{Recipe Files}: Easiest, Most Tasty Crock Pot Meatballs

As promised, I'm here to share with you the yummiest crock pot meatball recipe there ever was. Strong statement, yes, but these are a winner in our house and have been eaten multiple times over the last few months since I discovered them!

What You Need:
~1 lb ground beef or turkey (I like it with ground turkey personally)
~1 C Italian bread crumbs
~1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
~1/2 tsp minced garlic (or 1 fresh clove minced)
~1/3 C milk*
~1 egg
~1/2 tsp pepper
~1 tsp dried parsley
~salt to taste (I add very little)
~40 ounces of pasta sauce--this part may be key to why I love these meatballs so much. We use the Victoria brand from Costco. The sauce is SO delicious and you get a two pack (80 oz total). MG and I are sodium nazi's and this pasta sauce has decent levels of sodium when compared to other pasta sauces, too. A win all around!

What You Do:
1. Either spray your crock pot with cooking spray OR use a crock pot liner. I recommend using the liner--it makes clean up SO much easier! (You can find these at Target in the baggy/saran wrap section).

2. In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except for the pasta sauce. 
*If the meatballs feel too dry, you can add in more milk. The original recipe called for 1/2 C but I found those to be too mushy and the meatballs fell apart. 1/3 of a C worked perfectly for mine.

3. Roll out about 1-2" balls and either place them in a container to refrigerate overnight, or if you're making it right then, just place them in the bottom of the crock pot.
4. When you're ready to cook them, I add a bit of pasta sauce to the bottom to give a little layer between the meatballs and the crock pot. Put the meatballs in and then cover those suckers with all of that delicious pasta sauce.
5. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours (I usually do about 9) or HIGH for 4-6 hours.
P.S. Your house is going to smell amazing and it's going to torture you and make your tummy growl waiting until it's time to eat these :)
You can serve this up over pasta or by itself. I've been having mine lately with only a smidge of pasta (bc of the Gestational Diabetes) and am totally full afterwards, but have also eaten it over pasta (and then am REALLY full afterwards). 
You can also put these into subs and top with some mozzarella cheese! That was the original way we made these, but pasta was just a little less messy.
And you can obviously load it up with Parmesan cheese, because cheese makes everything better--heh heh :)
This makes about 28 meatballs, depending how big you make them, which is always enough for 4 servings for us.
Enjoy!!

24 comments:

  1. These look delicious!! I ned to try that sauce, I love a good sauce if there is no time to make from scratch which there usually isn't, lol. Have a wonderful day girly!!

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  2. Yum!!! These sounds delicious - love that they are in the crockpot, too!

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  3. Yum!! Thanks for the tip on that pasta sauce, totally going to get it next time I'm there and make these!!

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  4. Um, this sounds delicious! I haven't had great luck with meatballs in the past so maybe doing them in the crockpot is key to not overcooking!

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  5. I'm all about anything that's easy for dinner, so definitely adding these to our dinner rotation!

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  6. REcipe looks yummy and I love that you use crockpot liners. If only I could remember to use them myself!

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  7. I can't wait to try this, looks so good and easy!!

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  8. Mmmm we love meatballs and anything crockpot haha - love these!

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  9. YUM! You had me at crockpot! And of course garlic and parm cheese <3
    Green Fashionista

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  10. Yum! I am craving a meatball sub now! I will have to make these! My sister swears by that Victoria sauce as well.

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  11. mmmm I don't take lunch until closer to one normally but now I'm starving!

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  12. Can't wait to make these! I love meatballs and crock pot recipes!

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  13. I have been seeing a lot of meatball recipes lately and this one looks amazing!

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  14. These look delicious, and anything in the crockpot is a win for sure! Hope you're having a great week!

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  15. Meatballs are one of the things I make to freeze! I triple the recipe and split it into ziploc bags with the sauce. Excellent for busy days.

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  16. Yummy I will have to try this recipe soon!

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  17. thanks for helping me determine my dinner for tonight!! Meatballs it is! My recipe is almost identical except for the crockpot part; I'll have to try it that way! XOXO, R

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  18. These sound really good!! I'll have to give these a try with spaghetti to change it up!
    Kelsey
    www.thepeacockroost.com

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  19. These look so good! Saving these to make asap! Yum!

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  20. Sounds amazing! We just cooked turkey meatballs for dinner last weekend but K wanted to bake them. I mean they were edible but your crockpot recipe sounds SO much better!

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  21. Yummy. These sound so easy and good. And good to know about the spaghetti sauce at Costco!

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