Homemade Frozen Meatballs (Large Batch)
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These homemade frozen meatballs are my secret weapon on a busy weeknight or for last minute guests. They’re made from a flavorful mixture of ground beef and pork (or chicken), but minimally spiced in order to be used in a variety of ways. Make them ahead of time and pop them in the freezer to always have appetizer or dinner ideas on hand!
This is one of my favorite meal prep recipes. It makes approximately 5 dozen, 2 inch meatballs, which freeze easily and are great to have on hand for quick weeknight meals. These also make a great bbq meatball appetizer, Hawaiian pineapple meatballs, or Italian meatball appetizer to feed a crowd.
This recipe is the homemade version of those big bags of pre-cooked meatballs we buy at the store. It makes a large batch that you can freeze and have on hand for any night of the week. Add them to a pot of roasted tomato sauce or jarred spaghetti sauce. Heat them up with your favorite bbq sauce. Warm them up with a little marinara sauce for easy meatball sandwiches.
To get the best flavor, meatballs are often browned in a hot pan before they finish cooking in a sauce. But for this recipe, we’re skipping the browning and letting the hot oven do the work. The greased baking sheet will give the meatballs the nice crust you want before meatballs meet their sauce.
Ingredients
- Ground beef – I use 80/20 or 85/25 for this recipe, but you can use whatever ground beef ratio you prefer.
- Ground pork – Swap this out for ground chicken or ground turkey if you can’t find ground pork.
- Bread crumbs – Choose traditional, non-flavored breadcrumbs here. No need for panko bread crumbs.
- Onion and Garlic – Fresh onion and garlic for flavor.
- Parsley – I usually use dried parsley because I always have it on hand, but you can substitute (very) finely chopped fresh parsley if you prefer.
- Milk – Just a little bit for moisture. Any kind of milk works in this recipe.
- Worcestershire sauce – Beef’s best friend for adding flavor, Worcestershire sauce adds a depth of flavor to these meatballs
- Garlic powder, and Onion powder – Yes, we already have fresh onion and garlic in this recipe, but the powdered versions add a different dimension of flavor.
How to Make Homemade Meatballs
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion. Cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add garlic and parsley. Cook an additional 3-4 minutes until onion is translucent and garlic is cooked. Remove from heat and set aside.
Brush two sheet pans with vegetable oil. Make sure they’re well coated. (Do not skimp on this step or your meatballs will glue themselves to you baking sheet.) Set aside.
Place ground beef and ground pork in a large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients, including the mixture from skillet.
Gently mix to combine everything together in the bowl. Stop mixing as soon as all ingredients are incorporated to avoid making the meatballs tough.
Take a small amount of the meat mixture and roll it into 2” balls. (You can make them a little smaller if you’re planning to use the meatballs for appetizers.)
Place the meatball on to one of the greased pans. Continue doing this – placing the meatballs so they’re tight together but not touching – until all of the meat mixture is used up.
Place in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 mins. Remove meatballs from oven. Gently loosen the meatballs with a spatula. Allow meatballs to cool. Enjoy!
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Homemade Frozen Meatballs (Large Batch Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped, OR 1 ½ Tbsp dried parsley
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 ½ cups bread crumbs
- 3 eggs
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.2 Tbsp olive oil
- Add onion. Cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.1 large onion
- Add garlic and parsley. Cook an additional 3-4 minutes until onion is translucent and garlic is cooked.3 cloves garlic, 3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Brush two sheet pans with vegetable oil. Make sure they’re well coated. Set aside.2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Place ground beef and ground pork in a large bowl.2 lbs ground beef, 1 lb ground pork
- Add all remaining ingredients, including the mixture from skillet.1 ½ cups bread crumbs, 3 eggs, 2 Tbsp milk, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp salt
- Stir to combine everything together in the bowl or combine using your clean hands. Stop as soon as all ingredients are incorporated to avoid the meatballs getting tough.
- Take a small amount of the meat mixture and roll it into 2” balls. (Feel free to make them smaller if using for appetizers.)
- Place meatball on one of the greased pans.
- Continue doing this – place so the meatballs are tight together but not touching – until all of the meat mixture is used up.
- Place in preheated oven and bake for 25-30 mins. (20-25 mins for smaller meatballs.)
- Remove meatballs from oven and allow to cool.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Equipment
How to Freeze Homemade Meatballs
Once meatballs have cooled completely, remove from pan and placed on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and place in the freezer overnight.
Remove from freezer. Place frozen meatballs into a large, zip-top bag. Store in your freezer until ready to use. Meatballs will keep up to 3 months in the freezer.
How to Reheat Frozen Meatballs
Freezing the meatballs once they’re fully cooked means you’re only heating them up before serving. This is best done in a sauce. To reheat these meatball on the stove, place them in a high sided pan over medium-low heat. Add 1-2 cups of the sauce of your choice, stirring to coat the frozen meatballs. Cover and cook – stirring occasionally – until the meatballs have heated through and the sauce has warmed up, about 10-15 minutes. You’ll know your meatballs are ready when you can easily pierce them with a fork.
I love to cook frozen meatballs on the stovetop for barbecue meatballs, Italian meatball appetizer, or pineapple (Hawaiian) meatballs.
Definitely going to try these. I’ve been looking for a good meatball recipe using items that I already have.
I’d love to know how they turn out for you!
Delicious! Really like the trick of adding sauteed onion to the mixture. So good!
So glad you liked them!!