The Meatball Sub is a mighty fine sandwich. Thanks to the zesty marinara, beefy meatballs, and ooey-gooey mozzarella, it’s about as hearty as a sandwich gets (and about as delicious too). So naturally, we thought those same ingredients might work just as well in casserole form, and spoiler alert – we were right! This Meatball Sub Bubble Up Bake has the very same flavor with a little less mess and is much more crowd-friendly.

So what’s a Bubble Up? Well, it’s kind of like a casserole… but, an easier, modernized, fun casserole. Morsels of refrigerated biscuit dough (or dumplings, or breadsticks, or even pretzel dough) top a delicious saucy concoction in a casserole dish, and as it simmers in the oven, the dough plumps up and the sauce below “bubbles up” and surrounds the biscuits with flavor. There are lasagna, chili cheese dog, and dessert versions… but it’s pretty hard to beat this meatball sub inspiration.

We use refrigerated biscuit dough and pre-made meatballs, so this is just six ingredients total (two of which are spices!) and it’ll take you all of five minutes to get it into the baking dish. The biscuit dough gives you the breadiness that you might get from the sub sandwich, so every bite is doughy, saucy, cheesy, and beefy as can be.