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DinnerOrganizing, Strategizing, Planning

Freezer Meatballs

By January 7, 2013October 2nd, 201334 Comments

So how’s everyone doing with Seven Days Seven Meals? I had to go out last night after work, so I’m starting with Operation New Dinners tonight. Well, if we’re going to be technical about it, I actually started on Sunday when I made a batch of lamb meatballs for the freezer. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me knowing these are waiting for us to devour on Thursday, when soccer is going to end late, and dinner is going to have to happen fast. Like 15 minutes fast. I’m not sure what meal will be built around them, but below I have a few options.

Keep me posted on your progress, too. Please share your triumphs with us, and remember: Catastrophes are always good for a laugh.

Freezer Lamb-balls with Two Options
Makes 16 meatballs

1 pound ground lamb
1 egg, whisked
not quite 1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or 1/2 teaspoon dried mint
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
zest from 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoon minced onions
1 large garlic clove, minced

What I did Sunday: Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients thoroughly but gently, and form into small balls as shown above. Bake on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, then freeze in Ziploc. Total time sacrificed for the betterment of my weeknight self? About 15 minutes hands-on, 35 minutes total.

What I’ll probably do on Thursday: Make Lamb Pita Sandwiches. Place frozen meatballs on a cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes at 400°F. While they are baking, I’ll wrap whole wheat pitas in foil and heat them in the same oven for the last 10 minutes of meatball baking. I’ll also prepare sandwich toppings: pomegranate seeds, chopped fresh mint, feta, something green (cucumbers or shredded raw kale), plain yogurt mixed with lemon and a little cumin and salt. When meatballs are cooked, I’ll throw three or four into each pita along with assorted toppings as deemed acceptable by children.

What I could also do: Make Lamb Meatballs with Yogurt Dip. Place frozen meatballs on a cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes at 400°F. While they are baking, I’ll mix plain yogurt with a squeeze of lemon, salt, a dash of cumin. I’ll serve lamb balls with yogurt dip (or ketchup if necessary) and some kind of salad with kale, feta, and pomegranate seeds — all of which I have in the fridge from my Sunday shop.

34 Comments

  • Avatar Anne says:

    Made a beer braised pork shoulder on Wednesday – put it in the oven, went in to the office for four hours, picked up the kids and it was amazing. Picky eater enjoyed some shredded pork with egg noodles and the rest of us had the sauce as well.

  • Leslie-Anne says:

    I made 3 batches of the freezer lamb meatballs and have already used some of them – I was so surprised at the moistness and general non-freezer like quality of them! Hurray for that! And my 1 year old loves them!

  • Avatar Rosie says:

    Last week I made this month’s BA Flounder in Fennel Tomato sauce, DALS black bean burritos, a kale-brussels sprouts salad, and a Moosewood recipe for baked tofu with lemon and herbs. The flounder recipe was pretty good, but next time I’ll use haddock or cod. We used Rao’s sauce and the fennel was a really nice addition. The burritos and tofu were big hits with our three year old (and us!) so they will definitely be in the rotation in the future. The salad is my new favorite!

    Flounder-
    http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2013/01/flounder-poached-in-fennel-tomato-sauce

    Salad-http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/11/kale-and-brussels-sprout-salad

    Tofu-
    http://books.google.com/books?id=wsRr9NeYVX4C&pg=PT121&lpg=PT121&dq=moosewood+simple+suppers+lemon+tofu&source=bl&ots=BYpXVmnb3D&sig=FAMJtt1AhsD3Ip2miOsdsp3sIpA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pg_yUIGHDvLh0wH1qoGADg&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBA

    This week I’m trying three recipes from the Recipes For Health cookbook–huevos rancheros, spinach,tofu, and sesame stir fry, and Buckwheat noodles w/kale.

  • Torrie @ a place to share... says:

    so funny! (about the pomegranate molasses)…i delegated the meatballs to my husband, while i worked on the meal for that night… he made them, and last night when we were sitting down to eat them, i said~ “you put the pomegranate molasses in, right??” he replied, “it didn’t say to!!” and then i said, “but that was her whole reason for making them!” 🙂 …but they were delicious anyway, and now, they’ve been added to next week’s (our make-ahead item) menu… now we get to compare :). {we used hummus instead of the yogurt dip (needed to try smitten kitchen’s *smooth hummus)… next week, i’ll try it with the yogurt!

  • Avatar Krista says:

    I tried the meatballs with 2 T of the pomegranate molasses and they were a hit (though I didn’t compare with and without…) The molasses means they caramelize a bit when baking, which I enjoyed. Thanks for the recipe! (Incidentally, like Torrie we also tried this with SK smooth hummus, which along with pita, lettuce, and cucumber plus some pomegranate seeds, made for a tasty dinner as well as lunch leftovers)

  • Avatar Erin says:

    Jenny, I’m a little late on the 7 Days, 7 Meals train but I made the lamb meatballs last night for dinner this weekend and they were stupendous! I fried off a little bit after mixing to check the seasoning and they were so good, I ended up sneaking a meatball (or two) while they were cooling. Wonderful recipe!

  • Avatar Kristen says:

    Let’s say I wanted to have these for dinner tonight… what would the oven temp and cook time be? I checked the other meatball recipes in the DALS cookbook for reference but they seemed to involve stovetop cooking methods. I’m vegetarian so I’m not well versed in the ways of cooking meat but occasionally do so for guests/family. Any tips are greatly appreciated!

  • Avatar mary says:

    my one year old loved these dipped in greek yogurt. thx!

  • Avatar Jennifer D says:

    If I am not freezing these for later but using them now do I need to cook them longer than 20 minutes?

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