Crock Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
Crock Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs is an all-in-one meal! Perfect for a buffet-style meal or potluck! So easy and only a handful of ingredients!
A SIMPLE WAY TO MAKE A DELICIOUS DINNER
For the longest time, I have been trying to figure out the best way to make spaghetti in a slow cooker. It took me a few tries and some were successful and others, not so much. It’s all about layering it the right way and making sure the noodles don’t come out in one big clump. The end results turned out delicious!
TIPS FOR MAKING CROCK POT SPAGHETTI:
- Some older models of slow cookers cook slower than the newer models. Also, some slow cookers have metal inserts and some have ceramic. All of this affects cooking time. In general, a metal insert will cook a bit faster than a ceramic. So adjust your time accordingly.
- I have only made this in an oval slow cooker. I don’t think this would work in a traditional round slow cooker. There needs to be enough space between the meatballs and the spaghetti for it to cook evenly.
- Frozen Meatballs don’t all seem to come in standard size packaging. In addition, frozen meatballs can be on the larger size or smaller size. So, I use an amount of meatballs for reference. If the meatballs are fairly small, you’ll want to use about 40 meatballs. If they are larger meatballs, you’ll use about half that amount.
- PLEASE NOTE: I have not tried this recipe with homemade meatballs. I’m not sure if it would work because they may fall apart during cooking or may produce too much grease as they cook. If you try it out, please let me know how it turns out for you!
- Want to make this in your Instant Pot? Try my Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- spaghetti sauce – use your favorite sauce or even homemade. I’ve become a big fan of Rao’s. It can get pretty pricey though unless I can find it at Costco.
- frozen meatballs – please see my notes above about purchasing frozen meatballs.
- water – this is added to help cook the spaghetti. Adding more sauce instead of water won’t help the spaghetti cook properly so the water is needed.
- Italian seasoning – I like the additional seasoning because we are watering down the sauce a bit to cook the spaghetti so this brings back a bit more of that flavor.
- minced garlic – there is no such thing as too much garlic in my opinion but use your best judgement here in what you prefer.
- dried basil – just like the Italian seasoning, I am kicking up the flavor profile a bit but you do not have to add this additional seasoning.
- spaghetti – I have only tested this with traditional spaghetti – not the thin spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine or any other type of pasta.
HOW TO MAKE CROCK POT SPAGHETTI
In a 6-quart oval slow cooker, pour in half the jarred spaghetti sauce. Layer the frozen meatballs in a single layer on top of spaghetti sauce.
Pour the rest of the spaghetti sauce evenly over the meatballs.
Then pour in 4 cups of water. Sprinkle minced garlic, Italian seasoning, and basil on top. No need to stir.
Finally, layer the spaghetti noodles on top. It’s okay if they look scattered at the moment. This will help in the next step.
Evenly drizzle the the top of the noodles with 2-3 tbsp olive oil to coat.
Then, gently push down the spaghetti noodles until they are under the water (breaking them as necessary to fit.) Try to make sure each noodle is coated in the sauce. This will help to keep the noodles from sticking together while cooking.
Cover and cook on low for about 2.5 hours (until noodles are soft and meatballs are heated through). About halfway through, gently stir the noodles with a pasta fork to make sure none of the noodles are sticking together.
Spaghetti is ready when the noodles are al dente and most of the liquid has been absorbed by the pasta. Note: as the spaghetti cools the sauce will thicken up a bit so just leave the lid off and stir occasionally.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Originally published: May 2015
Updated photos & republished: February 2021
Crock Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 24 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
- 20 ounce bag frozen meatballs (24 count for larger meatballs and 40 count for smaller meatballs)
- 4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ (16 ounce) box spaghetti you are only using 1/2 a box which is 8 ounces in total)
- 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a 6-quart oval slow cooker, pour in half the jarred spaghetti sauce and do your best to spread it around evenly.
- Layer the frozen meatballs in a single layer (as best as possible) on top of spaghetti sauce.
