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Crockpot Garlic Butter Chicken Meatballs with Creamy Orzo. Turning a meatball and pasta dinner into an easy slow cooker meal. We’re using white wine, creamy Dijon mustard, garlic, herbs, parmesan cheese, and orzo. Then adding in some vibrant spinach and sun-dried tomatoes for veggies, flavor, and a pop of color. This slow-cooked chicken meatball dinner is a delicious meal to come home to at the end of the day. And the best part? It’s the easiest, cozy fall-winter dinner to prepare. Directions for the Instant Pot and stove-top are provided!
I know I’ve said something like this before. But when a recipe I’m not sure about works out so well, I get incredibly excited! When I had this idea, at first I didn’t want to make it. I was honestly scared it would end disastrously. But after some pushing from mom, I decided to just go for it.
I kept asking her about the recipe, “should I make this”? I think I asked her 3 days in a row until she finally said, “Tieghan, MAKE THE MEATBALLS”! Finally, I listened and I sent her a text a few hours later to thank her for the encouragement. The recipe turned out better than I’d imagined and more importantly, it was so delicious.
Here are all the easy details
To be honest, I may only want to make meatball recipes in the crockpot from now on. This was so easy and almost mess-free.
Start with the meatball mixture. I make mine using ground chicken, Italian seasoning, dijon, and parmesan cheese. Just mix everything together in a large bowl and roll it into meatballs. Then place them in the crock-pot with a little olive oil to prevent any sticking.
Next, pour over white wine, add an onion, and a whole head of garlic. Cover and slow cook. Since these are meatballs, they can cook quickly on high for a couple of hours or cook them low and slow all day. Either is great and the meatballs are never dry. The wine will add moisture to them.
When the meatballs are cooked, pull them out along with the garlic cloves, then set them aside on a baking sheet.
Add the orzo to all the yummy broth in the crockpot. Now simply cover and cook a few minutes longer, until the orzo is al dente.
Meanwhile, I love to add butter to the meatballs and garlic and toss on some rosemary. Then place the sheet pan under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp them up.
What happens is that the butter browns around the meatballs, garlic, and rosemary. I then chop up the garlic and rosemary and toss them back onto the pan with butter. Then toss the meatballs with the garlicky butter to finish. This step is optional, but I think it really adds flavor.
When the orzo is finished, stir in the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, then add the cream and parmesan, stirring until the orzo becomes very creamy.
Serve the garlic butter meatballs over the orzo, then drizzle any butter left on the pan over top.
So simple and quick with barely any clean-up and minimal hands-on time too.
What I love most about this recipe is the fact that it’s a complete all-in-one dinner. You have your protein, your carbs, and even your vegetables. You can serve this up on busy weeknights, but it’s equally great for those upcoming holiday dinners with friends and family.
Looking for other slow cooker meals? Here are a few ideas:
Creamy White Bean Noodle Soup with Rosemary Bacon.
Mustard Herb Chicken and Creamy Orzo
Crockpot Crispy Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Jalapeño Ranch
Slow Cooker Saucy Sunday Bolognese Pasta
Slow Cooker Herbed Chicken and Rice Pilaf
Crockpot Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Bolognese
Lastly, if you make this Crockpot Garlic Butter Chicken Meatballs with Creamy Orzo, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crockpot Garlic Butter Chicken Meatballs with Creamy Orzo
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 878 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken, pork, or turkey
- 3 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 head garlic, top trimmed off to reveal the cloves
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 cups dry orzo pasta
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or canned full fat coconut milk
Instructions
Slow Cooker
- 1. Add the chicken, Italian seasoning, dijon, and 1/2 cup parmesan to a bowl. Season with salt, and pepper. Mix to combine. Coat your hands with oil, and roll the meat into tablespoon-size balls (will make 15-16 meatballs). Add olive oil and place the meatballs in the bowl of your crockpot. 2. Pour over the wine and 1/2 cup water. Add the onion and garlic. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 1-2 hours.2. Preheat the broiler to high. Remove the meatballs and garlic from the slow cooker and place on a baking sheet.3. Crank the heat on the slow cooker to high. Stir in the orzo, and 1 cup water. Cover and cook 20-30 minutes, or until the orzo is al dente. If the orzo needs more liquid, add additional water. Stir in the spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, cream, and 1/2 cup parmesan.4. Arrange the butter and the rosemary around the meatballs and garlic, then broil 1-3 minutes, until crisp. Peel away the garlic skin, then chop and mix with the butter and rosemary on the sheet pan. Toss the meatballs in the butter. 5. Serve the meatballs over the orzo.
