? regarding using pre-made frozen meatballs

[Mishetta]

I usually make my own sauce & meatballs from scratch but it's just too much work & I got those pre-made meatballs on sale. Soo....I purchased a jarred sauce & I was wondering, could I put about 15 of those small meatballs in a crock pot & just add the jar of sauce & let them simmer for a few hours? Would the sauce be too watery? Can I just put the frozen meatballs in the crock pot or do I need to defrost them first? If I can toss the meatballs & sauce in crock pot, how long would I have to cook them?

Probably sounds like a dumb question, but I've never used the frozen meatballs & have very rarely used jarred sauce!

Thanks!

[piratesmate]

I've done it, but don't usually leave them on Low for more than 4 hours. If I do them 6 the sauce starts to turn brown along the edge of the crock like it's burning. The first few times I either let the meatballs sit until they were fairly defrosted or nuked them the recommended time to defrost only before putting in the crock. After that I didn't bother...just make sure there is a good amount of sauce between them & any surface of the crock. (assuming it's a stone crock & not metal)

It varies a bit if you're using the Mama Lucia meatballs that come 15 in a box vs the ones that come in a big bag. The directions on the packaging are the same, but there is a big difference in size. The ones in the box are much bigger. I now get the Kirkland ones at CostCo - we really prefer the taste - and they're much smaller also.

Good luck with them...we prefer them cooked in the sauce...I now do sweet Italian sausage this way too...and that's generally frozen when I put it in as well.

[Philly81]

Just a few days ago I purchased and used frozen meatballs for the first time (and I've been married 19 years.) I've always made my own but a friend told me of a brand that she said to try and since I work full time now I decided to bite the bullet and try the frozen. I sprayed the crockpot with Pam cooking spray and put the meatballs in and covered them with sauce. Paul Newman's Sockarooni is my favorite. They simmered for about 3-4 hours on low and were great. Not quite homemade but close enough and without the work.