If you’re looking for some fantastic Blackstone sliders to make on the griddle, then this easy smashed meatball sliders recipe is for you! Learn how to make these fantastic griddle sliders with a homemade meatball recipe!
Introducing your new favorite griddle sliders recipe… Smashed meatball sliders!
Picture this – You’re serving homemade meatball sliders at your next backyard get-together, and a guest bites into one of your messy sliders, only to have the perfectly round meatball push right through the backside of the bun and escape down the front of her dress.
If you’ve ever eaten a meatball slider or a meatball sub, then you know what I’m talking about. The round shape of a meatball isn’t exactly conducive to being sandwiched between two pieces of bread.
So what’s the fix?
Smashed meatball sliders!
You can smash everything on the griddle from the best smash burgers to these unique and incredibly tasty smashed potato skins stuffed with barbecue pulled pork, so why not flatten some homemade meatballs, too!
Here’s how to make this awesome griddle sliders recipe that combines everyone’s favorite mini sandwiches with some classic Italian meatballs:
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS MEATBALL SLIDERS RECIPE:
- Easy to eat. Because the meatballs get smashed on the Blackstone griddle, they fit on a slider bun better than traditional round meatballs, and you don’t have to worry about the meatballs falling out and rolling away if you’re serving these sliders as party appetizers.
- Easy to make. Just start with a simple homemade meatball recipe, and flatten the meatballs on the griddle as they’re cooking. The large surface area of a griddle or flat top grill means that you can cook up a bunch of these smashed meatballs at one time.
- Easy to customize. This meatball sliders recipe is based on our flat top grilled meatballs, but with a few changes to accommodate the ingredients we already had in the fridge. Feel free to substitute the cheese used, or make your meatball mixture with a different type of meat.
Ingredients for Meatball Sliders
Here are the ingredients that we used for our fantastic griddle sliders with smashed meatballs and marinara:
- Ground meat. We used a blend of ground beef, pork, and veal for this particular meatball recipe, but we have also made griddle meatballs with ground beef and ground mild Italian sausage in the past.
- ALL the cheeses. Ricotta cheese and grated pecorino romano get mixed into the meatball mixture, and sliced mozzarella and provolone cheeses are melted on top of the smashed meatballs. Of course, you can substitute your favorite Italian cheeses or just use ricotta and shredded mozzarella to save on costs.
- Eggs. For the meatball mixture.
- Day-old bread. You can lay out 2 slices of sandwich bread on the counter the day before making meatballs, or substitute hamburger buns that are going stale. We used day-old brioche hamburger buns to add just a bit of sweetness to the mixture.
- Onions and garlic.
- Fresh basil and parsley. The fresh herbs add some “brightness” to this recipe, but you can also substitute a smaller amount of dried herbs.
- Slider buns. We used a Hawaiian style slider bun, but any type of slider buns will work.
How to Make Smashed Meatball Sliders on the Griddle
If you can make meatballs, which basically just requires mixing ingredients in a bowl and making a ball shape, then you can make these meatball sliders on the griddle. Here’s how to do it:
1. Make the meatball mixture.
The best meatball sliders recipe starts with making some homemade meatballs. And if you’ve never made your own meatballs before, don’t worry… it’s actually super easy to do. Just think of it like mini Italian meatloafs.
Simply add all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl like this:
Then, use your hands to combine all of the ingredients together, taking care to not over-work the mixture. When you’re done, your meat mixture should look something like this:
Then, roll the meat mixture into individual balls. You can use a ¼ cup measuring cup to portion out the meat so that all of the balls are uniform. The balls should be medium-packed… if they are too loosely packed, they may fall apart when smashed on the griddle.
2. Prep the other ingredients for meatball sliders.
If you’re familiar with griddle cooking, then you know the importance of mise en place, or preparing all of the ingredients for a dish so that they are standing by at the ready. And this griddle slider recipe is no different.
Before you start cooking the meatballs on the griddle, be sure that your other ingredients are ready. This includes:
- Chopping the fresh basil and/or parsley for garnishing your meatball sliders.
- Having your butter and slider buns nearby and the packages opened so that you’re ready to toast the buns on the griddle.
- Cutting the provolone and mozzarella cheeses into smaller squares. Since you’re using the sliced cheese for sliders, the standard slice size is too large.
- Heating some of your store-bought marinara sauce in a saucepan on the griddle. You can begin warming the sauce while you’re cooking the meatballs, and move the pan on and off the griddle as needed.
