A slow cooker makes these chicken meatballs easy, tender, and delicious. Serve them on top of pasta, spiralized noodles, vegetables, or bread. They are so good!
My family loves this slow cooker chicken meatball recipe. The sauce is from scratch and gets better and better as it slowly cooks in a crockpot. Then, you’ll drop in the meatballs and let them cook for about 1 hour.
Since they gently poach in the sauce, the meatballs become extra tender and stay juicy inside. These chicken meatballs are similar to our turkey meatballs, but in that recipe, we cook the sauce and meatballs on the stove instead of in our slow cooker.
Key Ingredients
- Ground Chicken: I use 93% lean ground chicken when making these meatballs (leaner ground chicken makes less juicy meatballs). The extra 7-10% fat helps keep our chicken meatballs moist and juicy in the middle. Ground turkey, pork, or beef are all great substitutes.
- Milk, breadcrumbs, and egg: Help to keep our meatballs together and soft and tender in the middle.
- Parmesan: For really flavorful meatballs, add some shredded parmesan cheese to the mixture. I also use parmesan cheese when making these Italian meatballs with beef and pork.
- Spices: I love fresh parsley in these, and I stir in a little dried oregano and salt.
- Tomato basil sauce: I make the easy homemade tomato sauce with crushed canned tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, garlic, olive oil, and fresh basil. If you want a shortcut, use 2 jars of your favorite store-bought spaghetti sauce in this recipe.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Meatballs
First, I’ll make the tomato basil sauce. It gets so much better with time, so I start there. Later, I’ll add the meatballs when the sauce has slowly cooked for a few hours. This way, the sauce concentrates flavor, and I don’t risk overcooking the meatballs.
To make the slow cooker marinara sauce, you’ll add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, a small onion cut in half, lots of garlic, and spices to the slow cooker. If I’m in a hurry, I turn it to HIGH and cook for 3 hours. If I’ve got more time, I use LOW and cook for 6 hours.
Make your meatball mixture and form it into balls. I use wet hands when forming them, which keeps them from sticking too much. Drop the chicken meatballs into the sauce in the slow cooker and cover the tops with sauce by gently pushing the sauce over each meatball. Cook on HIGH for 1 hour or until the meatballs are cooked through. Then serve however you like.
These meatballs are great on their own, with some veggies on the side (I love roasted cabbage or sautéed cabbage). They are also excellent with pasta or slices of focaccia bread to soak up that amazing sauce.
Slow Cooker Chicken Meatballs
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
We love these crock pot chicken meatballs. We cook them in our simple slow cooker marinara sauce, which you will make first, then drop the meatballs into later an hour before you plan to serve them. Serve these meatballs with pasta, spiralized noodles, vegetables, bread, or as an appetizer.
You Will Need
Tomato Basil Sauce2 (28oz) cans crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 medium onion, cut in half
4 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 ½ tablespoons)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 small bunch fresh basil
Salt, to taste
Chicken Meatballs1 pound (450g) ground chicken
1/2 cup (50g) panko breadcrumbs or homemade breadcrumbs
1/2 cup (118ml) milk
1 large egg
6 tablespoons (1.5oz) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions
- Make Slow Cooker Marinara
1Remove the leaves from the basil sprig and save them for later. You will add the basil sprig to the sauce to infuse it with basil flavor, then serve it with the leaves later.
2Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, halved onion, garlic, olive oil, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and basil sprig to a slow cooker. Stir, then add salt to taste—we use between 1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon of salt, depending on the tomatoes. It will be cold, but you will get a good idea of whether or not the sauce is well-seasoned.
3Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours. Remove the onion, bay leaf, and basil sprig. Taste, then add additional salt as needed.
- Prepare Chicken Meatballs
1The meatballs can be shaped and kept refrigerated for up to a day ahead. Arrange them on a baking sheet, cover them, and then refrigerate for up to 1 day.
2Combine the panko breadcrumbs and the milk in a large bowl. Wait 3 to 5 minutes until the breadcrumbs have absorbed most of the milk, then whisk in the egg. Whisk in the parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper.
3Add the ground chicken and use a fork or your hands to blend the chicken and the egg mixture. The meatball mixture will be pretty moist. Shape into one-inch meatballs, pressing no more than necessary. This recipe makes approximately 18 meatballs.
4Once the marinara sauce has finished cooking, add the chicken meatballs. To add them, gently lower them into the sauce with a spoon or two forks. Cover the tops of the meatballs by gently pushing sauce over each meatball. Cook on HIGH for 1 hour or until the meatballs are cooked through.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Make-ahead sauce: The sauce can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for 2 to 3 days and 3 to 4 months in the freezer.
- Freezing uncooked meatballs: Shape and arrange meatballs on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Freeze until solid, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or bag, and freeze for up to 1 month. Add the frozen meatballs to the simmering sauce and expect them to take longer to cook through (1 ½ to 2 hours).
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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I‘ve made this marinara recipe countless time. It’s so easy and delicious. I don’t add the olive oil anymore and I don’t miss it at all. Thank you!
Made this today, family liked them! Used 1.5 lbs, .5 lb each turkey, chicken and beef. I had a feeling there would be enough sauce. There was! I’m going freeze a meal for my son who doesn’t live at home.
5 stars
the chicken balls sound great been looking for some thing different. Thanks,will make it to night.
This is a great idea! Never used the slow cooker for meatballs . Ground chicken isn’t available in the UK but it would be easy to make in the blender with the breadcrumbs.
Lovely! Did you dice the chicken breasts or you used a grinding machine?
We used store-bought ground chicken for the meatballs.
funny – cause i love chicken meatballs and then i saw your post. a good addition would be to finely chop some mushrooms to add to the chicken, and a little rosemary. made that the other night and it was heavenly!