Slow Cooker Meatballs and Marinara Sauce
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Make the best Slow Cooker Meatballs with homemade marinara sauce using this easy recipe! The delicious Italian meatballs, tomato sauce and pasta all cook together in a Crock Pot, so clean-up is a breeze! Put this recipe in a slow cooker in the morning and come home to a scrumptious dinner that the entire family will love!
Table of contents
One of my proudest accomplishments as a food blogger is perfecting my recipe for homemade meatballs. As one of my husbands favorite foods, I knew that I had to have the perfect recipe that I could make over and over again. And I did it! These meatballs are juicy, tender and flavorful!
Now, could I recreate the deliciousness of these meatballs in a slow cooker? You bet I did! And I combined it with my homemade marinara sauce, all made right in the slow cooker! I even cooked the pasta in the slow cooker, to create an incredible spaghetti and meatball dinner, right in a Crock Pot!
One of the benefits to making recipes in the slow cooker is not needing to use a bunch of extra dishes or spend a lot of time prepping the recipe. So when I set out to make the best homemade meatballs and marinara sauce right in the slow cooker, I had to get creative with how to make it just as delicious, without using pots and pans, or the stove.
I did my best to eliminate as much prep work as possible, but I still highly recommend cooking the meatballs for just 5 minutes under the broiler in the oven before adding them to the slow cooker. This will prevent the meatballs from falling apart or sticking together in the slow cooker. You can line a baking sheet with foil to cook the meatballs, so you still won’t have additional pots or pans to clean. Yay!
Why you’ll fall in love with this recipe
- Minimal prep work and time! The sauce, meatballs and pasta all cook together in the slow cooker.
- It’s so delicious! These meatball and marinara sauce recipes have been tested and perfected to create the most flavorful dish!
- It makes a lot of food! Whether you’re cooking for 2 or 10, this recipe makes a lot of food, so it’s perfect for serving a large group, or eating as leftovers throughout the week. The leftovers might just be my favorite part of this recipe!
Ingredients
For the marinara sauce
- San Marzano peeled whole tomatoes – while any variety of canned whole tomatoes will work, I recommend San Marzano tomatoes for their sweet flavor, which creates a rich tomato sauce. Most grocery stores will sell canned San Marzano tomatoes near the other canned tomatoes, or you can order them in bulk on Amazon. If you love to make homemade marinara sauce and pasta sauce, I recommend this option for the best savings!
- Garlic cloves – I recommend fresh garlic cloves, crushed with a garlic press, for the best flavor.
- Dried oregano – I love using Litehouse oregano for the closest to fresh taste that you’ll get from dried herbs!
- Sugar – you always want to add sugar to a tomato-based sauce as it balances out the acidity from the tomatoes.
- Salt – the combination of salt, sugar and acid balance out this sauce and give it the perfect flavor.
- Red pepper flakes – these crushed peppers add just a hint of spice and flavor to the sauce.
- Fresh basil leaves – added at the end of the cooking process, basil adds a bright, fresh flavor to the sauce.
For the meatballs
- Onions – for this recipe I recommend finely chopping the onions. In a traditional meatball recipe, I would cook the onions down before adding them to the meatball mixture. Since we’re trying to eliminate prep work for this slow cooker meatball recipe, I simply dice the onions into smaller pieces so that they’ll easily cook down into the meatballs in the slow cooker.
- Garlic – crushing fresh garlic cloves with a garlic press means they’ll easily mix into the meatballs.
- Ground beef – I recommend a ground beef that’s 80/20, meaning 80% lean and 20% fat. This will give you the perfect amount of fat to make tender, juicy meatballs!
- Italian pork sausage – If you can’t find Italian sausage, not in the casing, you can always use Italian link sausage, and simply remove the sausage from the casing before adding it to this meatball recipe.
- Panko bread crumbs
- Parmesan cheese
- Eggs – you’ll only need the yolks, so feel free to save the egg whites for another recipe.
- Italian seasoning – I highly recommend my homemade seasoning, linked here. It’s so flavorful and easy to mix up in less than 5 minutes!
