Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Meatballs - the whole family will love these super tender Italian Style Chicken Meatballs in a Rich Tomato Sauce.
Who doesn't love meatballs? Especially when served over some yummy filling cooked pasta.
Luckily on Slimming Eats pasta is free food, so you don't need to feel guilty about adding it to your plate. Just add a ⅓ veg to naturally balance out your plate.
Wondering more about how Speed Foods work within the Slimming Eats plan? Check out - The Benefit of Speeds Foods. These are the foods that will bulk out your meals keeping you full and well satiated. They are an important part of the Slimming Plan.
I've been loving using ground chicken lately in recipes, it's super lean and perfect for recipes like this Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Meatballs. Don't worry if you can't get ground chicken, as ground turkey will work just as good too.
You will notice I add breadcrumbs to my meatballs. You may be tempted to try and skip those but trust me, they really help to keep the meatballs nice and tender. Extra Lean mince can be a little dry on its own otherwise. If you are gluten free, ground almonds are a great substitute and have a similar value, so use those in place of breadcrumbs if you can't eat gluten.
Not got a slow cooker and wonder which ones are best? There are many great slow cookers out there. But I recommend choosing ones like this Andrew James Slow Cooker that has a delayed start time and an inner pot that can be removed and placed on the hob or in the oven, that way if you need to do any browning you don’t need to use a separate pan.
Hey if you want a slow cooker that has all the bells n whistles. Go for an Instant Pot, which is not actually a slow cooker, it’s a multi-function pressure cooker, but with a slow cooker option on it too, it can do pretty much everything.
Want some other delicious Slow Cooker recipes? Check out these:
- PAPRIKA BEEF
- BALSAMIC BRAISED BEEF
- HEALTHIER SLOW COOKER CRACK CHICKEN
- BRAISED BEEF
- TERIYAKI PORK TENDERLOIN
- PINEAPPLE PORK
- SLOW COOKER GUINNESS BEEF BRISKET
- SLOPPY JOES
- BEEF AND VEGETABLE CASSEROLE
- SLOW COOKER CHICKEN MEATBALL PASTA BAKE
or head on over to my FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 850+ delicious Slimming Eats Recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, value etc.
HOW CAN I ADD A ⅓ SPEED FOODS TO THIS SLOW COOKER ITALIAN CHICKEN MEATBALLS?
I like to pair this up with a big mixed salad that I serve in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves to, it's a great way to encourage little ones to eat more veggies too, as they are normally keener to try if I haven't forced it on their plate.
Crisp lettuce, tomatoes, baby cucumber, beetroot is our fav alongside a variety of dressings for them to choose from. We do love the poppyseed dressing though on this Chicken, Strawberry and Avocado Salad.
Another great option is some spiralized zucchini (courgette) or another vegetable of choice instead of the pasta, a great idea if you are doing Weight Watchers and on limited daily points or are following a Slimming Eats day.
There are some great spiralizers out there. Such as this Heavy Duty Spiralizer, I had one of those up until recently when I upgrading to this amazing Kitchen Aid Mixer Spiralizer attachment. I haven't had a chance to test it out yet but will let you know how good it is once I do.
WHAT KITCHEN ITEMS DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS SLOW COOKER ITALIAN CHICKEN MEATBALLS?
- Slow Cooker
- Kitchen Scales
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Wooden Spoon
- Santoku Knife (perfect knife for chopping veg)
- Chopping Board
- Mixing Bowl
- Saucepan
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Recipe Card
Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Meatballs
Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Meatballs - the whole family will love these super tender Italian Style Chicken Meatballs in a Rich Tomato Sauce.
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 500g of extra lean ground chicken, raw
- ¼ cup (30g) of breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon of onion powder
- salt and black pepper
- fresh chopped parsley
- 1 egg
For the sauce
- 1.5 cups (320ml) of crushed tomatoes (or passata*)
- ⅓ cup (80ml) of chicken stock
- 2 tbs of tomato paste
- 1 tbs of balsamic vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- pinch of dried basil
- fresh chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients for the sauce to a bowl, and mix till well combined.
- Add into into the slow cooker.
- Add the ingredients for the meatballs to a bowl and mix to combine then form into meatballs. ( I made 12 decent sized ones).
- Carefully drop them into the sauce and spoon some of the sauce over any uncovered ones.
- Set slow cooker on low for 6 hours.
- Once cooked, season to taste with salt and black pepper and sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with your choice of sides.
- A little finely grated parmesan over the top is a great addition.
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 217Total Fat 6.1gSaturated Fat 1.8gCholesterol 96mgSodium 441mgCarbohydrates 11.9gFiber 2.1gSugar 3.4gProtein 29.3g
Nutritional information is an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information.
Rowena says
What an amazing site, so pleased I found it, many great syn free or low syn recipes. I find it difficult to invent things, but you have done everything for me, can’t thank you enough
Holly james says
Hiya how many Syns are in this all I can find is low Syns? Thank you!
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Holly, the syns for recipes are given on all my recipes on the recipe box. 🙂
Carolyn says
Absolutely love this recipe - I’ve had it four times now already in two weeks ! The sauce is so thick and tasty in the slow cooker . I’m going to try your teriyaki pork this week, your recipes and site are my go to for inspiration, thankyou
Sarah Ozigi says
Can I use minced beef instead of chicken. I can’t get minced chicken