Easy Make-Ahead Freezer Meatballs Recipe
Easy Freezable Meatballs
I recently purchased Don’t Panic-Dinner’s In The Freezer from Amazon and I am in LOOOOVE! It has tons of great recipes and tips for making meals ahead of time.
One of my new favorites is this freezer meatballs recipe! These make-ahead meatballs are delish and great to have on hand because there are so many different ways to use them!
This recipe will make 24 meatballs that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. If you use the Prepear app, you can easily double, triple, or quadruple this recipe!
Ingredients
All of the ingredients in these meatballs go together perfectly. As is, the meatballs are juicy and moist, they stay together really well, and they have a great onion flavor to them.
That being said, feel free to make substitutions or remove certain ingredients entirely if they don’t suit your palate! For example, if you don’t like the taste of onions, feel free to remove those!
If you make any of your own modifications to these freezer meatballs, let us know how it goes in the comments! We love to try new methods and ingredient combinations 🙂
Serving Tips
These freezable meatballs are great because they can be used in a variety of different meals. They can be served as an appetizer with BBQ sauce (try this Sweet Baby Ray’s Copycat BBQ Sauce), cooked for sandwiches, served with spaghetti sauce, or covered with a cream sauce and placed over pasta/rice and lots more!!
How to Freeze Your Meatballs
For these particular freezer meatballs, there are two routes you can take:
1. Freeze them Raw
If you want your frozen meatballs to keep for a bit longer, this is the route you’ll want to take. According to the USDA, uncooked ground meat lasts around 3 to 4 months in the freezer.
To freeze your raw meatballs, start by following the directions as usual: shape the balls, place them on a cookie sheet, then cover and flash freeze for 20 minutes or so. After that, remove the meatballs, place them into freezer bags (removing as much air as possible), write a note on them, then place them back into the freezer.
2. Freeze them Cooked
If you’re going to be using your meatballs soon and you want to save yourself time, freezing them fully-cooked is the best option. According to the USDA, cooked meat will last for around 2 to 3 months in the freezer.
To follow this route, cook your meatballs first, then follow the steps above: place them on a cookie sheet, freeze, then transfer to freezer bags.
Make Sure to Thaw Before Cooking!
No matter which way you choose to freeze your meatballs, the most important thing is to make sure you thaw them fully before cooking them.
Learn More About Freezer Meal Cooking:
- Why you NEED Freezer Meal Cooking in your life!
- How to start a Freezer Meal Group (Should you?)
- 24 Freezer Meal Hacks you need to learn
- Foods That Don’t Freeze Well
- Freezer Meal Connected eBook
Easy Make-Ahead Freezer Meatballs Recipe
Equipment
- Cookie sheet
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and mix together gently.
- Shape into balls and arrange on cookie sheet.
- Cover meatballs and flash freeze. (place in freezer for a short period of time to freeze so they hold their shape and don’t stick together.)
- Remove them from the freezer and place into ziploc freezer bags.
- Remove as much air as possible and seal.
- Place back in the freezer to use later!
- OR cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (if cooking from frozen, make sure they are completely thawed first)
Recipe Notes
Makes 24 1 1/2 inch meatballs
Nutrition
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Variation: Use lean ground turkey , add a couple veggies like 1/2 finely grated carrot, 2-3 finely grated mushrooms, finely minced celery or green pepper, etc. to Jessica’s ingredients. It makes the mealballs really moist. Make mini meatballs (the size of nickles or various sizes as needed) and place them on a foil lined pan that was sprayed with PAM – and bake. Use what you need and freeze the rest of the cooked meatballs to add to minestrone or vegetable soup, baked potato toppers (makes a meal), spaghetti, casseroles, quiche, pocket bread, etc. This way yiou can make a meal for 1 or more as needed. Being single – I have to get inventive to stay frugal and eat well.
Thanks for a great website!
Oooh! I like the grated carrots and veggies idea! Thanks!
I usually go ahead and pre-bake my meatballs and then freeze them. It makes it super easy to just throw the number of frozen meatballs that I want into the simmering sauce and let them heat up in the sauce.
I have been making a recipe similar to this for years, and if you don’t want to thaw them you can brown them in a bit of oil. Just bake them afterward like your recipe calls for.
For a full 6 week meal prep plan for myself. I’ll go to costco and buy a big portion of ground beef, make half for raw freezing, and half for cooked freezing. Then I’ll make a soy glaze for the week to dip them in and eat with rice!
Awesome, great tip! Thanks for sharing, Ashly!