Slow Cooker Pesto Turkey Meatballs

These pesto turkey meatballs are made in the slow cooker, and require minimal prep! So delicious and family friendly too! You can substitute ground chicken or ground beef if you’d like, and they freeze really well too!

I wanted to give you guys an easy recipe, perfect for throwing in the slow cooker and forgetting about it. That has been the name of the game lately. When life gets busy, which it always is, I’m all about the slow cooker. I use it for making shredded chicken breasts to put on salads all week, pulled pork (my favorite thing in the world), soups, and meatballs like these! I’m obsessed with pesto lately too. I put it in my egg white scrambles, in frittatas, on salads, roasted veggie bowls, and pretty much anything I can think of. It adds so much flavor and brightness to everything! And tons of garlic flavor of course.


The sauce is super simple too. Crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, garlic, and Italian seasoning.

You could use your favorite bottled marinara here, but this is so quick and easy to throw together. And super flavorful. You really can’t beat homemade sauce.

For the meatballs, you make a “pesto” mixture in the food processor with onion, garlic, fresh basil, fresh Italian parsley, parm, and walnuts. Then, you add egg and panko breadcrumbs to the turkey as well, and mix!

Total flavor bomb.

One step you can’t skip, is browning the meatballs before you add them to the crockpot. It helps them keep their shape while they cook all night! Or all day. If you don’t brown them, it’ll just end up being a meat sauce because they’ll all fall apart. Trust me on this one.

These would be super ideal to make for a party, or to have dinner made with next to no effort! Super kid-friendly too. Love them!

5 from 1 vote

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Slow Cooker Turkey Pesto Meatballs

These pesto turkey meatballs are made in the slow cooker, and require minimal prep! So delicious and family friendly too! You can substitute ground chicken or ground beef if you'd like, and they freeze really well too!

Course Crockpot, Main, Slow Cooker

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 20 minutes

Servings 4

Author Molly | Spices in My DNA

Ingredients

For the meatballs

• 1.3 pounds 93% lean ground turkey (make sure you don't use ground turkey breast, the meatballs will be dry)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 of a medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup packed flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the sauce

• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. To your food processor, add garlic, onion, parsley, basil, parmesan, walnuts, salt, and pepper. Pulse until mixture is very fine, like a pesto. Add turkey to a medium mixing bowl and add pesto mixture. Add egg and panko breadcrumbs and mix until thoroughly combined.

2. Heat a nonstick skillet to medium/high heat and add olive oil. Cook meatballs for 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Add meatballs to your crockpot.  Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to the crockpot. Don't stir, the meatballs are very delicate at this stage.

3. Shake the crockpot a little bit to be sure the sauce reaches the bottom. Cook on low heat for 6-7 hours. Serve with pasta, zucchini noodles, on rolls or subs, or by themselves!