Meatballs with rice in a sweet and tangy sauce, these Slow Cooker Porcupine Meatballs are a blast from the past!
Hi all! Welcome to the Vintage Slow Cooker Recipe of the month. 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 meat balls 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.
I do have to say these vintage recipes have 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.
- 1.5 lbs ground beef (I use 10% fat beef)
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup diced onions
- ⅓ cup barbecue sauce
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 cup crushed crackers (I use Ritz)
- 1 cup Minute Brand rice (don't use standard rice)
- 2 cups ketchup (I use Hunts)
- ½ cup Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 4-quart or larger
- 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.
Plenty more Ground Beef Recipes on the blog, here are the best:
- Slow Cooker John Wayne Casserole
- Slow Cooker Shipwreck Stew
- Slow Cooker Land Your Man Baked Beans
- Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak
- Slow Cooker Beef and Potato Au Gratin
- Slow Cooker Hobo Dinner
- Slow Cooker Taco Meat Loaf Stuffed Peppers
- Slow Cooker Texas Trash Beef and Bean Dip
- Slow Cooker Lipton Onion Meatloaf
- Slow Cooker Chuck Wagon Chili
- Slow Cooker Hamburger Hash
Debbie Wimberly Caraballo says
October 14, 2016 at 11:49 amAmazing old recipe, it’s so delicious. I’ll be making this very soon!
Thomas Kasiewicz says
October 14, 2016 at 12:34 pmmy mom made these all the time when we was younger, Now my wife makes them for me. they are good.
Mary // Chattavore says
October 14, 2016 at 3:29 pmThese look so delicious and easy, Sarah! I’ve never made porcupine meatballs, but I may have to fix that!
Chelsea says
October 14, 2016 at 7:20 pmCan I use long grain rice and cook meatballs longer?
Sarah Olson says
October 15, 2016 at 6:22 amI’ve never had luck with regular rice in the slow cooker. It seems the slow temperature rise of the slow cooker doesn’t cook the rice properly and it gets gummy.
Sonsie Hollingsworth says
October 15, 2016 at 9:31 amI like to use leftover cooked rice when I make this ; I just cook for as long ! Hope that helps a little bit !!
Sarah Olson says
October 15, 2016 at 11:57 amYes, that works too. Thank you for mentioning that.
Deb says
October 15, 2016 at 1:49 pmIs rice cooked or uncooked when making this?
Thanks
Sarah Olson says
October 15, 2016 at 4:22 pmIt’s uncooked Minute brand rice.
Linda says
October 17, 2016 at 9:57 amPrinted the meatball and chicken recipe and plan to try them this week. Love your page and appreciate all the great recipes! I am older with health problems which cause me to lose energy during the day so if I can get a slow cooker meal ready in the morning I can enjoy a tasty dinner later. Please keep the recipes coming. Linda from Kansas
Sarah Olson says
October 17, 2016 at 9:59 amThank you for your kind comment Linda! I add about 2 recipes a week. I’m glad you are enjoying them.
Mick says
October 17, 2016 at 2:34 pmI made this recipe as a meatloaf. Made half of the sauce and used as a glaze on top. Baked at 350 for 70 min. Very good. Thanks for the great recipes.
Sarah Olson says
October 17, 2016 at 7:41 pmI will have to try that Mick. And call it porcupine meatloaf!
Robert says
November 3, 2016 at 10:56 amCan I bake these?
Becky says
May 9, 2017 at 7:48 amCould you use miracle whip instead of eggs?
Sarah Olson says
May 9, 2017 at 7:53 amI’m unsure how that would work, sorry!
Colleen Porter says
December 12, 2017 at 3:16 pmcan I make the meatballs and then freeze until ready to cook
Sarah Olson says
December 12, 2017 at 4:04 pmI think that would work fine.
Anonymous says
July 30, 2018 at 10:43 amHave you made these with ground chicken?
Kerry M. Giesbrecht says
October 22, 2018 at 10:47 amThese porcupine meatballs are delish! Just like my mom used to make. The sauce is tangy but sweet, might be nice to use this sauce on ribs or wings.