- Pour the rest of the spaghetti sauce over the meatballs.
- Then pour in 4 cups of water.
- Sprinkle minced garlic, Italian seasoning, and basil on top. No need to stir.
- Finally, place the spaghetti on top. Lay them a scattered fashion so all the noodles are not sticking together (see image). You don't want them to cook and end up in one big blob.
- Evenly drizzle the spaghetti with 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil to lightly coat. Then, gently push down the spaghetti noodles until they are under the water/sauce mixture (breaking them if necessary to fit.)
- Try to make sure each noodle is coated in the sauce. This will help to keep the noodles from sticking together while cooking.
- Cover and cook on low for about 2.5 hours (until noodles are soft and meatballs are heated through).
- About halfway through, gently stir the noodles with a pasta fork to make sure none of the noodles are sticking together.
- Spaghetti is ready when the noodles are al dente and most of the liquid has been absorbed by the pasta. PLEASE NOTE: when it is done, and as the spaghetti cools, the sauce will thicken up a bit so just leave the lid off, slow cooker turned off and stir occasionally.
Video
Notes
- Please see my tips and ingredient listing in the post for answers to the most frequently asked questions.
- Some older models of slow cookers cook slower than the newer models. Also, some slow cookers have metal inserts and some have ceramic. All of this affects cooking time. In general, a metal insert will cook a bit faster than a ceramic. So adjust your time accordingly.
- Frozen Meatballs don’t all seem to come in standard size packaging. In addition, frozen meatballs can be on the larger size or smaller size. So, I use an amount of meatballs for reference. If the meatballs are fairly small, you’ll want to use about 40 meatballs. If they are larger meatballs, you’ll use about half that amount.
- PLEASE NOTE: I have not tried this recipe with homemade meatballs. I’m not sure if it would work because they may fall apart during cooking or may produce too much grease as they cook. If you try it out, please let me know how it turns out for you!
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I am making this for dinner tonight. I adjusted the cooking time. 1.5 hrs on low and 1hr on high so far. I am thinking it will be good.
H! The recipe says 1/2 (16 ounce) box of spaghetti. Can you make this with a full box of 16 Oz and how would I adjust the recipe ?
You have to be really careful because too much spaghetti will just clump together and you end up with one big mess. Unless you have a really huge slow cooker, I would worry it would be too much.
Thank you!
I made this for 2 hockey teenagers – so they’d have something hot and filling to come to after their game. It was a huge hit!! And they both said it was delicious!
Oh yay!! Thanks so very much Amy!! It really means a lot that you took the time to come back and comment! I always love hearing when the kids love a recipe – they can be tough critics LOL!
For those who wanted a larger batch. Use full 16 oz box pasta, use 64 oz sauce, use 2 layers meat balls. cook 4.5 hrs on high. Perfect and feeds a crowd. I recommend Sam’s club frozen meatballs if you can get them.
Cooked exactly as recipe stated.
Easiest way to make spaghetti and meatballs.
Don’t know if you are still doing your blog, but followed the directions, had a major power outage, removed noodles and meat balls put in fridge, when power came back on, mixed everything together and continued cooking. Came out perfect, tasted so good. Thanks for the recipe. It’s a keeper
Power outages always come when you are right in the middle of something, right? LOL. So glad to hear it all came out good still for you! I really appreciate you taking the time to comment!
Super easy and delish! I added more spaghetti sauce and spices! Will make again!
Thanks so much Debbie! I appreciate you taking the time to come back & comment!
Just fixed this for the first time. It turned out fantastic, thank you for the recipe! This will be something I look forward to fixing again.
My Crockpot has a vent. Open or closed?
The meatball over powered the whole meal. I didn’t taste any of the sauce. I add Parmasan cheese and mushrooms that helped a little. Will add more spices next time.
I made this tonight and followed the recipe exactly. I cooked it on low for 4 hours and the noodles ended up really soggy. I used regular spaghetting. The flavor was really good but the texture of the soggy noodles waa just kind of hard to get past.
