How Long to Cook Frozen Meatballs in Crockpot: Slow cooking has the magic to turn any simple dish into a delicious one. The crockpot makes any dish healthy and tasty with its slow cooking feature. We all have lots of frozen foods in our fridges to save time and enjoy delicious food on weekends.
Frozen meatballs are the common frozen food found in many homes. If you have nothing interesting to eat on weekends, cook frozen meatballs in a crockpot. It is very simple to cook frozen meatballs in a crockpot.
You can add your favorite spices and ingredients to frozen meatballs as per your taste. Cooking these flavored meatballs slowly in the crockpot will enhance the taste of the dish. In this blog, we will discuss how long you must cook frozen meatballs in a crockpot to get a better taste.
How Long You Must Cook Frozen Meatballs in the Crockpot?
Although it takes a long time to cook frozen meatballs in a crockpot, you can still enjoy this dish by applying a few tips. Normally, you must cook meatballs for about 4 hours in a crockpot at a high flame. If you choose a slow cooking process, cook these meatballs for around 6 hours.
Slow cooking is better than cooking frozen meatballs at a high flame. It is because a slow cooking procedure helps in mixing the ingredients perfectly. One benefit of cooking frozen meatballs in a crockpot is that you do not have to look at the pot now and then.
The crockpot will cook your meatballs properly. You have to simply add all your favorite ingredients and spices to the meatballs, set the time, cover the lid, and heat the crockpot. The pot will cook meatballs and you can do all the rest of the things in your home.
The Stepwise Process to Cook Frozen Meatballs in a Crockpot
In the above section, we discussed the things to do while cooking frozen meatballs in a crockpot. Now, we will look at a detailed recipe for cooking frozen meatballs in a crockpot with ingredients.
First of all, you must get frozen meatballs from any local grocery shop or store of frozen foods. If you want to avoid outside meatballs, prepare meatballs and refrigerate them for some hours. Homemade meatballs can give a healthier and better version.
- The next step is to place frozen meatballs in the slow cooker. You can add ingredients such as jarred sauce or any other sauce for flavor. Cover the cooker with a lid. You must take a generous amount of sauce to marinate meatballs. 3 to 4 cups of sauce are required to cover these frozen meatballs.
- Now, you have to set a time to 4-6 hours at a low flame. If you have a party at your home or weekend dinner, cook these meatballs for about 4 hours at a high flame. It is necessary to check the cooking process of these meatballs after 6 hours. If the meatballs are thoroughly cooked, set the cooker to a warm temperature until you serve the dinner. The internal temperature of the cooker must reach 160 degrees F.
- Finally, you can serve warm meatballs on the table.
Best Tips to Follow While Cooking Frozen Meatballs
Cooking frozen meatballs at a low or high flame depends on individual choice. You can either cook these meatballs at a slow flame for a long time or at a high flame for a short time. Whatever it is, you must follow certain tips to get the best dish. Read on to get helpful tips to enjoy a lip-smacking dish of frozen meatballs.
- Do not keep frozen meatballs in an oven or microwave for making them soft.
- Do not keep these meatballs at room temperature. They might become soggy and tasteless.
- Choose the option of cooking frozen meatballs at a low flame. Slow cooking gives the best taste of meatballs.
- If possible, get the fresh meatballs over frozen meatballs. Fresh meat has a different taste and adds to the beauty of the dish.
- Cooking experts say that it is better to stir the dish once or twice during the cooking process. Stirring will stop food from burning.
- You can set a time even to 8 hours to get a more flavorful taste of meatballs.
- Meatballs can stay warm for about 3 hours when you keep the warm setting in a cooker.
- Homemade meatballs must be cooked before they are kept in the fridge.
List of the Sauces to Marinate Frozen Meatballs
One of the main ingredients in frozen meatballs is – sauce. There is no hard and fast rule to using one kind of sauce with meatballs. You can use a variety of sauces to marinate frozen meatballs such as:
BBQ Sauce
You can choose any of your favorite BBQ sauces and mix them in meatballs. A spoonful of grape jelly goes well with any kind of BBQ sauce.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
You can mix ingredients like ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and soy sauce to prepare a nice sauce. This sauce gives a sweet and sour taste to meatballs.
Chili Sauce
Using chili sauce alone in meatballs will make a spicy dish. If you want a sweet touch to the dish, add 2 tablespoons of grape jelly in chili sauce. This combination is great for those who avoid eating spicy foods.
Marinara
Jarred sauce, spaghetti sauce, or homemade marinara can be added to the frozen meatballs.
What Can You Serve With Frozen Meatballs?
You have spent around 7 to 8 hours preparing delicious meatballs. Now, how to serve them, and which dish will complement the meatballs? This is a common question we all have in our minds. Here is the list of foods that you can serve with meatballs:
- Egg noodles, spaghetti noodles, or rotini
- Green or red pasta or any other flavored pasta
- Toasted bread, slider bun with toppings of melted cheese
- Mashed potatoes cooked in gravy
- White or brown rice
Final Words
Cooking time, ingredients, and flame are important things to remember in cooking meatballs. Following some important tips will give the tasty dish to please all your lovely guests and friends at a party!
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