What better way to watch the Olympics than with this game-day crock-pot meatball hoagie dip! Think – hot gooey melted cheese over perfectly seasoned fire-roasted saucy meatballs with crusty bread smothered in a garlic shallot whipped butter to dip into it. It’s absolutely perfect for game-day, parties, get-togethers, potlucks (do we still do potlucks these days?), or even an easy dinner.
It’s crock-pot easy – start the saucy meatballs early and get on with your day. The hardest part is resisting the urge to “taste test” all day long as they simmer on your counter top.
Meatball Hoagie Dip – Meatballs
You’ll want to use frozen meatballs. I’m a huge fan of Cooked Perfectly frozen meatballs. They have so many flavor options and so many different variety of meat choices – including organic, plant based options, and meatballs with hidden vegetables. This is not a paid ad, my family is just a huge fan we have these on rotation regularly.
We made this with the organic all beef meatballs – the bag only has 16 meatballs I thought was the perfect meatball to sauce ratio. My husband was left wanting more meatballs. When I made it again we quickly found out that 32 meatballs were too many. Try to stick to 16-26 meatballs for the most perfect meatball hoagie dip.
Caramelized Shallot and Garlic Whipped Compound Butter
This is the ultimate spread for crusty bread. When the hot gooey meatball dip hits the butter it melts into a delicious creamy bite jam-packed with flavor. It’s just one easy way to level up your meatballs.
In a blender or food processor combine room temperature butter with pan-sautéd caramelized onion and garlic, add in fresh parsley and that’s all you need!
You can make it anytime and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.
Or Make Self-Serve Meatball Hoagies
This recipe is interchangeable – you can easily turn your meatball hoagie dip into into full-size meatball hoagies instead. I used a large wide baguette and cut it into 4 inch sandwiches but you can also use buns, bakery hoagie rolls, anything that you like. Don’t forget to lather on the caramelized shallot and garlic butter before loading on the fire-roasted saucy meatballs and cheese.
Crock-Pot Meatball Hoagie Dip
Ingredients
- 2 14.5 oz cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes – diced
- 1 15 oz can Tomato Sauce
- 6 oz can Tomate Paste
- 16-25 Frozen Meatballs see blog notes
- ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes add more to taste
- 4 slices Provolone Cheese
- 1 ½ cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- ½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Bread (or a baguette)
Caramelized Shallot and Garlic Compound Whipped Butter
- 1 Shallot – thinly sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic – smashed, peeled, roughly chopped
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ tsp Olive Oil
- 2 TBSP Fresh Parsley – roughly chopped
- ¼ cup Butter room temperature – soft enough for the blended/food processor
Instructions
- In a crockpot, add in your fire roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, frozen meatballs and red pepper flakes. Stir and mix. Turn on high for 4 hours. Keep on warm until you're ready to prepare the dish.
- Once the saucy meatballs are ready, preheat the oven to 400F.You will want to add them to a oven-safe serving dish (casserole dish, cast-iron skillet, another oven-safe pan).
- Add a layer of sliced provolone cheese and then sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan.
- Bake at 400F 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve with crusty bread and caramelized shallot and garlic compound whipped butter.
Caramelized Shallot and Garlic Compound Whipped Butter
- In a pan over medium heat, add your thinly sliced shallot, garlic, salt and olive oil. Sauté until the shallot started to caramelize and the garlic becomes fragrant. About 3 minutes. Set it aside and let is cool a little.
- Remove stems from your fresh parsley and roughly chop.
- In a blender or food processor, add in your room temperature butter and parsley. Blend until it's evenly distributed. Set aside until you're ready to use. Store in the refrigerator. *It will become hard like butter in the refrigerator, bring it up to room temperature for easy serving.
