Homemade MeatballsI really enjoy having some of our favorite foods on hand in our freezer for those nights where I want to perk up our meal. Utilizing some of my favorite kitchen tools I can make this happen, and you can too!

I’ve said it a few times before on my blog, but I love my Oxo Cookie Scoops! Portion control makes a big difference in and out of the kitchen. I am a nut about a recipe yields and even cooking time, so I’ve been using my scoops for things other than just cookies. In this post, I used  our mini-muffin tin and a medium size cookie scoop. The girls wanted to help cook so I had the girls help me make meatballs to bake and freeze.

 

Ground beef was on sale, but you had to buy the three pound or greater quantity to get the deal. We decided we could make hamburgers with one half, and meatballs out of the other half. Yes, I also used the larger size scoop to make the hamburgers!

Initially I was just going to bake the meatballs on a sheet pan, but I thought – what if I Homemade Meatballscooked them in muffin tins? In my head, each meatball should pop out easily and have more color than if I cooked them all together. I was sort of right, in that they did have more color and removed more easily, but they also cooked in their grease (which may or may not be your thing).

Here’s the recipe I use when making our meatballs. It’s not exact, but it seems to work for us most of the time!

Meatball recipe

Yields: 24-28 meatballs

  • 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (If using turkey add a bit of olive oil to mixture for some fat/flavor)
  • 1 Tbs of minced garlic (few cloves of fresh preferred)
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1/4 c of ground oatmeal (pulse in a food processor) OR seasoned bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • Seasoning : some garlic powder, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes
  • Splash of milk

Directions :

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 24 count mini-muffin tin or cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Combine all the ingredients using your hands.
  3. Portion using #40 / 1.5 tbsp portioner
  4. Roll into a ball
  5. Place on cookie sheet or in muffin tins.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes, or a little longer if you are going to eat right away.

I usually cook our meatballs almost all the way since when I make them we’re not eating them right away, but freezing them. Whatever cooking needs to finish, usually happens when I reheat them.

Once the meatballs are out of the oven, let them cool and pop them into a freezer safe container. It’s great to be able to go to the freezer for two meatballs or ten, depending on who’s eating them.

Did you know you can do the same thing with cookie dough? Just don’t bake the dough, but I’ll save that for another post!

Meatballs : Portion, Bake and Freezehttps://i0.wp.com/www.thesugarpixie.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Homemade_Meatballs2.jpg?fit=332%2C500&ssl=1https://i0.wp.com/www.thesugarpixie.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Homemade_Meatballs2.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1thesugarpixieRecipeseasy,food,ground beef,homemade,meatballs,RecipesI really enjoy having some of our favorite foods on hand in our freezer for those nights where I want to perk up our meal. Utilizing some of my favorite kitchen tools I can make this happen, and you can too! I've said it a few times before on my...Misadventures and fun in the kitchen and beyond