Easy Slow Cooker Meatballs Recipe

Incredible recipe! I will never make meatballs any other way! I actually made the meat balls (added parmesan, basil and garlic powder, less breadcrumb) a couple of days ago and froze them. This morning I just mixed the spagetti sauce and a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes with juice (skipped the puree and added basil, oregano, and a couple of tablespoons of sugar to cut the acidity) and added the frozen meatballs. Cooked for about 10 hours on low. Tender, flavorful, and delicious. Plenty of delicious sauce. Thanks previous reviewers, and thanks for this great recipe submission!

Great recipe! I had to make a few changes- I had 2 lbs. meat thawed out, so I used all of it. I used 1 cup bread crumbs (Italian). 1 1/2 T. dried parsley, & sauteed the onion before adding. I also used 3/4 c. egg beaters because the crumb mixture looked too dry. 26oz sauce, 14oz crushed, & 37oz puree! ( it was the only size the store had, + I was using that extra meat!) I added a little Italian seasoning because of that & a little sugar. Next time I might add a little red wine, too! I cooked on high for the first hour, then stirred. Finished with 4 more hours on low. They turned out great. I also used Laura's ground round as always. Not greasy AT ALL!!! We used these for meatball sub sandwiches- YUM! I'll use the leftovers with spaghetti. I love slow cooker recipes! THANKS.

The meatballs were great; but, the sauce was VERY bland. Before adding the meatballs to the slow cooker I baked them on 350° in the oven for 15 minutes. This helped them retain there shape and to allow the grease to drip off. I added two additional garlic cloves but it was still bland. I would recommend finding a speghetti sauce recipe from here instead of using a store bought jar of sauce. I used Prego traditional sauce, maybe a more flavourful jarred sauce exists? Good luck! I will probably look elsewhere for an more tasty recipe.

These meatballs are easy and awesome! I prefer smaller meatballs, so this recipe yeilds about 30 for me. I also like to place them on a cookie sheet and brown them in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Even if you choose not to brown them, they hold up well! I also use a large onion; half of it chopped in the meatballs and the other half I chop and add to the sauce. Other than that, I don't change a thing!

So easy and so delicious! Plus it's a great way to beat the summer heat on nights when it's just too hot to grill. The recipe for the meatballs is very good and while I was skeptical about doing this in a crock pot vs. my usual way I was pleasantly surprised. I used a jar of my favorite Classico sauce and added a little minced garlic and fresh basil along with a few splashes of red wine along with the rest of the ingredients. I cooked it for 6 hours on low and it smelled wonderful. When it was done I served it on toasted crusty Italian rolls with some mozzarella and topped with shredded Parmesan and Romano cheeses - YUM!

My very picky family loved the meatballs! I took the leftovers to work and my coworkers loved it! A very good recipe. I cooked the meatballs the night before in the oven at 350 for about 20 min. to get rid of some of the grease in the sauce.

for those with meatballs falling apart in the crockpot or lack of flavor, just prebake the meatballs for 10--15 min, added 1 tablespoon italian seasoning to the sauce, 1 bay leaf (remove after cooking) and 1 tablespoon sugar (brings out richness)then add the meatballs. Should help w/flavor etc;

I use my slow cooker all the time, but for whatever reason, I never thought of making my meatballs in it. I used my own sauce recipe, but having had a lot to do yesterday, it was great not having to worry about stirring my sauce as often or having it burn on the bottom. The pasta gang loved it! Thanks!

This is a great recipe that you can doctor according to the tastes or those you are cooking for. I try to make the recipe as written the first time & base my rating on that. I gave it 4 stars because it is fine as written: easy & good tasting. The second time I made this for my small group and wanted it to be a little more special and flavorful. I added onion powder, salt & pepper, freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the meat (omitted the onions as they tend to make the meatballs fall apart & some folks don't care for the texture). I made fresh bread crumbs, mixed them with Italian seasoning and added them last to the meat. I lightly mixed the ingredients and shaped the meatballs, put them in a roasting pan in a 450 degree preheated oven and immediately lowered the temperature to 350 degrees, then baked them for 15 minutes. I placed them on paper towels & gently patted the tops with another paper towel to remove excess fat b/4 adding to the crock pot with the sauce. To the sauce I added garlic powder, grated Parmesan cheese, about 1 T. white sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes, parsley flakes, and Italian seasoning. An hour or so before they were done, I checked the sauce and added more Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt & pepper and grated Parmesan to taste. I stored the crock in the refrigerator overnight, reheated it the next day and served the meatballs on rolls with a variety of peppers, pickles and sides.

This is a good meatball starter recipe. I baked mine first before adding to the tomato sauce. I did add more seasoning to the meatballs to my liking. I used canned tomato sauce only with seasoning to my taste. If you do use the sauce ingredients in this recipe, I would advise using a GOOD marinara sauce. It's money well spent. For those who deviate from the recipe then give it a 3 or 4 star rating remember you are rating yourself not the owner of the recipe. Thank you for this recipe!

I used 1lb of ground beef and a half of a pound of Italian sausage. I made homemade bread crumbs and I sautéed my onion and garlic in butter before adding them to the mixture. These were the most delicious meatballs I’ve ever had. Served them over some very simple elbow macaroni with the pasta sauce and crushed tomatoes with a little Parmesan cheese on top and we enjoyed a meal fit for a king!

Too much tomato sauce…

Came together so quickly and easily.

Just nasty. No flavor, definitely needs some seasoning. They fall apart really easily. I did brown them when I tried it the second time but still not good. There are other recipes on here so much better. BUT, if you like extremely bland meatballs, go ahead.

I make a version of this but just use my favorite jar of pasta sauce. And instead of onions and garlic I use onion powder and garlic powder. Regardless it has so much flavor it is absolutely delicious. And my 11yo loves them!

I used 1lb of ground beef and a half of a pound of Italian sausage. I made homemade bread crumbs and I sautéed my onion and garlic in butter before adding them to the mixture. These were the most delicious meatballs I’ve ever had. Served them over some very simple elbow macaroni with the pasta sauce and crushed tomatoes with a little Parmesan cheese on top and we enjoyed a meal fit for a king!

Are you sure that amount of calories is for one server? It is 200% impossible

It is a great recipe. The only thing I changed was I ground up enough whole wheat bread to make the right amount and added Italian seasoning about 1/2 teaspoons. As for the parsley I use freeze-dried instead of fresh. I used the same amount. Came out delicioso!

Couldn’t believe how easy it was.

Very good!