Easy and good
Hi,
Has anyone tried with rotini noodles? Seems so easy and less mess than defrosting meatballs, heating sauce, and cooking noodles separately. All-in the crock pot for me….
Great and easy recipe. I double the sauce and the meatballs.
Thanks so much Dave!
Can you use meatballs that are not frozen? I bought them before I read the directions and I’m making it tonight.
If you double the pasta in this recipe. Would you double the water?
Honestly I wouldn’t double this recipe. It will overcrowd the slow cooker and the pasta might come out gummy. If you really want to make more, I would use a second slow cooker. This will ensure optimal results.
Made this today. It is very good. Thank you.
I just made this dish for dinner tonight and it was great. I used fettuccine because that was what I had on hand. This will be how I make spaghetti and meatballs from now on! So easy! I was skeptical at first and could not see how this would work, but now I am a convert. Thanks for your efforts in figuring this out and sharing it with all of us.
Better buy two jars of sauce,,, one jar doesn’t cut it, luckily I had some plain tomatoe sauce to add:) than it was good
Has anyone tried it with fresh meatballs? As in I roll up ground beef and place on top to cook.
Hi Emily, it should work fine. Just make sure the meatballs aren’t too large and that you use a lean meat so you don’t get a lot of grease produced.
I’m about to try this.
Can this recipe be doubled easily in one crockpot? Has anyone doubled? What was your experience?
3 1/2 hours (on low) seemed to be the magic time when I made this earlier in this week. It turned out great, and couldn’t be any easier to make.
Perfect!! Thanks a bunch Brad!!
How would you freeze this?
Hi Hannah, are you referring to before or after cooking?
I can never find a good frozen meatball that tastes good. Any suggestion?
Donna, I made this dish this evening using Johnsonville frozen meatballs and we were really happy with the result and will be adding this dish to our regular rotation.
When using frozen meatballs in the past, I have found one of the ingredients to be ‘textured hydrolized soy protein’ which is chem-speak for meat substitute soybeans. These Johnsonville meatballs did not have that ingredient and were quite good and well seasoned. I think you all would enjoy.
Costco – The Kirkland meatballs are awesome.
Sams club meatballs are good, inexpensive, and do not taste as salty as others I’ve tried.
Can you double the recipie for a large group in a regular size crock pot?
I will be making homemade meatballs…should I cook them first or put them into the crockpot raw?
Hi Darlene! Yes, I would cook them to almost all the way done before adding them to the crock pot. Mainly because you don’t want this dish to turn greasy.
I was wondering could I cook at night and then warm it up for lunch tomorrow by turning on the crock pot on warm
Hi Yvette, that’s a good question. Spaghetti can get really goopy on you if it sits too long. You may want to use a different kind of pasta – like penne or elbow macaroni. Those tend to hold up a lot better than the spaghetti noodle. Hope that helps. 🙂
Does anyone know if u absolutley have to put oil with noodles. Im living in hotel and wanting spaghetti however decided to use penne noodle but dont have the oil. How could i cook this so noodles get cooked n not nasty?
HI ,i would like to add a 8 oz pkg of sliced mushrooms and some sweet onion ,would I need to add more sauce ,water or broth ??
Where has this recipe been all my life?! Sooo easy! I’m never making spaghetti & meatballs the traditional way ever again! What could be easier? All in one pot & go about your day and come back a few hours later to a nice big batch of comforting spaghetti & meatballs! I made mine with fresh turkey meatballs and also added a small can of tomato paste. I doctored up the sauce with all the spices me and my family like. And I also made sure to stir the spaghetti in the sauce to further prevent clumping before putting the meatballs on top. 3.25 hours later, Voila!!! The easiest spaghetti & meatballs I ever made in my life! Thank you for posting this recipe. Any recipe that makes life a little less time consuming is more time for the family!
Love, love, love your tips. So helpful!! Thank you!
This recipe turned out absolutely perfect, I set it to high for about two hours, then just warm until almost dinner. Super fast to put together!!
