Freezer Friendly Homemade Meatball Recipe
Recently I found a great deal on ground beef. It was just $1.99 a pound. That is an awesome buy for our area. I snatched up 10 pounds and decided to stock the freezer with some homemade meatballs.
Since I use these meatballs in dishes from BBQ Meatballs to Teriyaki Meatballs I don’t like to season them too heavily. Since a good flavor for BBQ might not be very good for the Teriyaki ones. This recipe has good flavor, just nothing too strong, so it works in a variety of different recipe.
Use Fine Breadcrumbs in the Meatballs
I like to use breadcrumbs in my meatballs but I’m sure finely crushed crackers would work really well too. I make my own fresh breadcrumbs by taking two to three slices of bread and processing them through the blender. I find the blender works to get the breadcrumbs very fine. But I’m sure a food processor would work well too.
I usually keep the heels of bread in a bag in the freezer, so I can make breadcrumbs whenever I need them. To make the breadcrumbs, I thaw the slices and then process them. Here my Make Your Own Breadcrumb tutorial if you haven’t made them before.
When making meatballs I try to mix all the ingredients well but not over mix them. To make the meatballs easier to mix, I will mix all the ingredients except the ground beef first. Then once the bread has absorbed some of the liquid, I will add the ground beef and mix well.
Meatballs Can Be Frozen Raw or Cooked
I roll our meatballs and place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. I like to make meal prep very easy for me at dinner time, so I cook them first.
But if you don’t like to pre-cook them you can freeze them raw. Roll the meatballs and place on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid. Then place them in a freezer bag. Either way will save you time getting dinner ready.
Here’s my Favorite Recipe
Freezer Friendly, Homemade Meatball Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 pound Ground Beef
- 3 1/2 cups Fine Bread Crumbs
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Milk or Soy Milk if you need to eat dairy free like us
- 1 Onion finely chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Dried Parsley
- 2 teaspoons Dried Basil
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl except the ground beef.
- Let the mixture sit a few minutes so the breadcrumbs absorb some of the liquid.
- Add the ground beef to the breadcrumb mixture and mix well.
- Form into meatballs and place on a greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
- Cool, once cooled place into a freezer bag and label.
- Reheat when ready to use.
What do you make for the freezer when you get a good deal on ground beef?
These meatballs look easy and delicious! I like to have meatballs on hand for nights when I’m in a hurry or just too tired to really cook. I heat them up with a jar of pasta sauce, boil some spaghetti and serve them with frozen veggies heated in the microwave.
Having a few items in the freezer really makes a difference, when I have a I don’t feel like cooking day.
I’ve been keeping an eye out for a tasty and healthy meatball recipe and I just found it! Thank you! I’ll be sharing.
I hope you and your family enjoy the recipe.
I really need to do this! My boys love spaghetti and meatballs and meatball subs. Now that the pool is open, we need quick meals for dinner so we can spend more time outside! Thanks for sharing.
Tanya, sometimes I don’t want to take the time to make meatballs ahead but when I do I never regret it. It makes for super easy meals.
Wow, do the meatballs really look that browned after oven cooking? I’ve always thought I had to pan fry them first and then finish them in the oven. I tried doing it once but they were all mushy and bland. Maybe my oven wasn’t hot enough? I’m going to try this recipe and find out.
Suzanne, yes I don’t pan fry them at all. I just keep baking them until they are nice and brown.
I used to be the buy the freezer food in the grocery store kind of mom but now that my daughter is older I have more time and I really like the idea of being able to control what goes in my food. I wish I would have come across these recipes many years ago. I can’t wait to try these. They sound soooooo good.Thanks for the recipe.
Your Welcome, Renee.
Have you ever placed them in the crockpot to warm and serve? I’m looking to make these for my son’s birthday party and wanting to throw them in the crockpot and take them with to the party room we are renting at a community center.
Molly, that should work.
I’ve used these meatballs in my teriyaki meatball recipe and cooked them in the sauce in the crockpot. They turned out great.
Thanks!
Do you think rice milk would work? Can’t have dairy, soy or almond in our family. Thank you
I think rice milk would work, or possibly coconut milk. Either should work fine in this recipe.
About what size would you say the meatballs are to yield 120? Thanks 🙂
They are about 1 1/2 inch size meatballs. I hope that helps.
Can I mix different meats? Like 2 lbs turkey or pork with the beef?
Yes, that should work out great. I usually use just one meat when I get it on sale. I hope that helps.
Yum! I made these this evening and love them. Suuper easy ! Only thing I did different was used dried onion in place of fresh. And I gave my 5 yr old the job to scoop them onto the baking sheet with a cookie scooper. She loved it 🙂
Thanks for the recipe-I’m sure I’ll use it over and over!
Marcie,
So glad your family liked the recipe. So great your daughter helped you make them too.
I love making this recipe! Only this time when I visited the blog, the recipe isn’t available to be seen! There’s an error code where the recipe usually is in the blog post. Help! Missing these meatballs!
Megan, Thanks for letting me know. It’s fixed now. I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe.
I use my cake pop pan to make my meatballs. Turn the top with the hole upside down and the oil drains drains right out. You can make small meatball or giant ones (For Subs!).
Pat, that is such a great tip. Thanks for sharing it.