Crockpot Meatball Subs effortlessly come together in the slow cooker for flavorful, saucy, cheesy sandwiches that the whole family will love! With just a few simple ingredients, this meatball sub recipe is homemade, easy, and delicious!
In a medium bowl, combine ground beef with egg, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix with hands or a large spoon until all ingredients are well incorporated.
Form mixture into 12 meatballs, taking care not to make them too compact. Place meatballs in the bottom of slow cooker. Pour pasta sauce over meatballs, making sure that each one is completely covered.
Cook on LOW for 6 hours or until the meatballs are cooked through. (Check sooner if your slow cooker runs hot, in which case the meatballs may cook faster and the sauce may start to darken around the edges.)
To serve, halve each roll lengthwise, toast if desired, and place three meatballs inside. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. The hot meatballs should cause the cheese to melt, but if not, you may place sandwiches under the oven broiler for a minute to melt cheese completely. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if using, and serve hot.
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Notes
When making Crockpot Meatball Subs, be sure to use lean (90/10) or ideally extra-lean (96/4) ground beef, in order to avoid excess grease in your sauce.
To save on prep time, frozen meatballs may be substituted for homemade. They should still take around six hours to cook. You can check the instructions on the package for the recommended internal temperature that they need to reach.
This meatball sub recipe may be doubled...just make sure you're using a large enough slow cooker. Put half of the meatballs in the crockpot, cover with a jar of sauce (or 3 cups homemade sauce), then pile in the remaining meatballs and top with the second jar of sauce (or 3 more cups homemade). You can gently stir halfway through the cooking time if you're around, but it's fine if you're not.
If your slow cooker runs hot, carefully stirring (so as not to break the meatballs) every few hours will help prevent the edges of the sauce from darkening, particularly towards the end of the cooking time.