Make a big batch of these Paleo Slow Cooker Meatballs for a delicious stress-free dinner! Easy, Whole30, Paleo friendly, and kid friendly meatballs in marinara sauce that makes enough for a crowd and great for leftovers. Serve with veggie noodles, sweet potatoes, or even eggs – they’re perfect with anything!
You know what’s been missing from my meal rotation? Slow cooker recipes.
In the past I never actually needed my slow cooker – it was more “fun & different” than an actual requirement in my life. But, beginning with this school year, there are several days we don’t get home until 6, sometimes 7.
I don’t have a shortage of go-to meals I can whip up in under 30 minutes, but, under 5? Don’t have any of those. Even the best microwave dinners from the 90’s took at least 7-8 minutes, I think.
Let’s just forget I mentioned microwave dinners of any kind, mmkay? I have more appealing, healthy and delicious things to talk about today!
1.) The beauty and ease of Paleo slow cooker meatballs in sauce and
2.) Western Grassfed Beef – an incredible 100% grass fed beef company that’s Certified Paleo and Paleo Approved!
I typically don’t make meatballs with beef alone, but after sampling the Western Grassfed Beef 85% ground beef (for burgers) – along with NY Striploin steak, beef stew meat, and Ribeye steak – I knew the superior flavor and quality would make great meatballs!
Western Grassfed Beef is a 100% grass fed beef company that’s been around from 2002. Earlier this year, they also started selling beef online!
Their beef is 100% grass-fed and finished and all cattle are born & raised in the USA. They are also Certified Paleo and Paleo Approved by the Paleo Foundation for all products!
The high quality grass fed ground beef proved to work out perfectly in my slow cooker meatball recipe! Meatballs are a huge favorite for my family – one of those meals that always gets eaten – which means stress-free dinner for me.
I’m always trying to find ways to make dinnertime less stressful, because, let’s face it – it’s not my finest hour of the day. I can pull it together at 7am, but 7pm is another story.
These Paleo slow cooker meatballs are more than just stress management though – they’re seriously delicious! I’ve owned this slow cooker for a few years now and love that you can program the cook time so you can use it overnight, or while you’re out all day and come home to everything ready to eat.
The prep time for the meatballs and sauce is about 15 minutes, but this can easily be done ahead of time and refrigerated overnight if you want to throw the meatballs in the slow cooker before leaving in the morning.
I do recommend browning them under the broiler for a few minutes to avoid an overly greasy sauce, but the meatballs will also turn out fine if you skip this step and put them straight in the slow cooker with the sauce.
The final consideration is what to serve them with! I honestly will eat meatballs with anything, and have been known to eat them with eggs and sweet potatoes for breakfast whenever I can.
If you have the time/motivation to spiralize a sweet potato for “noodles” – they are delicious this way! Otherwise, anything will do – you really can’t go wrong here!
Be sure to visit Western Grassfed Beef to receive a 15% discount off your first grass fed beef order with this code: RunningMomma15. Their beef is now the family favorite and nothing else measures up! I know you will love it!
Paleo Slow Cooker Meatballs in Marinara Sauce {Whole30}
Paleo Slow Cooker Meatballs in Marinara Sauce {Whole30}
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 3/4 lbs ground beef 85% lean*
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 3/4 tsp fine grain sea salt divided
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning blend**
- generous pinch crushed red pepper adjust for spice preference
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley - optional
For the Sauce:
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil***
- 14 oz can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic***
- 1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
To Make the Meatballs:
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In a small bowl, mix together the almond flour, 1/2 tsp of the sea salt, onion and garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.
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In a large bowl, add the ground beef and sprinkle evenly with the remaining sea salt. Add the egg and almond flour mix (plus parsley if adding) and gently mix with your hands until the mixture binds and is evenly distributed. It's important not to work the meat too much or it becomes tough.
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Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your broiler. Form the meat mixture into 20 meatballs and arrange on the baking sheet.
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Broil 2-4 minutes just to lightly brown and release a small amount of fat (this avoids an overly greasy sauce) and remove promptly.
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Add the meatballs to the slow cooker, leaving behind any rendered fat. Top the meatballs with all sauce ingredients and give a gentle stir (careful not to break the meatballs!)
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Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, until meatballs are cooked through****
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Serve when ready to eat with anything you want and garnish with your favorite fresh herbs. Sweet potato noodles are a favorite (white sweet potato noodles are pictured) zucchini noodles, or simply your favorite roasted veggies, potatoes, or even eggs. I love to use the leftovers and sauce for variety in breakfast and lunch the next day!
