Crock Pot Meatballs

A former co-worker gave me a tip one day... cooking meatballs in the crock pot.

I finally dug around the internet to see what kind of recipe I could find.

Equal parts ground beef and ground pork
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Parsley
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Egg, beaten

I don't measure when I'm making this kind of stuff. But I'll include the original recipe at the bottom for your measuring reference. I just went on how moist or dry the mixture was. I also counted in the fact that the pork is a moist meat.

I demolished the ground meat and pork, mixing by hand so that it didn't resemble the form in the package. Hate to gross you out so I won't say it. This produces a softer result. If it isn't mixed very well, it tends to be tough. You want your meat mixture to be moist enough to be sticky, but dry enough to hold a ball.

I formed the meat into golfball sized meatballs and put them in a baking pan and put them in the freezer. Once they were solid, I transferred them into baggies.


Today, I was ready to make the meatballs.

1 large can (about 26 ounces) of spaghetti sauce

1 small can (8 ounces?) tomato paste

Combine sauce & paste in crock pot
I also seasoned with garlic and onion powders, parsley flakes, a little bit of red/cayenne pepper and a touch of black pepper.
Add frozen meatballs
Low heat for 6-8 hours
Serve over spaghetti

Pretty simple. The meatballs were tender and moist. Of course, since they cooked in the sauce, there wasn't that crispy browning that I love. But I'm not complaining. The meatballs were delicious.

Here's the original recipe...

1.5 lbs ground beef
1 1/4 cups italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic minced
1 medium yellow onion chopped
1 egg, beaten

Mix thoroughly and form into 16 meatballs.

1 (28oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (16oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14.25oz) can tomato paste

In slow cooker, mix sauce, tomatoes and paste. Add meatballs and cook on low 6-8 hours.

This recipe said nothing about time for fresh vs frozen meatballs. I'd say if you do fresh, cook for less time.