Early on in our marriage my husband requested “porcupine meatballs” for dinner. I had never heard of them but quickly found out that they were meatballs that had rice cooked in with them. They are the meat and the rice all in one little meatball and they taste pretty awesome! I have two different recipes. One that has a marinara sauce and one that has a creamy mushroom sauce. It’s up to you! Whatever kind you like best. Hope you enjoy these recipes for slow cooker porcupine meatballs!
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| Porcupine Meatballs in the Slow Cooker |
Porcupine Meatballs with Marinara
- Cook Time: 3-5 hours
- Total Time: 46 minute
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb extra lean ground turkey
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup uncooked instant brown rice
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 (24 oz) can marinara sauce
Instructions
- Combine meat, garlic, salt, pepper, rice, bread crumbs, milk and tomato paste in a bowl.
- Shape into meatballs with an ice cream scoop. Place in the bottom of a slow cooker, in a single layer.
- Pour marinara sauce over the top of the meatballs.
- Cover and cook on LOW 3-5 hours.
Notes
Ideal slow cooker size: 6 quart
Porcupine Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce
- Cook Time: 3-4 hours
- Total Time: 46 minute
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 3/4 lb extra lean ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup uncooked instant brown rice
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup dry bread crumbs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Dash of black pepper
- 1 (10 3/4 oz) can low- fat, low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
- 1/2 cup skim milk
Instructions
- Combine meat, 1 cup skim milk, rice, onion, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
- Shape into meatballs with an ice cream scoop. Place in the bottom of a slow cooker, in a single layer.
- Mix together soup and ½ cup milk. Pour over the top of the meatballs.
- Cover and cook on LOW 3-5 hours. Serve with mushroom soup gravy.
Notes
Ideal slow cooker size: 6 quart
Could i use par-boiled rice instead of instant rice.
You could try it but will probably need to add a bit of time to cook the rice all the way through
Hello sounds like a great recipe. I was wondering can you use boil in bag brown rice instead of instant brown rice? Or if not do you know how to convert it with cooked rice?
Thanks, Christine
I bet you could do that!
I learned to make these meatballs 63 years ago in home ec. With tomato soup. I always loved them too.
My mother used to make these in the pressure cooker. We all loved them. I am going to try these. I use my slow cooker about once or twice a week.
Love love Love this is a childhood favorite for me and my children. It was such a treat to eat! My Aunt used to make the and stuff cabbage at the same time and kill two meals at one time. She would serve the porcupines with sauté cabbage and carrots. Yummy I’m going to make these tomorrow and put the carrots and potatoes in the pot with them and try them out on my grands! Thanks
That sounds fantastic!
My meatballs are very simple, ground beef, onion, salt and pepper, rice, egg, and grated carrots. Make my sauce with a large can of crushed tomatoes, chopped onion, grated carrots, rice to thicken the sauce and extra water as needed. Bring sauce to a boil and drop the raw meatballs into the sauce. Reduce to simmer. I am almost 80 and never had a written recipe so don’t know the exact amounts. One of thoes cooks that goes by looks and feel.
Sounds interesting – (when I take the time to actually make it instead of cheating with the store bought stuff) I always use breadcrumbs a little garlic, sometimes a touch of wine (burgundy) when I want to zip it up, onions, egg whites, salt , pepper, parsley, oregano, basil, tomato paste, water, plum tomatoes, add some browned meatballs and sweet Italian sausage to simmer in the sauce as it cooks and thickens. I have never thought of adding a carrot to it, HMMM- another idea to try – thanks and bless you- Happy 80 th. birthday (when you celebrate it ).
Is the meat uncooked before you put in the Crock-Pot?
Hi Kelly, yes it is.
Can I use panko crumbs for the bread crumbs?
Yes, they’ll work great!
Thank you for sharing; love crockpot cooking.
me too!
I learned how to make there from my mother-in-law over 50 years ago–but she used Uncle Bens Converted Rice–I have used Jasmine Rice and then we add Tomato Sauce(I can of water–depending on how much sauce you want), Tomato paste(1 can water) and Schilling Spaghetti Seasonings and let it cook–for a side we always serve cottage cheese and pares
Wow! that is so cool!
When my mom would make these, she would cut up potatoes into chunks and carrots into sticks and cook them with the meatballs. This was the only way I would eat cooked carrots because of the nice glaze of tomato flavoring.
This reminds me of the “meatballs” I use to make stuffed peppers. I wonder if I could do those in the slow cooker.
Good idea! I must try it!
https://fox8.com/2018/08/29/davids-stuffed-peppers/
I learned how to make this from my mother-in-law but a little different–used either 7% hamburger or ground turkey–have even used ground chicken–break it up in small bowl and add some uncle Ben's Converted Rice or Saffron rice–form balls–sprinkle garlic salt with chives–while browning I get another large pan–add 2 cans Hunts tomato sauce,2 cans water, 1 small can tomato paste, mc"cormincks spaghetti sauce mix and still until balls are browned then add them into the sauce mix–I like to add maybe another 1/2 cup of rice–cover and cook on low for 40 minutes
Can I use converted brown rice? I would think it should cook as well in the meat and sauce. I don't have instant rice of any kind.
yes, I think that will work!
