Freeze meatballs?

[marajo]

I am going to make Tyler Florence's spaghetti w/ meatballs. I want to make these and freeze as I will haul these 3 hrs to Bend, Oregon for a b'day party. Can I freeze these successfully or not? pre cook or cook on site?Here is the recipe off foodtv site. Extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 cup milk
4 thick slices firm white bread, crust removed
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 large egg
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups heated Pomodoro Sauce, recipe follows, or good quality jarred tomato sauce
1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, cut into chunks
Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh basil
1 pound spaghetti

 

[Andy M.]

Meatballs freeze very well.

Freeze them cooked and carry to your party then warm for service.

OR

Freeze them raw and cook on site. Whichever you prefer.

 

[Loprraine]

I flash freeze mine on sheet trays, then vacuum pack them. They freeze well, as Andy said.

 

[ShellBob65]

Absolutely!

Meatballs freeze great....this is definitely the way to go if you are traveling with them. In my opionion, meatballs are best frozen cooked most of the way through. This gives you the ability to just toss into the oven to finish off, and they'll finish cooking as they are being re-heated. You can, of course, freeze them uncooked, then simply thaw and cook on site.....either way will work.

Be sure that when you freeze them on your cookie sheet that you either use a non-stick Silpat mat, freezer paper or parchment paper, or that you spray your cookie sheet with a non-stick spray beforehand...this will keep you from having to screw them off like doorknobs!!

 

[marajo]

thank you for the help. I will cook these @ home and w/ parchment paper on cookie sheets freeze and bag. The kitchen in Bend is small and w/lots of people and red wine flowing I will make this as simple as I can make it. Thank you again.

 

[Andy M.]

You can freeze the cooked meatballs in the sauce in a crockpot liner and then just pop the liner into the crockpot and turn it on. They will defrost and heat up but it will take a while.

 

[VeraBlue]

I never cared for freezing meatballs. I've always detected a bit of watery-ness when eating a meatball that had been previously frozen.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I agree with VeraBlue if you're thinking of freezing them raw. No matter what the recipe or ingredients, over the years my experiences with raw frozen meatballs has been that they thaw watery & mushy &, for whatever reason, seem to cook up that way as well.

Although I will say that I've never had that problem with frozen cooked meatballs, but I've only done that using ground turkey, so can't advise re: other meats.

 

[Katie H]

Another vote for freezing the meatballs after they've been cooked. Much better idea. If for no other reason, the cooking part will already have been done.

 

[cmoskalik]

frozen, uncooked meatballs

I made a bunch of meatballs and only cooked up about 1/2 the batch once for a meal. I forgot to finish cooking/freezing the remaining meatballs before I went to bed (we were in the process of moving so were wiped!) and my husband froze the remaining meatballs, uncooked.

Should I actually leave them out and thaw them prior to cooking? We were thinking that would result in the mush, discussed earlier in the thread...our ideas were to either 1) put them in a crock pot, frozen, with sauce and just simmer them all day (but were worried about mush) or 2) pan searing them frozen to get the outside browned/firm then cooking them the rest of the way in the sauce.

Are either of these ideas ok? Does anyone else have any other suggestions or feedback? Thanks! Im new to this forum, so am looking forward to hearing from you all!!

 

[giginpeppep]

I regularly freeze meatballs and they're fine. When I make a big pot of them, I typically portion out the sauce and meatballs into meal-size containers. I use ground veal, pork and beef in them with egg and ensure the batch is fully cooked then cooled prior to freezing. I always leave about 3/8" at the top of the container for expansion to avoid cracking the containers.

 

[cmoskalik]

good tips. thanks!! I'll be sure to do that next time, but right now I have frozen (uncooked) meatballs. How would you cook them? Thaw first or just cook frozen until done?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

good tips. thanks!! I'll be sure to do that next time, but right now I have frozen (uncooked) meatballs. How would you cook them? Thaw first or just cook frozen until done?

I would fry them frozen to firm up the outside. A deep fry would be fastest and best. They would finish cooking in the middle when simmered in the sauce.

If you go to the trouble of deep frying, do all of them and cook through, then you can re-freeze any extra and use them later. When I make meatballs I make up about 10 lbs at a time, putting in single layer in the ice box to partially freeze, then deepfry and freeze the extra in single size meal portions. Then I can take them out of the freezer and use them as I
need them.