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#28 – Slow Cooker Meatballs: Meatball Subs

You may notice a trend in some of my recipes: I love meals I can prepare in advance and keep in the freezer. I don’t mind investing the time upfront if it means I’m going to save time later on during the week. My meatballs are no exception.

I love buying my lean ground beef in bulk and making a huge quantity of meatballs to freeze for another day. A package of ground beef usually gets me over 100 meatballs which is usually good for quite a few meals. (the frugal side of me also approves)  I use my ice cream scoops to help with the process: they all come out the same size and already have a circular shape for easy rolling.

I use my meatballs for meatball subs, then use the leftover sauce with any remaining meatballs for spaghetti the night after.  Meatballs are also great to have on hand for a party or when company is coming for dinner. I love serving sweet’n sour meatballs as they are so tasty and incredibly easy to prepare. If you would like to skip making your own meatballs completely, just buy a package of frozen meatballs to keep on hand. They make for fast and easy meals.

Do you want to know a secret? You can cook the meatballs from frozen! And even better then that, they keep their perfect little ball shape while they are in the slow cooker.

So here’s the process:

#1 – Here are my frozen meatballs and my small slow cooker ready to go. (How many slow cookers do you have? I have two and can easily justify adding another to the collection)

Slow Cooker Meatballs for meatball subs or sweet'n sour meatballs - the most ridiculously easy meal you'll ever make! 365daysofeasyrecipes.com

#2 – Just dump however many meatballs you want in your slow cooker. See? Frozen! So easy!!  I usually put 4 meatballs for each meatball sub then toss in an extra 10 meatballs that will hopefully make it to leftover night for the spaghetti. That is if the teenager doesn’t eat them all.

Slow Cooker Meatballs for meatball subs or sweet'n sour meatballs - the most ridiculously easy meal you'll ever make! 365daysofeasyrecipes.com

#3 – Pour a couple jars of spaghetti sauce over top (or pour in the sweet’n sour sauce if you’re making sweet’n sour meatballs) and you’re done! Make sure you turn your slow cooker on before you walk away. (yes, silly advice, but I’ve done it!)

Slow Cooker Meatballs for meatball subs or sweet'n sour meatballs - the most ridiculously easy meal you'll ever make! 365daysofeasyrecipes.com

 

#4 – Cook your meatballs on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 8 to 10. Give them a stir during the last half hour before eating if you have the opportunity. Your meatballs are now ready to enjoy.

Easiest meal ever! Do you have a favourite go-to slow cooker recipe that’s ridiculously easy to prepare? Link them up!

Here’s my recipe for homemade meatballs, it’s the same as my Homemade Hamburgers:

INGREDIENTS
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 pkg onion soup mix
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

How I do it: I use a regular sized ice cream scoop and divide that portion of meat in half. I roll them into balls and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I place the cookie sheet in the freezer until they are frozen then transfer the frozen meatballs to Ziplock freezer bags until I’m ready to use them.

DianaL

12 Comments

    • Try keep a box of latex gloves on hand in the kitchen! The thin white ones doctors usually use? I always wear those when making meatballs too… and when working with other gooey items too. Thanks for stopping by!

    • You don’t cook the meatballs before putting in the freezer? We have frozen ground beef in the freezer so if I unthaw to make the meat balls, I would have to pre cook I guess

      • No, I don’t cook the meatballs. I make the meatballs right after I purchase the ground beef. I make sure I have an hour to spare after I do my groceries so I can plan to make my meatballs.

    • Try keep a box of latex gloves on hand in the kitchen! The thin white ones doctors usually use? I always wear those when making meatballs too… and when working with other gooey items too. Thanks for stopping by!

  1. Hi! I’m making this for this first time and crocking about 100 small horsdevor size. How much sauce should I make? How many times to increase the amount you state?

    • Hi Susan, I have a 6-qt slow cooker and I multiply this recipe x4 when I make a full slow cooker of meatballs. I fill my slow cooker with my meatballs (not sure how many fit however, I think around 60 regular sized!!) and then add in my sauce. Good luck!

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