Crockpot porcupine meatballs

Name: Crockpot porcupine meatballs
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 365 min
Total time: 385 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ½ yellow onion, finely chopped; 1 lb 85/15 ground beef; ½ cup long-grain white rice; 1 large egg; 1 tsp salt; ½ tsp black pepper; ½ tsp garlic powder; 3 cans tomato sauce; 1 cup water; 2 tsp brown sugar; ½ tsp dried oregano

Old-fashioned beef and rice meatballs that cook low and slow in tomato sauce until the rice pokes out like little quills.

385 min total
20 min hands-on
Follow-a-recipe easy
Serves 4
About $2.28 a serving
410 calories
Good the next day
Gluten-free
Dairy-free

Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.

Ingredients

For 4 servings.

½ yellow onion, finely chopped
1 lb 85/15 ground beef
½ cup long-grain white rice
1 large egg
3 cans tomato sauce

From your pantry

1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
1 cup water
2 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp dried oregano

Each serving has about 410 calories, 27 g protein, 32 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $2.28 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.

Missing something?

No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.

Steps

Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.

the onion.
Mix the beef, uncooked rice, onion, egg, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a bowl with your hands just until combined.
Dolly’s tip: Yes, the rice goes in raw. It cooks in the sauce.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Roll the mixture into 1½-inch balls. You should get about 16.
Dolly’s tip: Wet your hands with cold water every few balls and nothing sticks.
Stir the tomato sauce, water, brown sugar and oregano together in the slow cooker.
Nestle the meatballs into the sauce in one layer if you can, and spoon sauce over the tops.
Dolly’s tip: The rice only cooks where the sauce can reach it, so keep them covered.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3½ hours, until the rice poking out is tender and the meatballs read 160°F.
Timer: 360 min
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Serve the meatballs with plenty of sauce spooned over.