Mini Meatball Mac & Cheese

Everyone loves a bit ol bowl of mac and cheese for dinner – so lets make it a little extra with some adorable mini meatballs and crispy bacon! This recipe for Mini Meatball Mac & Cheese will be one that get requested time after time. It’s pretty easy to put together and you likely have most of the ingredients on hand, as they are all staples in most home cooking kitchens.

To get the meatballs all the same size – so that cook evenly – I urge you to use a food portion scoop. I have a variety of sizes in my kitchen as I use them for all sorts of things from making cookies and cupcakes, to portioning my burger patties and meatballs. Its a super handy tool to have, and isn’t even super spendy, even if you get the industrial kind (which I encourage as they will last much longer). You will notice that I didn’t list mixing the meatballs into the mac and cheese. This is a preference thing. If you do want to mix them in, do it very gently as the meatballs will break up and then you basically have cheeseburger mac!

Bacon adds a nice smoky note to this recipe. As you’ll notice I swapped out some of the butter for bacon grease. This is just a way to bring all the ingredients together. You can skip this step and just use four tablespoons of bacon. But it really does add a little extra to the cheese sauce, especially when you stir in the bacon. Also if you prefer to cut up your bacon before frying it, that’s totally fine too.

This recipe makes for a great make-ahead meal and also saves great for leftovers – if you have any. My brood scarfed it all down and said should make more meatballs next time – so if there was ever glowing recommendation, there it is!

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Mini Meatball Mac & Cheese

Delicious little homemade meatballs in a classic mac & cheese with bacon sprinkled on top

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword bacon, beef meatballs, cheddar cheese, mac & cheese, mac and cheese, meatballs

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1½ lb Large Elbow Pasta
• 6 strips Thick cut Bacon
• 3 stalks Green Onion chopped

For the Cheese Sauce

• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 4 tbsp Flour
• 2 cups Milk
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Ground Mustard
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 3 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded

For the Meatballs

• 1½ lb Ground Beef
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Ground Mustard
• 1 tsp Paprika
• ½ cup Panko
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbsp Ketcup

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400degF.
• Combine meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a 1inch scoop, portion meat mixtures into balls. Roll between your hands to make round. Place on baking rack over a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.
• Start water boiling for the pasta.
• In a frying pan over medium high heat, add bacon and cook until crispy. Remove to a paper towel covered plate. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease. Once bacon is slightly cool, chop into bits.
• Add pasta to boiling water and cook as directed on the package. Drain in a colander and return to pot away from heat.
• In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add reserved bacon grease, butter, onion powder and garlic powder. Once melted whisk in flour. Let cook for two minutes then whisk in milk and let cook for two minutes then whisk in seasonings and cook another two minutes. Whisk in heavy cream and cook another two minutes. Then add in cheese, a handful at a time, whisking until it's melted in.
• Add cheese sauce to pasta, along with half of the bacon bits. and stir to thoroughly combine.
• Add portion of mac & cheese to serving bowl. Add 6-8 meatballs and sprinkle with remaining bacon bits. Top with green onions.