Made this tonight and my family loved it. I added the extra seasoning and used beef broth + the extra 1/2 cup of liquid because it would be in for 5 hours. Turned out fine. I also used thick spaghetti (it said that on box). We will be making it again. It was so easy!
Making now!! So excited about this recipe!! Thank you!!!
Making this now. I have the timer set for 2 hours to check it. I added the extra ingredients and the sauce smelled fantastic even before cooking. I hope it turns out well or my sarcastic wife will give me heck If it is a bit watery at 2 hours I will heat more sauce on the stove to add..
I want to cook this for dinner tonight but not sure it will turn out right after reading all the comments. I can’t afford to waste food.
Your ingredients are like mine. I use hamburger meat, cook it in the crockpot first with some water, then when it’s almost done, I separate it with a spoon or fork then add sauce and water then spaghetti broken in half then water to cover, spices, stir. I use high from start to finish, takes about 1& 1/2 hrs total. I have a fast/hot crock pot. Thanks!!
Thank you for posting the Spaghetti recipe. And the folks who replied with results and suggestions. Added two cans of beef broth-no water, and the extra seasoning on rhe recipe to the pasta sauce. Set the Slow cooker on low for two hours. Needed about 40 min. on high setting additionally for the pasta to absorb the liquid. Gently mix and let sit for 10 min. Very tasty with Garlc Bread.
I appreciate your tips and tricks!!
I had ZERO clues you could pasta in a crock pot like this! I am SO making this!
Made it! It was pretty good, a little too starchy for me, only bcs you don’t get to drain the noodle water.
Hubby & ???? loved it though! ????
I’m cooking now
So fingers crossed added tin tomato s with less water will check after 2/3 hours on high ..sounds good and my favourite!!
Will be making this soon and sharing with my neighbors.
This may be a dumb question but do you mix the sauce and water? Sorry if you said it and I missed it.
Hi Jennifer! Not a dumb question at all. You are correct – mix them. 🙂
I was a dumbdumb and used angel hair pasta. Maybe you should make a note for those of us that prefer that type of noodle that it is NOT suitable for this recipe. Tasted okay, but I have a crock pot full of mush that neither of us will eat, lol.
I did 2 hours and it was definitely not long enough and the sauce is pretty much water…going to let it cook a little longer and turned it up to high….disappointed so far as this sounded really good but keeping my hopes up
I’m not quite sure of the time. Is it 2 hrs or 4hrs I’m confused. Trying this tonight, please reply.?
Hi Dave it’s 2 hours! 🙂
Yea I just put mine in and was reading the comments saying 5 hrs but the recipe says 2… also very confused…
It’s 2 hours. The post was updated after a few folks felt it was too long. I think that is mainly because some slow cookers can run very hot while others don’t. Start with 2 hours and go from there. Hope that helps!
2 hours on high or low?
Would this cook on low for 2 hours in a regular crockpot as well?
Yes! 🙂
Important tidbit don’t use angelhair pasta it will turn into mush. I did all of the instructions and cooked for two hours on low to the minute. And the angel hair turned into a mush on top… still edible but not nice to look at
Thanks for letting us know Jeremy! I’ve had some folks telling me their are buying that quick-cook spaghetti. I think it’s called “Pronto” and are adding it about 45 minutes or so before serving.
I made this for tonights dinner and my picky eater loved it. Thank you!
To make sure the noodles were well coated, I broke the dried noodles and half, put them in a Ziploc bag and poured oil in it. Mash the bag up until noodles are well coated.
Super easy, nice time saving recipe!
Silly auto correct. It should say “broke the uncooked noodles in half”, and “zip the bag shut, mix the noodles around until well coated”.
I can’t believe it worked but it did! My noodles broke up a bit but that was fine, Still tasted great!
Made this, turned out great! I definitely recommend making sure the noodles are spread out so enough of the sauce gets between so they don’t stick together. Grandkids loved it!