Slow Cooker Spicy Korean Meatballs
Elevate your meatball game with these Slow Cooker Spicy Korean Meatballs! Made with garlic, ginger, spicy gochujang, and other tantalizing Asian ingredients, these saucy, sweet & spicy meatballs are exploding with flavor. They’re the perfect bite-size appetizer for parties and make an easy main course with rice and veggies!
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Looking for something more flavorful than your basic jelly meatballs? I’ve got you covered!
Whether you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing appetizer for your next get-together or a super easy main course, you can’t go wrong with these Slow Cooker Spicy Korean Meatballs!
There are so many amazing Asian flavors in these meatballs, my family and I can’t get enough of them!
For an easy dinner, I like to serve them over rice with some spicy green beans. For the perfect appetizer, just leave them in the slow cooker on warm with some toothpicks nearby!
The irresistible sauce that coats these meatballs is perfectly sweet and spicy at the same time!
If you like a sweet heat, they’re perfect as-is. You can make them less spicy by decreasing the gochujang.
Another great option, grape jelly bbq meatballs! This easy recipe made with bbq sauce and grape jelly is a new twist on an old classic!
Have a smoker? These smoked meatballs look divine! They can be made on a dedicated smoker or a DIY smoke box on your grill.
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Ingredients needed to make this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Frozen meatballs – beef or turkey, but not Italian
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Broth – chicken or beef
- Gochujang
- Soy sauce
- Red wine vinegar
- Corn starch
- Toasted sesame oil
- Honey
- White pepper
- Scallions
- Toasted sesame seeds
What is gochujang?
Gochujang is a thick Korean red pepper paste. It’s made from red chili peppers, glutinous rice, fermented soy beans, and salt.
It is simultaneously sweet, spicy, salty, and savory. There is no real substitution for the complex flavors it adds to this dish. It comes in a red tub in the Asian section of the grocery store, and you can also get it HERE from Amazon.
How to make Slow Cooker Spicy Korean Meatballs:
- Simply add your frozen meatballs to a slow cooker and pour the sauce over them.
- When they are done cooking, garnish the meatballs with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds. That’s it!
What kind of meatballs do you need?
To be healthier, I use frozen turkey meatballs in this recipe, but you could also use frozen beef meatballs.
Just make sure to avoid Italian meatballs, as the seasonings in them wouldn’t go well with this sauce.
How long are these Korean meatballs good for?
Refrigerate leftover meatballs in an air-tight container and use within 3-4 days.
How to serve Korean meatballs?
These sweet & spicy meatballs make a great appetizer – just serve with toothpicks.
We also serve them as a main course over white rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, or Savory Chicken Rice. A green vegetable like broccoli or spicy green beans completes the meal nicely!
NOTES:
- I have tested this recipe on both low and high. For best results, I prefer them cooked on low.
- My 28 oz. bag of meatballs contained 29 meatballs that were a little smaller than a golf ball.
Slow Cooker Spicy Korean Meatballs
Equipment
- 5 quart slow cooker
Ingredients
- 28 oz. bag of frozen meatballs turkey or beef, not Italian
Korean Sauce
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tbsp ginger paste OR 1-inch of ginger, grated
- 1/2 cup chicken or beef broth
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cup gochujang
- 1/4 tsp. white pepper
Garnishes
- sliced scallions
- toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Place frozen meatballs in slow cooker.
- Combine all of the ingredients for the "Korean Sauce" from the ingredients list. When it's fully combined, add the honey to the sauce. Stir, then pour the sauce over the meatballs in the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 4-6 hours. If possible, stir them at the halfway point. Garnish with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds.
- For an appetizer, reduce heat to the "warm" setting and keep a large spoon or toothpicks nearby. For an entrée, they're delicious served with rice and a veggie! Enjoy!
Did you make this recipe? Rate it and let me know in the comments below! ♥
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