This recipe for the saucy beef appetizers is so easy that you’ll have your hungry hordes munching away in no time. Saucy beef is nestled in phyllo cups and topped with mini mozzarella cheese pearls, making these the perfect game day appetizer.

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Whenever I’m trying to get ready for a game day gathering, I know that I want quick and easy appetizers. But I don’t want to serve just boring chips and dip, or chips and salsa! No, I want the appetizers to stand out as so delicious that others will clamor for my recipe.
I’m funny like that. You might say, competitive! I want to serve The Best Appetizers.
That’s where RAGÚ® comes in. I decided to make two different game day recipes, utilizing the brand’s delicious sauces. This recipe features the RAGÚ® Old World Style Traditional spaghetti sauce. It’s my go-to sauce when I need fast, easy AND delicious. I trust the RAGÚ brand to always be vibrant in flavor, scrumptious and steeped in tradition.
So, without further ado, let me show you how easy it is to use RAGÚ in your next appetizer-frenzied game day extravaganza. To find more recipes using this lovely sauce, go to their website..
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I get a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you click the link and buy something. You can read my disclosure here.
How to make this appetizer
Pre-step
I wanted to showcase two of RAGÚ sauces. Like I said, I’m using the red sauce in this recipe.
I will feature the cheddar sauce in a special post all its own here.
Step one
Get a sauté pan, jelly roll pan and gather the ingredients – sauce, ground beef and pearl mozzarella.
Step two
Heat a sauté pan or cast iron pan on medium and add olive oil.
Once that heats up, add the beef and use a spatula to break it up.
Step three
Add cumin, oregano and salt. Mix and sauté for 5 minutes.
Step four
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and pour around half the jar of RAGÚ sauce on the beef.
Step five
Take the phyllo cups out of the freezer and place them on a small jelly roll pan. With a teaspoon, spoon some of the saucy beef in each cup. You can definitely heap it.
I use a ½ pound of beef, so you are bound to have extra.
Step six
Add a mini pearl mozzarella ball and place one on each phyllo cup.
Step seven
Bake for 7 – 8 minutes.
I plate them and can’t help myself, so I pick one up.
And take a bite.
Yum.
You will love the combination of sauce, beef, mozzarella, and phyllo dough that make these cups such a treat to eat! They are sure to be a big hit at your next game day party.
I hope you enjoyed this saucy beef appetizers recipe!
Other popular appetizer recipes
And as always, may all your dishes be delish!
If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog, I’d love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!
Saucy Beef Appetizers
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ pound grass-fed ground beef
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- dash of pepper
- ½ jar RAGÚ Old World Style Traditional® sauce
- mini pearl mozzarella balls
- 15 frozen phyllo cups
Instructions
Make It!
- Heat sauté pan on medium heat
- Add olive oil
- Add beef, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and chop up beef into little pieces
- Add RAGÚ sauce and mix until combined
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Spoon small amount of saucy beef in phyllo cups – you can heap it as it won’t spill out
- Add a mini pearl to each saucy beef cup, I press mine down a little
- Bake for 7 minutes
- Plate
- Eat
- Enjoy
Beth
They started Ragu in Rochester, NY, where I am from! These little delights look delicious! I love easy appetizers!
Elaine
Thanks so much Beth!!
Molly Kumar
These saucy appetizer cups look so cute and absolutely delicious!!! I love making 1 bite snack for gamedays as they are so easy to move around with. Also loving the combination of Ragu with Double Cheddar sauce 🙂
Elaine
Thanks Molly! They are so delicious!!
Leslie
Using the jarred sauces make these so fast to prepare. It’s a good thing! I’m sure these just fly off the tray at any get together.
Elaine
Thanks Leslie! They really do!
Tara
How cute! Such a great use of Ragú. I love the little pearls of mozzarella over the tops.
Elaine
Thanks Tara!! You should try this, it’s so good!
Patty K-P
I bet these are addicting! Any idea how they taste with the cheese sauce instead?
Elaine
Patty, I do know! Delicious! Totally different but so good!
Patty
Delicious! These look so good I would love to pop a few! I need a jar of this Ragù sauce ????????
Elaine
Thanks so much Patty! It is so delicious! Christopher ate the majority. I need to make them again this weekend.
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy
I would easily make a meal out of these cute and delicious little tasty gems. Perfect for parties….and just because.
Elaine
Thanks Gloria! My hubby agrees with you. He made a meal of them!
Andrea The Petite Cook
This is perfect party food! And it’s so easy to make!
Elaine
Thanks Andrea! It really is!
Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen
These look like such perfect party food bites! I grew up eating RAGÚ but in a much less elegant way than this. What a fun recipe!
Elaine
Thanks so much Ashley!
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices
They look so pretty as well as delicious. I don’t eat meat, but I can still recognize a flavorful tasty appetizer when I see one. These are perfect little bites!
Elaine
Thanks Nicoletta! I wonder how it would be with tofu! Hmmm. I bet delish!
Tamara Andersen
You’ve got some great time savers for your Mini Saucy Beef Appetizer Cups! I’ve often used phyllo, but have never used the cups. They come like that? They look so pretty, and I’m sure they’d be a hit at any game day party!
Elaine
Tamara! Yes the phyllo cups come like that. So easy to use. You can even fill them with a dessert type thing and eat them within seconds of filling them.
Anne Murphy
Those are so cute!
And I love keeping the phyllo cups frozen until the last minute so they don’t go soggy…
Elaine
Thanks Anne!!
Analida @ ethnicspoon.com
Those beefy saucy cups look amazing! I love those easy go-to appetizers too! If you have leftovers just toss it on some pasta or rice the next day!
Elaine
Thanks Analida. Trust me, there won’t be any leftovers 🙂
Laura
I am sure that Assunta and Giovanni loved the abbondanza, those appetizers look delicious and beside game day I am making them when my sons have friends over. The Ragu sauce looks amazing
Elaine
Thanks so much Laura!! Or should I say, grazie mille!? 😉
Catherine Brown
With the Super Bowl just around the corner, this looks like the perfect quick appetizer! Go Pats!
Elaine
Hehe Catherine! Indeed! People here in Boston are going cray-cray for the Patriots to win!!
Jacklyn
I’m always looking for new appetizers that will impress a crowd but don’t have me working in the kitchen the whole time. These are absolutely perfect!!
Elaine
Thanks so much Jacklyn! They are super easy and delicious!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
How cute!! I bet they don’t last once you put them out!! What a great appetizer for Super Bowl Sunday or for any gathering for that matter. I always like the idea of a little help like a prepared sauce.
Elaine
Thanks Marisa! You are right. It’s perfect for any gathering. They are so good, hubby fights me for them. PS. I let him win because he lets me win on other things!
Leslie Haasch
These are so cute and easy to make! I’m going to add these to my (way too long already, but who cares because YUM) list of Super Bowl party apps!
Elaine
Hehe Leslie!!
Amanda Mason
These look so amazing!! I love that you went the non-traditional route with these!!! I love a new appetizer at parties/super bowl games!!
Elaine
Thanks Amanda!! I appreciate your comment!
Sara
This looks so good! I can’t wait to try your recipe!
Elaine
Thanks Sara!!
Sharon
Is it wrong that I feel like when I make these I might eat them all myself! These look so good I can’t wait to make them.
Christopher
So, it turns out I could probably eat Phyllo cups all day. But the spicy beef and the red gravy are SPECTACULAR together. Want. Apps. For. Dinner.