I love making batches of these Turkey Meatballs in my Slow Cooker. Since they are cooked in pasta sauce, they are ready to coat your favorite pasta dish or a super easy way to make Meatball Sandwiches.
Regardless of how you plan to use these meatballs, it doesn’t get much easier than this. All you need to do is prep the sauce and meatballs and set your slow cooker for 5 hours or so. Cook time may vary depending on your slow cooker, but remember you should always cook to temperature and not time.
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This wonderful Meatball Recipe should yield about 24 meatballs depending on how big you make them. Personally I like to use my cookie scoop to help me keep all the meatballs roughly the same size. I also like to use disposable food safe gloves when handling meat.
When making the meatballs, I use the cookie scoop in my right hand to take the meat mixture out of the prep bowl and transfer it to my left hand which has the glove for final shaping. Totally optional but I almost always wear disposable food safe gloves when handling raw meat.
Recipe FAQ’s
You will want to ensure the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165°F. You can also cut one meatball in half and make sure there is no pink in the center.
No, you can use an equal amount of ground pork if you want. Or if you don’t want to use pork at all, simply use 2 lbs of ground turkey. The pork sausage adds some fat to the lean ground turkey. And we all know that fat is flavor!
I like to use a mild ground Italian sausage but you can use a hot version if you prefer. If you can’t find ground sausage you can use regular sausage. Just remember to remove the casing before using.
Gather your Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients to make this Turkey Meatballs recipe in your Slow Cooker. For ingredient amounts please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Crushed Tomatoes – used for the sauce. You can use your favorite brand
- Dried Oregano, Kosher Salt & Ground Black Pepper – a little seasoning for the pasta sauce
- Garlic Cloves – I prefer minced but you can also peel & smash the cloves
- Bread Crumbs – I used unseasoned bread crumbs but you can use seasoned if you prefer
- Parmesan Cheese – you can use pre-grated parmesan or grate your own from a block
- Kosher Salt & Ground Black Pepper – basic seasoning for the meatballs
- Egg – the egg acts as a binder for the meatballs
- Lean Ground Turkey – I like to use Jennie-O but use whatever brand of ground turkey you prefer
- Italian Sausage – I prefer to buy ground sausage but if you don’t have access to some just make sure you remove the casing from the sausages before using
How to Make Turkey Meatballs in a Slow Cooker
- Add the cans of crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, salt, pepper and garlic cloves to the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, beaten egg, and garlic. Stir to blend.
- Add the ground turkey and ground sausage. Use your hands to gently mix all the ingredients until thoroughly combined.
- Use a cookie scoop or your hands to form the meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls.
- Add the meatballs to the slow cooker with the tomato sauce. If you need to a second layer of meatballs, gently press on the first layer to submerge and add the next layer of meatballs on top. It’s okay if the meatballs aren’t fully covered in sauce.
- Cover and cook for about 5 hours on high. After the 5 hours, remove the cover and cook an additional 30 minutes on high to slightly thicken the sauce.
Slow Cooker Turkey Meatballs in Sauce
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Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 56 oz Crushed Tomatoes
- 2 Tsp Dried Oregano
- 1 Tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ Tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
For the Meatballs
- ½ Cup Bread Crumbs
- ½ Cup Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
- ¾ Tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ Tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 lb Lean Ground Turkey
- 1 lb Italian Sausage, remove casings if applicable
Instructions
- Add the cans of crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, salt, pepper and garlic cloves to the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, beaten egg, and garlic. Stir to blend.
- Add the ground turkey and ground sausage. Use your hands to gently mix all the ingredients until thoroughly combined.
- Use a cookie scoop or your hands to form the meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls.
- Add the meatballs to the slow cooker with the tomato sauce. If you need to a second layer of meatballs, gently press on the first layer to submerge and add the next layer of meatballs on top. It’s okay if the meatballs aren’t fully covered in sauce.
- Cover and cook for about 5 hours on high. After the 5 hours, remove the cover and cook an additional 30 minutes on high to slightly thicken the sauce.
