Slow cooker mozzarella stuffed meatballs is an easy recipe that will impress any crowd. Meaty meatballs oozing with melted mozzarella cheese as you cut into them…what’s not to love? The aroma while this cooks in the crockpot will draw everyone to the kitchen. Instructions to make this low-carb & keto friendly recipe in the Instant Pot are also included.
Ingredients For Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
- Ground Meat
- Seasonings: Italian seasoning, salt, pepper
- Mozzarella
- Crushed or Diced Tomatoes
- Onion
- Garlic
- Egg
- Almond Flour
How To Make Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs In The Crockpot
- In a large bowl, mix together MEATBALLS ingredients. Taking 2-4 tbsp of meat*, form into a ball and then flatten the ball in the middle.
- Add mozzarella to the center of the flattened meat. Re-form meat around the mozzarella and shape into a ball. Repeat until all the meat is used.
- Pour SAUCE ingredients into the slow cooker. Add the meatballs.
- Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
- In a large bowl, mix together MEATBALLS ingredients. Taking 2-4 tbsp of meat*, form into a ball and then flatten the ball in the middle.
- Add mozzarella to the center of the flattened meat. Re-form meat around the mozzarella and shape into a ball. Repeat until all the meat is used.
- Set Instant Pot to the high saute setting. Once hot, add oil.
- Add meatballs and brown on each side, 3-5 minutes. Remove meatballs from pressure cooker. You might have to brown them in batches.
- Add sauce ingredients and stir to mix well. If needed, deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon. Add the meatballs back into the pressure cooker.
- Close and seal vent. Select manual setting and set time for high pressure, 7 minutes. Quick-release pressure when cook time is completed.
FAQs & Tips
What type of ground meat should you use?
Use your preferred ground meat. I use ground beef but ground turkey works just as well.
Can you use a different meatball recipe?
Yes. I include the recipe for my low-carb friendly meatballs. It uses almond flour instead of breadcrumbs. If you have a preferred meatball recipe, by all means swap it in.
How many meatballs should this make?
I tend to end up with 9 to 10 meatballs. How large you make your meatballs depends on how much mozzarella you use at the stuffing. The more mozzarella you use, the more meatball mixture you will need to wrap it.
What kind and how much mozzarella should you use?
How much mozzarella you use is up to you. I stuff 3 small mozzarella balls into each meatball. You doesn’t matter what form your mozzarella comes in; you do not have to use mozzarella balls. Another options is to take shredded mozzarella and ball it up with your hands.
How do you store leftovers?
Store leftover crockpot mozzarella stuffed meatballs the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
What size slow cooker should you use?
I used a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot.
Meatball Recipes
-
Crockpot Meatballs
-
Air Fryer Herb Meatballs
-
Ravioli Meatball Casserole
-
Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs
-
One-Pot Meatball Dinner
-
Zoodles & Meatballs
Slow Cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
Slow cooker mozzarella stuffed meatballs is an easy recipe that will impress any crowd. Succulent beef or turkey meatballs oozing with melted mozzarella cheese as you cut into them. The aroma while this cooks in the crockpot will draw everyone to the kitchen! Instructions to make this low-carb & keto friendly recipe in the Instant Pot are also included.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 4-6 ounces mozzarella
- 1 tablespoon oil (for Instant Pot only)
- 28 ounces crushed or diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes or 1/2 cup onion, diced)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 pound ground meat
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together MEATBALLS ingredients. Taking 2-4 tbsp of meat, form into a ball and then flatten the ball in the middle.
- Add mozzarella to the center of the flattened meat. Re-form meat around the mozzarella and shape into a ball. Repeat until all the meat is used.
- Pour SAUCE ingredients into the slow cooker. Add the meatballs.
- Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
- In a large bowl, mix together MEATBALLS ingredients. Taking 2-4 tbsp of meat*, form into a ball and then flatten the ball in the middle.
- Add mozzarella to the center of the flattened meat. Re-form meat around the mozzarella and shape into a ball. Repeat until all the meat is used.
- Set Instant Pot to the high saute setting. Once hot, add oil.
- Add meatballs and brown on each side, 3-5 minutes. Remove meatballs from pressure cooker. You might have to brown them in batches.
- Add sauce ingredients and stir to mix well. If needed, deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon. Add the meatballs back into the pressure cooker.
- Close and seal vent. Select manual setting and set time for high pressure, 7 minutes. Quick-release pressure when cook time is completed.
Notes
*You can make the meatballs as large or as small as your slow cooker will hold.
*If some of the cheese seeps out of the meatballs when they cook, don’t worry it’s normal. I think of it as a good thing because it makes the sauce nice & cheesy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 239
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Fat: 10.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 20.5 g
- Cholesterol: 95.4 mg
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[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”2V4cBQ83″ upload-date=”2019-08-09T17:36:28.000Z” name=”Slow Cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs” description=”These easy mozzarella stuffed meatballs are simple yet flavorful. Make these low-carb, cheese-filled meatballs in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.”]
16 thoughts on “Slow Cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs + VIDEO”
Disappointed. I was looking forward to the oozy melted cheesiness but ALL the cheese disappeared from nearly every meatball and the sauce was greasy and watery-like. I spent a good hour meticulously crafting those meatballs and was ultimately let down. I’m going to try to thicken the sauce with cornstarch tomorrow, and hopefully make it usable. I will likely post my results.
I used Gluten Free Panko bread crumbs. My meatballs are falling apart. Any idea why? Does being Gluten Free matter? Being Panko?
Only a few fell apart. Namely the ones I tried to brown.i used enough oil, but no matter what, they kept sticking to the bottom and getting ripped apart when trying to (gently) loosen them. I only attempted to brown 1 batch because of this.
Can you just use store bought spaghetti sauce instead of making your sauce?
Absolutely!!
SO GOOD!! Obsessed with how yummy these were. Going to make them for the second time in a row!
I made these last night. Everybody really liked them. I didn’t take a picture. In the future I will take a picture. Also are used shredded cheese instead of the Mozzarella balls. Next time I will use the mozzzarella balls.
High pressure for 7min? My meatballs i made are 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 round. Not big. Would the time still be the same? Its my first time in an instapot. Im used to using a crockpot for hours.
Yup just 7 minutes, the time is the same regardless of the size. The Instant Pot is a completely different appliance than the crockpot, food doesn’t need to cook for hours unless you’re using the slow cooker function (which I do not recommend). Particularly here, the meatballs are browned first.
What setting on the instant pot? High or low?
High pressure. Thanks for catching that, the blog post has been updated.
Made these for dinner tonight using the instant pot. They’re terrific. Quick and easy. I’ll definitely be making these again!
I made these and I can’t get over how easy it was to do. I made this on a weeknight using the Instant Pot. Dinner was ready in no time!
How do you deal with the burn notice?
What a beautiful visual. I can just smell them cooking now. Guess what I’m taking to my next potluck event!
What a great idea! Thanks for showing the pics of how to stuff the meatballs