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Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to one month.
Recipe Notes
*You can use your favorite mix of ground meat as well
**I used this one
***I used this can of crushed tomatoes and this can of diced tomatoes - I recommend always adding extra basil and garlic if you use plain tomatoes.
****Each slow cooker is a bit different. I cooked mine for 4 hours, you can check at 3.5 hours if you can and adjust cook time from there, if necessary. Cook time should not be longer than 4.5/5 hours or meatballs will be overcooked and dry.
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Paleo Slow Cooker Meatballs in Marinara Sauce
Tell me!
Is the slow cooker a necessary part of your life right now?
What do dinners at your house look like lately?
A big thanks to Western Grassfed Beef for sponsoring this post! Remember to receive 15% off your first order using this code: RunningMomma15
Note: This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Paleo Running Momma!
Lisa @ Running Out Of Wine says
October 4, 2016 at 5:08 amI was just thinking that I should start making meatballs in a slow cooker. I used to cook them over the weekend and freeze them, but lately I haven’t had time for that. I will have to give these a try this week!
Michele says
October 4, 2016 at 5:59 amI was pleasantly surprised that they came out as well as they did in the slow cooker! Another plus is that the sauce came out really tasty too – and I rarely make my own sauce. I have to say the slow cooker makes the sauce-from-scratch thing extremely easy!
Susie @ Suzlyfe says
October 4, 2016 at 6:23 amI’m the person who literally couldn’t care less about the noodles (until I met zoodles)–give me the sauce and the veggies and whatever. I think I found a new slow cooker recipe!
Michele says
October 4, 2016 at 7:41 amThe sauce is amazing, love anything with it!
Mel _OutRunCf says
October 4, 2016 at 7:05 amWill definitely try this recipe. I am not in crock pot mode yet because my husband wants to extend bbq season as much as possible. Starting in November though it will be an integral part of my weekend routine.
Michele says
October 4, 2016 at 7:41 amExtended bbq season is not a bad thing at all!
Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious says
October 4, 2016 at 7:13 amSlow cooker is a necessary part of my life always! The summer especially when it’s too hot to turn on the oven. I’ve used mine so much I’m now due for a new one.
Michele says
October 4, 2016 at 7:40 amThey are major lifesavers – now all I need is more good recipes 🙂
lindsay Cotter says
October 4, 2016 at 8:14 amyup, sign me up! you know i love slow cookers, and meatballs are just my fav!!. like my heaven!!! genius
Michele says
October 4, 2016 at 8:41 amI could eat meatballs all day every day and not complain lol!
Emily says
October 4, 2016 at 9:46 amI didn’t think about that, but that’s a good idea to have meatballs with sweet potatoes. It would be the perfect balance of sweet and savory. 🙂 Yum does not adequately describe how delicious these look.
Karen says
October 4, 2016 at 11:52 amI love my slow cooker. It gets used at least twice a week. I try to cook up a roast or pork shoulder over the weekend to have for lunches and quick dinners (or breakfasts) for the week. Having meals prepped and ready to eat is key in my house. We call 5:30 “cranky o’clock” at my house. Dinner is usually my daughter and I – my husband works late most nights. I’m like you – in the mornings I can bust out all the nutritious food and I love to throw dinner in the crock pot and not think about it. I can’t wait to add this to our meal plan!
Arman @ thebigmansworld says
October 5, 2016 at 4:39 amOkay, I hope you share more savory slow cooker recipes, this looks INSANE and I can almost taste it from the screen.
Crossing my fingers that NYC temps drop dramatically 😀
Meghan@CleanEatsFastFeets says
October 8, 2016 at 12:19 pmYou might be surprised to hear this but I make a mean meatball and by mean, I mean good. Holy cow, that was a lot of means in one sentence. Anyway, these look fantastic and if I were dipping my toe in the meat pond, it would be with these.
Alison | So Chic Life says
October 17, 2016 at 9:18 amCan’t wait to try this! Never thought about using a slow cooker for meatballs. What did you use for noodles in your photos? Is that a white sweet potato?
Michele says
October 17, 2016 at 11:30 amYup those are white sweet potato noodles – love those or butternut noodles lately!
Elizabeth says
January 12, 2017 at 6:31 pmHi! Your white sweet potato noodles look so elegant. What kind of spiralizer do you use to achieve that ribbon-y texture? Thanks!
