Venison Meatball Stuffed Garlic Bread

Have you ever scrolled through online recipe videos, stopped dead in your tracks and thought, “this is genius level cooking?” Well, this isn’t a genius-level recipe, but it did make me hungry. And that’s usually all it takes to make me want to convert a recipe to something using wild game.

This quick and easy wild game recipe is the perfect snack or appetizer. All images by Michael Pendley

As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the perfect dish for the air fryer venison meatballs recipe we did a while back. Just make them the same way, except roll them a bit smaller, say an inch or so across. You can lower the cooking time by a minute or two as well, due to the smaller size.

Other than the meatballs, you will need some marinara sauce, homemade or store bought, your choice, along with some garlic bread — The Texas Toast brand is perfect — some shredded mozzarella and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning. That’s it. Quick and easy.

Start by making the meatballs according to the recipe above. Blend the ingredients in a large bowl, then roll.

Blend the meatball ingredients in a large bowl.

Place the meatballs in a single layer in your air fryer.

Blend the meatballs and cook them in your air fryer.

Once they are cooking, heat your marinara, then bake the garlic bread according to the package instructions. You will pop the bread back into the oven at the end of the recipe, so pull them a minute or two before they start to crisp up.

Once you pull the garlic bread from the oven, use the back of a spoon to press down the center to form a well.

Press the cooked garlic bread with the back of a spoon to form a well.

Add two or three of your meatballs, depending on size of meat and bread, to the well.

Fill the well with cooked meatballs.

Spoon over a little sauce, about a tablespoon or a little more. Sprinkle over some shredded mozzarella and Italian seasoning, then return the pan to the oven to melt the cheese and heat everything through.

Sprinkle on cheese and Italian seasoning blend then return the pan to the oven.

That’s it, they are ready to serve. I like to make these as appetizers or snacks while we sit around watching Spring Thunder turkey hunts on YouTube.