If you love the convenience of being able to throw frozen meatballs into a recipe, you’re going to love these simple Make Ahead Frozen Meatballs.
My husband and I are currently in the process of house hunting and we’re at odds over some things.
First of all, we’ve been living in a small house for the past two years that has one main bathroom. We have four children, so sharing a bathroom with the kiddos has been difficult and somewhat annoying. We’ve both been dreaming of once again having our own bathroom so that’s been a key thing when searching for our new house.
I found this house that has just about everything we want, but the master bathroom is rather small and very outdated. I’ve been watching more than my fair share of Property Brothers, so I’m feeling like we could easily jazz up the place. My husband, on the other hand, is not so convinced.
After much persuasion he agreed to put an offer in on the place.
Then my husband finds another house…
He shows me pictures of the master bathroom and it has one of these giant steam showers that I can only describe as a spaceship, two small pedestal sinks and zero places for storage.
He’s super excited about the possibility of having this “amazing” steam shower, but all I can see is a spaceship.
I told him that if he wanted a steam shower I could throw a plastic tarp over the top of the shower and drag the garden hose in for a bonus “jet”.
He was not amused.
I think we’re good with the first house we put an offer on, even if the bathroom is a little on the small side.
Now, about these meatballs… I’m not going to lie, I’ve used my fair share of store bought frozen meatballs. It’s convenient.
But nothing beats a homemade meatball, and with this large batch of meatballs you can easily make these ahead of time and be able to toss them in any recipe when needed.
After they’re baked I like to flash freeze the meatballs by placing them on a sheet of parchment paper in the freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes. This will keep them separated in the freezer bag so you can use as many as you want without having to defrost the whole batch.
Stock up your freezer because I’m sharing a fantastic recipe using these meatballs later this week!
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Make Ahead Frozen Meatballs
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. ground beef
- 1 onion, finely minced
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix using your clean hands to evenly incorporate.
- Shape the meat into small 1 inch meatballs and place on a shallow rimmed baking sheet at least 1 to 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before placing meatballs 1 inch apart on a parchment line baking sheet that can fit into your freezer. Freeze for 10 to 15 minutes before transferring meatballs to a freezer bag for storage.
- If kept frozen, meatballs can last up to a year. Take out as many when needed for a recipe.
- Reheat meatballs in sauces or in a 350 degree oven until heated through. Enjoy!
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Angela
My mom always used to say that you can’t make meatballs, hamburgers, etc using meat that’s been frozen. Is that true? Will these hold together if I use thawed meat?
Shawn
I’ve never had an issue using thawed ground beef in making meatballs or burgers. Just make sure it’s thawed in the fridge overnight.
Brittney
Angela I just made this using 3lbs frozen beef. I defrosted in microwave and they held together perfectly!!!!
B. Vice
I’ve never had a problem with thawed meat of any kind.
Deborah
Hey – I’ll take the steam shower!! 😉 I was just at IKEA today and almost bought some meatballs. I’m glad I didn’t so I can make these!
Michael
The thing about this is, meatballs can be used for so many different things. It’s almost an endless amount of things you can make. That’s what I like the most about this idea.
Joanna @ Everyday Made Fresh
I love the idea of making these ahead of time! What a time saver, which is perfect during the busy work week.
Shawn
Thanks Joanna! 🙂
CTY
Any idea how many how many meatballs this makes?
Shawn
Hey CTY, yup, it makes about 70 meatballs. (more or less depending on how big you make them). 🙂
Thomas
Good luck on the house hunting. We looked at so many places they all started to look the same. BUT dont worry. There will be 1 place, that the instant you both walk in the door, you ‘ll say THIS IS IT and the long winding road begins. I can tell you from experience. Paint is cheap. NO storage is miserable. Good Luck. Thanks for posting all the great recipes that you do. I made most of our Thanksgiving off your little site and everything was AWESOME.
Shawn
Thanks Thomas! We’re super excited to find “the one.” And thank you for using my site to make some of your Thanksgiving dinner. That makes me so so happy! 🙂