Easy Slow Cooker Meatballs Recipe
You’re going to love how delicious (and how saucy!) these slow cooker meatballs are. This spaghetti and meatballs meal is so easy to make – throw the baked meatballs into your crockpot, and come back later for a delicious dinner! This is a hit with the entire family, even the opinionated (oh goodness, so many opinions) 3-year-old asks for a second serving! 🙂
How long do meatballs take in the crockpot?
Meatballs are cooked in the slow cooker for 6 hours on low.
Simple Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
The tomato sauce that the meatballs are going to cook in tastes delicious and is easy to make. You’ll need a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (seriously, pick something you love!), crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar and a bay leaf.
Once the meatballs are cooked at the end then you’ll remove the bay leaf before serving.
How to Prevent Ground Beef From Becoming Greasy
I know it adds an additional 15 minutes but baking these meatballs in the oven before adding them into your slow cooker really makes all the difference in preventing greasy meatballs.
I will often bake the meatballs the night before and store them in my refrigerator so they’re ready for the slow cooker the following morning.
By baking them in the oven first the ground beef is going to release much of the grease onto the baking sheet, not into your slow cooker.
If you don’t have the extra 15 minutes, you can skip the step but make sure to use the most lean ground beef you can buy.
How to Make Meatballs in the Slow Cooker
In a large bowl mix together ground beef, garlic, bread crumbs (I use Italian), Parmesan cheese, onion powder and an egg. Place on a baking sheet (on top of parchment paper for easy cleanup) and bake for 15 minutes. In a slow cooker add your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce. Now add in a can of crushed tomatoes. And a can of tomato paste. Finally add in brown sugar and a bay leaf. Mix to combine all these ingredients to make a delicious tomato sauce. Place your baked meatballs into the sauce and mix the sauce so it covers them. Cook on low for 6 hours. When there is 15 minutes left, cook spaghetti in a pot of salted water. Drain and either add directly into the slow cooker, stirring to make it saucy, or place it directly on plates. Serve spaghetti with meatballs and sauce on top. I like to add a sprinkle of additional Parmesan cheese and parsley on top too! Tip: You can make these meatballs for a meatball sub too! Trust me, they’re amazing on a hoagie roll! I hope you enjoy this easy Slow Cooker Meatballs recipe!
PS. Looking for more meatball recipes? Try my Baked Kale Meatballs and Oven Baked Chicken Meatballs.
Other Simple Pasta Recipes:
Homemade Egg NoodlesBroccoli PastaItalian Pasta SaladParsley Parmesan PastaBok Choy and Garlic Over PastaStovetop Meatball LasagnaCreamy Beef Stroganoff with Egg Noodles Pin for later:
