Cooking meatballs in a slow cooker is a pleasure. Quick, easy, and also very tasty and healthy. Just roll the meat balls, pour delicious tomato sauce over them and turn on the desired mode. But what nuances are important to consider when cooking?
Classic meatballs with tomato sauce are prepared from a mixture of several types of meat, which are processed simultaneously. It can be chicken and pork, pork and beef, turkey or rabbit - you choose. Minced chicken comes out juicier from a whole chicken carcass, but from fillet the dish will turn out a little dry. It is better to take pieces of pork that are moderately fatty, for example, use ham or neck. Beef in its pure form (especially veal) is a dietary dish, and it is important to choose the right sauce for it. In general, the number of ingredients is small, and housewives usually always have them in stock.
For the meatballs you will need:
- Minced meat – 500 g;
- Onion (large) – 1 pc.;
- Rice, cooked until half cooked – 250 g;
- Chicken eggs – 2 pcs.;
- Tomatoes in their own juice, tomato paste for sauce – 500 g or 3 tbsp;
- Spices and salt to taste.
Mix meat, rice, eggs, onion, cut into small cubes, salt and pepper. From the resulting mass we make balls slightly larger than a tennis ball. Roll each one in flour. Using the “Fry” mode, fry the meatballs until they have an appetizing crust, if possible, on all sides.
At the same time, mix the sauce. Ideally, these should be pureed tomatoes without skins, to which a little salt and spices are added to taste. But you can replace fresh tomatoes with canned tomatoes in their own juice, tomato juice or paste diluted in boiled water at the rate of 3 tbsp. for 250 ml. You can add cream, a couple of spoons of sour cream or a little milk to the tomatoes to give the dish a creamy hue and soften the acid that is always present in tomatoes.
The sauce should completely cover the meatballs, or even better, if the meat balls seem to “float” in it: in this case you cannot skimp on the sauce, otherwise the dish will turn out dry. And also, do not forget about the size: the balls should not be huge, and should have time to cook completely. But you shouldn’t chop them up either: these are still not meatballs.
Place the meatballs on the bottom of a multi-bowl greased with vegetable oil, then pour the sauce over them. Cook on the “Stew” mode for 20-30 minutes. Serve with any side dish or on its own, topped with the prepared sauce and sprinkled with fresh herbs. Meatballs are a completely self-sufficient dish, although they go well with side dishes: mashed potatoes, buckwheat or pasta.
Recipe for hedgehogs with rice
Hedgehogs with rice are a favorite children's dish. They are especially tasty from tender minced chicken, which is rolled from several chicken parts - breasts, thighs or legs. The meatballs are molded as in the classic recipe. The difference, and a fundamental one, is in the degree of readiness of the rice. It should be practically raw, because during cooking each grain of rice swells, which is why the meatballs resemble “hedgehogs”. Long-grain cereals that have been steamed are more suitable: this reduces the cooking time.
Hedgehogs are cooked in sauce, but it’s even better to steam them and, so that they don’t turn out dry, serve with sour cream and herbs.
Meatballs in sour cream sauce in a slow cooker
Some housewives do not add tomatoes on principle, considering them too aggressive for the stomach. But sour cream 2.5% fat is a wonderful sauce that gives a creamy taste to the meatballs. To prevent the sour cream from curdling during the stewing process, you can mix it with cream and add two tablespoons of flour - this sauce will be tender, tasty and thick. True, you need to knead everything well so that the gravy does not contain unpleasant flour lumps.
Preparing the balls is very simple: we make them from minced meat, fry them (as in the basic recipe), and place them on the bottom of the multi-bowl. Cook until done using the “Stew” mode, serve the meatballs in sour cream sauce with mashed potatoes or pasta.
If desired, you can stew the meatballs under a “cap” of onions, carrots, bell peppers and herbs. But, if you fill the balls with sour cream sauce, you shouldn’t add all these vegetables: they don’t go together.
Cooking like in kindergarten - a delicious recipe
For meatballs in kindergartens, they always use either chicken or beef - pork is prohibited in kindergartens. Cooks in kindergartens also do not put eggs in meatballs, but fry onions in butter: the meat becomes juicy and sweet, which, naturally, is very much appreciated by little eaters.
Next, we “cook” in stages:
- Mix the minced meat well with rice and onions.
