These classic oven-baked meatballs are tender and delicious. But best of all, they are so very simple to make. Meatballs are so versatile, you can make many different dishes with them. Spaghetti and meatballs, meatballs in cream sauce, meatball subs, BBQ meatballs…Â
The good thing is having them on hand for those busy nights, when you just don’t have time to cook! My kids love the store-boughten frozen meatballs. But I refuse to buy them when I have beef in my freezer, haha.
So I decided to make my own precooked, frozen meatballs. I mixed up a big triple-batch of these and baked them for 15 minutes, then bagged them and stuck them in the freezer. Now I can pull them out at a moment’s notice and pop them in the oven to reheat or in a pan of sauce on the stove-top. How cool is that?! 🙂Â
How to bake meatballs
Place the ground beef in a bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, milk, egg, salt and pepper, and gently mix together. Don’t over mix, or they will be tough.
Divide beef mixture into 12 portions, roll each one into a smooth ball. Place on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Eat hot or let cool, then bag and freeze.
Meatballs ready for the oven
How to freeze meatballs
The good thing is having them on hand for those busy nights, when you just don’t have time to cook! My kids love the store-boughten frozen meatballs. But I refuse to buy them when I have beef in my freezer, haha.
So I decided to make my own precooked, frozen meatballs. I mixed up a big triple-batch of these and baked them for 15 minutes, then bagged them and stuck them in the freezer. Now I can pull them out at a moment’s notice and pop them in the oven to reheat or in a pan of sauce on the stove-top. How cool is that?! 🙂Â
Fully cooked, tender and delicious.
I like to freeze these meatballs raw, too. Both ways work fine! If you freeze them raw, you need to let them thaw in the fridge, or bake 30-40 minutes.
When I am making a large freezer batch, I Â like to scoop the meat with an ice cream scoop, and then gently finish smoothing the meatballs with my hands. This way, they are all uniform in size. You can find a scoop on Amazon.Â
Tips for meatballs
I like to use 85% lean ground beef. This has enough fat to make the meatballs juicy, but not too greasy.
If you are using venison, add 3 cloves crushed garlic to the meat.
Drizzle with BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes of baking, for a delicious main dish.
Easy Beef Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 beaten egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Shape into 12 balls.
- Place on an un-greased baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- Cool and freeze.
- Can double or triple recipe easily.
Great plan! We got lots and lots of ground beef by mistake (We were expecting more steaks, but we won’t go there!) and this idea appeals to me for a quick Sunday lunch, etc…
Did I miss the oven temp?
I apparently forgot that tidbit! 🙂 I fixed it now, thanks!
Really easy. Made a big batch of venison meatballs this week. Cooked some and froze the rest. I’ve frozen uncooked meatballs before but much easier to handle cooked and makes things quicker when you go to cook them. Really handy freezer filler.