Are you in the mood for some good ole Italian comfort food? Then let’s make some meatball subs!
This recipe consists of Italian meatballs cooked in a semi-sweet and tangy sauce served over bread, and then topped with melted mozzarella cheese. The best part is that the meatballs are cooked in your slow cooker, which always works great for those days when you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen.
When making meatball subs, I like to use my recipe for homemade Italian meatballs. I love making this large batch of meatballs so that I can freeze one half of the batch to cook for later, which especially comes in handy for times when I want to make meatball subs, or any recipe that calls for meatballs. If you don’t have time to make homemade meatballs you can buy a bag of meatballs from the frozen section of the grocery store. They certainly taste just as delicious in this meatball sub recipe.
Check out my recipe for Italian meatballs here!
After I prepare the meatballs, I like to cook the raw meatballs in the tomato sauce as it simmers in the slow cooker. In my opinion letting the meatballs cook in the sauce rather than pre-cooking them gives the sauce and the meatballs so much more flavor. Of course you can also bake or pan fry them before adding them to your sauce if you prefer.
Let’s get to cookin’! Here’s what you’ll need…
Ingredients:
- 24 (1 oz.) homemade Italian meatballs (or frozen Italian meatballs, thawed)
- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 6 oz. can Italian style tomato paste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2-3 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 pkg. hot dog buns or Kaiser rolls
- 1 (6 oz.) pkg. mozzarella cheese slices
Instructions:
1. In a slow cooker combine crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, sugar, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir, cover, and let the sauce heat up on high for about 30 minutes before adding your meatballs.
2. Once the sauce has heated, carefully place the meatballs (one at a time) in the sauce mixture (without mashing them together). Make sure the meatballs are completely covered in the sauce.
3. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
4. Once the meatballs are done cooking, serve 3 meatballs on each bun, ladle some sauce over the meatballs, and top with a slice of mozzarella cheese.
To melt the cheese faster, broil in the oven for 1-2 minutes or pop in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Enjoy!
A Dash of Mel
Slow Cooker Meatball Subs
This recipe consists of Italian meatballs slowly cooked in a semi-sweet and tangy sauce served over bread, and then topped with melted mozzarella cheese.
- 24 (1oz.) Italian meatballs (see Italian meatball recipe or use frozen Italian meatballs, thawed)
- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 6 oz. can Italian style tomato paste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2-3 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 pkg. hot dog buns or Kaiser rolls
- 6 oz. pkg. mozzarella cheese slices
In a slow cooker combine crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, sugar, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir, cover, and let the sauce heat up on high for about 30 minutes before adding your meatballs.
Once the sauce has heated, carefully place the meatballs one at a time in the sauce mixture (without mashing them together). Make sure the meatballs are completely covered in the sauce.
Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
Once the meatballs are done cooking, serve 3 meatballs on each bun, ladle some sauce over the meatballs, and top with a slice of mozzarella cheese. To melt the cheese faster, broil in the oven for 1-2 minutes or pop in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Enjoy!
When making meatball subs I like to use my recipe for homemade Italian meatballs.