Michele says
January 12, 2017 at 8:15 pmHi Elizabeth! Thank you! I love this Paderno spiralizer: http://amzn.to/2ipT93u – this one comes with 4 blades so you can pick whatever “shape” you want, but they also make simpler ones which you can see through the above link as well 🙂
Carol says
April 3, 2018 at 7:58 amAny trick to using really hard veggies in the spirializer? I have the same one and every time I try anything harder than zucchini the tines just rip the veg and it won’t work.
Kt says
April 28, 2018 at 9:12 pmHow can you rate 5 stars when you haven’t even tried it yet??
Nancy says
December 2, 2016 at 10:20 amThese are the the BEST meatballs I’ve ever had – homemade, paleo or not or otherwise! I shall never make or serve any other. The sauce is also Amazing! Our family went crazy over them and they have No concept of paleo. Thank you thank you!!
Michele says
December 2, 2016 at 10:28 pmThis comment made my day! So thrilled you love them 🙂
Jen says
December 19, 2016 at 11:30 pmWondering if you have any option to substitute the almond flour? One
Of my kids has peanut/treenut allergies. Thanks
Michele says
December 21, 2016 at 1:19 amI’ve made this without the almond flour at all and it still comes out really well!
Miryam says
February 21, 2018 at 7:22 amHi, I see you noted about leaving out the almond flour. Some of my kids are allergic to nuts and eggs as well. I’ve made non paleo meatballs by adding a little water instead of the egg but I did use breadcrumbs or potato starch. I would like to try a paleo version and not have to make 2 different dinners! Do you think I should give it a try and leave out both! Thanks!
Michele says
February 21, 2018 at 7:27 amI’ve tried tapioca flour and that works, I’d use a Tbsp less than the almond flour measurement. I’m not sure about the eggs, but you can try the water and see if that works out!
Miryam & Yanky Wurtzel says
February 21, 2018 at 7:35 amThanks! I’ll let you know!
Carol says
April 3, 2018 at 8:00 amGround flax meal and or flax ‘eggs’?
Michelle says
January 19, 2018 at 9:05 pmA shredded medium zucchini helps bind and if you use the smaller shred on the side of a hand-held metal shredder they disappear into the meatballs.
Carol says
December 26, 2016 at 5:44 amDo you have the nutritional value for this recipe?
Michele says
December 26, 2016 at 9:19 amSo sorry I don’t track nutrition info for my recipes! You can use an online calculator to get a better idea per serving.
Bridget Haag says
January 11, 2017 at 12:44 pmMy son cannot have eggs. What would you substitute instead?
Michele says
January 11, 2017 at 1:16 pmInstead of substituting (I’m not sure what would work for sure) I think your best best is to use fattier ground meat (perhaps a combo of 80% beef and some pork or lamb) since fattier meats are better for binding. Also, making sure not to over-mix the meat and keeping the meatballs on the smaller side should help! Let me know how it goes!
Hannah says
January 15, 2017 at 10:32 pmdo you think I could prep the meatballs and then freeze with the sauce ingredients and just put the whole thing in the slow cooker when I want to use?! I am trying to make some meals for the freezer!
Michele says
January 16, 2017 at 9:44 pmI haven’t tried making it beginning with everything frozen but it’s worth a shot, I think it should be fine but perhaps need a bit longer. Let me know how it works out!
Alex says
January 19, 2017 at 12:42 amIf I just want to make the sauce (no meatballs), how long to you recommend in the crockpot? I’m having trouble finding Whole30 compliant marinara sauce in the store, so I figured I’d make my own to have in the fridge for busy weeknights. Thanks!
Wendy S. says
January 21, 2017 at 3:40 pmAre the sweet potato “noodles” raw or cooked? If cooked, how long? Thanks!
Michele says
January 21, 2017 at 9:30 pmI typically sauté them or roast in the oven. I usually will sauté for 3-4 minutes until just softened, and if I roast them it’s on 400F for about 15 minutes I think. Hope this helps!
Sue Christianson says
January 21, 2017 at 4:03 pmHi I was wondering if I just wanted to make the meatballs without the sauce, cook you bake them and how long would you think? Thanks so much!
Sue Christianson says
January 21, 2017 at 4:04 pm*could 🙂
Michele says
January 21, 2017 at 9:28 pmYup! I would bake them for about 20 minutes or so on 400 F, turning once in the middle. Oven times vary though so watch them and check for doneness.
