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Home » Family Meals » Slow Cooker Spaghetti Meatballs with Hidden Veg Sauce

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Meatballs with Hidden Veg Sauce

April 16, 2021 by Ciara Attwell, Updated September 16, 2022

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Delicious meatballs cooked in the slow cooker in a hidden veggie sauce and served with spaghetti. Brilliant for fussy eaters and a meal the whole family are sure to enjoy!

Slow cooker spaghetti meatballs in a bowl served with parmesan and basil leaves

If your kids are fans of spaghetti and meatballs but not so keen on veggies, then both you and them are going to love this recipe!

You know I love my slow cooker. It just makes getting a home-cooked meal on the table during the week a little easier. Everything gets chucked in earlier in the day when the kids are still at school and by the evening you have a delicious dinner ready to serve up.

How To Make Spaghetti Meatballs in the Slow Cooker

I’ve made this recipe as easy as possible, using as few ingredients as possible. Whilst also trying to maximise on taste and flavour.

All of the ingredients, including the meatballs, onions and garlic, veggies, chopped tomatoes and herbs are put in the slow cooker and cooked on high for 3.5 hours or low for 5 hours.

raw ingredients in the slow cooker

After that time, remove the meatballs from the sauce.

cooked meatball sauce in the slow cooker

Then blitz with a hand blender until completely smooth. Or you can transfer the sauce into a stand blender and blitz it that way instead.

meatball sauce pureed

Cook up your spaghetti on the hob and add that to the slow cooker along with the meatballs and mix well.

meatballs and spaghetti added to the meatball sauce in the slow cooker

It’s now ready to serve up, adding optional toppings like grated parmesan and fresh basil.

spaghetti meatballs served in a bowl topped with grated parmesan and fresh basil leaves

Can You Freeze Spaghetti Meatballs

Yes you can! You can either freeze the meatballs and sauce on it’s own or freeze it with the spaghetti mixed in too. Freeze for up to 3 months then defrost overnight in the fridge.

Reheat in the microwave or on the hob until piping hot.

leftover spaghetti meatballs in a glass container

 If you try my Slow Cooker Spaghetti Meatball recipe please do leave me a comment and a star rating below. You can also share your pictures with me on Instagram.  I always love to see your creations!

And if you’d like to see more slow cooker recipes or hidden vegetable recipes for kids, then we’ve loads more of those here:

Family Slow Cooker Recipes

Hidden Vegetable Recipes For Kids

If you enjoyed this recipe you may also like:

Mini Meatballs for Kids!

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Slow Cooker Spaghetti Meatballs with Hidden Veg Sauce


★★★★★ 4.9 from 8 reviews
  • Author: Ciara Attwell
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
  • Total Time: -27931029.5 minute
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Slow Cooker
  • Cuisine: Italian
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Description

Delicious meatballs cooked in the slow cooker in a hidden veggie sauce and served with spaghetti. Brilliant for fussy eaters and a meal the whole family are sure to enjoy!


Ingredients

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 carrots, finely diced
  • 1 celery, diced
  • 1 small courgette, diced
  • 2 tins chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 0.5 tsp dried oregano
  • 0.5 tsp dried basil
  • 1 beef stock cube
  • 12 meatballs
  • 300g uncooked spaghetti

 


Instructions

  • Add all of the ingredients except the spaghetti to the slow cooker.
  • Cook on high for 3.5 hours or low for 5 hours.
  • Remove the meatballs from the slow cooker and blitz the sauce with a blender until smooth.
  • Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions and then add that to the sauce.
  • Mix in the meatballs and then serve.

 

Notes

Leftovers can be left in a container in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Reheat in the microwave or on the hob until piping hot.

This recipe can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge and reheat as above.

1 Serving50712.9 g857.1 mg14.3 g4.6 g75.5 g9.3 g20.6 g

Divided plate for fussy eaters

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Filed Under: Dairy Free Recipes, Egg Free, Family Meals, Hidden Veg Recipes for Fussy Eaters, Nut Free Recipes, Pasta Recipes, Recipes, Slow Cooker Recipes

Comments

  1. Hana says

    November 13, 2022 at 12:14 am

    I love this sauce! It has so much veg, and even better when I do half spaghetti/half zoodles for my serve.
    What would happen if I were to slow cook it for 8-9 hours? I’d like to be able to leave it going while I’m at work.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Chrissie Crompton says

    September 20, 2022 at 4:53 pm

    Having just bought a slow cooker I have scheduled a week of ‘my fussy eater’ slow cooker recipes. This one is fantastic, the sauce has so much veg in it and tastes delicious. I loved the idea of adding the spaghetti into the sauce. It made it all taste so good together and was finished by the whole family.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Vicky says

      September 21, 2022 at 8:06 am

      Happy cooking Chrissie. x

      Reply
  3. Kim H says

    August 12, 2022 at 7:46 pm

    Such a delicious meal and even better that the whole family loved it. Quick and easy to make. My 4 year old really enjoyed it as did my husband and I. I also gave my 11 month some spaghetti with just the sauce and he loved it too.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Vicky says

      August 15, 2022 at 8:56 am

      Brilliant! and even better if the whole family can enjoy the same meal. Thanks so much for coming back to share your review. happy cooking x

      Reply
  4. Maria says

    January 18, 2022 at 8:36 pm

    Brilliant recipe. My 2 year old fussy eater loved it the first time she tried it. That’s a best possible result. Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  5. Annette says

    January 1, 2022 at 12:36 pm

    My two year old daughter and I love this recipe. If you have something with a mushroom cream sauce and hidden vegetables for my 3 year old son I’d be forever indebted to you xx

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. TLM says

    August 31, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    What size are the “tins” of tomatoes supposed to be? I added a 28oz can but it was a bit more veggie tasting then the kids liked, I liked it but it was also more “orange” then your picture. I’m wondering if I should have put 2 28 oz cans of tom.

    Thanks!

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • Bianca Carey Spencer says

      September 2, 2021 at 9:11 am

      We used two 400g tins of tomatoes which is the equivalent of 28oz so you have used the same amount!

      Reply
  7. English Saddles says

    May 7, 2021 at 3:12 pm

    It looks so delicious, I am going to try this today.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  8. Christina says

    April 27, 2021 at 8:42 am

    We made this on the weekend! Absolutely loved being able to chuck everything in the slow cooker at lunchtime and then come home to a really tasty meal after being out having fun with the kids all afternoon. Even had a portion leftover for my lunch on Monday which was brilliant.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Ciara! I'm a food writer and cookbook author and I'm always looking for new ways to make food fun and interesting for kids! I specialise in fussy eating and share tips and tricks to get your kids eating better along with lots of family friendly recipes. Read More…

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