Crockpot Spaghetti and Meatballs

Crockpot spaghetti and meatballs with jar sauce is a game changer! NO need to boil noodles when making this pasta dinner in your slow cooker. Homemade comfort food starting with frozen meatballs in Crockpot, meatless, or create homemade if you’d rather.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti

Yes you can make this much faster if you want to follow our Ninja foodi spaghetti recipe. Love the old fashioned method better? This is the best way to make it so dinner will be ready in the evening.

It may seem too obvious, but maybe you didn’t know you could put uncooked beef and noodles in your slow cooker and have it come out perfect! You can throw in some homemade precooked ground beef balls or make a few frozen meatballs in air fryer with the noodles separate and then combine at the end if you prefer.

with Frozen Meatballs

You can do this to make our Instant Pot spaghetti recipe too. A pressure cooker will make this much faster, like in 10 minutes, no kidding. BUT if you prefer low and slow ways of cooking then we have easy directions below. Just throw those in, no defrosting beforehand necessary which is nice.

with Jar Sauce

You can start with jarred sauce or make your own homemade slow cooker spaghetti sauce first and then just submerge the noodles. It depends on how much time I have whether I do one or the other.

Can you cook noodles in a crockpot?

Yes, you don’t even need to precook or boil them. Just throw them right in, submerge in your liquid, close the lid and walk away y’all!

Yep, you need what you’d normally bring out for this old fashioned Italian meal. BUT you don’t need a pot full of water this time!

Ingredient Notes

1. Spaghetti noodles of course, but any shape will work
2. Large jar of spaghetti sauce, or make your own with crushed tomatoes and seasonings etc…..
3. Beef broth gives this a lot more flavor than just using water for liquid
4. Ground beef for meatballs, these are optional, could use premade frozen meatballs, make these basic meatballs or add porcupine meatballs Instant Pot style at the end.
5. Mozzarella and parmesan cheese – also optional but why wouldn’t you add cheese to everything??!!

Yes you could half this if you have a smaller family or crowd. This uses an entire package of noodles so if you typically cook 1/2 then just cut this entire slow cooker spaghetti recipe in half.

Tips

You don’t always have to use traditional long spaghetti noodles to make this crock pot spaghetti and meatballs recipe either though. If you love small farfalle then use those.  Tip: In order for your noodles to cook perfectly tender you’ll want to gently submerge them into the sauce below.

Don’t push it all the way down to the bottom past the meatballs, just under the surface is fine. I also usually break the long spaghetti noodles in half or even into thirds. Sprinkle them in instead of throwing them in in one big clump. If you do the latter they will likely cook but stick together in one big clump.

Adjust time if you want them al dente but cooking time below is for the perfect tenderness really.

You don’t have to precook the meatballs either!! Total time saver right?? We love meals like this crockpot lasagna casserole but these do require that the ground beef is cooked beforehand. Not a huge deal, takes maybe 10 minutes, but if you’re in a rush this crockpot spaghetti recipe is so quick.

Of course you can opt to go meatless and make this a vegetarian spaghetti using vegetable broth instead of chicken or beef. Totally up to you but we are all about the beef included within this baby.

Can I keep spaghetti warm in a crockpot?

If you are serving this for brunch where people will be eating at different times throughout a lengthy period of time you could keep this on warm. Just make as directed below, stir, and select keep warm setting on your crock. 

I would suggest that you stir it at least every hour so the noodles stay moist with the sauce in your pot. Of course it is ideal to serve it fresh right after it’s done but this is another option for a potluck occasion too.

Other easy crockpot recipes

Our favorite meal is easy as ever and we call it 5 ingredient crockpot chili. A crockpot pizza is a fun dinner idea as well as our slow cooker pizza casserole. This easy crockpot lasagna recipe requires NO boiling ahead of time either. Total game changer for lasagna lovers. We have this pressure cooker lasagna casserole too if you need dinner done in 30 minutes or less

Printable recipe for sauce and meatballs above as well as nutritional information calculated by the card itself. Refer to the package of meat you purchased for the most accurate calorie and saturated fat amounts as those will vary greatly.