Easy Meatball Stromboli

Have you ever tried a recipe that you made up in your mind but was unsure if it would work out? And then when you did it was AMAZING?!

That's my goal every time I try a new recipe and I'll be honest, it doesn't happen often! There's always somethinggg that I feel can be added or changed. This was not the story of this Easy Meatball Stromboli.

It was perfect the first time I made it. Wellll I did add the number of meatballs in the stromboli but literally everything else is the same.

Cody mentioned 10 times how amazing and perfect it was so I knew it had to be good. He's a pretty tough critic 🤣

My recipe is as easy as it comes. I use Pillsbury pizza dough, frozen meatballs, and jarred marinara. By all means you can swap this for homemade ingredients, but just know, the shortcut way works just fine as well! 😄

Worried about the braiding? Don't be!

I thought I had really screwed it up the first time because it did not look cute before going into the oven 🙈 But don't worry, as long as you give the dough room to breathe, it'll bake up just fine. So have fun with it! Food should be fun 👩🏻‍🍳

P.S. I didn't mean to, but the stromboli kinda looks like a 🍆 . I am so sorry 😂

I thought I had screwed it for sure the

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Easy Meatball Stromboli

• Classic Pizza Crust Pillsbury Dough (photo below of the packaging)
• 1 tablespoon of raw grits (I used 5 minute grits)
• 16 frozen meatballs
• ½ cup jarred marinara sauce (I use any "classic" marinara in various brands)
• ½ cup fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into small rounds
• Egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water)
• ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon onion flakes
• ¼ teaspoon garlic flakes
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the meatballs and marinara sauce on medium low heat for 10 minutes while you prep the dough and cut the mozzarella
3. Roll out the pizza crust on a clean work surface and sprinkle lightly with raw grits (this will help for sticking)
4. Flip the crust over and stretch to an even rectangle. Try to get to 13 x 9 inches but don't fret if it's not perfect.
5. Slice diagonal lines in the dough, leaving 5 inches of dough in the middle (see video for reference)
6. Line the mozzarella down the dough and then spoon the meatballs in rows of 2.
7. Spoon a little marinara over the top of the meatballs, but not too much. Let's save the rest for dipping!
8. Start to form the stromboli by folding the bottom pieces of dough up and then criss crossing the diagonal strips of dough. See the video for a visual representation. Don't worry about if it's pretty or not, just make sure there are breaks in the dough and that the meatballs are tucked in safely.
9. Brush with egg wash and then sprinkle with salt, dried onion and dried garlic.
10. Bake for 15-17 minutes. I baked mine for the full 17 minutes.
11. Remove the stromboli from the oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Add back to the warm oven for a few seconds to let the cheese melt.
12. Let cool for at least 5 minutes.
13. Slice and serve with more marinara for dipping