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Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs

Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs - Use your slow cooker to make the easiest, most flavorful homemade marinara sauce and meatballs! Your family will love gathering around the dinner table to enjoy this delicious spaghetti and meatballs recipe.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 30 minutes
Course: Dinner, Main
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: meatballs, slow cooker spaghetti and meatballs, spaghetti, spaghetti and meatballs
Servings: 4 to 6
Author: Hip Foodie Mom

Ingredients

For the marinara sauce:

  • 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
  • 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 28-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 28-ounce can chunky tomato sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 fresh garlic cloves finely chopped or minced
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

For the meatballs:

  • 2 pounds lean ground beef or a mix of ground beef and ground pork
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 to 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup plain panko bread crumbs
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese plus more when serving
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the spaghetti and meatballs:

  • 1 lb. cooked spaghetti noodles
  • fresh parsley finely diced for garnish

Instructions

For the marinara sauce:

  • Into the bowl of a large sized slow cooker, add the chopped onion, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, chunky tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, minced garlic and salt. Stir well to combine.

For the meatballs:

  • In a separate large mixing bowl, mix together all of the meatball ingredients. Using either your hands or a rubber spatula, mix the raw meatball mixture until thoroughly combined.
  • Form into meatballs; I recommend using a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop out the meatball mixture. This also helps to ensure that all of your meatballs are roughly the same size. The mixture will make roughly about 30+ meatballs. I placed 20 into the slow cooker and saved the rest.*
  • Position the meatballs into the marinara sauce and make sure each meatball is covered and submerged into the sauce.
  • Cover the slow cooker with a lid and cook until the meatballs are cooked through: about 4 hours on a HIGH setting or 8 hours on a LOW setting.

When ready to serve:

  • Place cooked spaghetti pasta into dish or bowl, top with some marinara sauce and meatballs and sprinkle with diced parsley and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy immediately!

Notes

NOTE: I did not cook my pasta in the slow cooker. Cook your pasta separately on the stove. *Recipe makes about 31-32 meatballs so freeze any leftovers or bake the remaining at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes (or until cooked through) and make meatball subs for another night!