Here is a recipe for Meatballs and Meatloaves that a friend and I would make when we would cook a whole day together making freezer recipes.
I love this recipe because of the easy chart below, and because our family loves the taste of these meatloaves and meatballs better than the frozen ones you buy at the store.
When I first published this recipe on Creative K Kids, I made the table below. I left the table in, but I thought a photo of the table might be easier for some people, so I included that as well.
Master Meat Mix for Meatballs and Meatloaves
Meals: Serves 4-6 Ingredients: |
5 C. mix= 1 pan or 60 mtbls |
10 C. mix= 2 pans or 120 mtbls |
15 C. mix= 3 pans or 180 mtbls |
20 C. mix= 4 pans or 240 mtbls |
25 C. mix= 5 pans or 300 mtbls |
30 C. mix= 6 pans or 360 mtbls |
Beef, pork, turkey–ground (can be mixed) |
1-1/2 lbs. |
3 lbs. |
4-1/2 lbs. |
6 lbs. |
7-1/2 lbs. |
9 lbs. |
Dry oats or cooked brown rice |
2/3 C. |
1-1/3 C. |
2 C. |
2-2/3 C. |
3-1/3 C. |
4 C. |
Onion, diced |
1/2 C. |
1 C. |
1-1/2 C. |
2 C. |
2-1/2 C. |
3 C. |
Salt |
1 t. |
2 t. |
1 T. |
1T.+ 1t. |
1T.+ 2t. |
2 T. |
Eggs |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
Garlic Powder |
1/2 t. |
1 t. |
1-1/2 t. |
2 t. |
2-1/2 t. |
1 T. |
Ketchup or tomato sauce |
2/3 C. |
1-1/3 C. |
2 C. |
2-2/3 C. |
3-1/3 C. |
4 C. |
Assembly Directions:
Mix all ingredients very well with your hands (you may want to wear rubber or disposable gloves) in a large bowl. I usually do about 8-10 pounds of half ground turkey, half ground beef.
I mix the italicized ingredients listed in the chart above in my big roasting pan.
I then use this mixture to make mini-meatloaves and meatballs. I form mini-meatloaves with my hands and put them in a big baking dish. I like to do mini-meatloaves instead of big meatloaves, as it is then easy to pull out of the freezer exactly what I need for a meal. Since my children aren’t big eaters yet, 2 or 3 of them will share one meatloaf. I form the meatballs and place them on cookie sheets that have an edge. (The recipe says to oil the pans first. I usually do not do this.) My husband is not a spaghetti lover, but he will eat it if he has meat! Again, I can just pull out how many
meatballs I need, and my children are happy because they love spaghetti!
I bake the mini-meatloaves for 45 minutes at 350°. We eat some for dinner; and I transfer the others to a plastic freezer container after they cool and freeze them. I bake the meatballs at 375° for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned and no longer pink in the center. Again, cool the meatballs, and then transfer to a container and freeze.
Cooking directions after they have been frozen: Thaw meatloaves/meatballs in the refrigerator. Bake meatloaves at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated through. Bake meatballs at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until hot.
**The original recipe says to prepare regular size meatloaves that would fit in a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. The directions for the regular size meatloaves say to put 5 cups of the meat mix into a loaf pan, packing well. Bake at 350° for one hour or until no pink shows in the center of the loaf. Cool and chill. Slice meatloaf, if desired. Freeze. To reheat: Thaw completely on serving day. Lay the slices flat on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
**The recipe book also had a list of sauces you could make to put on the meatloaf, but we just put ketchup on the table! (Most of us like it fine without any sauce or ketchup.)
–The original recipe was from a cookbook that I think is called 30 Day Gourmet Beef Entrée.
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