Instant Pot
- 1. Add the chicken, Italian seasoning, dijon, and 1/2 cup parmesan to a bowl. Season with salt, and pepper. Mix to combine. Coat your hands with oil, and roll the meat into tablespoon-size balls (will make 15-16 meatballs).2. Set the instant pot to sauté. Add olive oil, then add the meatballs to the instant pot and sear until browned, about 5 minutes, Pour in the wine and 1/2 cup water. Add 1 chopped onion. Cook 5 minutes, then add the butter, garlic and rosemary. Let the butter butter, another 2-3 minutes. Cover and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.3. Once done cooking, release the steam. Set the Instant pot to sauté. Remove the garlic. Stir in the orzo and 1 cup water. Cook 6-8 minutes, until the orzo is al dente. Stir in the spinach, tomatoes, cream, and parmesan.4. Serve the meatballs over the orzo.
Stove-Top
- 1. Add the chicken, Italian seasoning, dijon, and 1/2 cup parmesan to a bowl. Season with salt, and pepper. Mix to combine. Coat your hands with oil, and roll the meat into tablespoon-size balls (will make 15-16 meatballs).2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then add the meatballs and sear until browned, about 5 minutes. Add 1 chopped onion. Cook 5 minutes, then add the butter, garlic and rosemary. Let the butter butter, another 2-3 minutes. 3. Reduce the heat to medium. Pour in the wine. Stir in the orzo and 1 1/2 cups water. Cook, stirring often, another 6-8 minutes, until the orzo is al dente. Stir in the spinach, tomatoes, cream, and 1/2 cup parmesan.4. Serve the chicken over the orzo. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on October 10, 2022
This was very yummy!!! I made it in the crockpot. The only modification I made was adding some crushed red pepper to the meatballs mix. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because I did think the meatballs were a tad dry. But when you mixed it up with the orzo, you hardly noticed and it really was delicious. The orzo was great!
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try! Hope you’re having a great Halloween weekend! 🙂 xT
Good recipe, but the instructions for the instant pot need to be updated. Here’s what I did: made it as instructed (though accidentally put all 1 cup cheese in the meatballs! no problem–we like cheese! and about 1/2 the italian seasoning because we ran out, which was fine flavor-wise) through sealing and cooking for 6 minutes. I left the meatballs in for the pressure cooking, since I didn’t think 5 minutes of searing would thoroughly cook them. I used diced (frozen) onion to save time, and put in the whole head of garlic. After 6 minutes did the release, then took out the garlic (not cooked yet) and meatballs (quite cooked). Then I stirred in the rest of the ingredients as instructed, cooked for 9-10 minutes as my orzo package instructed, then threw the meatballs back in. Since the garlic hadn’t cooked I didn’t put it in (I’ll bake it later–too hot today!) but I put in some garlic powder with the orzo while it cooked, and that came out fine. Please update the instant pot instructions if you have other suggestions/recommendations. This worked fine for us (I use the instant pot a lot, so I was going by instinct here). We liked it!
Thank you so much for the feedback Lydia!
