion minced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup diced fresh basil chiffionade the basil and then chop into smaller pieces

For the sliders:

  • 12 slider buns
  • 12 slices of provolone cheese

Instructions

To make the Sauce:

  • Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and green bell peppers. Saute till softened, about 3 minutes and then add the garlic.
  • Cook for about 30 seconds more. Add in the marinara sauce, Italian seasoning and ground pepper. Stir to combine and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and let simmer for at least an hour but not more than 2 hours.

To make the Meatballs:

  • While the sauce is simmering:
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
  • Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. For this batch, I used the Panko bread crumbs. Usually I use oatmeal but I didn’t have any on hand this time.
  • Form the ground beef mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls.
  • Place on prepared baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 - 30 minutes, or till done.
  • Remove from pan and add to sauce and continue to simmer sauce and meatballs. At this point, the sauce should have at least 30 minutes to 1 hour left to simmer.

To make the Sliders:

  • Preheat the broiler. Place slider buns, open side up onto a baking sheet. Place in broiler and lightly toast the buns. Remove from oven.
  • Add two meatballs per bun and top each slider with a slice of provolone cheese and serve.