Slow Cooker Meatballs

A Slow Cooker full of Meatballs and Marinara sauce

These Italian-style Slow Cooker Meatballs make an easy dump and go recipe with no browning necessary! An easy freezer-friendly recipe that's perfect for pasta and subs.

Prep Time15

Cook Time3

Total Time3 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: Meatballs

Calories: 89kcal

Author: Stephanie

Ingredients

1.5 lb. ground beef preferably 80% lean
1 large egg slightly beaten
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic finely diced
½ cup breadcrumbs Italian or Plain
½ cup minced onion
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup Parsley

Sauce

56 oz. marinara sauce

Instructions

Gently combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl, don't overwork the meat, we want tender meatballs.
Use a tablespoon to scoop up the meat and roll them into balls, about 1.5 inches around.
Lightly grease the bottom of the Slow Cooker. And place the meatballs inside, it’s okay if you need to stack them.
Add the marinara sauce. No need to stir.
Cook on high for 2½–3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. Ensure they're sufficiently cooked through prior to serving. The internal temp should be 160° F.
Stir it gently a few times prior to serving.

Notes

Using a combination of ground Italian Sausage and/or ground veal works well too.

This recipe is easy to double and it’s okay to stack additional meatballs on top of each other. Just note that it might take a little bit of time to come up to temperature.

The meatballs are sufficiently cooked when the internal temperature is 160 degrees.

Nutritional Info is for one meatball with sauce. This recipe makes 29 meatballs.

If feeding a large crowd, this recipe will satisfy two pounds of cooked pasta.

Nutrition

Recipe Source: TheCozyCook.com - For pro tips, step-by-step photos, storage information, and to save it to your account, visit https://framework-keystone.live/slow-cooker-meatballs/%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-31328":{"type":"food","name":"Slow Cooker Meatballs","slug":"wprm-slow-cooker-meatballs","image_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Slow-Cooker-Meatballs-F.jpg","rating":{"count":10,"total":50,"average":5,"type":{"comment":10,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"1.5","unit":"lb.","name":"ground beef","notes":"preferably 80% lean","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1.5","unit":"lb.","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12939,"id":3727,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1.5","unit":"lb.","unitParsed":"lb."}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"1","unit":"","name":"large egg","notes":"slightly beaten","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"","timestamp":1766953066000},"id":4040,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"1\/3","unit":"cup","name":"Parmesan cheese","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/3","unit":"cup","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12934,"id":4056,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/3","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"3","unit":"cloves","name":"garlic","notes":"finely diced","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3","unit":"cloves","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12931,"id":3669,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3","unit":"cloves","unitParsed":"cloves"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","name":"breadcrumbs","notes":"Italian or Plain","link":{"url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/homemade-breadcrumbs\/","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12934,"id":4552,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","name":"minced onion","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12934,"id":11575,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"\u00be","unit":"teaspoon","name":"salt","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00be","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12938,"id":3646,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00be","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":7,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","name":"pepper","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12938,"id":3954,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":8,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","name":"Parsley","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12934,"id":4080,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":10,"amount":"56","unit":"oz.","name":"marinara sauce","notes":"","link":{"url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/homemade-marinara-sauce\/","nofollow":"default"},"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"56","unit":"oz.","timestamp":1766953066000},"unit_id":12936,"id":4581,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"56","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."}}}],"originalServings":"29","originalServingsParsed":29,"currentServings":"29","currentServingsParsed":29,"currentServingsFormatted":"29","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"favorite":false,"unitSystems":[1],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"collection":{"servingsUnit":"Meatballs","servingsUnitRaw":"Meatballs","originalServings":"29","originalServingsParsed":29,"type":"recipe","recipeId":31328,"name":"Slow Cooker Meatballs","image":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Slow-Cooker-Meatballs-F-500x500.jpg","servings":29,"parent_id":"31327","parent_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/slow-cooker-meatballs\/","cachedAt":1778516741,"modifiedAt":1766935193}}}