Crockpot Mississippi Meatballs

Our Crockpot Mississippi meatballs follow the delicious Mississippi recipes tradition. Moist tender meatballs in a brothy gravy flavored with pepperoncini, ranch dressing and au jus gravy.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword crockpot meatballs, meatball recipes, mississippi recipes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 2 30

Total Time 2 50

Servings servings

Calories 851kcal

Author Kathleen

Ingredients

4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into small pieces
3/4 cup milk
2 pounds ground beef, 80/20
3 tablespoons grated yellow onion
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (1-ounce) envelope ranch dressing mix, Divided
1 (1-ounce) envelope au jus gravy mix
4 cups low sodium beef broth
1/2 cup butter, thinly sliced
8 whole pepperoncini peppers
1 tablespoon liquid from pepperoncini peppers
1/2 cup unsalted butter, sliced
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons, plus more if needed cornstarch

Serve With

prepared mashed potatoes or buttered noodles

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 475°F (246°C). Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, add milk (3/4 cup) and bread (4 slices) and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Mash.
Add ground beef (2 pounds), grated onion (3 tablespoons), Parmesan (1/2 cup), eggs (2), Worcestershire sauce (1 tablespoon), garlic (2 teaspoons), salt (1/2 teaspoon), black pepper (1/2 teaspoon), and 1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix and combine well.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out heaping scoops. Roll, and using gentle but firm pressure, compact the meatballs. You'll have 20-23 meatballs.
Arrange meatballs on prepared baking sheets. Place in preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until well browned.
Meanwhile, add beef broth (4 cups), the remaining dry ranch dressing mix, and Au Jus gravy (1 envelope) mix to a 6-quart slow cooker. Whisk to combine.
Transfer browned meatballs to the crockpot. Gently toss the meatballs to coat in broth. Arrange butter slices (1/2 cup) and pepperoncini peppers (8 whole) over meatballs.
Cover and cook on LOW, stirring halfway through the cooking time, until meatballs are cooked through, about 2 hours. Stir in pepperoncini juice (1 tablespoon).
Transfer meatballs and pepperoncini from crockpot to a platter AND cover with foil to keep warm. Pour liquid from crockpot into a saucepan. Over medium heat, simmer the liquid.
In a small bowl, whisk cold water (1/4 cup) with cornstarch (3 tablespoons). Gradually stir into the saucepan, continuing to simmer while gently stirring continuously, to activate the thickening process. (Don't overcook or stir/whisk too vigorously or the mixture can break down cornstarch and it won't thicken.) Simmer until you achieve the desired thickness. If you want the sauce thicker, you can continue to simmer and allow some of the liquid to evaporate or you can make more cornstarch slurry and repeat the process.
Serve over mashed potatoes or buttered noodles.

Notes

Moist + Tender: The trick to achieving a moist and tender meatball is not to overmix the meat mixture. The panade (bread and milk mixture)will soak up the moisture from the other ingredients. The result will be a very happy family!
The Gravy: The gravy has mild heat. For those who don’t like any spice, omit the pepperoncini juice. Then just add fewer pepperoncini, say four or less instead.

Nutrition