Slow Cooker Mongolian Meatballs
With only 5 minutes of prep time, these Slow Cooker Mongolian Meatballs are the perfect recipe for busy sports nights. Made with frozen meatballs to keep it simple and an easy sweet and savory sauce, this slow cooker dinner is one you can enjoy before practice or even take with you to the field.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ⏲️Ready In: 5 Minutes Prep and 5 Hours Cooking
- 👪Serves: 5
- 🍽 Calories: 521 kcals
- 📋Main Ingredients: Frozen meatballs, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and seasonings.
- 📖 Dietary Notes: Dairy-free, nut-free, and can be made gluten-free
- ⭐ Why You’ll Love It: Super juicy meatballs coated in a sticky, sweet, and savory sauce to make for the perfect hands-off dinner recipe.
SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS CONTENT ON
Our favorite part about these slow cooker Mongolian meatballs with frozen meatballs is that the sauce comes out like a glossy glaze that has a sweet and savory taste to it. There’s a pinch of heat, but it can be adjusted like in this cheesy beef enchilada skillet.
As a busy sports family, we’ve even plugged the slow cooker into the van on the way to practice keeping dinner warm until it’s time to eat so that I can feed each kid individually (these marinated Greek chicken gyros work well for that too). Served over rice in an insulated food container, these meatballs make an easy meal between games or before heading home. Of course, the crockpot meatballs make a tasty game day recipe too.
Jump to:
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- How This Recipe Is Different💭
- Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flavors To Try
- How To Make Slow Cooker Mongolian Meatballs
- Helpful Hints
- How To Serve Them
- Slow Cooker Mongolian Meatballs FAQs
- More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Slow Cooker Cabbage Roll Soup With Ground Beef
- Cheesy Beef Enchilada Skillet
- Taco Spaghetti Skillet Recipe
- Slow Cooker Mongolian Meatballs
How This Recipe Is Different💭
Meatballs: It uses frozen meatballs to cut down on prep time and for “I ran out of time” moments.
Easy sauce: The sauce is made from pantry staples you probably already have on hand, especially if you follow these foods to buy in bulk.
Minimal Effort: Cooking them in the slow cooker means that this weeknight dinner recipe is mostly hands off.d into yogurts, oats, and ice cream, it actually gets used quickly!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Meatballs: We love frozen homestyle meatballs the best flavor-wise, but any you have on hand are fine.
- Pantry staples: You’ll need sauce basics like brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.
- Red pepper flakes: They add a subtle kick of heat, but you can omit them if your kids don’t like any spice.
- Cornstarch: This is used to thicken the sauce at the end of cooking. Both arrowroot powder and tapioca starch will work as well.
- Gluten-free: First, make sure the meatballs you buy are gluten-free. Then, you’ll need gluten-free soy sauce or tamari to make this dinner gluten-free.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Flavors To Try
These Mongolian meatballs are pretty simple, but below are a few ways we’ve tweaked the recipe!
- Honey-based: For extra sweetness, use honey in place of the brown sugar or even in addition to. This brings out much more sweetness.
- Protein: These easy crockpot Mongolian meatballs work with turkey or chicken meatballs as well.
- Teriyaki: Use a store-bought teriyaki sauce to change the flavor of the meal. Then, use leftover sauce for these air fryer teriyaki chicken thighs.
How To Make Slow Cooker Mongolian Meatballs
Step 1: Place the meatballs into a greased slow cooker and arrange them evenly.
Step 2: Whisk together the sauce ingredients until smooth and pour it over the meatballs.
Step 3: Cook on low for 5 hours, stirring throughout if possible.
Step 4: Mix together the cornstarch and water in the last 30 minutes before serving. Mix it into the slow cooker and let it all finish cooking before you serve.
Note
Wait until the final 30 minutes to add the cornstarch slurry so that the sauce thickens but doesn’t become too gummy!
Helpful Hints
Pro tip: Stirring
If you’re home, give the meatballs a quick stir once or twice during cooking to help coat them evenly in the sauce. If you’re away, don’t worry, they’ll still turn out delicious.
- A programmable slow cooker works best for this recipe so that the sauce doesn’t dry out. You want the slow cooker to switch to warm automatically after 5 hours (even 4.5 if you’re not home for a while!)
- You can double the recipe to make it more meal prep-friendly, just know that you may need to cook everything a bit longer so that it’s cooked through.
- You can cook the sweet and savory slow cooker meatballs on high for just 3 hours if you’re in a rush. This is ideal for game day scenarios (check out these other simple appetizers for a crowd).
- Store leftover meatballs once cooled with their sauce in an airtight container for 2-3 days in the fridge. Reheat them in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, in the slow cooker with a splash of liquid, or even in the oven over low heat until warmed through.
How To Serve Them
The best part about this weeknight slow cooker meatball recipe is that it’s versatile and can be enjoyed in a few different ways!
- Serve the crockpot meatballs over rice or mixed into pasta for a filling and easy dinner.
- Enjoy them with a side of air fryer garlic butter green beans and a side of mashed potatoes.
- Use them as a game day appetizer along with my beer cheese recipe or loaded smashed potatoes in the air fryer.
Slow Cooker Mongolian Meatballs FAQs
More Easy Dinner Recipes
If you tried this Slow Cooker Meatballs Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes!
Slow Cooker Mongolian Meatballs
Ingredients
- 26 oz frozen home style meatballs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- Chopped scallions for topping optional
Instructions
- Spray an 8-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray, pour the meatballs in.
- To a large bowl add the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes and pepper. Stir.
- Pour the sauce all over the meatballs and stir to coat, place the lid back on and cook on low for 5 hours.
- Stir a few times during the cooking process (if possible) so the meatballs don’t burn on the bottom, and they continue to get coated.
- During the last 30 minutes add the cornstarch and water together and whisk, pour into the slow cooker and stir until combined and close the lid until ready.
- Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and chopped scallions (optional) and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Equipment
We use these as both a dinner and an easy game day app because they’re so simple and everyone loves them!