Ree Drummond’s Freezer Meatballs are the Ultimate Time-Saving, Satisfying, Anytime Dish
If you’re looking for a beloved dish that freezes well and saves the day when dinner’s the last thing on your mind, look no further than Food Network star Ree Drummond’s freezer-friendly meatballs recipe.
Drummond’s recipe is super easy to make with ingredients you probably already have on hand, so you might want to whip up a batch as soon as possible.
Drummond keeps her all-purpose meatballs ‘in bags in the freezer’
The culinary personality’s meatball recipe calls for ground beef, plain breadcrumbs, milk, heavy cream, fresh parsley, grainy mustard, red pepper flakes, eggs, and olive oil. That’s it!
She says in the Food Network video, below, for this recipe, “They’re all-purpose meatballs, my family loves them and I keep them in bags in the freezer and then just throw them into whatever sauce I want.
“I’ll tell you what, freezer food is my life. If we’re having a really busy day or I’m running late, I just have to pop it in the oven, and we’re good to go.”
Her meatballs recipe comes together so easily
Drummond starts by combining in a large bowl five pounds of ground beef with the breadcrumbs (“You can use plain breadcrumbs, seasoned breadcrumbs, panko, anything you have on hand”) and “a good amount” of salt and pepper.
The crushed red pepper flakes go in as well, followed by “a couple of heaping tablespoons of really grainy mustard,” the whole milk, the eggs, and “a good splash of heavy cream.”
Lastly, she adds “great color” with chopped fresh parsley worked into the meat mixture.
She combines the ingredients with her hands: “It’s a necessary evil … if you used a spoon to mix this all together, it would take you approximately four months to get it all mixed,” she joked.
Using a scoop, she rolls out the meatballs into same-sized orbs. “This mixture is actually going to make 125 meatballs,” Drummond adds. “That is a lot!”
She freezes them briefly on trays before browning them in oil (“Makes it a little bit easier that way”). Once they’re fully cooked, they can go into the freezer and they’re ready for meatball sandwiches, pasta sauce, or just a quick snack.
“These meatballs could not be more versatile,” Drummond says. “They basically go with everything.”
Get the complete recipe, video, and reviews on Food Network’s site.
Home cooks praised Ree Drummond’s time-saving meatballs recipe
When it comes to a recipe that’s practically instant and also keeps every eater happy, that’s called a winner, as quite a few Food Network reviewers said of Drummond’s freezer meatballs.
“I have a family of 5. Three of those are PICKY eaters, my children. These were prepared, enjoyed, and leftovers went straight to the chest freezer. Awesome recipe, highly recommend!,” one home cook wrote.
Another person added, “This has become a go-to for our family. Everyone loves them! It’s a lot of work once but then we get at least 3-4 meals out of it for our family of five. Kids sneak them if I leave them out.”