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare the sauce. Add the entire cans of whole tomatoes to a slow cooker. Do not drain the tomatoes. Use your hands to crush the tomatoes. It’s okay if some small chunks still exist. Add crushed garlic cloves, oregano, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine the ingredients.
- Prepare the meatballs. Add the ground beef, Italian pork sausage, finely chopped onions, crushed garlic cloves, panko breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, egg yolks, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to a large bowl. Use your hands, or a spatula, to combine all of the ingredients. Once the ingredients are combined, form the mixture into approximately 40 golf ball sized meatballs.
- Broil the meatballs. This step is optional, but highly recommended! Turn the broiler on the oven to high. Place the meatballs on a foil-lined baking sheet and under the broiler in the middle rack of the oven for 5 minutes.
- Add the meatballs to the slow cooker. Place the meatballs in the slow cooker with the marinara sauce. Gently stir the meatballs into the sauce until they’re covered in the sauce. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 6-8 hours.
- Add fresh basil. Once the cooking time is complete, stir in 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil leaves.
- Cook the pasta. The pasta can be cooked separately in a pot of boiling water on the stove, or right in the slow cooker with the meatballs and sauce. If cooking the pasta in the sauce with the meatballs, add 8 ounces of spaghetti noodles to the slow cooker. Depending on the size of the slow cooker, if they don’t fit in the slow cooker lengthwise, simply break them in half, then add them to the slow cooker. Gently press them down in the slow cooker until they’re covered in the sauce. Allow the noodles to cook in the slow cooker on low for 30-40 minutes, or on high for 25-30 minutes. *Note that when cooking the noodles in the slow cooker, it will thicken the sauce as it releases starch into the sauce in the slow cooker.
What to serve with it
Serve the cooked meatballs, marinara sauce and pasta in bowls. Optionally top with fresh grated parmesan cheese and fresh chopped basil.
Serve them on their own, or pair them with delicious side dishes, like salad, roasted vegetables or fresh baked bread. Try pairing the meatballs with any of these tasty recipes!
Tips and tricks
- Do not over-mix the meatball ingredients! Only mix the ingredients enough to combine them. Over-mixing will cause the meatballs to become tough.
- I highly recommend cooking the meatballs before adding them to the slow cooker. If you’re wondering why your meatballs fall apart in the slow cooker, it’s because they have not been pre-cooked. By placing the meatballs under the broiler for just 5 minutes they brown up and become firm on the outside, and will not fall apart in the slow cooker.
- The meatballs can be prepped in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before cooking them in a slow cooker. You can also prep and freeze the meatballs for up to 6 months, then add them directly to the slow cooker from the freezer.
- This recipe can be made with a jar of your favorite marinara sauce, or tomato sauce, instead of the homemade marinara sauce. If using a jar of sauce, add the meatballs to the slow cooker first, then pour the jar of sauce on top. You will need two 24 ounce jars of sauce for this recipe.
- Use any pasta that you’d like! Any dry pasta will work in this recipe. Instead of spaghetti, feel free to use penne pasta, angel hair pasta or ziti, just note that a thicker pasta, like penne or ziti, might take longer to cook in the slow cooker, than spaghetti noodles.
- Serve it without pasta. These slow cooker meatballs are delicious on a hoagie roll topped with mozzarella cheese to make meatball subs. They’re also great served with toothpicks as a party appetizer. If you want to make a low carb meal, serve them with zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash or roasted vegetables, instead of pasta.
- To make gluten free meatballs, simply swap out the panko breadcrumbs for gluten-free panko bread crumbs. Serve the meatballs and marinara with gluten free pasta, or vegetables.
- To make the meatballs spicy, add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to the meatball mixture.
Storage and reheating
Leftover meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. Reheat the meatballs in the marinara sauce in a pot on the stove over medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes, or until warmed throughout. You can also reheat the meatballs in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.
