This Crockpot Meatballs and Sauce recipe is the perfect easy weeknight dinner. Quickly prep the slow cooker meatballs in the morning and they are ready by evening.
Hands-off
Minimal prep
You’ll Learn: How to make tender slow cooker meatballs plus serving and freezer tips
Worth It: A true set-it-and-forget-it dinner that works for meal prep or feeding a crowd
Bonus: Roll them bite-sized for effortless party appetizers
Why you’ll love this Recipe
- Healthy homemade meatballs – mix together a simple and healthy homemade meatball mixture using whole ingredients. Of course you could use frozen meatballs to make this easier, but the homemade version tastes SO much better.
- Set it and forget it dinner – Prep the meatballs and set up the slow cooker in the morning. By dinner time you are ready to serve this easy recipe with rolls, pasta or roasted veggies.
- Perfect for meal prep – This recipe makes a large portion of tender meatballs making it perfect for meal prep. You can even freeze the cooked meatballs and sauce and serve later!
- Serve for a party – this recipe is great to serve for a crowd because you don’t need to worry about the meatballs and sauce getting too cold. You can also scoop and roll tiny, bite sized meatballs and serve them as an appetizer.
Serving suggestions
This recipe for meatballs in a crockpot is delicious as is, but I’ve got a few excellent serving suggestions. My favorite way to serve these is traditionally, over pasta. I sometimes serve them with a side of garlic bread or No Knead Tomato Focaccia.
For extra veggies, you could serve these with a side of steamed or roasted vegetables of your choice. Serve on leftover mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort food
Grab some fresh rolls from your local bakery and sharp provolone or fresh sliced mozzarella Then, turn these crockpot meatballs and sauce into fuss-free meatball subs!
Balance out the meal by serving some Cherry Crisp or Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies for dessert.
Ingredients
- Marinara sauce – use your favorite jarred pasta sauce. If you want to use a homemade sauce, try this roasted tomato sauce recipe that is made with fresh tomatoes.
- Beef broth – mix the pasta sauce with some beef broth to help thin it out and add extra flavor.
- Lean ground beef and Italian pork sausage – mix these two together for ideal texture and flavor. Feel free to use ground pork in place of the pork sausage, but you will want to add more salt and seasoning.
- Salt and Italian seasoning blend – use kosher salt and an italian seasoning blend to flavor the meatballs. You can also add things like finely diced fresh onion, black pepper or crushed red pepper if you like some spice.
- Bread crumbs – use Italian breadcrumbs or standard breadcrumbs to give the meatballs body.
- Eggs – use eggs to help bind the meatballs together while they cook.
- Worcestershire sauce – just a splash or worcestershire sauce adds tons of flavor to the meatball mixture
- Parmesan cheese, fresh basil and fresh parsley for serving – top the crock pot meatballs with freshly grated cheese and fresh herbs one
How to make
Step 1: Prepare the meatballs
To begin, add the jarred marinara and beef broth to the crockpot, stir to combine, and set to low.
Combine the ground beef, italian pork sausage, seasonings, bread crumbs, eggs, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl, taking care not to overmix. Form each meatballs into a 3 tbsp sized ball – roll with wet hands to get a nice round shape.
Step 2: Add to the crockpot and cook on low
Next, add the meatballs to the crockpot with the sauce and broth. It’s ok if the meatballs aren’t completely covered by the sauce.
Cook the meatballs on low for 6 hours.
Step 3: Reduce the sauce then serve
After 6 hours, remove the lid from the crockpot. Let the meatballs continue to cook with the lid off for an addition 1-2 hours. This is a crucial, flavor enhancing step to reduce some of the liquid in your sauce.
It also enhances the concentration of flavors in the sauce. After reducing, you’re ready to serve the meatballs. Enjoy!
Storage and freeze
Once prepared, store these meatballs in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You can freeze the meatballs together in the sauce in one container for even more simplicity. I like to keep them frozen for up to 3 months and then reheat back in the crockpot!
Check out these other delicious meatball recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Crockpot Meatballs and Sauce
Ingredients
- 25 oz jar of marinara sauce
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb hot or mild Italian pork sausage casing cut off if they are links
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Pour marinara sauce and beef broth into a crockpot. Stir together and set to low heat.
- Mix beef, pork sausage, salt, italian seasoning, bread crumbs, egg and worcestershire sauce together in a large mixing bowl – mix until just combined. If you over mix, the meatballs become tough.
- With wet hands roll the mixture into 3 tbsp sized balls placing them into the crockpot as you go. It’s okay if they aren’t all fully covered by the sauce.
- Place the cover on the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. After 6 hours, remove the lid and toss the meatballs in the sauce. Leave the lid off for 1-2 hours to reduce the liquid in the sauce
- Serve warm however you like!
Equipment
- 1 Crockpot
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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