6 Crockpot Meatball Dinners

These crockpot meatball dinners are what a bag of frozen meatballs was made for.

From Swedish meatballs over egg noodles to meatball subs with the cheese melted on, they’re real dinners and not just party food.

Here are the ones I make on repeat!

I keep a bag of frozen meatballs in the freezer the way other people keep a box of pasta, and I’ve stopped feeling bad about it.

Homemade ones work in every one of these too, if you’ve got the time, and I’ve noted where it matters.

1. Swedish Meatballs

The one I’d serve to company, and it’s frozen meatballs and a gravy from a can of cream of mushroom soup.

Beef broth, sour cream, a little Worcestershire, and a pinch of nutmeg go in with the soup, and the meatballs cook in it for four hours.

The nutmeg is the thing that makes it taste Swedish instead of just creamy, so don’t skip it.

Over wide egg noodles or mashed potatoes, with a spoonful of lingonberry jam if you’ve got it.

2. Salisbury Steak Meatballs

Salisbury steak without shaping patties, and I like it better this way.

Meatballs cook in a brown gravy with sliced mushrooms and onion, and the gravy thickens up on its own by the end.

I use a packet of brown gravy mix plus beef broth, and nobody has ever asked.

Mashed potatoes underneath, green beans on the side, and it’s the TV dinner I wanted as a kid.

3. Italian Meatballs in Marinara

The most useful thing in this post, because one batch turns into three dinners.

Meatballs simmer in a jar of marinara with garlic, basil, and a parmesan rind if you have one, for four hours on low.

Night one is meatballs over pasta, night two is subs, and night three is meatballs on their own with bread, plus whatever’s left goes in the freezer.

This is the one where homemade meatballs make a real difference.

The sauce is simple, so the meatball is the whole flavor.

4. Crockpot Spaghetti and Meatballs

The pasta cooks right in the crock, and it works!

Meatballs and sauce go in first and cook most of the day, then dry spaghetti gets pushed down into the sauce for the last thirty to forty minutes.

Break the spaghetti in half so it fits, and stir once halfway so it doesn’t clump on the bottom.

Check it at thirty minutes, because slow cookers vary and pasta goes from done to mush fast.

5. Meatball Subs

My kids’ favorite dinner, and honestly mine too.

Meatballs cook in marinara all day, then go into split rolls under a layer of mozzarella and get broiled until the cheese bubbles.

Toast the rolls first, or the bottom goes soggy before you get it to the table.

A sheet pan with a rack under the broiler keeps the bottoms crisp, plus it catches the drips.

6. Bavarian Meatballs

A little different from everything above, and the one people ask me about.

Meatballs cook in a sauce built from beer, beef broth, and a bit of brown sugar, with onions that go soft and sweet over the day.

Use a lager or a brown ale, not an IPA, because the bitterness gets stronger as it cooks down, and serve it over egg noodles with a spoonful of mustard on the side.

Notes on Meatballs in a Slow Cooker

Frozen meatballs go in frozen, and they need four hours on low or two on high to heat through and take on the sauce.

Homemade meatballs should be browned in a 12-inch skillet first, or they fall apart in the crock.

Don’t stir more than once or twice, for the same reason.

Cream-based sauces like the Swedish one go in with the sour cream added at the end, not the start, or it splits.

A 6-quart slow cooker holds a two-pound bag with room for the sauce, and a smaller one crowds them.

The tomato-sauce ones freeze well and the cream ones don’t, so plan the leftovers around that.

More Crockpot Dinners on the Site

The quick crockpot dinners with ten minutes of prep post is where these belong in spirit.

My slow cooker chicken and dumplings is the other comfort dinner I make from the same shelf of the pantry.

And for beef that isn’t in ball form, the hearty crockpot beef stew is the one I make most in winter.