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Crock Pot Turkey Meatball Subs

A tasty and easy weeknight meal, these Crock Pot Turkey Meatball Subs are a delicious family dinner that everyone will love!

AN EASY CROCK POT MEAL

Today I’m sharing how you can make these amazing Crock Pot Turkey Meatball Subs in the slow cooker! Well, to be fair, the meatballs and sauce are made in the slow cooker. The buns you have to buy from the store since we can’t make those in the crock pot. When homemade meatballs are cooked low and slow, they stay very tender and juicy without drying out. Then we finish it all off in the oven to warm up the buns and get the cheese nice and melted!

Finished Crock Pot Turkey Meatball Sub on wooden board.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Is it safe to cook raw meat in the crock pot?

Absolutely! It is perfectly safe to cook raw meat in a slow cooker. We will be cooking these on high which will keep a good higher temperature to make sure that they are cooked all the way through. A food-safe instant read thermometer should read 165F degrees when these turkey meatballs are done.

Can I use ground beef, ground pork or ground sausage instead?

Yes. I would just stick with a very lean meat. So if you get ground beef or pork, you want a meat with the lowest fat content possible. The reason being is because the meat will release grease as it cooks and you don’t want a bunch of grease in your marinara sauce.

What is the best jarred marinara or spaghetti sauce?

My personal favorite jarred sauce is Rao’s Roasted Garlic. It has the most homemade flavor (I believe) out of most of the jarred spaghetti sauce and it’s easy to find in most grocery stores. A second runner up would be the Prego Roasted Garlic and Herb.

How do I store leftovers?

You can place the meatballs and sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they will keep for up to 3-4 days. You can also freeze the sauce and meatballs after they have cooled in a freezer bag where they will keep for up to 2 months. To defrost, remove to refrigerator overnight. You can reheat refrigerated and defrosted meatballs and sauce on stovetop until heated through.

Pinterest image overhead of finished Crock Pot Turkey Meatball Subs with melted cheese and parsley.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)

  • lean ground turkey
  • Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  • eggs
  • Italian seasoning
  • salt
  • marinara or pasta sauce
  • sub rolls 
  • mozzarella cheese
  • fresh parsley
Ingredients needed: lean ground turkey, Italian bread crumbs eggs, italian seasoning, salt, marinara or pasta sauce, sub rolls, mozzarella cheese and fresh parsley.

HOW TO MAKE CROCK POT TURKEY MEATBALL SUBS:

In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, Italian breadcrumbs, eggs, Italian seasoning and salt. Mix together well. This is easiest to do with clean hands.

Ground turkey, italian breadcrumbs, eggs, italian seasoning and salt added to clear bowl.

Using a medium cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons), form equal size meatballs and set aside. 

Mixed up meatball mixture with scoop for portioning.

Pour 1 cup of sauce into the bottom of the crockpot and spread evenly. Lay the meatballs on top of the sauce (they can be stacked on top of each other).

Meatballs in crock pot over a layer of sauce.

Pour the rest of the sauce over the meatballs. 

Remaining sauce being poured over the top of the meatballs in crock pot.

Set for 2 hours on high, stirring halfway through. 

Finished Turkey Meatballs in crock pot.

Line a sheet pan with the split sub rolls and fill each sub roll with 3 meatballs. 

Meatballs placed on sub buns on baking sheet.

Top with shredded cheese and bake for 5 minutes in the oven at 350F or broil to simply melt the cheese. 

Cheese sprinkled on meatballs in buns.

Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve.

Crock Pot Turkey Meatball Sub split in half showing inside of meatball.

WANT MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES?

Square image of finished subs overhead with melted cheese and parsley.

Crock Pot Turkey Meatball Subs

A tasty and easy weeknight meal, these Crock Pot Turkey Meatball Subs are a delicious family dinner that everyone will love!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 1 pound 99% lean ground turkey
  • 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups marinara or pasta sauce
  • 12 sub rolls
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (use more if you prefer)
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

  • In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, Italian breadcrumbs, eggs, Italian seasoning and salt. Mix well with clean hands.
  • Using a medium cookie scoop (about 1-1/2 tablespoons), form equal size meatballs and set aside.
  • Pour 1 cup of sauce into the bottom of the crockpot and spread evenly. Lay the meatballs on top of the sauce (it's okay if the meatballs need to be stacked.)
  • Pour the rest of the sauce over the meatballs.
  • Set for 2 hours on high, stirring halfway through.
  • When meatballs are done, line a sheet pan with the split sub rolls and fill each sub roll with 3 meatballs and sauce.
  • Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and bake for 5 minutes in the oven at 350F or broil to simply melt the cheese.
  • Sprinkle with fresh parsley (optional) and serve.

Notes

  • You can cut this recipe in half to serve less people, cooking time may need adjusting. This is a great recipe to freeze for later though.
  • If you wan’t to make the subs larger, you can find larger sub rolls and make the meatballs larger. 
  • If you don’t like mozzarella then parmesan and provolone are great substitutions. 
Course: Main Course, Sandwiches
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 309kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 6g | Sodium: 1030mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g

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.

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