- Roll the balls in flour.
- Fry in a frying pan.
- Pour in sour cream sauce and add just a little tomato sauce.
- Simmer in the slow cooker on the “Stew” mode for 15-20 minutes.
You can serve the meatballs with small noodles, buckwheat or mashed potatoes with water: the fat content in the meatballs is quite enough.
Rolling in flour is not a necessary part of the cooking technology. But it is this stage that helps the balls keep their shape and not crack during frying and then stewing.
Option meatballs with gravy - steamed in a slow cooker
Many models of multicookers are equipped with a grate for steaming dishes. It’s easy to cook meatballs with rice in a slow cooker this way. By the way, such meat balls can include any cereal, for example, buckwheat and oatmeal. Believe me, it only enhances the taste.
Preparing the dish is simple, following these steps:
- We form meatballs by mixing cereals and meat.
- Place the balls, without dredging them in flour, on a greased wire rack.
- Place the sauce at the bottom of the bowl. To do this, mix tomato sauce with a couple of tablespoons of flour, spices, and salt.
- We cook in the “Stew” or “Steam” mode (what options do you have).
- Serve the meatballs sprinkled with sauce or separately.
It is better to cook the cereals until al dente. However, multi-pressure cookers manage to cook them to the desired condition. In such models they can be placed raw in minced meat.
The undoubted advantages of the cooking method are the ability not to weigh down the meat with sauce, which in other cases (say, with stomach diseases) may be contraindicated. But one way or another, our meat balls are soaked in sauce and only benefit from juiciness. This has been verified.
Minced chicken recipe
As already mentioned, meatballs in a steamed slow cooker or meatballs in sour cream sauce become much more tender if they are made from minced chicken.
What parts of poultry are best for homemade minced meat?
- Chicken fillet (if you are on a diet). You don’t have to put rice in this option, but add juiciness with a large amount of onion.
- Chicken thighs.
- Chicken legs, without skin.
Grind the minced meat in a meat grinder or blender, knead well, form meatballs and cook them, following the classic recipe. Serve with baked potatoes, pasta or any sugar-free porridge.
Fish meatballs with gravy - step-by-step recipe
Surprisingly, meatballs in a slow cooker turn out very unusual, tasty, and light if you replace the meat with fish. What types of fish are preferable? This is cod, pollock or haddock (if you are not too lazy to tinker with it for quality cutting). Pike perch is a good river fish for meatballs - it is meaty, bakes well, and contains few bones. And from the sea, try the greenling: here it is important to find it in extreme freshness and the latest catch.
Making fish meatballs is simple:
- We cut the fish, separating the fillets, grind it in a meat grinder, or grind it in a blender.
- Add squeezed bread crumb soaked in milk or cream to the minced fish.
- Form meatballs and roll them in flour.
- Fry in the bottom of a multi-bowl in a small amount of vegetable oil.
- Pour in tomato sauce.
- Cooking in the “Stew” mode.
It is better to serve fish balls with vegetables. In the winter season, fried cabbage - red, cauliflower or white - is ideal for fish.
When preparing minced fish, remember the rule: fish drink milk! Be sure to soak the fish in milk or add bread crumbs soaked in milk sauce. But it’s better not to put sour cream in such a dish: tomatoes are enough.
Nuances of cooking in a slow cooker: Redmond, Polaris
Many housewives are worried: is there a difference between brands? Does the brand affect the cooking time and quality of the finished meatballs? If you believe the reviews, there is not much difference: read the instructions carefully and everything will be fine. The main thing is not to overload the dish with spices, especially bright oriental ones. The meatballs themselves are very tasty if the proportions are properly observed.
More sour cream or less, fresh or canned tomatoes, steamed or stewed meatballs - the choice is always yours. An easy interpretation, a slight change in technology - and the dish will always delight you with a fresh taste and appetizing appearance. Pamper your loved ones with home cooking, be full and happy!
If you don’t want to spend a lot of time preparing dinner, you can make chicken meatballs in tomato-sour cream sauce in a slow cooker. They turn out incredibly tender and juicy, and a delicious gravy can be poured over a side dish - mashed potatoes, boiled rice or buckwheat. For the sauce, you can use tomato paste, tomato juice or tomato puree (fresh or canned).
