Incredible recipe! I will never make meatballs any other way! I actually made the meat balls (added parmesan, basil and garlic powder, less breadcrumb) a couple of days ago and froze them. This morning I just mixed the spagetti sauce and a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes with juice (skipped the puree and added basil, oregano, and a couple of tablespoons of sugar to cut the acidity) and added the frozen meatballs. Cooked for about 10 hours on low. Tender, flavorful, and delicious. Plenty of delicious sauce. Thanks previous reviewers, and thanks for this great recipe submission!
Great idea but having experience with meatballs helps: There are WAY too many bread crumbs in this recipe! The meatball recipe I use is one pound of meatloaf mix (pork/veal/beef ground and packaged in the same package), 1/4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs, 1/4 Parmesan cheese, season with garlic and onion powder (since my husband has textural issues with some foods!), pepper and salt. Mix this with one egg as the recipe suggests. I do, however, like the twist of cooking them in the crockpot and NOT precooking them! Awesome! The sauce was greasier than I typically like (understandably, since you don't drain the meat...) but they were a huge hit at the party I took them to. They would be FIVE stars if the ratio wasn't so off for bread crumbs to meat...
The meatballs were great; but, the sauce was VERY bland. Before adding the meatballs to the slow cooker I baked them on 350° in the oven for 15 minutes. This helped them retain there shape and to allow the grease to drip off. I added two additional garlic cloves but it was still bland. I would recommend finding a speghetti sauce recipe from here instead of using a store bought jar of sauce. I used Prego traditional sauce, maybe a more flavourful jarred sauce exists? Good luck! I will probably look elsewhere for an more tasty recipe.
Great recipe! I had to make a few changes- I had 2 lbs. meat thawed out so I used all of it. I used 1 cup bread crumbs (Italian). 1 1/2 T. dried parsley & sauteed the onion before adding. I also used 3/4 c. egg beaters because the crumb mixture looked too dry. 26oz sauce 14oz crushed & 37oz puree! ( it was the only size the store had I was using that extra meat!) I added a little Italian seasoning because of that & a little sugar. Next time I might add a little red wine too! I cooked on high for the first hour then stirred. Finished with 4 more hours on low. They turned out great. I also used Laura's ground round as always. Not greasy AT ALL!!! We used these for meatball sub sandwiches- YUM! I'll use the leftovers with spaghetti. I love slow cooker recipes! THANKS.
I have not posted in a LONG time but I am happy to see that my recipe is bringing good things to the table for most of the cooks! One thing to note-this is more or less a Basic recipe that can be added to, or modified that I see many have done. Also-In the original recipe, I did not note that I skim the grease-I think you need to use ground beef for the best flavor. Anyway, Happy eating!!! Hunnie :)
These meatballs are easy and awesome! I prefer smaller meatballs so this recipe yeilds about 30 for me. I also like to place them on a cookie sheet and brown them in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Even if you choose not to brown them they hold up well! I also use a large onion; half of it chopped in the meatballs and the other half I chop and add to the sauce. Other than that I don't change a thing!
So easy and so delicious! Plus it's a great way to beat the summer heat on nights when it's just too hot to grill. The recipe for the meatballs is very good and while I was skeptical about doing this in a crock pot vs. my usual way I was pleasantly surprised. I used a jar of my favorite Classico sauce and added a little minced garlic and fresh basil along with a few splashes of red wine along with the rest of the ingredients. I cooked it for 6 hours on low and it smelled wonderful. When it was done I served it on toasted crusty Italian rolls with some mozzarella and topped with shredded Parmesan and Romano cheeses - YUM!
The meatballs ended up tasting great! They had a good texture and flavor. The only thing I would consider doing differently is baking them for a 20 minutes to keep the sauce from getting so greasy. Other than that it was terrific!
My very picky family loved the meatballs! I took the leftovers to work and my coworkers loved it! A very good recipe. I cooked the meatballs the night before in the oven at 350 for about 20 min. to get rid of some of the grease in the sauce.
