- about a pound of chopped meat
- 1/2 of grated cheese (parm works great)
- 1 egg beaten
- about 1/2 cup bread crumbs or more depending on if mixture is to wet
- 1/2 an onion minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- optional, sometimes i like to add fresh parsley and basil
i am completely obsessed with figuring out this crock pot. after years of mastering my dutch oven this shouldn’t be so hard. good news, i think i figured it out. after listening to advice, that i can’t seem to follow, i decided i am just going to work at it until i get it. so i did…after 2 meals, the first one ending up in disaster, and then this one, well, i think i might have done it.
my meatballs…my kid’s and e both love them. it’s a simple recipe, and when i cook sauce on the stove top, if i am in a hurry, i throw in the raw meatballs and never have an issue. they are moist and round, delicious! i decided to do the same with the crock pot. no, it didn’t work. i mean, really, it didn’t.about 10% of the meatballs melted and all the fat had risen up to the top which then caused a giant film over the whole dish, yuck. i fished out the good meatballs and started over. i took a baking sheet and with the meatballs i was able to save, baked for about 10 minutes then broiled for about 3 just till brown, and remade my sauce. i did it! so here is my quick recipe for meatballs in a crock pot.
meatballs with tomato sauce (in a crock pot)
- mix all ingredients in a bowl and shape into balls. fry (or bake) till brown on the outside, add to your sauce in the crock pot.
- i cooked mine for 2 hours on high, when i left my house, i put the crock pot on low. 3 hours later when i came home my house smelled great and my meatballs were done.
tomato sauce
this is a quick and simple sauce. i made it differently then i would on the stove top. i am guessing everything i cook in this crock pot will need tweaking.
- 1 28oz jar of whole tomatoes or crushed tomatoes. i prefer whole, i squish up in the pot
- 2 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
- 1/2 an onion chopped
- 2 tbl fresh basil
- 1 tbl fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup wine
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp sugar
- in the crock pot i added the can of tomatoes, sugar, basil and parsley.
- in a skillet, saute your onions and garlic till just about translucent, about 5 minutes, add your wine and cook for another 2 minutes, just until it starts to reduce. add to crock pot and mix, add your meatballs.
this, even though i had to get rid of the 1st batch of sauce and melted meatballs, turned out amazing. we were surprised. i usually only make sauce when we are going to be home all day, this just gave me an option to leave my house.
dress your pasta lightly with sauce (that’s what lidia says) and lay those meatballs right on top. excellent meal.
so i think i am getting somewhere. after 2 huge screw up’s i think i understand. well, at least till next time.
I think you need a new crockpot that gets hotter. Meatballs (smallish ones) should cook just fine. Which one do you have? Mine gets so hot that I never leave it on high.
i have a DeLonghi. it gets pretty hot. maybe the meat had to much fat in it? it was pretty awful looking.
Mine actually simmers on high, small bubbles close to real boiling. Does yours get that hot?
yeah it does. it gets really hot, on high it bubbles to a medium simmer.
i think you should return your crockpot – it has a malfunction!
When i used to use my crockpot i always put it on low for hours.
i made chili last night (recipe tk) and it was amazing (best chili i ever made). it had to be me. i think i was just putting to much liquid in it?