Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs

By Sarah DiGregorio

Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Total Time
4½ hours
Rating
4(799)
Notes
Read community notes

Using a mixture of uncased sausage and ground beef is the trick to achieving tender, flavorful meatballs without a lot of work or extra ingredients. These three-inch meatballs are oversize, so they can stay moist and tender after cooking for an extended period. This way, they also fit in the slow cooker in one layer, which helps them cook evenly. Choose any kind of turkey sausage you like best; sweet or hot Italian are both great choices. (Pork will work too, but will make the sauce a little oily.) Fear not, the spaghetti is cooked separately, so you can serve these meatballs over any long noodle for a traditional take, or spoon them over polenta or tuck them into hero rolls.

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Ingredients

Yield:5 to 6 servings
  • ¼cup tomato paste
  • 3tablespoons dry red wine
  • 1cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley (about ½ bunch)
  • 4ounces grated Parmesan (1 to 1¼ cups), plus more for serving
  • ½medium onion, coarsely grated (about ⅓ cup)
  • 2large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2tablespoons whole milk
  • 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • ½ to 1teaspoon red-pepper flakes
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1pound bulk fresh sweet or hot Italian turkey sausage
  • 1pound ground beef (10 to 20 percent fat)
  • 1(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 2sprigs fresh basil, plus more for serving
  • 1pound dried spaghetti, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

829 calories; 32 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 79 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 53 grams protein; 1209 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, whisk together the tomato paste and red wine. In a bowl, stir together the panko, parsley, Parmesan, grated onion, eggs, milk, garlic, vinegar and red-pepper flakes. Season with ¾ teaspoon salt and a generous amount of black pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Add the sausage and ground beef to the panko mixture, and gently mix using your hands just until all the ingredients are uniformly combined. (Don’t overmix, or you’ll end up with tough meatballs.) Form the mixture into 7 (3-inch) gently packed meatballs, and place them in the slow cooker. (They should fit snugly in one layer.) Pour the crushed tomatoes all over the top of the meatballs, then add the basil sprigs to the slow cooker. Cover, and cook on low for 4 hours.

  3. Step 3

    When ready to serve, cook the spaghetti according to the package directions in boiling, salted water and drain. Increase the slow cooker heat to high. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meatballs to a bowl. Discard the basil sprigs from the sauce. If there is more oil on the surface of the sauce than you’d like, use a ladle to skim it off and discard it. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss to coat the pasta evenly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the meatballs back to the slow cooker and stir gently to combine. Serve the spaghetti and meatballs with more grated Parmesan and torn basil leaves for topping.

Ratings

4 out of 5
799 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

rob

I wouldn’t add the basil until just before serving the meal—the flavor won’t survive heat for very long.

Emily W

Made this with Impossible meat & vegan italian sausage and it was DELISH

CYW

Made with hot Italian sausage and regular bread crumbs. Forgot to add Panko, fresh basil, and parsley to my grocery list -- oh well. Added an extra cup of crushed tomatoes to increase the sauce ratio, sprinkled dried basil over everything and let it cook. I made 15 generous meatballs. I'm always dubious of slow cooker recipes but this one is a winner. Should not have added the red pepper flakes, given that I used spicy sausage. Not a deal breaker though...

muralbarbecue

Little two spicy. If your not a fan of spice half the red pepper. Otherwise it is delicious

JH

One further suggestion: scrap the crushed tomatoes and paste, and cover the meatballs with the NYT's classic marinara sauce instead: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015987-classic-marinara-sauce?action=click&module=RecipeBox&pgType=recipebox-page®ion=all&rank=18 It's quick, easy, and terrific as a pasta sauce on its own (I'll never use jar sauce again), but after the meatballs cook in it, it's out of this world.