Ingredients
- 400 g minced chicken
- 5 tbsp. l. boiled rice
- 1 chicken egg
- 1 tsp. salt (no slide)
- 1/5 tsp. ground coriander
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 200 ml water or broth
- 1.5 tbsp. l. tomato paste
- 2 tbsp. l. sour cream
- 1/5 tsp. spices
- 2-3 sprigs of herbs for serving
Preparation
1. Minced chicken for meatballs can be prepared at home or bought in a store. Thaw the frozen product at room temperature. Minced meat can be made from chicken breast or fattier chicken meat (thigh or drumstick), you also need to twist the peeled onion. Z
2. Beat an egg into a bowl with minced meat.
3. Rice for meatballs can be taken long or round, boil it in advance in salted water, then transfer the required amount into a bowl with minced meat. Add salt and ground coriander and other spices to taste.
4. Mix everything well.
The minced meat for the meatballs is ready.
5. With wet hands, form the minced meat into small, neat balls and place on the bottom of the multicooker.
6. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater and place on the meatballs.
7. Make the sauce - mix tomato paste and sour cream of any fat content. Mix everything and pour into the multicooker bowl.
Chicken meatballs turn out tasty and tender. If you cook them from breast fillet, you can easily make a low-calorie dietary dish. Meatballs with gravy go well with any dry side dishes.
Ingredients:
- 350 g minced chicken;
- 100 g long dry rice;
- 1 onion;
- 3 dessert spoons of sour cream;
- 1 – 2 cloves of garlic;
- 2 dessert spoons of tomato paste;
- salt, any favorite spices.
Preparation:
- Rinse the rice, pour boiling water over it and leave for 20 - 25 minutes. This trick allows the cereal to soak up the liquid, so the meatballs will not be dry.
- Place minced meat, onion and garlic pieces into a blender bowl. Mix the products together. Add salt and selected spices to them.
- Place the rice in a sieve and immediately add to the meat. Mix.
- Use wet fingers to form miniature balls. Place them on the bottom of an oiled ceramic mold.
- Pour in a sauce made from sour cream, tomato paste and a small amount of warm boiled water. The mixture must be salted.
- Close the mold with a lid. Bake the treat at 200°C for about 40 minutes.
- 10 minutes before cooking, remove the lid of the pan.
This is one of the simplest recipes that will tell you how to cook meatballs in the oven.
In sour cream sauce in a frying pan
Ingredients:
- 850 g minced chicken;
- 2 onions;
- 2/3 tbsp. long dry rice;
- 3 – 4 cloves of garlic;
- 1 egg;
- 1 tbsp. fat sour cream and the same amount of boiling water;
- 1 large carrot;
- 2 dessert spoons of flour;
- salt, pepper and vegetable oil.
Preparation:
- Pour the washed rice with plenty of water and cook for a quarter of an hour.
- Send the cooled cereal to the minced chicken along with the egg.
- Add very finely chopped onion and garlic there.
- Add salt and pepper to the mixture and mix well.
- With wet hands, form medium balls.
- First, lightly fry them in vegetable oil. The meatballs should be browned on the sides.
- Place the balls into a cauldron. Pour in salted sauce made from sour cream, flour, boiling water and finely fried onions and carrots.
- Simmer the chicken meatballs with rice, covered, over low heat for a quarter of an hour.
Serve with mashed potatoes or pasta.
With tomato dressing in a slow cooker
Ingredients:
- ½ kilo of minced chicken;
- ½ tbsp. long rice;
- 2 liters of tomato paste;
- 1 onion;
- 1 large egg;
- 3 dessert spoons of sifted flour;
- 5 dessert spoons of thick sour cream;
- table salt and dry aromatic herbs.
Preparation:
- Chop the onion very finely. Mix with minced meat, egg, spices and salt.
- Cook the rice until done. Will send you to the minced meat.
- Mix the resulting mass very well with your hands. Make large meatballs (the size of a chicken egg).
- Combine the remaining ingredients in a common bowl. Lightly salt if there is not enough salt in the tomato paste.
- Place the resulting products into the bowl of the device. Pour in the sauce until it completely covers them.
- Cook the dish for 60 – 70 minutes. The extinguishing mode is perfect for this.
