Cooking and Serving: 19 minutes | 12 meatballs
Ingredients
Spaghetti and meatballs (with extra sauce) | Meatball subs, with a batch of our quick-rising French bread | Make them smaller * Serve them over warm, freshly made or even slice-and-serve polenta, and top
Description
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 4 hours hrs | Total Time: 19 minutes | Servings: 12 meatballs
Ingredients
Spaghetti and meatballs (with extra sauce)
Meatball subs, with a batch of our quick-rising French bread
Make them smaller * Serve them over warm, freshly made or even slice-and-serve polenta, and top
Slow cooker/crockpot
1 ½ cups (180 g) coarsely ground bread crumbs, (gluten free if necessary)
½ cup (4 fluid ounces) red table wine, See Recipe Notes
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 egg, any size, beaten
1 tablespoon dried oregano, crushed to release oils
2 teaspoons dried basil
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated (See Recipe Notes)
Fresh basil leaves for serving optional
1 28- ounce can tomato puree, or 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes,
3 ounces tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried oregano, crushed to release oils
2 teaspoons dried basil
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon smoked paprika, optional
½ teaspoon chili powder, optional
Instructions
FORM THE MEATBALLS
In a large bowl, place the ground pork and ground beef, and break up the meat.
gently with your fingers. Add the remaining meatball ingredients in the order.
listed, mixing gently to combine with your fingers. Do not overwork the meat.
or the meatballs will be tough.
Add the breadcrumb mixture, and again mix until just combined with your.
Divide the meatball mixture into 12 to 14 pieces and roll each gently into a.
ball. Do not compress or pack the mixture.
COOK THE MEATBALLS
Nestle each meatball into the tomato sauce in a single layer in the slow.
cooker liner. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours or.
until the meatballs are cooked through. They should reach or exceed 165°F in.
the center on an instant-read thermometer.
The cooked meatballs can remain on your slow cooker’s “warm” setting for up.
to 1 1/2 hours. Turn the cooked meatballs over in the sauce to coat.
completely before serving.
COOK THE MEATBALLS
Nestle each meatball into the tomato sauce in a single layer in the slow.
cooker liner. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours or.
until the meatballs are cooked through. They should reach or exceed 165°F in.
the center on an instant-read thermometer.
The cooked meatballs can remain on your slow cooker’s “warm” setting for up.
to 1 1/2 hours. Turn the cooked meatballs over in the sauce to coat.
completely before serving.
Notes
* How to serve these slow cooker meatballs
* Storing leftover meatballs
* Crockpot meatballs ingredients and substitutions
* Slow Cooker Meatballs Recipe
WHY I LOVE THESE SLOW COOKER MEATBALLS
What makes these slow cooker meatballs even better than conventional meatballs
is the flavor, but (believe it or not) it’s also the texture!
The meat slowly absorbs all the flavor not only of the ingredients you add to
the meatballs themselves, but of the simple tomato sauce they are nestled into
And since they do sit in the sauce for all that time while it very gently
bubbles away, they don’t need a lot of moisture themselves, so they stay
together beautifully—but are still moist and tender when you serve them.
If you’d rather make your meatballs in the oven, try our classic oven-baked
gluten free meatballs
Overhead image of 8 raw meatballs in tomato sauce in round black crock pot liner
image of 8 raw meatballs in tomato sauce in round black crock pot liner
MY HISTORY WITH THE SLOW COOKER
Something like 80% of Americans own a slow cooker. For many years, I was not
among them. But since upwards of 250 million people can’t be dead wrong, I
I cooked and cooked from it when I first got it, to give it a fair shake. Soups
chilis , stews, oatmeal
and unforgiving cuts of meat. My kids thought that I had fallen in love with my
slow cooker, and looking back that was probably a reasonable assumption at the
But I think that was the problem—I was trying to fall in love with it, and that
was unreasonable. So I decided to relax a bit. And then … I finally hit the slow
cooker jackpot: slow cooker meatballs. Ridiculously easy in both preparation and
cleanup, and quite possibly the best meatballs I’ve ever had.
Slow cooker cooking really is different from conventional cooking, isn’t it? You
probably knew that already (you well-schooled 80%), but I didn’t!
