Cooking Mamas: Best Way to Freeze Homemade Meetballs

Updated on September 16, 2011
S.D. asks from Belmont, CA
9 answers

Hi, I am not a cooking mama but I am trying to be for my 1 year old now :-) I made meatballs tonight and am hoping to freeze a few so I can bring them out later to feed my son. I have some really basic questions about the best way to do this. He would only eat one in two sittings so do I freeze them one by one? In a bag or tupperware? With sauce? How long can I freeze them for? Once I re-heat them do I have to throw away what is not eaten or can I re-heat again? Sorry, stupid questions I know but I have never frozen any cooked food before. I am trying to figure out other things I can cook and freeze too so that I can feed my son a variety of things.Anyone have any good recipes that freeze well? My husband does not even get home from work until 6:30 so I have to feed my son early at 5:30 and I have not mastered having dinner ready at that time. I don't know how you moms do it!!
Thanks so much!!

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Thanks Mamas for all of the suggestions!!!

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A.H.

answers from Washington DC on

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and then put the meat balls on it. The whole thing goes into the freezer. Once frozen portion out the meatballs in individual freezer bags, write the date on the bag, they can be frozen for up to 3 months and there you go. Neatly frozen meatball ready to use. To heat just put the frozen ball into some sauce and slowly heat through, about 20 min. Good luck !!!

1 mom found this helpful

More Answers

M.L.

answers from Houston on

I would maybe put a few in a couple of different ziplocks with some sauce. Like half in one bag, half in another. Just make sure you press all the air out. Pull a bag out in the morning to thaw. Put the bag on a plate in the fridge. Heat it as needed when it's time to eat.

You can reheat them, if you don't eat them all, just not refreeze them. They should be good for a month or two frozen. Probably longer than that, actually... in my house, closer to 5 months if the air has really been squeezed out.

Lots of things freeze well, spaghetti sauce, vegetables, herbs, casseroles (potatoes don't freeze well though), cookie dough in their ball form....

When I cook, I will cut up a whole onion/red pepper or whatever. Half of it goes in the pot, the other half goes in a ziplock in the fridge. Makes cooking super easy on those fast nights. I just run the cut up veggies under water for minute, then toss it in the dish. More advice on it here:
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2010/02/soul-salsa.html

1 mom found this helpful
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N.W.

answers from Eugene on

I cool my meatballs enough so they don't melt the bag, then throw them in a gallon ziploc bag and freeze. If you don't overstuff the bag and lay the bag flat in the freezer so the meatballs are only 1 layer deep, they will be easier to remove one at a time. It you freeze the meatballs with sauce, they will stick together and be harder to remove in small portions.

I also brown ground beef or turkey "loose" and freeze that in zip loc bags. Then i can defrost a little to make a taco or put on spaghetti.

Also easy to freeze is cooked rice. I make 3-4 cups at a time, have it for one meal and freeze the rest. Just throw the bag onto the counter to break up the rice, pour out what you need, microwave and eat.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.K.

answers from San Francisco on

I would freeze them on a cookie sheet separately, but once they are frozen you can put them all in one bag or container, they won't stick together.
I found the best thing for me is to cook a bunch of food on Sunday afternoon (at least main dishes), then I can put it in the fridge and just pull out dinner for the rest of the week. Even if I only made the main course, putting a side together quickly when i get home from work is a whole lot easier than a whole meal.

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B.R.

answers from Sacramento on

I like to freeze them on a metal pan first. Put a piece of parchment paper on the pan, then place the meatballs on the paper. Cover it lightly with plastic wrap and freeze. When they are frozen pop them off the parchment paper into a ziplock bag. You can then open the bag and take out the amount you need because they shouldn't be sticking together, or if they are sticking it's not so much that you can't easily pop them apart. I'd freeze the meatballs separately from the sauce and just fix them whatever way you want when you are ready. Oh, and I do precook them before freezing. Just don't cook them to doneness without overcooking.

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L.M.

answers from San Francisco on

Wish I could see other answers so as not to repeat.... But the book, "Super Baby Food" gave me lots of help when it came to making and freezing baby food. I read it with a "grain of salt" and only took the stuff that made sense to me. The recipe for making rice balls is awesome. You grind up raw brown rice in blender then cook a little bit at a time with a little water to make sticky rice that you can ball up. My daughter loved these. I also used icecube trays to freeze little squares of spaghetti sauce. Once frozen I popped them out into tiny baggies inside bigger baggies. took out one at a time. The trick is to keep air away from frozen item. Wrap in saran first then foil? I took Adele's chickenapple sausages minis and put 4 or 5 in a snack baggie and then would just grapped a baggie any night I wanted her to have a little sausage with her plain pasta. Good luck.

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M.K.

answers from Chico on

I usually freeze mine uncooked without sauce. I find that the sauce either separates and is hard to stir properly with the meatballs or it dehydrates a little. You can freeze sauces separately in ice cube trays and then put the cubes in ziploc bags.

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Just throw them all in a freezer ziploc and pull 1 out at a time. I freeze them all of the time..

M.J.

answers from Milwaukee on

I lay mine on a cookie sheet, put in freezer till frozen and throw them in a giant ziploc. I just pull out how many I need each time. You can freeze for months. Once they start to have white spots on them from freezer burn you toss them. We use our stuff before that happens.

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