Serve meatballs in tomato sauce with large pasta.
Minced chicken meatballs with gravy
Ingredients:
- 1 large chicken fillet;
- 100 g pre-cooked long rice;
- 1 egg;
- ½ pcs. onions;
- 2 tomatoes;
- ½ pcs. bell pepper;
- salt, pepper and sugar to taste;
- 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.
Preparation:
- Clean the fillet from films. Cut into pieces. Beat with a blender.
- Add a raw egg to the meat.
- Cook the rice until fully cooked. Transfer it to the minced meat from the first step.
- Salt and pepper the mixture. Make medium meatballs from it. It is most convenient to do this with wet hands.
- Fry in a frying pan with heated oil until a beautiful golden brown crust appears.
- To make the gravy, puree all the coarsely chopped vegetables in a blender. Pour sugar and salt into them. You can use any spices to taste.
- Pour the vegetable mixture over the meat balls.
Cook minced chicken meatballs with gravy under a closed lid over low heat for 20 - 25 minutes.
Cooked in creamy sauce
Ingredients:
- 3 pcs. chicken fillets;
- 1 onion;
- fresh garlic to taste;
- ground nutmeg, curry, salt;
- 1 egg;
- 3 dessert spoons of corn or potato starch;
- 350 ml medium fat cream;
- 100 g grated “Russian” cheese;
- 25 g dill.
Preparation:
- Cut the chicken into small pieces. Chop the onion and garlic in the same way.
- Mix the products. Add to them all the stated spices, salt, starch. Beat in the egg.
- Form their masses into small balls. Place them in a mold and bake in the oven at medium temperature for 20 - 25 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix cheese, cream, chopped herbs. Add a little salt.
- Pour the resulting sauce over the meatballs.
- Return to oven.
Bake the meatballs in the creamy sauce for another 20 minutes until golden brown.
Ingredients:
- ½ kg minced chicken;
- 1 egg;
- 2 slices of white bread soaked in milk;
- 200 g champignons;
- 2 onions;
- 1 tbsp. sour cream;
- flour for breading;
- salt and spices.
Preparation:
- Squeeze out the bread and add it to the minced meat along with the egg. Salt and season with spices.
- Mix the mixture well, roll it into miniature balls and roll each one in flour. Fry until golden brown in a frying pan with any fat.
- Cook chopped onions and mushrooms in the oil left over from the meatballs. Add salt. Add sour cream to the ingredients and simmer for 8 - 9 minutes.
- Place the meatballs in a heat-resistant form, pour in the sauce and bake for 15 minutes in the oven.
Serve the finished chicken meatballs in sour cream sauce and mushrooms hot.
If there is no need to count calories and prepare dietary meatballs, then you can add a small amount of lard to the minced chicken. This will make the finished dish more juicy. Self-prepared minced meat always turns out tastier than store-bought.
Chicken meatballs cooked in a slow cooker are one of the easiest and fastest, in my opinion, dishes for everyday cooking. Simple and affordable ingredients, a delicious sauce based on tomato paste, a slow cooker as a helper - these are the main points that make it clear what you have to deal with today.
In general, I’ve been cooking with chicken more often lately; pork and beef appear less and less in my refrigerator. Chicken dishes are easier and faster to prepare, and their taste is more neutral, which children really like. Even the same ones, and I often cook them based on chicken. And you know, it turns out very tasty. Meatballs are no exception either. And if I prefer to cook pork meatballs with the addition of rice and carrots, then chicken meatballs are very tasty without any additives to the minced meat.
In general, less words and more action, I move on to the cooking process.
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Number of servings – 8Ingredients:
- 700 g minced chicken
- 1 onion
- 2-3 carrots
- 4 tbsp. breadcrumbs + 2 more tbsp.
- 1 egg
- water 1 l + 0.5 cups
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp. flour (no slide)
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste (heaped)
- bay leaf
- 20 ml sunflower oil
- salt, sugar, pepper
- green onions
Chicken meatballs in a slow cooker, step-by-step recipe with photos
The first step in preparing chicken meatballs in a slow cooker is to take care of the sauce in which they will be stewed. For a richer taste, I decided to add carrots to the future tomato sauce. You can either grate it or cut it, as I did. A couple of large carrots or 3 small ones will be enough.
