Who doesn’t love a meatball? I mean really, they can be so delicious, and so versatile. So many combinations of proteins and sauces it’s almost endless, but it’s so much fun to experiment. Experimenting aside, we all need a few good, flavourful, tender, tried & true freezer friendly meatball recipes in our arsenal, the one you can always “go to”. You could of course buy frozen, but honestly, I haven’t found a frozen meatball that’s very good… unless you’re making the famous Grape Jelly Cocktail Meatball recipe, that recipes is awesome, and I’ll share it in case you don’t know what I’m taking about… Okay, I digress.
Back to the Freezer Friendly Meatballs, that you NEED to make. Seriously, Homemade Freezer Friendly Meatballs=Weeknight Meals that are easy to prepare, kid friendly, and economical too, without sacrificing taste. Actually many of the combinations that I like most are quite sophisticated and complex, but this one is your down to earth, good in most recipes, easy to make recipe. It’s a staple. It was originally submitted by member Lisa A from Love on a Plate, and she asked me to review it…. We made it, doubled the recipe as we had 7 for dinner again, and there were NONE left, so it’s safe to say they were a hit. We did find that they were a tiny bit dry, so the next batch I decided to mix 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground pork which added a little richness from the added fat, and I cut down on the cook time. Pretty much perfect.
I prepped and scooped 30 meatballs in about 15 minutes, so for me it’s totally reasonable to make a huge batch, freeze half of them baked, and half raw. I figure the investment of 1 hour a MONTH should get me about 150 homemade meatballs and while that might sound like a lot, it’s only 2 meals here. Okay, I think it’s time we got to sharing the recipe and cooking!
It’s a really simply process…
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Basic Freezer Friendly Meatball
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup onion soup mix*
- 1/4 cup A1 sauce
Instructions
- In a large bowl place ground beef, ground pork, breadcrumbs, milk, eggs, onion soup mix, and A1 sauce.
- Mix well to combine, but don't over handle.
- Using a 2 inch scoop, form meatballs and place on a baking sheet.
At this stage you have a few options:
- Place in freezer and freeze until solid, remove to a freezer bag and store for later use.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes on a non stick baking sheet, use the lower cook time if you plan to freeze and re-heat so they do not dry out.
- Pan Fry over medium heat in 1:1 olive oil & butter until browned on the outside, reduce heat, cover and cook about 8 minutes or until done.