5 Cheese Marinara Meatballs {Slow Cooker}
5 Cheese Marinara Meatballs are made with ground pork, ground beef, parmesan, Romano, asiago, mozzarella and ricotta cheese. They are cooked in marinara sauce in the slow cooker, guaranteeing a moist and juicy meatball!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 4-6 hours in slow cooker
- Total Time: *
- Yield: 24-26 meatballs 1x
- Category: lunch, dinner
- Method: slow cooker
- Cuisine: Italian American
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
- 1/2 cup grated white onion*
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 48 ounces marinara sauce
- 1/4 cup parmesan, Romano & asiago grated cheese blend
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup ricotta
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano and shredded parmesan cheese.
- Add the minced garlic, grated onion, eggs and Worcester sauce to the bread crumb mixture and mix until well combined.
- Add the ground pork and ground beef to the mixing bowl. Using your hands, thoroughly combine the ground meat with the other ingredients in the mixing bowl.
- Pour half of the marinara sauce into the bottom of your slow cooker. Spread the marinara sauce out so it is evenly covering the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Roll the meatballs into golf ball sized balls. Place each meatball into the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the meatballs in an even layer. It is okay if you have to layer the meatballs in order to get them all to fit. You will end up with 24-26 evenly sized meatballs.
- Pour the rest of the marinara sauce over top of the meatballs.
- Cook the meatballs in the slow cooker on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours. Meatballs need to be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F.
- After the meatballs have finished cooking, add the 5 cheeses to the marinara sauce. Stir in the grated parmesan, Romano and asiago blend, shredded mozzarella and ricotta cheese into the sauce. Stir the sauce until the cheese has melted and is thoroughly mixed into the sauce.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Using the large holes on the wide side of a 4-sided box grater, grate the onion until you have 1/2 cup onion.
- If you are concerned about the fat cooking out during the slow cooking process, then you can lightly brown your meatballs before transferring them to the slow cooker. See the optional step listed in my blog post for more info on browning the meatballs.
- If you have a larger slow cooker, then their should be plenty of room to mix your cheeses into the sauce without removing the meatballs first. If you have a small slow cooker and it seems like a tight squeeze, then you can remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon before mixing the cheese into the sauce.
- Meatballs need to be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F.