Turn on the multicooker, select the “fry” mode and heat about 20 ml of sunflower oil. Add the carrots to the bowl and fry them until tender, about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently with a spatula.
Then add tomato paste to the carrots, I added 2 heaped tablespoons. In 1 liter of water, dilute two tablespoons of flour, break up the flour lumps. Add water to carrots and tomato paste. Switch the multicooker to “simmer” mode and wait for the sauce to boil.
Add salt (about 0.3 tablespoons), sugar (1 tablespoon), ground pepper (0.3 teaspoon) and bay leaf to the boiled sauce. Taste the tomato sauce and add more salt or sugar if necessary. You should get a very pleasant sweet and sour sauce. The flour will thicken the sauce slightly.
Let the sauce simmer a little, and in the meantime quickly form the meatballs.
Pour 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs into half a glass of water. The crackers will instantly absorb water and turn into a thick mass.
Add soaked crackers and one egg to 700 g of minced chicken. Along with the minced meat, I rolled one medium onion. Add a third of a tablespoon of salt and a little ground pepper. Mix the minced meat with your hands into a homogeneous mixture.
With hands soaked in water, scoop out small portions of minced meat, form the minced meat into balls and roll them in breadcrumbs. This time I made fairly large meatballs, but in general their size depends only on your personal preferences.
Add the meatballs to the boiling tomato sauce. Take your time, add the meatballs in small batches of 3-5 pieces, then gently stir them into the sauce with a spatula, and after half a minute add the next batch and so on. This will keep your chicken meatballs from becoming misshapen.
Close the lid of the multicooker and let the meatballs simmer for 25 minutes in the stew mode.
At the end of cooking, add finely chopped onion and pressed garlic to the multicooker bowl.
Chicken meatballs in a slow cooker are ready. The smell from them is simply stunning, it immediately whetted my appetite.
Today we present to you our recipe for slow cooker chicken meatballs in all its glory. Our simple cooking instructions will teach you how to cook this dish quickly and tasty, believe me, your loved ones will appreciate this meat “creativity”.
You have two options for developing the culinary plot. The first is to buy ready-made minced chicken at the nearest meat grocery store, and in this case, you will cook chicken meatballs in a slow cooker even faster. Those cooks who are not afraid of difficulties choose the second option - preparing minced chicken with their own hands at home. Whatever cooking variation you choose, your second dish will still be delicious!
Cooking meatballs from minced chicken in a slow cooker
Before you start mastering the slow cooker chicken meatballs recipe yourself, check out the simple list of required ingredients.
Cooking ingredients
- Chicken breast or leg - 500 grams.
- Egg – 1 piece.
- Onion – 1 head.
- Flour – 3 large spoons.
- Sour cream – half a glass.
- Broth – 200 grams.
- Garlic - 4 cloves.
- Herbs, spices.
- Refined vegetable oil.
Cooking
Now you can move on to how to prepare chicken meatballs in a slow cooker step by step:
- First you need to prepare the minced meat yourself. The fillet or leg is washed, dried and passed through a meat grinder. The peeled onion is also sent there. If you choose ready-made minced meat, all you have to do is finely chop the onion and send it to the meat preparation.
- The garlic is peeled and chopped; this can be done using a press or the same meat grinder. Divide into two parts: one part is added to the minced meat, and the second is set aside for now.
- Fresh greens - parsley, dill - are thoroughly washed in running water, dried, then finely chopped and added to the minced meat.
- To make chicken meatballs in a slow cooker juicier, add one raw egg.
- Pour in a little flour (2-3 tablespoons), add spices and salt to taste, and then mix everything well. The minced meat is ready.
- Lubricate the bowl of your miracle pan with oil and begin to put pre-formed meat balls into it, and then fry it on the “Fry” mode, regularly turning it over on all sides, forming a golden ball.
- Let's prepare the gravy. Sour cream is mixed with some of the ground garlic set aside for a while, salted to taste, and spices are added. A glass of broth prepared in advance is poured into the resulting mass and mixed again.
- That's practically the entire recipe for chicken meatballs for a slow cooker. All that remains is to pour sour cream and seasonings on top of the meat balls, and then turn on the “Stew” mode.
The cooking time for this dish in a slow cooker is 50-60 minutes. Eat with pleasure!