Slow Cooker Porcupine Meatballs in Tangy Sauce
36 Comments Oct 14, 2016
Updated Mar 19, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Meatballs with rice in a sweet and tangy sauce, these Slow Cooker Porcupine Meatballs are a blast from the past!
Table of Contents
Today I am sharing my recipe for Slow Cooker Porcupine Meatballs. The Porcupine part of the recipe is the rice in the meatballs.
No porcupine meat, I promise! Below is a vintage recipe I found on Pinterest. I jazzed up this recipe with a tangy and sweet sauce. You can see my recipe farther down past the photos.
I start with a basic meatball recipe. I don’t add the Minute rice until after I mix these ingredients together first.
The Sauce is a mixture of ketchup, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar, very simple but packs so much flavor. I formed the meat mixture into 20 meatballs. I layered the meatballs and sauce into my slow cooker.
Here is what the porcupine meatballs and sauce look like after being cooked on low for 5 hours.
The sauce is AMAZING, sweet and lots of tang from the cider vinegar.
Try these other great meatball recipes too!
Saucy and cheesy, Slow Cooker Meatball Subs are a hearty, crowd-pleasing meal made with tender meatballs slow-cooked to perfection.
Slow Cooker Barbecue Meatballs and Baby Shower Meatballs both bring bold, sweet, and savory flavors, making them perfect for parties or weeknight dinners.
For a tangy twist, Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs and Grape Jelly Meatballs offer a balance of sweetness and zest, ideal for appetizers or over rice.
Rich and comforting, Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs are coated in a creamy, savory sauce that pairs perfectly with noodles or mashed potatoes.
I do have to say these vintage recipeshave been my favorite to do on the blog, never feels like a chore to me. I hope you are enjoying them too! Have a great weekend.
Want to make more magic in your crockpot? Stay up to date and subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.
Slow Cooker Porcupine Meatballs in a Tangy Sauce
Ingredients
Meatballs!
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, I use 10% fat beef
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup diced onions
- 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup crushed crackers, I use Ritz
- 1 cup Minute Brand rice, don’t use standard rice
Sauce
- 2 cups ketchup, I use Hunts
- 1/2 cup Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the meatball ingredients, except the rice. With clean hands mix these ingredients together, add rice and mix in evenly. Form the balls, I made them about the size of 2 tablespoons, I made a total of 20 meatballs.
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl until combined.
- Spray the slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add a layer of meatballs and drizzle over some sauce. Do this a few times, until all the meatballs and sauce are gone.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
I want to make these for a crowd, would it work to double everything?
Yes, doubling will work fine.