You really do need recipes that are at least reformulated, if not originally
created, specifically for a slow cooker. You want to use dried herbs, not fresh
ones for sure for sure. And go a bit easy on the salt, as the crock tends to
intensify the flavor of salt.
Overhead image of 8 cooked meatballs in tomato sauce in black crock pot liner
with fresh basil pieces scattered on top
image of 8 cooked meatballs in tomato sauce in black crock pot liner with fresh
basil pieces scattered on top
CHOOSING THE RIGHT MEAT FOR YOUR MEATBALLS
This meatball recipe calls for 1 pound of pork and 1 pound of ground beef.
Together, they make really tender, flavorful meatballs with the ideal texture
The fat in the pork adds buttery flavor and texture to the meatballs, and the
beef adds the savory “meaty” or umami flavor. The combination is perfect,
without the ground veal that you sometimes find in meatball or meatloaf
Cooking your meatballs in the crockpot is ideal for ensuring that they’re never
dried out, since the crock keeps all the moisture sealed in for hours. If your
meat is too lean, there won’t be enough moisture to start, so be sure to use
ground beef that’s no more than 85% lean.
Overhead image of 12 to 14 tomato sauce covered meatballs in black crock pot
image of 12 to 14 tomato sauce covered meatballs in black crock pot liner
I’ve made these meatballs on both the high setting (for 4 hours), and the low
setting (for 8). I’ve served them right after they’re done cooking, and after
they’ve sat on “warm” for an hour and a half. After sitting on warm, they
definitely absorb more of the sauce and
After sitting on warm, they definitely absorb more of the sauce and look like
they might taste dry, but they’re still moist and tender.
And although you might think of slow cookers are only for wintertime, consider
this: They do not heat up your kitchen at all.
So stay cool in the summer with these perfect slow cooker meatballs. Let them
make dinner for you tonight!
4 cooked meatballs with red sauce on round white plate with fresh basil leaves
and a fork and blue cloth in background
cooked meatballs with red sauce on round white plate with fresh basil leaves and
a fork and blue cloth in background
HOW TO SERVE THESE SLOW COOKER MEATBALLS
I often serve these meatballs in sauce the traditional way: over boiled pasta
spaghetti and meatballs, right?
But meatballs can be served a few other ways, just to mix things up and make
them more versatile. Here are a few meatball serving ideas:
* Spaghetti and meatballs (with extra sauce)
* Meatball subs, with a batch of our quick-rising French bread
* Make them smaller * Serve them over warm, freshly made or even slice-and-serve polenta, and top
with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano
STORING LEFTOVER MEATBALLS
If you have any leftover meatballs from this recipe, you can store them in a
sealed container with some extra sauce for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
For longer storage, freeze them in a freezer-safe container. Defrost them in the
refrigerator, not at room temperature which isn’t safe food handling.
Reheat the meatballs in more sauce in a pan on the stovetop over very low heat.
You can also cover them in sauce and put them back in the crockpot on “warm.”
CROCKPOT MEATBALLS INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
DAIRY FREE SLOW COOKER MEATBALLS
The only dairy in these meatballs is the ground Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It
can easily be substituted with 1 ounce of nutritional yeast flakes.
EGG FREE SLOW COOKER MEATBALLS
There’s only 1 egg in this recipe, so you should be able to replace it with a
“chia egg.” Place 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds in a small bowl, mix it
with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water and allow it to sit until it gels.
VEGETARIAN SLOW COOKER MEATBALLS
You might be able to take our recipe for lentil meatballs and cook them in sauce
in the crockpot. They’ll almost certainly be done cooking sooner than 4 hours on
high or 8 hours on low.
ALTERNATIVE SAUCES FOR MEATBALLS
Leave out the dried basil and oregano, and try cooking our Swedish meatballs
sauce in the crockpot instead.
Again, leave out the dried basil and oregano, and cook these meatballs in our
gluten free BBQ sauce . That
sounds amazing, doesn’t it? I’d serve that over egg noodles
4 meatballs in marinara sauce with one meatball missing a piece
meatballs in marinara sauce with one meatball missing a piece
Can I prepare slow cooker meatballs in advance?
Yes! You can shape the raw meatballs as instructed, and store them in the
refrigerator for as long as the meat you’re using is good. Then, set them to
cook in the crockpot 4 or 8 hours before you’re going to be ready to eat.
