Meatball Marinara

A crockpot of the marinara sauce with meatballs.

Meatball Marinara is a semi-homemade spaghetti sauce that goes great served over pasta! It's so easy to make in the crockpot with convenient store-bought ingredients like marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, stewed tomatoes, frozen meatballs, and dried seasonings.

Course Crockpot, Dinner

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword crockpot meatball marinara, meatball marinara

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 6

Total Time 6 5

Servings

Calories 450kcal

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Ingredients

1 bag (32 oz) frozen homestyle meatballs (about 60-65 meatballs)
1 jar (24 oz) tomato basil marinara pasta sauce
1 jar (15 oz) Alfredo sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian recipe stewed tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste w/ basil, garlic, oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
cooked spaghetti noodles & parmesan cheese serving idea

Instructions

Spray the insert of the crockpot with cooking spray. Dump the frozen meatballs into the crockpot.
1 bag (32 oz) frozen homestyle meatballs
Add the remaining ingredients into a blender, and blend on medium-high speed until it's a smooth mixture. Pour the sauce from the blender into the crockpot.
1 jar (24 oz) tomato basil marinara pasta sauce, 1 jar (15 oz) Alfredo sauce, 1 can (14.5 oz) Italian recipe stewed tomatoes, 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste w/ basil, garlic, oregano, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
Stir everything together making sure that all the meatballs are covered with sauce.
Cover and cook on LOW heat for 4-6 hours, or until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165℉.
Serve the meatball marinara over cooked spaghetti noodles, or your favorite pasta, and garnish with parmesan cheese.
cooked spaghetti noodles & parmesan cheese

Video

Notes

Frozen Meatballs : My favorite frozen meatballs are actually the Great Value brand homestyle meatballs. However, feel free to use your favorite frozen meatball or a different variety of frozen meatballs such as Italian meatballs, spicy meatballs, or turkey meatballs. You can also use homemade meatballs instead of store bought frozen meatballs; you will need about 60-65 small meatballs.

Sauce Too Thick? : I have used two cans of stewed tomatoes (instead of just one) and it makes a thinner sauce. So if you prefer a thinner pasta sauce then use two cans of the Italian recipe stewed tomatoes. My family prefers it as written with only once can of stewed tomatoes.

Serving Ideas : Spaghetti & meatballs, over your favorite pasta shape, garnish with parmesan cheese and/or fresh basil, make meatball subs with mozzarella cheese, make a meatball pizza with the leftovers, serve over zucchini noodles, make meatball sliders with the meatballs or the leftovers, or serve with a side dish of garlic bread and side salad.

Nutrition