Slow Cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs Recipe 445 Food

SLOW-COOKER MOZZARELLA STUFFED MEATBALLS RECIPE - (4.4/5)

Steps:

• Chop each cheese stick into 1/2-inch pieces. There should be about 6-8 pieces for each cheese stick. Place on a plate and chill in the freezer until ready to use. Add ground beef, bread crumbs, whole egg, egg yolk, garlic, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to a bowl. Mush the ingredients together with your hands until everything comes together. Remove cheese from freezer. Scoop out about 4 tablespoons of meat mixture and roll into a ball. Gently push a piece of chilled mozzarella into the middle of the meatball. Roll the ball in your hands to cover the hole where the mozzarella cheese was pushed in. Place inside a greased slow cooker and repeat with remaining meat and cheese. When all meatballs are in the slow cooker, cover and cook on high for 1 to 2 hours or on low 3 to 4 hours until meat is cooked through and no longer pink. The cheese may start melting out of the meatballs and that's okay. If desired, sprinkle with a bit of fresh chopped parsley or dried Italian seasoning for garnish, and serve with your favorite marinara or alfredo sauce for dipping. OVEN METHOD: For a quicker method, the meatballs can be baked. Follow directions to make meatballs, but instead of placing them in the slow-cooker, place meatballs 1-inch apart on a greased baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes until browned and cheese is melty. MAKE-AHEAD METHOD: These can also be made ahead and frozen by preparing the meatballs as instructed in the recipe, but instead of putting them straight into the slow cooker or the oven to bake, just place them side by side in a zip lock bag, seal, and place in the freezer. When ready to cook them, follow recipe instructions and increase cooking time slightly to allow for thawing.

SLOW COOKER CHEESE STUFFED MEATBALLS AND SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef, ground pork, parmesan cheese, eggs, salt, pepper, garlic, basil, parsley and oregano.
• Add bread crumbs 1/2 cup at a time until mixture is not too wet and can be formed into balls easily.
• Form mixture into 12 balls using your thumb to press a hole into the center (You can also use a cookie scooper to make uniformed balls).
• Insert a piece of mozzerella into the hole and close the hole by pinching the meat mixture together around it.
• Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and drizzle olive oil into pan. Add meatballs and cook until just browned. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs into a slow cooker. (If prefered you can bake meatballs in a deeper cookie sheet at 350 for about 30 min).
• Pour red sauce over the meatballs and cook on LOW for approximately 5 hours.
• Serve meatballs and sauce over spaghetti.

EASY SLOW COOKER MOZZARELLA-STUFFED MEATBALLS AND SAUCE RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Combine all sauce ingredients in slow cooker and stir. Set to high and cover while making meatballs, or for 30 minutes. (Or use pre-made/canned sauce.)
• Combine all meatball ingredients except the mozzarella in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix until fully combined.
• Take a golf ball sized piece of the ground beef mixture and place a piece of mozzarella in the middle. Press meat around the piece of cheese, fully enclosing it. Repeat until all meat is used.
• Place meatballs in slow cooker and submerge in sauce.
• Cover and cook on high for 2-2½ hours, or until meat is fully cooked.
• Serve by itself or over pasta.
• Enjoy!