Easy Meatball Wellington Recipe
Tender, juicy meatballs, wrapped in puff pastry, and served with marinara sauce make a delicious main dish or appetizer for a dinner party. With only 3 ingredients, you’ll impress your family and friends with a simple yet elegant Meatball Wellington!
“Wellington” is a touchy subject at our house. Ray (my husband) always complains when he sees a traditional beef Wellington because I’ve never made one for him. A traditional Wellington is a puff pastry crust filled with perfectly medium-rare beef filet tenderloin and sautéed mushrooms with dijon mustard. It’s honestly a little fussy—even for someone who loves to cook, like me. Not that I don’t have the skills to make it but because it just never made it onto our weekly menu.
Until now.
I finally made him the Wellington that he begged for, only filled with meatballs instead of steak after my recent shopping trip to Kroger! — I love getting inspiration from traditional recipes and making them into something unique to share here on my blog!
I grabbed Carando® Fresh Italian-Style Meatballs and Bertolli® Rustic Cut Marinara Sauce to go with the puff pastry sheet I already had in the freezer.
Of course you can make your own ground beef meatballs from scratch, but the reality is that I’m a business owner who’s stretched in a million different directions and am always looking for delicious shortcuts for dinner. No need to chop onions, cloves garlic or parsley. No messy breadcrumbs or parmesan cheese – they’ve done all the hard work for you with their delicious meat balls!
I mean seriously you won’t even need to get out a large mixing bowl for this recipe, less mess and less fuss equals more quality time to spend with your family!
This easy recipe for meatball Wellingtons will become one of your family’s favorite recipes – it will be love at first bite!
How to Make Meatball Wellington
To make these easy puff pastry-wrapped meatballs, first you must pre-cook the meatballs- make sure to follow the heating instructions as they are stated directly on the packaging. If you use raw meatballs, they will be OK—but the puff pastry will NOT be as puffy.
Your Wellingtons will be soggy and the pastry shell will pull away from the meat. I know this for sure because I made these both ways, and pre-baking is essential.
Using one sheet of pastry for each 12-pack of Carando® Fresh Italian-Style Meatballs, you’ll wrap each of the cooked/cooled carando meatballs with a square of dough cut into roughly 4-inch squares. (adjusting the size based on the large meatballs or small balls)
lightly flour your counter or work surface, then place puff pastry squares. Place meatball onto the center of pastry, then fold opposite corners onto each other, then press the pointy folded corners into the middle. Finally, use your hands to smooth the dough into a closed ball around the meatball.
Wrap puff pastry around a meatball then use water, melted butter, olive oil or egg wash (one beaten egg) to moisten the dough so that it securely sticks to itself. Place seam side down on a parchment-lined prepared baking sheet. Repeating for the remaining meatballs.
It’s BEST to lightly brush them with egg wash for the crispiest crust.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, then bake for 20 minutes.
Serve Meatball Wellington with Bertolli® Rustic Cut Marinara Sauce as a dip if you are serving them as an appetizer or snack. (Heat your sauce in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, bring to a low simmer)
But I love to serve with pasta to make it a complete meal!
When you cut them open, the meatballs are perfectly cooked, juicy, and so flavorful—encased in perfectly flaky puff pastry crust.
Next time you are at your local Kroger, pick up Carando® Fresh Italian-Style Meatballs (they can be found in the meat section) and Bertolli® Rustic Cut Marinara Sauce (found in the Italian foods aisle) and make up a batch of these delicious Meatball Wellington!
Do you love meatballs?
Check out this recipes next:
- Super Gyro Lamb Meatballs
- Cheese Stuffed Buffalo Turkey Meatballs
- Asian Pork Meatballs
- Salmon Meatballs with Lemon Dijon Cream Sauce
- Salmon Meatballs with Caper Dill Tarter Sauce
- Artichoke Chicken Broccoli Meatballs
This post has been sponsored by Carando and Bertolli®. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Yours in Health,
P.S. You can add some shredded mozzarella into the center of your meatballs for a cheese stuffed meatball Wellington, too!
Meatball Wellington
Ingredients
- Carando® Fresh Italian-Style Meatballs or meatball of your choice
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- Bertolli® Rustic Cut Marinara Sauce or tomato sauce of your choice
- 1 large Egg(s) beaten
Optional Garnish
- fresh basil
- fresh parsley
- fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Bake meatballs at 350 for 20 mintues or until cooked through to 160 degrees F
- Transfer meatballs to a paper towel lined plate and chill them in the refrigerator for 40 mintues.
- While meatballs are chilling, remove 1 sheet of pastry from the freezer and allow it to thaw at room temerature.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
- Place puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and lightly roll it out to make it roughly 12 by 16.
- Cut puff pastry into 12 squares. Wrap each cooked/chilled meatball with 1 square of puff pastry. Brushing with beaten egg to seal the edges.
- Place wrapped meatballs, seam side down on a baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper.
- For the crispiest puff pastry, chill them in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to baking.
- Brush with beaten egg and bake at 400 for 20 mintues or until golden brown.
- Enjoy immeately with marinara sauce.