Crockpot Marinara & Meatballs: Kid Approved

I absolutely love the crockpot and how easy it makes life on those busy, hectic evenings.  I am sure I will like it even more as my kids grow and I am taxiing them too and from activities.  When I find a new crockpot recipe that we love, I have to share it because I love to help make everyone’s life easier.   After trying this marinara and meatballs in the crockpot, I am certain that I will not cook spaghetti and meatballs any other way.

My husband loves Italian food and M is just like him.  C is indifferent and usually just prefers to eat just the meatballs, but this recipe was different- everyone devoured this meal!  The best thing about this is that it takes no time at all:  I threw everything together in the crockpot in the morning and it was ready at dinner time.  I of course cooked the noodles and our veggie right before it was time to eat, but you could have done that ahead of time too.  Next time, I will try some zoodles with this instead (at least for me).

Crockpot Meatballs & Marinara

Like any recipe that I make, 9 out of 10 times, it comes from modifying a variety of recipes.  A friend of mine sent over some crockpot meals, another friend shared a crockpot marinara and so this version of crockpot meatballs and marinara was born.

Crockpot Meatballs

For the meatballs, you will need:

• 1.5 pounds of ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 1/4 cups of italian bread crumbs
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 white onion chopped
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Combine all those ingredients together and mix with your hands.  Once it is all mixed together, roll into 1-1.5 inch balls.

Here is where your choice comes into play.  I immediately just threw my meatballs into the crockpot and then topped with the ingredients for my marinara and let it cook all day.  A few of my meatballs fell apart and that was okay with me.

If you don’t want your meatballs to fall apart, take an extra 5-10 minutes, heat some oil in a skillet and brown each side of the meatballs.  This should prevent it from falling a part.

Crockpot Marinara Sauce

Once the meatballs were in the bottom of the crockpot, I simply dumped all the ingredients for my marinara sauce.

For the sauce you will need:

• 28 ounces of whole tomatoes or diced (depending on how you like your sauce)
• 28 ounces of tomato puree (or you can simply take out the tomatoes above and double this)
• 6 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 1/2 chopped white onion
• 4-5 tsp. fresh basal
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup red wine
• salt and pepper to taste
• a shake of crushed red pepper (if you like it with a little kick)

Once everything is in the crockpot, let it cook all day.  Since I used whole tomatoes, I did take them out half way through and crush a little (next time I will use diced tomatoes).

Everyone in my house loved this meal!  Crockpot meatballs and marinara will be a staple at our house and I will no longer make spaghetti and meatballs and marinara on the stove or in the oven.  I can’t wait to try this over some noodles next!

Your turn- tell me!
Have you ever tried meatballs and marinara in the crockpot?
What is your favorite type of veggie to use for zoodles?