Slow Cooker Meatballs

By Nutrition & Food, Recipe,

Meatballs are one of those foods that can transform any mundane dinner night into fun dinner night.  I mean…who doesn’t love these little morsels of tasty goodness?!  Not to mention how versatile they are.  You can use any ground meat & you really don’t really need a recipe.  Just mix a few basic ingredients, form & cook in one of a myriad of ways!  You can fry them, bake them, sauté them, braise them, steam them & even slow cook them.  This last way – slow cooking – is perfect for busy weekday nights.  Try these Slow Cooker Meatballs tonight & I bet you’ll put this recipe into regular rotation!

Serves 4

Ingredients

For Meatballs:

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 c panko
  • 1/8 c parsley, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/3 c onion, minced
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated
  • salt & pepper

For Tomato Sauce:

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 can (8 oz) whole tomatoes, crushed
  • 1 T tomato paste
  • 1/4 c onion, chopped
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 t red pepper flakes
  • 1 t red wine vinegar
  • pinch of sugar
  • salt & pepper

Preheat the broiler (see NOTE below).   Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Lightly oil the parchment.

Place the ground beef, panko, parsley, garlic, onion, egg, parmesan cheese, salt & pepper in a bowl.  Mix until well combined.  Shape the meat into 1″ meatballs & place on the prepared baking sheet.  Broil the meatballs until browned, about 8-10 min.
Preheat olive oil in saucepan over med-high heat.  (You can also do this in your slow cooker if it has a Sauté function.)  Add onions & sauté until lightly browned, about 3-5 min.  Add garlic & cook until fragrant, about 30 sec.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper & stir together.
Add sauce to slow cooker & place meatballs into sauce.  Cover the slow cooker & cook on LOW for 6-8 hrs or HIGH for 3-4 hrs.
Top the meatballs with a bit more parmesan cheese & serve.  Enjoy!
NOTE:  For time savings, you can skip the step of browning the meatballs in the broiler.  Instead, you simply place raw meatballs into sauce to cook.  But I would argue that browning the meatballs first adds a much-needed layer of flavor.
For more meatball recipes, give these a try:

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