Homemade Frozen Meatballs - Recipes That Crock! (2024)

FAQs

How long to cook frozen meatballs in sauce? ›

Pour pasta sauce into a saucepan on the stovetop. Carefully add in the meatballs and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes.

Cooking frozen meatballs is easy, even if you don't thaw them first. In most cases, you buy them already fully cooked, so all you have to do is reheat them.

Fully cooked frozen meatballs will cook in a crockpot over low heat for 3-4 hours. The internal temperature of the ground beef meatballs should be 160º when completely cooked.

Add a lightly beaten egg, but not too much. Egg acts as a binder for the ingredients, but you only need a small amount. One small egg will do for one pound of minced meat. Alternatively, if you're following an egg-free diet, you could soak fresh bread in milk, squeezing out any excess milk, to use as a binder.

Don't overcook your meatballs! Most recipes instruct us to bake the meatballs until they are completely cooked. Next, we are to let them simmer away in some kind of sauce for hours. It should be no surprise that your meatball is going to be completely overcooked and dry by the time you eat it.

You will know the meatballs are ready when the internal temperature of the meatballs is 165 degrees.

TIP: Defrosting the meatballs before cooking will mean you can brown them well in a pan, if that's what your recipe needs. If the meatballs are cooked in a sauce, you can skip the defrosting step and simply cook the meatballs directly in the sauce from frozen. Cook for an extra 5 minutes or until cooked through.

While you can technically use a microwave to cook frozen meatballs, it is not the recommended method. Microwaving can cause the meatballs to become rubbery and unevenly cooked. It is best to use the oven or stovetop for more desirable results.

However, it is possible if the meatballs are left in the slow cooker too long. I do recommend using a programmable slow cooker that will switch to low after the cook time elapses to help avoid overcooking.

Can I leave meatballs in crockpot for 8 hours? ›

Place the meatballs into the sauce mixture. Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Enjoy!

Use a Slow Cooker or Instant Pot

Simply select the “Keep Warm” setting, and away you go! You can also transfer an oven-baked or stovetop dish to the slow cooker to keep them warm, too.

Egg and breadcrumbs are common mix-ins to add moisture and tenderness. Another binder option that people swear by is a panade, which is fresh or dry breadcrumbs that have been soaked in milk. “The soaked breadcrumbs help keep the proteins in the meat from shrinking,” as food writer Tara Holland explained in the Kitchn.

When it comes to adding liquid to meatball mixtures, milk is often used for its versatility, depth of flavor, and richness. Without the use of milk, you may be faced with a plate of dry meatballs. Milk adds a certain level of moisture that helps produce perfectly tender meatballs.

If you are reheating meatballs that have been stored in tomato sauce, arrange them in a baking dish. Make sure they are in a single layer. Cover the meatballs in tomato sauce and cover tightly with some heavy-duty aluminum foil. Now you want to put the baking dish in the oven and bake meatballs for about 40 minutes.

You can brown the uncooked meatballs in a sauté pan before adding them to the sauce. You can brown them in the oven. Or you can skip browning altogether and put the raw meatballs straight into the sauce to cook.

In an oven preheated to 350 degrees F, these meatballs should be fully cooked through and evenly browned in about 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the meatball should read at least 165 degrees F.