With my second round of June’s freezer meals, I used about ten pounds of ground beef to make:
- Seasoned Taco Meat – This makes for an easy dinner, just add toppings and tortillas or taco shells. I store the meat in plastic containers.
- Chili – As a freezer meal, this is quick to reheat later and serve “as is” or use to top hot dogs. I cooked two batches in both my crockpots. We ate some for dinner and then I had enough to freezer for two more meals.
- Meatballs – Meatballs are so versatile; I serve them on pasta in a red sauce or with gravy over mashed potatoes. I bake them in the oven, cool, and freeze in ziptop bags.
- Meatloaf – I use the same mixture for meatloaf as for the meatballs, just in a different shape. I freeze meatloaf uncooked. On serving day, I thaw the loaf and bake fresh for dinner.
Meatball/Meatloaf Mixture
4 pounds ground beef
3 cups bread crumbs
6 eggs, beaten
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons dried parsley
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon kosher saltCombine all ingredients in a large bowl. Don’t mix too much, just enough to distribute ingredients throughout mixture.
Form into meatballs or divide into four parts and form four meatloaves. These are not very salty meatballs, since you will serve them with sauce or gravy.
For meatballs, bake in 350° oven for 15 minutes or until cooked through for meatballs. Cool, label, and freeze.
For meatloaves, wrap, label and freeze. When ready to serve, thaw and bake 45-60 minutes or until cooked through.
Next up: Freezer Cooking with Bone-in Chicken
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
I had a bunch of taco meet left over from a big party and have been using it in a ton of things. Spaghetti sauce, soups, stir frys, potatoes, salads, chili, omlets… the list is endless really. I have it frozen in gallon bags and it is loose enough to just break off. I sure is great for quick meals and of course, tacos.
How do you re-heat the meatballs after you’ve frozen them??
Thanks!
On the stove in a pan with whatever sauce I’m going to use (red sauce or gravy).
About how many meatballs will this recipe make?
It depends on the size, about 48 medium sized. But, this batch made 2 meatloaves and 24 meatballs.
How do you thaw/reheat the taco meat? I am getting excited to try my first freezer cooking day.
I either thaw overnight in fridge or quickie in microwave to thaw/reheat.
I’m going to make these meatballs for our Christmas dinner, but I’d like to cook them in the red sauce? Should I freeze them raw or still bake them and reheat w/ the sauce? I want to make sure they soak up the yumminess of YOUR red sauce!
I’ve never made a roux or gravy before and added the flour and broth in the wrong oder my first time around. It was lumpy and clear and runny, gross! I dumped it out and started over and my gravy was amazing the second go round.
Has anyone tried these with ground turkey meat? I’m curious if they would taste pretty similar or not.
Thanks!!
yes, I’ve made them with turkey.
Thanks so much, Jessica! Did you like them with turkey or did they turn out rubbery like the store-bought ones? Sorry to bother you; I just don’t want to waste 4 lbs of meat.
Other than the basic taste difference of beef v. turkey, I think it works fine. But, you could easily divide the recipe in 4 and make a small batch first.
When I have cooked ground beef (seasoned or not), frozen it, then thawed for a recipe, it seems to have a stale or “old” taste to it. My husband can tell every time when I’ve used gb that was not cooked fresh. It doesn’t seem to matter if it is in the freezer a short time, or long time. I generally used zip top freezer bags. Any ideas of what I need to do differently? It is so nice to have the meat already cooked, but I have gotten away from doing it since he doesn’t care for the taste. Thanks for any suggestions you can offer.
I usually use plastic containers with lids. You might try that next time and see if it makes a difference.
Thank you, I will. Maybe that will help.
I was wondering–have you found a way to make egg-free meatballs/meatloaf since your youngest was diagnosed with an egg allergy?
My husband is off of eggs as we’re doing an elimination diet to see if we can help his asthma, and he really enjoys meatloaf. I’ve been trying to find a recipe since there are so many foods he likes that he can’t have!
I do something different everytime, sometimes it’s add more liquid, like milk, or sometimes just omit it. I imagine flax seed meal + water would work in this instance as well. I haven’t made them in a long time, so I can’t remember. Sorry! I know how hard it is.
I have two children with egg allergies and one with wheat allergies. I make meatballs and meatloaves with ground oatmeal and no eggs. Works out great for us! I don’t add any liquids, etc to compensate.
Can you freeze these meatballs uncooked? How about substituting oats for the bread crumbs?
I have never done either of those. But, you could certainly try. If you do, let us know how it works out for you!
I made them with 3 c. of regular rolled oats instead of the bread crumbs, and they were great! Nothing crunchy in there at all.
Great!
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