An appetizer, side or snack you can make in minutes!

My daughter is more adventurous in the kitchen than I am. I tend to go by recipes. She tends to use recipes and get creative as well. I love her creations and willingness to try things. (She’s made some delicious microwave fudge recipes this way!) Over the summer, she found a picture of meatball pockets that didn’t have a recipe with it. So, she came up with it on her own. The results were this super easy, yummy meatball pocket recipe you can make in minutes!

These meatball pockets can be a snack, appetizer or side. We used it as a side dish to go along with Spaghetti-Os. (I know. We are super fancy like that!) I also like that even my 8-year-old could easily help us with this recipe.

I also love that this meatball pocket recipe is only two ingredients: canned crescent rolls and frozen meatballs. You can serve them with pizza or marinara sauce. (But I can also tell you that they taste good dipped in Spaghetti-Os!)

How to make the meatball pockets

I chose homestyle meatballs for this recipe. My family isn’t big on anything spicy, so these were great for us. They were flavorful without being spicy or peppery. You can pick meatballs based on your family’s tastes. You can also use homemade meatballs if you would rather.

No matter what kind of meatball you use, they need to be thawed. If you are using fresh, homemade ones, you’re good to go. If you are using frozen ones, pop 16 of them in the microwave on thaw or 50% power to get them to about room temperature.

Preheat your oven according to the directions on the crescent roll package.

While the meatballs are thawing and oven is preheating, open the crescent rolls. (I cannot open canned crescent rolls. It scares me way too much, so my husband or 8-year-old son open them!) Unroll the sheets and gently break the rolls apart at the perforation into their triangle shape.

Then use a sharp knife to cut the triangles in half, so you have halves of the usual crescent roll size. (NOTE: You can make these with whole crescent rolls if you want them to be bigger or more bread-y. We tried both ways and like them either way.)

Next, plop a meatball in the center of the halved crescent triangle and fold the crescent roll dough around the meatball. Pinch it closed as much as possible.

When they are enclosed in dough, place the meatball pockets a baking sheet. I put parchment paper on my baking sheets to make for easier clean-up. If you don’t use parchment paper, follow the directions on the crescent rolls. The crescent rolls I used said they should be baked on ungreased baking sheets. Space the meatball pockets a couple of inches apart.

Place them in your preheated oven and bake them for 9 to 12 minutes until the crescent roll dough has become golden brown and they are heated through.

Serve the meatball pockets warm with marinara or pizza sauce for dipping, if desired. You end up with 16 meatball pockets per can of crescent rolls. Refrigerate any leftovers and reheat in the microwave.