Pepper Jack Stuffed Pretzel Meatballs

    I love making meatballs out of things that are familiar to everyone and who doesn’t love pretzels and cheese!?! I’ve overloaded this meatball with pretzels instead of breadcrumbs and stuffed with some spicy pepper jack cheese to give them a little kick!

    Pepper Jack Stuffed Pretzel Meatballs

    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 25 minutes
    Servings: 37 meatballs
    This is a recipe that I've been thinking about making for a while and the opportunity came up this past Sunday when we were invited to our friends' house for football. I knew that there were going to be more folks there than normal so I made what I would call a double batch of meatballs. I tend to only use one pound of meat per recipe - even if I combine meats as I did for this one. Since there were going to be a good crowd at this particular game I decided to make enough so everyone was fed.
    I wanted to make a meatball that would be a crowd-pleaser and also something that had a little heat. I chose to combine ground beef and Jimmy Dean's Hot Sausage for the base for this meatball. I'm a huge fan of making meatballs with Jimmy Dean's Hot Sausage because of the texture of the meat and the fact that the sausage is a little spicy but not overwhelming for those that are a little hesitant of spicy foods. I kicked it up a little by stuffing these meatballs with some pepper jack cheese. You can always substitute a habanero jack cheese or a ghost pepper cheese to give these balls a little more kick.
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    Ingredients

    • 1 lb ground beef
    • 1 lb Jimmy Dean's Hot Sausage
    • 4 cups Crushed Pretzel Rods
    • 4 eggs
    • Pepper to Taste
    • 37 cubes Pepper Jack Cheese

    Instructions

    • Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit
    • In a bowl combine ground beef, Jimmy Dean's Hot Sausage, eggs, crushed pretzel rods, eggs, and pepper to taste. I omit adding any salt to this particular recipe since the pretzel rods are heavily salted.
    • Once the meat mixture is thoroughly combined, take a scoop of the meat mixture and flatten it in your hand.
    • Place one of the Pepper Jack cheese cubes in the middle of the flattened meat in your hand.
    • Gently wrap the meat around the cheese and roll this in your hands to form a ball.
    • Place the meatball on a greased and tin foil-lined baking sheet.
    • Bake the meatballs for 25 mins and serve warm.
    Bowl of raw ingredients for Pepper Jack Stuffed Pretzel Meatballs

    We were invited over to a friends for the Vikings and Packers game and I wanted to bring some meatballs over to share. I wanted to make something that would be a crowd pleaser. I’ve had this recipe in mind for a long time and I wanted to try it out for this event. The nice thing about the game that day was I knew our friends were going to have a full house for the game. This gave me an opportunity to get a lot of feedback on this recipe from a lot of different folks.

    I went really heavy on the pretzels on this one because I wanted to get as much pretzel flavor in them as I possibly could. I wanted these meatballs to remind those eating them of the classic pretzel and cheese combo. I have to admit pretzels and cheese are one of my favorite things to order off of an appetizer menu if that’s all we’re going out for.  

    Baking sheet lined with tinfoil with 37 raw Pepper Jack Stuffed Pretzel Meatballs

    I did make what I would call a double batch of meatballs for this particular recipe. I usually only use one pound of meat for each one of my meatball recipes. I feel like, for the most part, it makes enough meatballs to bring as a dish to share or a weeknight meal. I knew we were going to have a larger group to feed so I made this recipe with two pounds of meat. 

    For this recipe and the event that we were going to, I wanted to add a little heat to these meatballs as well. If you’re not a fan of spice you can always substitute the Jimmy Dean’s Hot Sausage with the Regular Jimmy Dean’s Sausage or even just some basic ground pork. I really love the consistency of Jimmy Dean’s Sausage for meatballs either all on it’s own or mixed with beef. I tend to get better results with my stuffed meatballs when mixing Jimmy Dean’s Sausages and beef. 

    Serving suggestion for Pepper Jack Stuffed Pretzel Meatballs served next to broccoli and carrots topped with feta cheese with sliced oranges and extra cheese sauce in the background.

    Another ingredient that you can swap out in this recipe if you’re not a fan of spicy things is the pepper jack cheese. You can choose your favorite cheese to stuff these meatballs with. If you’re short on time or don’t have block cheese at home but have everything else you can always make these same meatballs without the stuffing. You can find my Simple Cheese Sauce recipe here for dipping or you can always pick up your favorite pre-made cheese sauce for dipping. These are two variations of this recipe are time savers if you are in a hurry. These meatballs are super yummy no matter which way you decide to make them.

    Close up of my Pepper Jack Stuffed Pretzel Meatballs with one meatball split in half to show the melty pepper jack cheese

    The only thing better than a cheese stuffed meatball is a cheese stuffed meatball dunked in a cheese sauce. I did a really Simple Cheese Sauce for these meatballs. There were a couple reasons for this, one was really all about time. I had a limited amount of time to come up with these meatballs and the cheese sauce before we had to make it to our friend’s house for the game. It was a noon game which seems to be the time our Vikings play the most. I might have gone a little fancier with the cheese sauce if the game was at three, but this Simple Cheese Sauce is easy to throw together and is still super delicious. 

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