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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
Do not waste your time or money. This is dense, dry, and chewy. I have never written a recipe review before and am a decent cook. Spare yourself the misery on all accounts.
Hi Laura! I’m really sorry that you didn’t enjoy this recipe! Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it! xT
I dislike it when recipes don’t have an amount of salt specified, especially when making things like meatballs. I’m not going to taste the raw meat to see if there is enough salt. Worse, I cooked the orzo for 30 minutes in my InstantPot slow cooker mode and it was still hard. I might make this again but not without a lot of tweaks.
Hi there! I am so sorry about that! thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it! xT
Meatballs are pretty dry and bland and the overall dish needs to be creamier with a bit more flavor. Still delicious and a great base to elevate. I’ll definitely be making it again with some adjustments.
Hi Erica! I appreciate this feedback, it’s super helpful! xT
One of our new family faves! My parents came over for dinner last night, my dad exclaimed with the first bite,” Wow! this is really good!” He continued to be so surprised how much he and my mom liked it. I always bake more meat balls in the oven to add, I also use grass fed/grass finished beef. I cook it on the stove top using broth instead of water, always. Last night I cut the orzo in half and added butternut squash for the carbs. Thank you for this amazing recipe and a jumping off point to explore many options to take it to another level of goodness.
Thank you so so much! Sooo glad you enjoyed this recipe! Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂 xT
This was a miss for me unfortunately! Not a lot of flavor and meatballs were extremely dense and dry.
Oh no! I am so sorry about that! Is there anything I can do to help? xT
Can i replace orzo with rice to make it gluten freee?
Hi there! I haven’t tried that myself but that should be fine! xT
What do you do with all the onion? Discard, chop and put into the orzo?
Thanks!
Not great but not bad. Meatballs turned out dry and the Italian seasoning seemed too overwhelming. I was thinking as I was making them that it seemed like a lot and I wish I would have cut it back a little. The orzo wasn’t bad, but the flavors of the orzo and meatballs didn’t really seem to compliment each other.
Hi Megan,
I appreciate you making this dish and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! Let me know if you try it again with some adjustments! xx
Instructions were a bit all over the place for the crockpot recipe. We may try again and do the order differently. It ended up taking way more time than expected lol
I’m wondering if there might be a mistake in the stove top ingredients. The stove top version calls for 1 1/2 cups of water while everything else calls for a half a cup. My stove top version is pretty watery. Wondering if that is a mistake
Hey Jessie,
All of the measurements are correct for this recipe, please let me know if I can help in any other way! xx
Instructions were a bit all over the place for the crockpot recipe. We may try again and do the order differently. It ended up taking way more time than expected lol
Hi there,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry the instructions were confusing! Let me know if you try a different method:) xx
This was so good
Hi Amber,
I appreciate you making this recipe and your feedback! So glad it was enjoyed:) Have a great week! xT
All I have to say is … WOW! This recipe will definitely be in our rotation of easy, but DELICIOUS dinners! If I ordered this at a restaurant, this would be the dish that kept me coming back to the restaurant again and again… and I would never order anything different! Seriously, so SO good!
Hey Kelly,
Wonderful!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Happy Thanksgiving! xT
I made this per the stovetop instructions (after getting home later than anticipated and unable to wait for the crockpot). The orzo was fantastic, but the meatballs were incredibly dry and the Italian seasoning overwhelmed the entire dish. In the crockpot I’m sure they’d be fine, but for the stovetop next time I’d add an egg or 2 and breadcrumbs while cutting the Italian seasoning at least in half. I will definitely make again with a few modifications because the orzo made up for the meatballs!
Hi Laura,
I appreciate you making this dish and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear the meatballs were dry for you. Let me know if you make the recipe again! xx
I’m hosting dinner for a group and one person is vegetarian. How can I adapt this recipe to accommodate her? Things like this stress me out! Thank you.
Hi Marianne,
Is that person okay with eating food that has touched meat? Like will she be able to enjoy the orzo? I would serve the orzo and then maybe some roasted veggies on top? I hope this helps! xx
I just made this with chicken broth instead of white wine and only 1 cup of orzo and it was great! Question, can I freeze the leftovers? Thanks!
Hi Chanelle,
I appreciate you giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback! Love to hear that it was a winner:) You could freeze the meatballs, but I wouldn’t freeze the orzo! x