Slow Cooker Meatball and Potato Stew

This 5-ingredient slow cooker meatball and potato stew is exactly the kind of weeknight dinner I keep coming back to. Dump everything in, turn it on, walk away — and come home to a cozy, gravy-style stew that tastes like it simmered all day.

Why You’ll Love It

• Only 5 ingredients — frozen meatballs, pantry staples, and you’re done
• Truly hands-off — no browning, no stirring, no babysitting the stove
• Tastes like it took all day — the sauce thickens into a rich, savory gravy while you go about your life
• Feeds a crowd — hearty enough to satisfy even the hungriest table
• Easy cleanup — one slow cooker, that’s it

About the Ingredients

The meatballs are frozen, and I will not apologize for that. I use whatever’s at the store — usually the Italian-style ones in the big resealable bag, though I’ve used turkey meatballs too when I was on one of my “eating lighter” kicks, which never lasts past February. They go in completely frozen. Do not thaw them. I know that feels wrong but it’s not.

The potatoes are russets, and I cube them roughly — about an inch, maybe a little bigger, honestly I just eyeball it. Peel them if you want, I always do, but leaving the skins on works too if you’re in a hurry.

The condensed cream of mushroom soup: it’s Campbell’s. It’s always Campbell’s. I tried a store brand once and it was fine but I went back to Campbell’s. Some things aren’t worth experimenting with.

The onion soup mix — Lipton, the envelope, you’ve seen it a thousand times — is what really makes this taste like something someone’s grandmother would make. It’s so salty that you almost certainly won’t need to add any salt at the end, so taste before you reach for the shaker.

Low-sodium beef broth. The difference in taste is not worth arguing about.

Ingredient List

• 1½ to 2 pounds frozen fully cooked meatballs (beef, turkey, whatever you’ve got)
• 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into roughly 1-inch chunks — maybe a little bigger, it’s fine
• 1 can (10.5 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, not diluted
• About 1½ cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1 packet dry onion soup mix (the 1-ounce Lipton envelope)

How to Make It

First, grease your slow cooker. I use cooking spray, just a quick shot around the inside, because cleanup is already going to be better than if you’d cooked this on the stove and I don’t want to ruin that for myself by scrubbing burnt soup off the sides later.

Put the potatoes in the bottom — all of them, spread them out somewhat evenly. They need to be on the bottom because they take the longest, and if you bury them under the meatballs they won’t cook through properly. I learned this the hard way once and had crunchy potatoes at the center and a table full of people waiting for dinner, which is a specific kind of humiliation.

Pile the frozen meatballs on top. They don’t need to be in a perfect single layer, just get them spread out so they’re not all stacked in one corner.

In a bowl — I use a medium one, sometimes just a big measuring cup — whisk together the cream of mushroom soup, the broth, and the onion mix. It’ll be lumpy at first and then smooth out. Pour that over everything. Nudge things around a little with a spoon just to get the sauce in between things, but don’t stir it, you’re not making risotto.

Put the lid on. Set it to LOW for six to eight hours or HIGH for three to four. I almost always do LOW — I put it on in the morning and forget about it until I start smelling it around dinnertime, which is honestly one of the best moments of a Tuesday. Any given Tuesday.

When it’s done, stir it gently from the bottom so the potatoes get coated in that sauce, which will have thickened into something almost gravy-like. If it’s thicker than you want, splash in a little more broth. If it seems thin, take the lid off and let it go on HIGH for another fifteen minutes or so. Taste it before you add anything — it’s probably saltier than you think.

Variations

Cream of celery soup works here in place of mushroom — it’s a little lighter in flavor. Cream of chicken too, in a pinch, and nobody noticed or at least nobody said anything.

You can throw in a cup or two of frozen peas and carrots in the last thirty or forty minutes if you want to feel like you’ve added a vegetable course. I do this sometimes. Sometimes I mean to and forget.

A teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce at the end sharpens everything up a little if it tastes flat to you. A little Dijon mustard does something similar. Both together is probably too much — it tasted like a very complicated decision.

Stirring in sour cream at the very end, off heat, makes it go creamy and rich. That’s actually really good.

Leftovers

It keeps in the fridge for about four days, maybe five if you’re optimistic and your refrigerator runs cold. Reheat it gently on the stove with a splash of broth because it thickens up considerably overnight.

I wouldn’t freeze it — the potatoes get grainy when you thaw them, not inedible but not great. Make it fresh each time.

Serve it in a bowl, deep if you have them. Bread on the side. That’s really all it needs — though I’ll usually put out a simple green salad too, just to feel like I’ve done something nutritionally responsible. It’s the kind of dinner that makes the house smell good by four in the afternoon and gets everyone into the kitchen before you’ve even called them, which after a long day is really all you’re asking for.