If you’ll be ready to eat more than 8 hours after cooking the meatballs on the
“low” setting, your crock should switch to the “warm” setting automatically
after the cooking cycle is finished. It can stay on warm for up to 1½ hours.
Can I make slow cooker meatballs without breadcrumbs?
Yes! Try replacing the bread crumbs with quick-cooking oats
recipe for gluten free meatloaf
your meatballs entirely without breadcrumbs using our recipe for Paleo meatballs
. Since dried herbs and
aromatics are best for the slow cooker, replace the minced onion with dried
minced onion and the mustard with mustard powder.
Can I use ground turkey in this meatball recipe instead of beef?
Yes! I think you should be able to replace the ground beef with ground turkey
(not lean!) to make gluten free turkey meatballs. I wouldn’t use all turkey to
replace the beef and the pork, because ground turkey is just too soft to hold
its shape during 4 or 8 hours of cooking.
How long can meatballs stay in the crockpot after cooking?
These meatballs can stay in the crockpot on warm for up to 1½ hours after
they’re done cooking. To stretch out the amount of time to the fullest, cook the
meatballs for 8 hours on the “low” setting first. Most slow cooker will switch
to the “warm” setting immediately after the cooking timer runs out. You don’t
want to keep the crock on “low” after the meatballs are done cooking, though, or
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SLOW COOKER MEATBALLS
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 4 hours hrs
These slow cooker meatballs are tender, flavorful, and perfect for spaghetti and
more. Let the crockpot do all the work tonight!
* Slow cooker/crockpot
* 1 ½ cups (180 g) coarsely ground bread crumbs, (gluten free if necessary)
* 1 pound ground pork
* 1 pound ground beef
* 1 egg, any size, beaten
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano, crushed to release oils
* 2 teaspoons dried basil
* ½ teaspoon garlic powder
* ½ teaspoon onion powder
* ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
* ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* Fresh basil leaves for serving optional
* 1 28- ounce can tomato puree, or 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes,
pureed with their juices until smooth
* 3 ounces tomato paste
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano, crushed to release oils
* 2 teaspoons dried basil
* ½ teaspoon garlic powder
* ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
* ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, optional
* ½ teaspoon chili powder, optional
FIRST, BEGIN THE MEATBALLS.
* In a small bowl, place the breadcrumbs and red wine (or stock mixture), and
mix to combine. Allow the breadcrumbs to sit in the wine (or stock mixture)
while you prepare the tomato sauce.
* In the liner of a 6-quart slow cooker, place all of the tomato sauce
ingredients and whisk to combine well. Set the liner aside and return your
attention to the meatballs.
* In a large bowl, place the ground pork and ground beef, and break up the meat
gently with your fingers. Add the remaining meatball ingredients in the order
listed, mixing gently to combine with your fingers. Do not overwork the meat
or the meatballs will be tough.
* Add the breadcrumb mixture, and again mix until just combined with your
* Divide the meatball mixture into 12 to 14 pieces and roll each gently into a
ball. Do not compress or pack the mixture.
* Nestle each meatball into the tomato sauce in a single layer in the slow
cooker liner. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours or
until the meatballs are cooked through. They should reach or exceed 165°F in
the center on an instant-read thermometer.
* The cooked meatballs can remain on your slow cooker’s “warm” setting for up
to 1 1/2 hours. Turn the cooked meatballs over in the sauce to coat
completely before serving.
Be sure to use a wine that you would like to drink with red meat, and make sure
but that it doesn’t have an overly fruity taste. Cooking with wine, particularly
in a slow cooker, tends to intensify its flavor, and you don’t want it to
For an alcohol-free version, use an equal amount of beef stock + 1 teaspoon red
In place of the grated cheese in the meatballs, use 1 ounce nutritional yeast
flakes for a dairy-free version.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an
Dried herbs in the crock are the secret to the rich flavor and perfect texture
of these slow cooker meatballs. And it’s also the easiest, most convenient meal
you’ll make all week!
herbs in the crock are the secret to the rich flavor and perfect texture of
these slow cooker meatballs. And it’s also the easiest, most convenient meal
you’ll make all week!