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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.
To be honest, I may only want to make meatballs in the crockpot from now on. This was so easy and almost mess-free.
Start with the meatballs. I make mine using ground chicken, Italian seasoning, dijon, and parmesan cheese. Just mix everything together and roll it into meatballs. Then place them in the crockpot 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, 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!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
My meatballs were super dry unfortunately:( but the rest of the dish was great!
Hey Brittney,
Thanks for trying this dish and your feedback! So sorry to hear the meatballs were dry, but I’m glad you enjoyed the other flavors. xx
Looks amazing! Can you link the bowls?
Thanks so much, Erika!! So sorry, I do not have a link for these bowls. I hope you love this recipe! XxT
This is the worst recipe. Please, Teighan, do not publish recipes unless you have actually tried making the recipe. I tried making the instapot version and it does not work. You can not cook orzo on sauté mode in the instapot. The entire bottom gets burned to a crisp in the bottom of the pot. It needs to be cooked separately. I would have appreciated a heads up before ruining dinner. This will be the last half baked harvest recipe I make.
The meatballs were so dry and I didn’t cook them for longer than 3 hours on low in the crockpot.
Hey Megan,
So sorry to hear the meatballs were dry for you! Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? Please let me know how I can help! xT
Making this now ahead of time. Will orzo get mushy if I make it now and reheat later for dinner?
Hey Lindsay,
The orzo should be just fine to enjoy tonight:) I hope you love this recipe, thanks for giving it a try! xT
what kind of substitute orzo with?
Hi Holli,
You could use arborio rice, that will work nicely for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Orzo was delicious but the meatballs were incredibly dry. Not exactly how I would have done it. I’ll adjust next time.
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear the meatballs were dry for you, please let me know if I can help in anyway! xx
Is there anything I can replace white wine with?
Hey Christina,
You bet, chicken broth would be a great option. I hope you love this dish! xT
Sadly the meatballs were very dry. I was bummed, the orzo was good though. I would leave out the rosemary if you don’t love the flavor too.
Tried this for the first time yesterday and it was so good! I found that I needed almost double the amount of water to be added for the noodles to cook more thoroughly. But the flavors were spot on. I can’t wait to make this again!
Hey Katrina,
Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback! So glad to hear it was enjoyed! xT
I really wanted to like this recipe but it didn’t work for me at all. I felt like everything took way longer than the recipe said it would take. I wish I just cooked the orzo on the side. At the end it was barely edible for me. My 9 month old liked it though.
Hi Jaimie,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so very sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! Please let me know if there is anything specific that I can help with! xx
I made the instant pot version and also had issues with the orzo sticking to the bottom of the pan although eventually it’s cleanable. I appreciate the 3 options for making the recipe in different equipment! I love the rosemary in there. I did feel like the meatballs could’ve had more flavor, so I might try next time some garlic or onion (powder maybe) in the meatball mix.
I’d be interested in clarification on the typo “let the butter butter.” Is that supposed to be let the butter melt or brown? I noticed for Slow Cooker, there are two step #2s.
Hey Barbara,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! It should say let the butter brown:) Let me know if you try another method next time! xx
I used the instant pot version. I removed the meatballs and onion mixture from the pot in order to cook the orzo separately, because I was worried that there would not be enough water for the orzo to cook. Sure enough, after a few minutes, the orzo was sticking and burning to the bottom of the pot so I kept adding water (about 2 cups) until the orzo was cooked. Then I removed the orzo, added the remaining ingredients with the meat ball mix and cooked only long enough to heat everything up. The dinner turned out very good, but next time, I will cook the orzo separately in another pot according to manufacturer’s directions.
Hi Beth,
Thanks so much for giving this dish a try and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear about the orzo, but I’m glad you were able to make it work! xx