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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
The stovetop recipe could use an edit as there are a few discrepancies between the ingredient list and the directions. The rosemary and butter were completely omitted. The recipe turned out fine. Next time, I would add chopped mushrooms and pair the dish with a side of green beans or broccoli.
Hi Sarah,
I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! I will go back to make the stove top instructions more clear! xx
easy meatballs in the crockpot. meatballs were dry. Tasty. My husband likes traditional meatballs so probably won’t make again.
Hi Cassandra,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xT
The orzo was outstanding but the meatballs (crockpot on low for 4 hours) came out dense and bone dry. The meatball flavor was very good, but we had a hard time getting over the texture. I’ll likely make this recipe again but got with a more traditional chicken meatball and use some panko and milk.
Hey Hayley,
Thanks so much for trying this dish out and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear about the meatballs, you could try adding an egg next time or using a more fatty meat. I hope this helps! xT
Meatballs came out dry. Orzo came out very very creamy. Overall, it was just ok.
Hi there,
So sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, please let me know if there is anything I can help with! Thanks for giving it a try! xx
What a delicious dish! It was a perfect all meal for me and my husband. I made it on the stove top and it was pretty simple. The only change that I made was that I used skim milk versus heavy cream to lower the fat content.
Hey Deb,
Happy Wednesday!!👻 I truly appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed:)
Sounds and looks delicious so hoping to make the stove top method.Question please: In the stovetop method where do you make/add the browned butter? Thanks!
Hi Sheila,
You can make the browned butter along with step 3 and then add to the orzo when it has finished cooking! I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
Thank you! Making it tonight. 🙂
This had a nice flavor. The stovetop directions seem like they are missing some things though. The onion really could use some time softening before adding the liquids as we had pretty crunchy onions. There was no mention of the rosemary or the butter at all. I put the rosemary in when I added the liquids and didn’t use any butter. It definitely needed a lot of salt and pepper. The orzo also needed a much longer cooking time and more liquid and needed to be covered.
Hi Pam,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! I will go back and look at the stove top directions! xT
I made this and must – MUST – say that the meatballs are missing a key element; an egg. (1) egg would make all the difference, in my family’s opinion. The Orzo was heavenly. I actually skipped the butter and used olive oil for health reasons and they were so buttery with all the garlic. But the meatballs were beyond dry. Actually, inedible. So…one egg. Don’t skip it people!
Hey Holly,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback! Sorry about the meatballs, you could certainly add an egg next time! So glad you enjoyed the rest of the dish! xTieghan
What happened to the onions? Do we chop them along with garlic? Or do they stay in the crockpot the whole time? Recipe doesn’t say.
Hey LeAnne,
The onions are there to just infuse the dish, but if you want to serve them that will work for you too! I hope you love the recipe! xxT
Hi! For the slow cooker method the instructions say to quarter the onion, and then I don’t see anything further. Are we to chop it after we pull the meatballs out? Not sure how to incorporate it after the quarters are cooked. Thank you!
Hey Alli,
The onions are there to really just infuse the flavors, but if you want to serve it that works too! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Thank you for asking that! I was wondering that too.
Hi! I have a question about the bulb of garlic! Do you put the whole bulb into the instapot, too? Just down there with the wine and meatballs then squish out the garlic cloves later? Or do you peel the garlic first? Thanks 🙂
Hey Olivia,
You are going to put the whole bulb in, it’s really just going to infuse the flavors into the dish:) I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
If you’re someone who needs specific instructions to follow a recipe then I would not suggest the stovetop method as it’s not written completely.
BUT if you are good at reading between the lines and improvising then make it! It was soooo good. I love the wine flavour over so many recipes like this that use broth. I cooked everything with the meatballs but I think technically you are supposed to remove them and add back in. I also added more water and cream when cooking the orzo, prob at least a cup more. And you MUST add the browned butter and rosemary to the dish, yum!
I think this would also be delicious with some ground Italian sausage if you didn’t want to make meatballs.
I am one of those people and messed up the recipe royally! Hard, crunchy onions and hard orzo pieces 🙁 Please update the stovetop instructions with a little more detail!
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try, so sorry to hear you had some issues! I will take another look at the stove top instructions! xx
Hey Candace,
Happy Wednesday!!👻 I truly appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed:)
do I have to use wine?
Hey Brittany,
You could use broth in place of the wine. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Delish! Stovetop: I used impossible beef (!) because that’s what I had on hand (also added an egg to the meat). Half way through meatballs cooking, I added butter and rosemary sprig (would probably add some garlic then too in future).
Took the meatballs off and then did the onions, garlic, orzo, etc. Would probably use a little less wine.
Hey Hannah,
Happy Tuesday! Thanks a lot for making this dish and sharing what worked well for you! I’m so glad it was a hit! xTieghan
The recipe says rosemary but in the picture it looks like thyme? Which is the right herb or doesn’t it matter? Thanks!
Hey Kristen,
It doesn’t matter either way:) I’ve made this with both! Let me know if I can help in any other way, I hope you love the recipe! xT
My orzo didn’t turn out quite like yours but still delicious. Did I miss what we were supposed to do with the onions?
Thanks for another delicious recipe ☺️
I was wondering the same thing.
Hey Allison,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try!! What happened with the orzo? The onion is just for flavoring unless you want to serve it:) Let me know how I can help! xT
I wanted to love this recipe! I love every recipe of yours i have tried. My grocery store was out of orzo so I used rice. I saw on your IG comments that you could sub rice. Big mistake. It never cooked. I cooked it for almost an hour and it’s still Al dente. Super bummed.
Hi Gabriella,
So sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! What kind of rice did you use? Arborio rice will work, but regular rice is going to change this for sure! xx
Great recipe! I used the crockpot method. Easy delicious supper!
Thanks so much Ashley!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it:) xTieghan
This turned out SO yummy!!! I did the stovetop version, added in the butter with the cream in the last step and used chicken stock instead of water since I had some I wanted to use up! I also used elbows because my store was totally out of orzo, I’m guessing sold out because so many people are trying this recipe out! 😁❤️
Hey Katie,
Awesome!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback, I am thrilled to hear that it was enjoyed! xx
I bought whole wheat orzo by accident, can I use Arborio rice instead. Should I modify cooking time or keep it the same?
Hey Amanda,
You should be able to follow the recipe as written using the arborio rice! I hope you love the recipe! xx