- Gathering all of your necessary griddle cooking tools like a melting dome, squirt bottle of water, and spatulas.
3. Cook the “smashed” meatballs on the griddle.
Cooking smashed griddle meatballs is very easy to do, but I do recommend that you follow these specific steps. Remember, these meatballs are moist and juicy because of the higher fat meats and cheeses mixed in, so you don’t want them to fall apart.
This is the method that we used for making smashed meatballs on the griddle:
Start by placing the meatballs on the heated griddle surface so that there is enough room in between each ball to smash and flip like this:
Then, allow the meatballs to cook untouched just like that for about 60-90 seconds to develop a char on the underside before flipping the balls over. This simple technique helps the raw meat not stick to your spatula when you’re smashing the meatballs down, and it really works! And you can save some parchment paper.
After about 60-90 seconds untouched, flip the balls to the opposite side. Then, using the flat side of your spatula, smash each meatball down by applying gentle pressure until the ball is about 1/2″ – 3/4″ thick.
Too thick and your meatballs will take too long to cook. Too thin and your meatballs will fall apart on the griddle. Remember, you definitely don’t want your smashed meatballs to be as thin as smash burgers! This is what they should look like after smashing them down:
Notice the very small round crust on the top? That’s from when the meatballs were initially on the griddle for 60-90 seconds on the first side. That little circle of char is what keeps your spatula from sticking to the raw meat.
After about 4-5 minutes, flip the smashed meatballs to the next side to continue to cook. They should look something like this now:
After a few more minutes, begin checking the smashed meatballs for doneness. You can use an internal probe thermometer to check the temp. Since these meatballs are made with ground pork and sausage, you definitely want to make sure that they are cooked through (160 degrees F is recommended by the USDA).
While the patties finish cooking, add some butter to a clear area on the griddle. Then, toast your slider buns cut side down in the melted butter until they’re golden brown.
I really recommend toasting the buns, because the marinara sauce and smashed meatball patties are so moist. The nice toast on the bread adds another texture to your griddle sliders.
4. Melt cheese on the griddle sliders.
When the meatball sliders are almost all the way cooked through, it’s time to add the Italian cheeses. We did the majority of our griddle sliders with packaged sliced mozzarella and provolone cheeses, but then we ran out of sliced cheese and improvised with a *gasp* pre-shredded store bought Italian cheese blend.
The packaged shredded cheese turned out just fine, so use whatever cheese you like.
Then, group 4-6 of the sliders together so they can fit under a melting dome. Add a bit of water to the hot griddle to create steam around the smashed meatballs, and place the dome on top to help melt the cheese like this:
When the cheese is melted, your smashed meatball patties are ready to add to your buns!
5. Assemble the smashed meatball sliders.
While the smashed meatballs finish cooking on the griddle, you can prepare your slider buns so they’re ready.
Just add a bit of marinara sauce to the top and bottom of the toasted buns. Then, sprinkle some of the fresh basil on to the top bun for a bit of garnish. You can also add a bit of freshly grated parmesan or mozzarella cheese to the bottom bun if you like.
When your meatball “patties” are done cooking, you can transfer them directly to the prepared buns.
And then your meatball sliders are ready to be served! Don’t they look fantastic?!
And if you loved this griddle slider recipe, then be sure to check out some of my other Italian griddle sandwich recipes:
- Italian Cheese Steak – Dang Good Griddle Sandwich Recipe!
- The BEST Chicken Caprese Sandwich – Easy Store-Bought Ingredients!
- Griddle Chicken Parmesan Sandwich (& Homemade Marinara)
Meatball Sliders Recipe
Want to print this awesome meatball sliders recipe? Just use the recipe card down below, and be sure to head back over here after you make these griddle sliders to let us know what you think!
Smashed Meatball Sliders on the Griddle
Ingredients
For the Homemade Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- ½ lb ground mild or sweet Italian sausage
- 2 slices white bread dried on counter overnight
- 2 large eggs
- ½ medium white onion grated
- ¾ cup ricotta
- ⅓ cup grated pecorino romano cheese or substitute parmesan
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 5 fresh basil leaves chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper
Other Meatball Slider Ingredients:
- 2 cups marinara sauce *We like the Rao's brand.
- 12 slices mozzarella cheese
- 6 slices provolone cheese
- 24 slider buns
- butter to toast the slider buns
- chopped fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
- Heat griddle to about 400-425 degrees F.