I haven't thought if these in years. when I learned how to make them we used stewed tomatoes and simmered them in a skillet. Yours gives me an idea though, I use to make rice with cream of chicken soup put in 9×13 topped with chicken and baked. for the porcupines I could use ground chicken and cream of chicken soup.wonderful!!
I've seen a lot of recipes where you prepare the ingredients in advance, put them in a baggie, freeze them, then defrost the day before cooking in the fridge, and throw into the slow cooker the day of cooking. Can I do that with these? How would I go about doing it? I'd love to be able to prepare a few bags of this in advance for days when I don't feel well, then just dump the bag into the cooker and have it do its thing!
Yes, Gina, I bet that would work. I would just make the meatballs and freeze them. Pop them into the slow cooker when you're ready to made and top with the marinara sauce. There will probably be more liquid since the ice crystals will melt. Hopefully it works out for you!
Karen
I'm vegan, and am really looking forward to trying these using a couple of different protein substitutes …. maybe tempeh, or ground TVP or veggie soyrizo for the turkey. I can already guess how good these are going to taste, and SO easy …. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ooooooh I hope it works out for you!!!!!
anonymous, that is so great!!!!
After 20 years of cooking for my family FINALLY a meatball EVERYONE likes, no make that LOVES. Thank you so much. I made mine with tomato sauce.
Sharon, glad it worked out for you!!
Karen, I just made these, but found that the 1 cup of milk was way too much! I had to keep adding bread crumbs until I could get the mixture dry enough to spoon into a soft ball! But they do taste wonderful.
no, it's uncooked rice
Is the rice cooked first before including in the meatball?
Wow! That sounds really yummy 🙂
I grew up on these meatballs we called them porcupines too! We always use ground pork and ground chuck with crushed saltine crackers onions and celery. We bake it with a large can of fire roasted tomatoes! I make the meat balls ahead and freeze them on a sheet cake pan. Then store in a freezer bag- ready for anytime we want them. Love these meatballs.
These meatballs looks great. A different way to make a classic. Can't wait to try!
Porcupine meatballs were a school lunch staple and when I made them at home I used tomato soup and Worcestershire sauce, baked them, and served them with mashed potatoes. However they're made, they're always delicious and bring back happy memories!
Porcupine meatballs were a childhood favorite. My Mom liked to use Cream of Celery soup when making them and that is what I still use. It has a delicate flavor we all love.
I remember my mother making these and since I married many years ago I have made them and still love them. The only difference is that we always used Tomato soup and I personally prefer that and I made lots of sauce usually use 2 cans of soup and then I serve it with mashed potatoes and it is great. Try them with the Tomato soup I bet you'll love them.
Have fun trying them.
Lea Butler, Ont. Canada
I use to make these all the time – sort of. I didn't put the rice inside the meatballs but under them with the Mushroom soup as the sauce. I always used two cans soup with regular milk so I had plenty of sauce and even then it wasn't enough sometimes. I didn't make them as meatballs either. I made rounded patties. It was a family pleaser.
Lea says..
I had had porcupines all my life, my late mother used to make them and I am now 64 and still love them, but I've always had them with cr. of tomato soup with milk added to thin it out a bit. I always use an extra can of soup as I like lots of sauce over mashed potatoes served with it. It is delicious this way. Try it you might like it better. I also just make it in a casserole dish and cook it for a couple of hours or until done. Sometimes I also put some undiluted soup in with the meatballs for extra flavour.
So Yummy. The kids loved it and the hubby saod it was good too. My tip…I used my cheese grater on the onion, so there were no chunks, loved it.
I made this tonight and my family loved it! I think I used more than a pound of meat…I had 28 meatballs. Didn’t think the fam would eat that many, so I froze half. There isn’t a single one left. 🙂 I agree that there wasn’t enough sauce – next time I’ll double that part of the ingredients. We ate them over egg noodles and more sauce would have been nice. Thanks for this recipe – I will definitely be using it again.
This was yummy. My husband and I had to fight over which one got the left overs. I didn’t have any bread crumbs, so I used crushed saltine crackers and it worked fine. I had never had these before, but the picture and stuff reminded me of IKEA’s meatballs, so I had some of their lingonberry preserves and served with it. YUMM!
I threw this one together pretty quick. We liked it. I didn't have enough sauce so I would add more water or more C.O.M. soup to make more sauce. My husband suggested I cut part of the onion out, and I added more spice to it when out. S&P. Yummy and my kids ate it. We served it with rice.
I’ll have to try this one. My kids love meatballs.
This looks delish!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait to try it.
Thanks for doing this blog, I love visiting here and getting awesome ideas.