Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken Meatballs with Gnocchi

Slow cooker chicken meatballs with gnocchi on big spoon.

Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken Meatballs with Gnocchi

Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken Meatballs with Gnocchi features savory homemade meatballs in a rich, creamy sauce with tender gnocchi!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 3 25

Total Time 3 30

Servings

Calories 555kcal

Author Karly Campbell

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1 pound lean ground chicken
1 large egg
¼ cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup fresh baby spinach chopped
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes minced
¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the sauce:

2 cups chicken broth
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes drained and patted dry, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
6 ounces dried gnocchi
1 tablespoon cornstarch
6 ounces fresh baby spinach chopped
Salt to taste

Instructions

To make the meatballs:

Add everything but the olive oil to a mixing bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon or use your hands to combine the mixture.
Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop into 18 balls. Roll with your hands.
Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat and drizzle with the oil.
Once the oil is hot, add the meatballs, working batches so as not to overcrowd the pan, and cook for a couple of minutes on each side just to brown the outsides of the meatballs. Do not worry about cooking the chicken through as these will finish in the slow cooker.
Transfer the browned meatballs to the slow cooker.

For the sauce:

Pour the chicken broth, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic powder, and onion powder over the meatballs and cover the slow cooker.
Cook on low for 3 hours and then turn the slow cooker to high.
Add the cream, Parmesan, and gnocchi to the slow cooker. Whisk together the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water until smooth. Add to the slow cooker and stir gently to combine. Make sure the gnocchi is mostly submerged in the liquid.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 20 minutes or until the gnocchi is tender.
Add the spinach to the slow cooker, stir to combine the spinach in the sauce and cover the slow cooker for 2 minutes to wilt the spinach.
Taste and season with salt before serving.

Notes

These meatballs are just as tasty made with ground turkey. We use 90% lean, but any lean variety should be fine.

If you don’t want to pan-fry the meatballs, you can pop them in a 500 degree oven on a baking sheet for about 5 minutes. We want the outsides to brown a bit to help the meatballs hold their shape in the crockpot.

Serve with additional grated or shredded Parmesan and some fresh basil.

This is pretty saucy, but not really soupy if that makes sense. We plate this and serve with a fork. For more of a soup, make smaller meatballs and add additional broth.

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