JH

The meatballs are very good and pretty easy, but I don't get the appeal of the sauce. For me, 1/4 cup of tomato paste was severe overkill, and only served to compensate for the lack of other interesting flavor. It ends up bland, but still too rich. But the good news is that the recipe should work well with lots of variations in the sauce. You can also vary the size of the meatballs. I made some smaller ones for my toddler alongside the huge ones, and they cooked fine.

Chris

Either make smaller meatballs - maybe 10-14 - or cook for another hour in slow cooker. Still some pink in the middle.

Alex

I've made it twice, and everybody loved it. The only complaint was the lack of enough sauce, so will try adding another can of crushed tomatoes and increasing the wine. I used an ice cream scoop to help me measure the meat for the meatballs. Helped them come out to be uniformly sized. Did not have fresh basil, so I topped the sauce with some dried basil before cooking, and the sauce has a nice flavor.

Caitlin

I made this, but I have an old style crockpot that is taller than it is wide. So, I took half the meatballs (I made 8 and they were massive) and froze them (separately - then combined in a bag) and kept the rest of directions and ingredient amounts the same. It came out great and now I have an even faster batch ready to go for the next time!

Gail

I avoid cooking with eggs. I substituted 1/4 cup of whole ricotta for each egg in the recipe. The meatballs were light and terrific.

Sarah

I made 10 or 11 meatballs and they were large! Used ground Turkey and Italian chicken sausage. Very nice.

sarah

I cooked this for four hours on low and then had it on warm for another hour. The meatballs were RAW in the middle.

kristi

I agree with a poster that the sauce was meh. I tasted it an hour before it was ready and it was bland and acidic. So I added 2 teaspoons of Italian herb blend and 1 tsp of sugar. Then I let it cook another hour and the sauce was delicious.

midwest dad

I thought this was a tasty and easy meatball dish. Made as written. It needed a bit more salt which I rarely say in a recipe review. And our house smelled amazing all day.

Jack

Used ground beef was fine, smaller meatballs would be easier to eat, increase the amount of sauce

HRK

Meatballs tasted great. Next time ill add actual sauce vs just the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste

Megan

Is there a way to make it a one pot meal? Seems like I should be able to add the spaghetti to the slow cooker

Christine

I didn’t love this recipe. For the amount of work and time it takes to make the dish, I found that the meatballs lacked flavor. I made them with chicken Italian sausage and ground turkey.

Brenda

I used mild Italian sausage and made the rest of the recipe exactly as written. Cooked on high a couple of hours initially. It was delicious. I will be making this again!

kent g.

really good flavor - best meatballs i've found so far on this site. will certainly cook again but will likely make the meatballs half the size and reducing the red pepper flakes.

Cara

WOW so great. I couldn’t find Italian turkey sausage so I used 1 lb pork sausage and 1 lb ground turkey. So so so good.

Dennis

It was very good the first day, but for 2 people it lasts forever and a day and the pasta suffers.

William Wroblicka

If there are only two of you, you don't have to cook a whole pound of spaghetti. Make the meatballs and sauce as directed. Remove 2/3 - 3/4 of it and freeze for another time. Cook 6 - 8 ounces of spaghetti and serve it with the remaining meatballs and sauce in the slow cooker.

Kim

Really tasty! And super convenient with the use of the crock pot. I saw others felt it was a bit too spicy. I used hot chicken sausage instead of turkey, and 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes. Spice was perfect for us. I did find there wasn't quite enough sauce for our liking. I saw that one person suggested using the NYT classic marinara sauce, so I'll try that next time since there is more liquid in that recipe. Probably depends on how spicy your sausage is.

Kim

I made the large meatballs, and cooked on medium heat setting, per one person having pink meatballs in the center after cooking on low. Next time I'll just make smaller meatballs. I couldn't finish one of these quarter pounders!

Cheryl

Can I use vegan Parmesan (which does not act as a binding agent)? Is there a vegan milk that would substitute effectively as well?

Buffy

Never use the sausage but follow the basic recipe for moist, easy meatballs. Haven’t done the full spaghetti recipe.

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