Instant Pot Mountain Meatballs–tennis ball sized meatballs stuffed with cheese and brushed with a delicious tomato-vinegar glaze.
Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below

Instant Pot Mountain Meatballs
Take meatballs to a whole new level with these cheese-stuffed, large, pork and beef meatballs. The meatballs are a masterpiece in and of themselves but then you add the delicious glaze and it’s a dinner you’ll want to repeat again and again.
- This recipe makes 8 large meatballs. You can easily halve this recipe. You can cut all the ingredients in half and keep the cooking time the same. You’ll also want to keep the amount of water under the trivet the same so that the pot can come to pressure.
- I used a very lean (91% lean) ground beef and ground pork to make these meatballs. I liked the mixture of meats. You can also try ground turkey in the place of pork.
- Stuffing the meatballs with cheese can be a little tricky. I used shredded cheese but I think next time I will use cubes of cheese (probably 3 cubes of cheese per meatball). I think the cubes of cheese will stay in place better when the meatball is sealed up.
- I used cheddar cheese to stuff the meatballs. Try using mozzarella, pepper jack, colby jack, or any other cheese that you like.
- If you’d rather make more and smaller meatballs you can. Just divide the meat mixture into 16 portions instead of 8 and stuff with half as much cheese (1 cube will be perfect).
More Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Tennessee Meatloaf
Instant Pot Big Mac Sloppy Joes
Mac and Cheese Meatloaf Casserole
Instant Pot Traditional Meatloaf

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Instant Pot Mountain Meatballs
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 large meatballs 1x
Description
Tennis ball sized meatballs stuffed with cheese and brushed with a delicious tomato-vinegar topping.
Ingredients
- 1 pound extra lean ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp dried minced onion (or 1/4 cup diced onion)
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 cup shredded or 24 cubes of cheddar cheese
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Pour 1 ½ cups water into the Instant Pot. Place a trivet in the bottom of the pot.
- Add the beef, pork, bread crumbs, eggs, onion, salt, pepper and half of the tomato sauce into a mixing bowl. Use clean hands to combine the mixture.
- Divide the meatball mixture in eight equal portions. Divide the cheese into eight equals portions. Roll into balls (the balls will be about the size of a tennis ball). Make an indentation in each meatball. Press a portion of cheese into each indentation. Press the meatballs to close securely.
- Place meatballs on top of the trivet.
- In a small bowl whisk together the remaining tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Divide the mixture in half. Brush half of it on top of the meatballs. Save the other half for later.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 5 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Brush the rest of the sauce on top of the meatballs. Use tongs to place meatballs on plates. Eat and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add the beef, pork, bread crumbs, eggs, onion, salt, pepper and half of the tomato sauce into a mixing bowl. Use clean hands to combine the mixture.
- Divide the meatball mixture in eight equal portions. Divide the cheese into eight equals portions. Roll into balls (the balls will be about the size of a tennis ball). Make an indentation in each meatball. Press a portion of cheese into each indentation. Press the meatballs to close securely.
- Place meatballs into Instant Pot.
- In a small bowl whisk together the remaining tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Pour the mixture over the meatballs.
- Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours (or until internal temp is 145 degrees). Remove the lid.
- Use tongs to place meatballs on plates. Eat with the sauce and enjoy!
Notes
You can make this in the 8 or 6 quart Instant Pot. You can halve the recipe (same cooking time) in the 3 quart pot.
- Category: Beef and Pork
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
used Campbells tomato soup instead of sauce, bc thats what I had. Mmm good
★★★★★
Good idea! Thanks for sharing!
Could I substitute the meat for Impossible?
Hi Becky, I have zero experience with Impossible…sorry I can’t tell you how it would work!
These look so yummy definitely on my list to try!! The white vinegar is the distilled white? Or white wine vinegar ?
If you don’t care for white (distilled) vinegar you could try unseasoned rice vinegar. It’s a mild vinegar but you wouldn’t lose the tang that’s needed. It’s probably similar to white wine vinegar. I prefer it over the wine vinegar l
Hope this helps.
I just used distilled white.