Slow Cooker Sausage Balls are cheesy, easy to make, and super delicious. Serve them as a party appetizer, spoon over pasta, or make a meatball sub! You choose.

Photography Credit: Nick Evans

These slow cooker sausage balls are all kinds of magical. They are somehow better than your standard Italian meatball, but also easier—just brown the meatballs in a skillet, toss in a slow cooker for a few hours, then serve as a party appetizer or family meal. You can’t go wrong!

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THE SECRET INGREDIENT: CHEESE!

These sausage balls are basically meatballs, but less finicky; the recipe doesn’t call for breadcrumbs, eggs, or a bunch of other add-ins. What it does call for is cheese (two kinds, in fact): cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Stir these together with Italian sausage and you are in business!

DON’T SKIP THE BROWNING STEP

I was worried that the meatballs would fall apart in the slow cooker or while browning but they firmed up nicely and held their shape. Browning helped with this and also gives the sausage balls great flavor, so don’t skip this step!

Make sure to give yourself enough time to brown the sausage balls in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil before transferring them to a slow cooker so they develop flavor and keep their shape while they simmer.

MAKE-AHEAD TIPS FOR STUFFED SAUSAGE BALLS

These sausage balls can be made up to a few hours in advance of serving. If you need to make them further in advance, that’s just fine. Assemble the sausage balls and store them in the fridge for 2-3 days until you are ready to make them.

Also, in terms of how flexible you can be with the slow-cooking time, I left a batch of these in a slow cooker for two hours on high and up to eight hours on low and both were excellent.

IDEAS FOR SERVING SAUSAGE BALLS

So. Many. Serving. Ideas! Here are a few favorite serving ideas for these stuffed sausage balls:

Serve them as appetizers: Toss some toothpicks next to a big platter of the meatballs and appetizers are done. Make a dinner out of them: Cook some spaghetti, stir in a few spoonfuls of marinara sauce from the slow cooker after the pasta is cooked, then serve the spaghetti with sausage balls and fresh parsley. Go for a hearty weekend lunch: Toss some of these sausage balls in a hoagie with provolone cheese for the best meatball sub!

Other ideas for these? Leave a comment!

STORING AND REHEATING STUFFED SAUSAGE BALLS

These sausage balls keep perfectly in the fridge for five days or so. You can also freeze them in a freezer-safe container for up to three months. Reheating them is best in a pot on the stove with a splash of water, or you can toss them back in the slow cooker on low. They will be just as good as on day one.

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