Love love love every other half baked harvest recipe we’ve tried. But this was an utter fail. We did the stovetop instructions
1. Meatballs are very dry and crumbly
2. I’m not sure if you take the meatballs out? We didn’t and it was a disaster to get all the orzo cooked.
3. Do we take the garlic out? No clue. We didn’t and there was no garlic flavor.
4. We had to double the water and it still wasn’t enough – the orzo was very gluey.
5. The spinach and tomatoes do not cook because they’re added at the end.
6. Very very heavy recipe.
Unfortunately had to throw it away
Oh no Katie I am SO sorry to hear that!! Thank you for all this input, I appreciate it! Hope you have a good weekend
Do you think i can add squash, butternut or delicata? Or would they get too mushy in the crockpot?
Hi Cindy! I think that would be delish! xT
Nom nom nom 😋
Made this in my slow cooker using ground beef for the meatballs! 👩🍳 My 7 year old gave it 10 out of 10!
Hi! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for trying it out! xT
Just made this yesterday as part of meal prep for my boyfriend and I. I used the stovetop directions, and it turned out PERFECTLY. So creamy and loved the smell of adding the dijon mustard into the meatballs. I added more spinach (i.e. two bags) just for preference and to get some nutrients included and it was great!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! xT
I swear by Half Baked Harvest, all my favourite recipes are from there. But this one didn’t taste good. Not sure if my crock pot is too small but the onions and garlic were raw, even after adding to the bake pan. We had to use gluten free pasta instead but the sauce wasn’t good either, and I struggled to eat it. Very surprising!
Hi Carissa! Oh I’m so sorry about that!! Thank you for letting me know!
I love most of your recipes and I made this on the stovetop. It came out perfect. I made a few changes though…
I cut the Italian seasoning back to 2 tbsp, but it was still too overwhelming so I’d only use 1 tbsp next time.
I also made the Greek meatball recipe but noticed the meatballs were dry so this time I added breadcrumbs and an egg, they were more moist.
Overall, loved it! I like how flexible your recipes are, you can substitute veggies and meats and it still tastes great. I also love the use of multiple fresh herbs, they really make these meals special. Thank you!
Thanks so much Cynthia! xT
Great flavor! But super heavy! And orzo very gummy. I added a lot more chicken broth instead of water to try to dilute it at the end. Made it in the crock pot so it was easy. Then broiled as directed at the end. Recipe may need a bit more altering to work out but still was tasty.
Oh no! I’m so sorry about that!Thanks for the feedback! xT
I normally have really good luck with all of your recipes but sadly this one just didn’t work. Even after trying to doctor it up the meatballs were very dry and the orzo was gummy. I so badly wanted this to work but in the end I had to throw most of it away. Love you but this one may need a little more testing!
Hey Emily! I’m so sorry that you didn’t enjoy the recipe! Thanks for letting me know
I’m in process of making this, but I can’t tell from the instructions if (following the crock pot method) what you do with the onion quarters once you remove the meatballs? Thanks!
This was delicious and something perfect for the fall weather. I had to adjust the stovetop version recipe to include/replicate some of the steps from crockpot version- and it came out wonderfully!
Thank you! So glad to hear you’re enjoying this recipe! xT
Thank you for always providing wonderful recipes but this one did not work! I made it for a dinner party and couldn’t even serve it.
The meatballs were dry and the Italian seasoning was over bearing.
The orzo was gluey even if adding more liquid.
The recipe is just confusing! I had to read step 4 a few times with butter mentioned twice and your photo shows the dish in the crock pot with the meatballs, sauce, rosemary, etc. That is deceiving because that isn’t in the instructions.
Do you remove the onion? When?
Again, love you and love your recipes but I wanted to let you know this could use some editing or maybe a video would be helpful. It would be perfect for a cold evening of entertaining.
I forgot to mention I made this on the crock pot.
Hi Lucy! I’m so so sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe! Thank you for letting me know! I’m so sorry you weren’t able to serve it for your dinner party!
Do you remove meatballs after searing them and just add them back at the end?
Yes, that’s correct! xT
This turned out great on the stove top. It is a good one pan dinner!
Thank you Stephanie! xT