These meatballs taste just like your nonna’s without any pre-cooking or tending to—just throw them in the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients. The recipe makes enough meatballs and sauce to serve with two pounds of pasta. They are also delicious over polenta, stuffed into sub rolls or as a pizza topping.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 8 hr 20 min |
| Active: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 8 hr 20 min |
| Active: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- Two 28-ounce cans whole plum tomatoes
- One 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt
- 1 small onion, cut into chunks
- 1 small carrot, cut into chunks
- 1 celery stalk, cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
- 1 pound 90 percent lean ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- For the sauce: Pour the tomatoes into a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker and crush by hand. Stir in the tomato paste, olive oil, oregano, pepper flakes, garlic, bay leaves and 2 teaspoons salt.
- For the meatballs: Place the onions, carrots, celery, parsley and garlic in a food processor and pulse to make a paste. Transfer to a large bowl and add the beef, pork, eggs, breadcrumbs, Parmesan and 1 teaspoon salt. Form into 1 1/2-inch meatballs (you should get about 20 to 24) and nestle into the sauce in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or low for 7 to 8 hours. Discard the bay leaves before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 362 |
| Total Fat | 22 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 104 mg |
| Sodium | 737 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 362 |
| Total Fat | 22 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 104 mg |
| Sodium | 737 mg |
Reviews
This was really easy to make and delicious. My one critique is the amount of meatballs the recipe said it would produce. I had doubled the recipe since I needed more than 20, but I had 20 meatballs without making a dent in the meat mixture. so don’t worry about doubling it.
I doubled this recipe used diced tomatoes and big can of tomato paste instead of the recommended tomatoes. I also used refrigerated minced garlic and onion powder. I rolled the balls as directed and placed them on the sauce mix in the slow cooker for 8hr on low. They are great and not mushy. I will save this recipe and make again!
This turned out so well for me and was a massive hit. The sauce was phenomenal and so were the meatballs. I ended up using 1lb of beef and 1.5lbs of pork because that’s all I could find but the ratio still worked out perfectly. Already bought ingredients to make it again.
Started out good but by the end of the 4 hour cook time I had a meat sauce. Started out with 23 meatballs and by the time the cooking was done there was 15 meatballs. I added another 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs because I thought it looked a little wet. Don’t waste your time or money.