Creamy Meatball Dinner
Submitted by redheaded moma
Freezer-friendly beef meatballs in a creamy mushroom-basil sauce served over brown rice with buttered carrots. Batch-cook now, reheat later for easy weeknight dinners.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
90 minREADY
2 hrsHere’s your secret weapon for busy weeknights: a batch of homemade beef meatballs in a savory mushroom cream sauce that freezes like a dream.
Each portion gets its own baking dish with brown rice, saucy meatballs, and buttered crinkle-cut carrots, all ready to pop in the oven or microwave whenever hunger strikes.
The apple juice in the sauce might sound unusual, but it adds a subtle sweetness that rounds out the earthy mushroom and basil flavors.
Kitchen Tips
- Use whole wheat bread crumbs for a nuttier flavor and a bit more fiber in each meatball.
- Don’t skip draining and cooling the meatballs after the first bake. This keeps the sauce from getting greasy.
- Wrap individual portions tightly before freezing to prevent freezer burn.
- When reheating from frozen, the oven method gives you better texture than the microwave.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine crumbs, egg, milk, onion and salt.
Add beef;mix well.
Shape mixture into 20 meatballs;place in 15 x 10 x 1inch pan.
Bake, uncovered, in 375℉ (190℃) F oven 15 minutes.
Drain and cool.
Combine soup, apple juice, parsley and basil;add meatballs and stir to coat.
Divide rice among 4 shallow single-serving baking dish es.
Top with 5 meatballs and some sauce.
Place carrots at one end of dish; drizzle with margarine.
Cover with moisture and vapor-proof wrap; freeze.
To serve, bake, uncovered, in a 375℉ (190℃) F oven about 1¼ hours, or cook, covered, on 70 % powder (medium high) 10 to 12 minutes in the microwave, turning once.
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