Slow Cooker Chicken Parm Meatballs
The easiest and tastiest chicken meatballs that are ACTUALLY healthy! No slow cooker? No problem. These can be made stovetop as well. Read on for directions.
Slow Cooker Chicken Parm Meatballs
Most of the meatball recipes you see out there are time consuming and extremely fattening. Brown them, broil them, make your own sauce, do this, do that. Even if you look up chicken or turkey meatballs, the recipes you will find call for dark meat and loads of fattening dairy and additives. Why wouldn’t I just buy regular fattening meatballs if that’s the case? It's really important to use ground chicken that has some fat content. If you use 100% breast, these will be dry.This recipe is specifically created to use lean chicken to make sure this is a healthy meal. There’s no browning, no broiling needed. Just throw everything into the slow cooker and call it a day my friends. This recipe is specifically saucy so that you can add in pre cooked pasta.
Equipment
- 1 Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 LB Ground Chicken (Note: You don’t want to buy 100% chicken breast as it will yield dry meatballs. You want a little fat but not dark meat. Look for the kind that has about 10g of fat.)
- 1 Large Egg
- 1/2 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 TSP Minced Garlic
- 1 TBSP Dried or Fresh Minced Parsley
- 1 TSP Dried or Fresh Minced Basil
- 1 TSP Sea Salt
- 1/2 TSP Black Pepper
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs OPTIONAL- if you prefer to not refrigerate the meatballs for 1 hour then use the breadcrumb- see instruction below
Sauce
- 28 oz Italian Style Crushed Tomato
- 16 oz Marinara Sauce (i love Rao's)
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1/2 White Onion, Diced
- 1 TSP Minced Garlic
- 1 TSP Italian Seasoning (i love Mrs Dash- they have no salt)
Instructions
- To make the meatballs, crack 1 egg into a bowl and whisk. Add the chicken, Parmigiano, garlic, parsley, basil, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Form the mixture into meatballs sized to your liking. This recipe can yield about 6 large meatballs or 12 smaller ones. if you used breadcrumbs, you can put them straight away in the slow cooker. if you did not use breadcrumbs, Place the meatballs on a foil lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour. You can also leave these overnight if you are pressed on time.
Slow cooker Instruction
- In the slow cooker, throw in the entire can of crushed tomato, marinara sauce, water, onion, garlic and seasoning. Place the meatballs into the sauce, reshaping a bit if they have lost some of their roundness.
- Make sure to spoon sauce over the meatballs and cover and cook on LOW FOR 4 HOURS. Avoid opening the slow cooker during the cooking process.
- Once finished, you can toss in your favorite cooked pasta and mix it all together. Serve meatballs with some Parmigiano sprinkled on top and enjoy!
- DISCLAIMER: DO NOT LET THEM SIT ON THE WARM SETTING ONCE THEY ARE DONE COOKING!! THEY WILL DRY OUT.
Stovetop Instruction
- Set your stove top to medium heat and add 2 tbs of olive oil to a non stick pan. Add your meatballs and let them brown for 5 minutes. Flip over and let other side brown for an additional 3 minutes.
- Lower the temperature down to low and add in your sauce. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.