Peter says
April 16, 2017 at 3:27 pmLook forward to trying this. I’ve always replaced almond/coconut flour with Duxells, taught to me by a french chef.
B says
September 4, 2017 at 8:16 pmWould these meatballs taste ok with bbq sauce instead of marinara or would that be best with a different meatball recipe?
Michele says
September 5, 2017 at 1:30 pmHmm, that depends, since there are some Italian seasonings in the meatballs themselves so you’d have that flavor in there too. I have a recipe for Salisbury steak meatballs that might work better with that type of sauce: https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/paleo-salisbury-steak-meatballs-whole30
Caitlin says
November 15, 2017 at 8:21 pmThis was delicious. I’m just curious do yours look pink in the middle when done? I checked the temp on two and they were up to temp but I started to worry as I continued to eat them because they looked pink in the middle. Just nervous I’m going to get sick. ?
Michele says
November 17, 2017 at 11:18 amI think a little pink is okay since it’s beef, which tends to be pink even when cooked through. You can try cooking a bit longer next time if you want though just to be sure 🙂
Jena says
January 10, 2018 at 5:20 pmDo you have an instant pot recipe for this?
Michele says
January 11, 2018 at 1:17 pmNope – I haven’t made meatballs in the Instant pot so not sure of the timing, though I’m sure it can be done.
Casey Hutton says
January 11, 2018 at 1:38 pmHi Michele!
These look great. I have never worked with almond flour before, do you think it gives it a weird taste or is kind of tasteless? Can’t wait to try these 🙂
Noelle says
February 6, 2018 at 9:01 pmMy whole family loves these meatballs and it makes my heart happy that they are full of good ingredients!!
I make a big batch of meatballs so I can freeze half. But I’m too lazy to make the sauce, our Aldi simple organic marinaras are sugar free and great!!
Michele says
February 8, 2018 at 2:50 pmSo glad you all liked it! And I do the same with the sauce, lol, although it’s definitely good when I actually make it myself!
Miryam says
February 22, 2018 at 7:37 amHi I made these last night and they were amazing! They were so good that it fed a family of 6 but didn’t leave me with any leftovers! I don’t think I can fit more than that amount in my slow cooker. Can I make this in a large pot or oven? If yes for
How long? Thank you so much for sharing recipes and answering questions!
Michele says
February 23, 2018 at 10:28 amYes I believe you can! You can bake the meatballs and make the sauce on stovetop, them simmer the meatballs in the sauce on low heat to get all the flavors in the meatballs. Hope this helps!
Sara says
February 12, 2018 at 4:22 pmI have houseguests that are currently on a Ketogenic diet. Would it be possible to make these in the crockpot without the sauce?
Jamie says
May 17, 2018 at 7:48 pmHello, thank you for sharing your recipe. I tweaked it just slightly by adding 1/2 lb pork and adding the “magic mushroom” spice from nomnom paleo and just adding in 1.5 jars of Kirkland marinara sauce (no added sugar and the taste is pretty good!). It made delicious meatballs. Thanks again!
Michele says
May 21, 2018 at 9:37 amSo glad it worked out well for you – yum!
Jennifer Hill says
November 29, 2018 at 5:55 pmDo you know if this can be done in an Instantpot to save time?
Christina Montgomery says
November 30, 2018 at 8:19 pmThis was so delicious!! I was planning on making this in my slow cooker, but time got away from me so I made it in my Instant Pot instead. Followed the directions exactly, with exception of the IP. I cooked the meatballs for 8 minutes under high pressure with a quick release and it turned out great! Thanks as always for your winning recipes!
Shauna says
January 24, 2019 at 6:14 pmCan you tell me more how you did this? With or without sauce?
Sarena says
December 28, 2018 at 12:18 pmHi Michele! This looks delicious! Where do you get your sweet potato noodles?
Thanks so much!
Amy Ford says
January 3, 2019 at 7:07 pmMade this tonight on my Day2. It was wonderful, had it over cauliflower rice. I will make these again but with spaghetti squash. Kids liked it too!!
Daily Darpan says
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Rena Saadeh says
March 6, 2019 at 6:59 pmVery good
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Pam Nelson says
April 14, 2019 at 4:43 pmThis was a wonderful recipe. My husband and I enjoyed this over zoodles and it hit the spot. There was plenty left over so I froze it and had it again a few weeks later. AND…There was still a little extra sauce so I used it on my almond flour and flax seed crust pizza! Thank you, thank you! I’ve had great success with several of your recipes! Keep them coming!