Everyone loves a Crock-Pot Meal!
When you can find a recipe that your kids love, you tend to stick with it. Add also that it’s incredibly easy to make and delicious for you too and you have a major winner.
These slow-cooker Swedish Meatballs have been a family favorite of ours for many years. We tend to bring out this recipe when we have guests too since it makes a pretty large amount. Either that or it allows for some really good leftovers!
Now I can pretend I’m June Cleaver and make these meatballs from scratch, but let’s get real. Ain’t nobody got time for that. I absolutely love that these meatballs come with the spices for Swedish meatballs already added in. So all you have to do is make the sauce and the noodles to go with.
Throw it all in your slow cooker and don’t worry about it again until right before dinner time. So by the time those complaints of starving start coming in, you’ll only need to mix in the sour cream and make the noodles. Dinner can be ready in minutes.
How to make Slow-Cooker Swedish Meatballs
What you’ll need:
- 1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1 Can Beef Broth Soup
- 1 Package Dry Onion Soup Mix
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 Package Frozen Meatballs
- 16 oz Sour Cream
- 1 Package Egg Noodles
This recipe is one of the easiest recipes I have for family dinner time. It doesn’t require many ingredients and prep time is very minimal. Keep in mind too that none of the ingredients need to be exact. If you are one can of mushroom soup short, that’s ok. If you want to add more sour cream, go for it!
Start by assembling all your ingredients so they are ready to go. As far as kitchen equipment, you won’t need much either. A good crock-pot, a spoon, and a pot for boiling the noodles later. That’s it!
Add the Lipton soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, and soy sauce to the cook-pot. It will make a lovely chunky, brown looking sauce.
Don’t be deterred by the look of it, I promise it will turn out much better then it looks.
Mix it around best you can but it’s ok to still have some lumps and bumps. Those will disappear as it cooks.
Next, dump in the entire bag of meatballs. Frozen is fine, don’t worry about it being thawed out. You actually want the meatballs to be frozen when they go into the crockpot. Stir it around so all the meatballs are covered in sauce. Put the lid on and let them cook!
I prefer doing the low setting for 8 hours but that’s mostly so I have time to make them in the morning and not worry about them for the rest of the day. However, I have been guilty of forgetting until about noon and then throwing the ingredients in the crock-pot and cooking at high for 4-6 hours. It works just as well.
When the meatballs are done being cooked, they will be a nice browned color. Take one out and test it! That’s the whole fun of cooking, isn’t it?
The sauce should be starting to brown around the edges and be bubbling. This is when it’s time to start cooking the egg noodles and add the sour cream!
Add the sour cream! This is the one step where I never stick to the recipe. I add as much or as little as I like. And I like sour cream! So I tend to buy the 16 oz tub and use about 3/4 of it. It’s all your preference.
Put the lid back on and let it cook for about another 15 minutes, during which the noodles are cooking and the kids are making the table (haha, yeah right).
When ready to go, your Swedish Meatballs will look like this. Nice thick and creamy sauce, browned meatballs, and noodles are ready! Place the noodles on a plate and spoon as many meatballs on as you like. I tend to put some meatballs on and then add another spoon or two of the sauce.
Serve and Enjoy! This will easily serve a family of 4-6 with leftovers. I’ve also doubled all the ingredients and made this recipe for 10 people. As long as it all fits into your crock-pot, it will all cook just fine.
If you like Crock Pot Recipes, then don’t forget to check out:
Pam says
It would be nice to know about how much soy sauce to use.
Jenny says
Sorry about that! I updated to include the soy sauce amount!
Nikki says
Your recipe sounds yummy! Question.. how many cans of Cream of Mushroom? It looks like there are two cans in the picture but the recipe only calls for one.
Thank you! I can’t wait to try it!
Jenny says
I use 2 cans! But I like a creamier sauce, and more of it!
Sabrina says
Cook on high or low when the noodles are put in?
Jenny says
I cook the noodles seperately over stovetop, like any other pasta. I don’t add the noodles to the crock pot.
Jessica says
I misread and went ahead and added the sour cream at the beginning hope it isn’t ruined.
Jenny says
It won’t! I did the same thing once 🙂
Amalia says
What size bag of meatballs did you use? And do they have to be Swedish style or is home style fine too?
Thank you!
Jenny says
Swedish does work better for the taste but you can use plain meatballs too. We use the 1 lb bag,
Liz says
Making this for tonight! How big is that can of beef broth? Is it condensed? I’m assuming the cream of mushroom soup cans are the smaller condensed ones right?
Thanks!
Jenny says
The beef broth is a normal can, not a large one. Not condensed. And yes, the cream of mushrooms are the small condensed ones. But more or less is fine, you really don’t need an exact science for this recipe 🙂
Brandie says
This will be my second time preparing this meal. It will be a new staple for my family. Yummy!
Thank you!
Jennifer says
Once cooked, does it freeze well?
Jenny says
It really does! The sauce may not be as creamy, but you can add a little milk to it once you unfreeze and cook it to help with that.
Lauren says
This is soooo good! My daughter gave me the recipe and I’ve made it several times. I’m making it for my granddaughter this weekend.
Karen says
This recipe is amazing!!! and so easy. I have made it many times. My family loves it. Thank you Jenny 😊
Mary says
Love this so easy and delicious. We have it at least once a month.
Beth says
if they don’t like mushrooms what can you use in place of the soup
Jenny says
You can use cream of chicken soup or even strain the cream of mushroom soup to get the chunks out.
Krista says
I’m trying this tonight with cream of celery since my husband and daughter don’t like mushrooms. I’m hoping it’s gonna turn out good!
Christine Illgen says
I’m worried about putting the sour cream in the hot sauce,
won’t it curdel?
Jenny says
Not at all! Ive made this recipe a million times and it just makes it nice and creamy. Try it!