- Tear 2 slices of bread into small pieces and add to a large bowl. Or, you can grate the day-old bread to a finer consistency.
- Add eggs, the ground meats, grated onion, ricotta, pecorino romano (or grated parmesan), basil, parsley, minced garlic, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Use your hands to combine all of the meatball ingredients thoroughly, but don't over-work the mixture.
- Roll the meat mixture into individual meatballs that are equal in size. You can use a ¼ cup measuring cup to portion out the meat so that all of the balls are uniform. The balls should be medium-packed – if they are too loosely packed, they may fall apart when smashed on the griddle.
- Add about 2 cups of marinara sauce to a small saucepan. Place the pan on the heated griddle to warm, stirring occasionally.
- When the griddle reaches about 400-425 degrees F, place the meatballs down and allow them to start cooking for about 60-90 seconds. Then, flip the balls over to the other side. Use your spatula to gently press down on each meatball to flatten them out to about ½" thick and about the same width as your slider buns. *You don't want the meatballs to be too thin like a smash burger, because then they may fall apart on the griddle.
- Allow the flattened meatballs to cook on the first side for about 4-5 minutes, or until a nice crust develops, then flip to the second side and continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
- While meatballs are cooking, add about 1-2 tablespoons of butter to a clear area on the griddle and spread the melted butter around with your spatula. Toast the slider buns cut side down in the butter until lightly golden brown, then remove from the griddle.
- When meatball patties are just about done, top with about ½ slice of mozzarella cheese and about ¼ slice of provolone cheese. Allow the cheese to melt, then remove the cooked smashed meatballs from the griddle. You can use a melting dome if you wish.
- Assemble the meatball sliders. Add a bit of warm marinara sauce to the top and bottom toasted buns. Sprinkle on some chopped basil for garnish. Add the smashed meatballs and serve warm.
Notes
- Allowing the meatballs to cook untouched and develop a char on the first side for the 60-90 seconds when you initially add them to the griddle helps the raw meat not stick to your spatula when you’re smashing.
- You may substitute finely diced onion for grated onion if you wish. If you use diced onion, I suggest sautéing the onions on the griddle briefly to tenderize them a bit and then allowing them to cool before adding them to the meatball mixture.
- The sliced cheese varieties and amounts are just a suggestion. Feel free to use shredded mozzarella or other cheese to melt on top of the smashed meatballs.
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Comments & Reviews
Christopher DeBona says
Good recipe. I love meatballs and making new things with them. Thank you for this slider recipe.I plan to try this as soon as I can afford a Griddle. I dint own one but I watch your videos for when I do get one. Have a blessed day
Rob says
Can’t wait to try some of these recipes. Just got my flattop today!!!
Frank Grafius says
Such a fun idea… every bit as easy as a smash burger but with a fancy change up. Our family loved em!
Michael Kamps says
This look absolutely delicious and I will be trying this very soon.
Matt Harper says
Congratulations on 100k Subscribers.
Jim DeGraaf says
this is by far one of my favorites you have done ! I cannot wait too try this…. definitely putting sweet hot peppers on this though
love your videos and all the technical advice…you sir, are a rockstar on the griddle 😁
Seth Wolfe says
I made these a week ago and they were the bomb! I froze some raw ones for use again later as I made more meatballs than I needed and am looking forward to thawing them and making these again!
Gary Burns says
Love this, yummy!
Greg Jones says
Looks fantastic!
Weldon says
It’s incredible! I can’t wait to make this one again!
Johnny Miller says
Gotta try this one.
DeVulture says
Looks great!
Mike McLemore says
This recipe looks gosh darn amazin! I am excited to try this, my kids and wife would love it!
Tim says
Congratulations On your Subscribers on YouTube. Didn’t see this Recipe and want to Try this one. Thanks for Everything Y’all Do!
Robert Martino says
This looks really good, and I will need to try it.
Keep up the good work.
Tana Morales says
These sandwiches were the star of the party.
so delicious. I was asked for the recipe. My response was go watch the Flat Top King on Utube. 😁
Christopher Pridmore says
Love meatballs and sliders too. Awesome recipe!
Allen Ragland says
This recipe sounds and looks amazing. I will be trying this
John Stafford II says
These look delicious .
Jason says
These are great. We’ve made them 3 times. Planning to do them again for friends this weekend.
Go Vols!