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This easy Crockpot Frozen Meatballs recipe is one of my favorite weeknight dinner hacks, and using frozen meatballs makes life so much easier! Just stash a few bags in your freezer for later, and they’re ready whenever you need to throw together a quick meal. All you need to do is add your favorite sauce — that’s it!
If you like easy appetizers, you’ll love my Crockpot Buffalo Wings or my Pigs in a Blanket.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Easy Crockpot Dinner
⭐️ Made with Simple Ingredients – Just frozen meatballs and your favorite sauce!
⭐️ Set It and Forget It – One of the easiest dinners you’ll make. Just add your ingredients to the crockpot and let it do its thing!
⭐️ Versatile – Make spaghetti and meatballs, meatballs and gravy, or serve by itself as an appetizer.
⭐️ Convenient – Frozen meatballs are just too convenient! You don’t have to worry about the meat going bad, and they’re ready whenever you are.
Looking for more easy crockpot dinners? Try my creamy Crockpot Chicken Alfredo or this super easy Crock Pot Spaghetti.
Crockpot Frozen Meatballs Ingredients
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
For this Crockpot Frozen Meatballs recipe, all you need is frozen meatballs and your favorite sauce!
- Frozen Meatballs – Any kind of fully cooked meatballs will work. You can use homemade meatballs or store-bought.
- Sauce – Pair two cups of your favorite sauce with two pounds of meatballs. You can use pasta sauce, BBQ sauce, or even gravy!
Variations
- Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce – Grab your favorite jar of marinara sauce and a bag of frozen meatballs and you have a complete meal! Just add two cups of pasta sauce to one pound of meatballs.
- BBQ Meatballs – Pour two cups of your favorite Homemade BBQ sauce over the meatballs. I like to serve these right out of the crockpot with a toothpick or make them into BBQ Meatball Sliders.
- Meatballs with Grape Jelly – Add 18 ounces of grape jelly and 18 ounces of your favorite BBQ sauce. Stir the ingredients together in the crockpot, then add two pounds of frozen meatballs. Check out my favorite Grape Jelly Meatballs Recipe, next!
- Meatballs with Gravy – Add a pound of meatballs and two cups of your favorite gravy to the bowl of a slow cooker and you are good to go! Use turkey meatballs to make a Thanksgiving style, meatball meal or serve them over noodles like Swedish Meatballs.
How to Make Crockpot Frozen Meatballs
- Make the sauce: Mix pasta sauce and grape jelly together.
- Add meatballs: Add two pounds (32 oz) of frozen meatballs to your crockpot.
- Combine: Add the sauce to the crockpot and stir until the meatballs are fully coated.
- Cook: Set your crockpot to low and cook for 3-4 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Frozen meatballs stay soft and juicy, cooking to the perfect temperature. You can use store-bought frozen meatballs or meatballs that you made yourself and froze. Any kind of frozen meatball will work!
Nope! The frozen meatballs can go straight from the freezer and into the crockpot. No thawing or pre-baking needed!
No! The frozen meatballs will not fall apart as they cook. They will hold their shape nicely, just cook into extra juicy little bites.
Fully cooked frozen meatballs will cook in a crockpot over low heat for 3-4 hours. The internal temperature of the ground beef meatballs should be 160º when completely cooked.
If you just want plain, juicy meatballs, you can still use your crockpot. Cooking the frozen meatballs in a crockpot with no sauce may make the meatballs a little too dry. To fix this, I like to add about 1 cup of water or beef broth to the bowl of the slow cooker. This helps keep the meatballs nice and juicy as they cook.
My Crockpot Frozen Meatballs are ridiculously easy! Serve over rice or pasta for a quick weeknight dinner, or serve with toothpicks for a saucy appetizer. For more easy slow cooker recipes, check out my full roundup of cheap crockpot meals.
More Easy Crockpot Recipes
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Frozen Crockpot Meatballs
Ingredients
- 32 oz frozen fully cooked meatballs
- 24 oz jar pasta sauce
- 1 cup grape jelly
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder optional, for extra flavor
- Fresh parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- Place the frozen meatballs directly into your crockpot.
- Mix BBQ sauce and grape jelly together, then pour over the meatballs.
- Sprinkle in garlic powder if desired and stir to coat the meatballs evenly.
- Cook on Low for 4–6 hours or on High for 2–3 hours, until heated through.
Notes
- The meatballs can go straight from the freezer into the crockpot. No thawing or pre-baking needed!
- Use any sauce you want! Just make sure that you’re using 2 cups for every pound of meatballs.
- If you just want plain, juicy meatballs, you can still use your crockpot. Cooking the frozen meatballs in a crockpot with no sauce may make the meatballs a little too dry. To fix this, I like to add about 1 cup of water or beef broth to the bowl of the slow cooker. This helps keep the meatballs nice and juicy as they cook.
I have a large crockpot. If I wanted to make 2 or 3 pounds of meatballs, would the cooking time remain the same?
It should be the same!