These meatballs are perfect for freezing. Once the meatballs are fully cooked in the sauce in the slow cooker, turn off the slow cooker and allow them to cool completely. Place the meatballs and sauce in a freezer-safe container. Freeze the meatballs for up to 6 months. To defrost, move the meatballs from the freezer to the refrigerator for 24 hours, or defrost them quickly in the microwave.
I do not recommend freezing the meatballs and sauce with cooked pasta. I recommend cooking fresh pasta after you have defrosted the meatballs and heated them up in the marinara sauce.
Tools for this recipe
- Slow cooker
- Slow cooker liners – totally optional, but I love these for easy clean-up!
- Large mixing bowl
- Baking sheet + foil
More Italian recipes
Try these other TESTED AND PERFECTED Italian recipes from my kitchen to your home!
Italian Slow Cooker Meatballs and Marinara
Ingredients
Marinara
- 56 ounces San Marzano peeled tomatoes, 2 – 28 ounce cans
- 2 tablespoons garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Meatballs
- 1 cup onions, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound loose Italian pork sausage
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, click link for homemade recipe
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For serving
- ½ cup basil leaves, fresh chopped
- 8 ounces spaghetti noodles, uncooked
- ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Marinara
- Pour the entire cans of San Marzano tomatoes in a slow cooker (do not drain the tomatoes) and use your hands to crush the tomatoes.
- Add the crushed garlic cloves, oregano, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes, stir to combine.
Meatballs
- In a large bowl, combine the onions, garlic, ground beef, Italian sausage, panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, egg yolks, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Use your hands, or a spatula, to combine all of the ingredients.
- Once the ingredients are combined, form the mixture into about 40 golf ball sized meatballs.
- This step is optional, but highly recommended! Turn the broiler on the oven to high. Place the meatballs on a foil-lined baking sheet and under the broiler in the middle rack of the oven for 5 minutes. This will prevent the meatballs from sticking together or falling apart in the slow cooker.
- Place the meatballs in the slow cooker with the marinara sauce and gently stir the meatballs until they’re covered in the sauce.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Once the cooking time is complete, stir in 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil leaves.
- Optional: cook the pasta in the slow cooker by adding 8 ounces of spaghetti noodles directly into the slow cooker. Gently press down on the noodles to make sure they're covered in the sauce. Allow the noodles to cook in the slow cooker on low for 30-40 minutes, or on high for 25-30 minutes. *Note that when cooking the noodles in the slow cooker, it will thicken the sauce as it releases starch into the sauce in the slow cooker.
- Serve the cooked meatballs, marinara sauce and pasta in bowls. Optionally top with fresh grated parmesan cheese and fresh chopped basil.
Notes
- The nutritional information provided does not include the optional spaghetti noodles or fresh grated parmesan cheese for serving.
- The meatballs can be prepped in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before cooking them in a slow cooker. You can also prep and freeze the meatballs for up to 6 months, then add them directly to the slow cooker from the freezer.
- This recipe can be made with a jar of your favorite marinara sauce, or tomato sauce, instead of the homemade marinara sauce. If using a jar of sauce, add the meatballs to the slow cooker first, then pour the jar of sauce on top. You will need two 24 ounce jars of sauce for this recipe.
- To make gluten free meatballs, simply swap out the panko breadcrumbs for gluten-free panko bread crumbs. Serve the meatballs and marinara with gluten free pasta, or vegetables.
- To make the meatballs spicy, add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to the meatball mixture.
- Leftover meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. Reheat the meatballs in the marinara sauce in a pot on the stove over medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes, or until warmed throughout. You can also reheat the meatballs in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.
- These meatballs are perfect for freezing. Once the meatballs are fully cooked in the sauce in the slow cooker, turn off the slow cooker and allow them to cool completely. Place the meatballs and sauce in a freezer-safe container. Freeze the meatballs for up to 6 months. To defrost, move the meatballs from the freezer to the refrigerator for 24 hours, or defrost them quickly in the microwave.
Nutrition Facts
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2 Comments on “Slow Cooker Meatballs and Marinara Sauce”
Can you make 2″ meatballs instead of 1″?
Hi Kevn, yes you can. Enjoy!