Slow Cooker Meatballs

Schedules are growing more hectic in the Little household with the arrival of the warmer weather. So, once again, I’m turning to my trusty sidekick – the slow cooker – to help with dinner. Lots of folks think of the slow cooker as a cool weather appliance, but I love it for the ease of getting meals ready during the busy time of the year and love that it doesn’t heat up the whole house when it’s so warm outside. These Slow Cooker Meatballs are a great way to do just that. Pop them in the slow cooker in the morning and when you get home all you’ve got to do is boil some pasta and make a salad. You can even use these to make amazing meatballs sandwiches.

Now, the first instinct is to just dive right in there and start squishing around. But, I’ve found that using a fork to “stir” everything together works better because it keeps the mixture from getting overworked. You’ll just need to make sure it’s all mixed well.

Scoop out about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture and roll it into a ball. I like to use a 1/4 cup cookie scoop for this. It’s keeps them all the same size.

We’ve got one jar of the sauce in the slow cooker (that’s been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray -you’ll thank me when it’s clean-up time). Put the meatballs all in there and then top with the other jar of sauce. Then put the lid on it and cook on low for about 5 hours.

There you have it! Delicious and EASY Slow Cooker Meatballs. These are great served over pasta or even in a meatball sandwich!

• 2 (24-ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 1½ pounds ground beef
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

1. Lightly spray the crock of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Pour one jar of the sauce in the slow cooker.
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, garlic powder, onion powder, bread crumbs, salt and black pepper. (I like to use a fork for this. It gets everything blended without overworking the mixture.) Scoop about ¼ cup of the meat mixture and roll it into a ball. Place the meatball into the slow cooker on top of the sauce and repeat until all of the meat mixture has been formed into balls. Top with the other jar of sauce and cook covered on low for about 5 hours.

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