• Home
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • VIDEO SERIES: Learn to Cook on a Budget
    • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
    • Popular Recipes
  • Meal Plans
    • Weekly Meal Plans
    • Freezer Meal Plans
    • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
  • Classes
    • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
    • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
    • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
    • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
    • My Efficient Kitchen Course
  • Store
    • COOKBOOK: Feeding Teenage Boys on a Budget
    • COOKBOOK: Learn to Cook on a Budget
    • COOKBOOKS & PREP KITS: MyFreezEasy Freezer Meals
    • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
    • Erin’s Favorite Gadgets
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • About
    • Press
  • Login

$5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

Save on Groceries in 2025

Herbed Meatballs Recipe

January 25, 2011 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 23 Comments

14 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

This recipe is featured in the 21 Freezer Cooking Recipes from Costco Meal Plan #5.

This recipe was originally posted in 2011!

A few weeks ago, I shared what I like to do when I get ground meat from the grocery store. (See Batch Cooking – The Ground Beef Edition!)  This is part 2, if you will.

Last week, I purchased 2 packages of ground chuck and 2 packages of ground turkey.  Seeing that most of my January meal plan is from the pantry and freezer, I knew that I wouldn’t use up all of this meat for meals last week.  I did make the Turkey Kasha Chili on Friday night, and while that was simmering on the stove, I set to work on preparing the rest of the packages of meat.

First up, I combined the 2 packages of ground beef into meatloaf/meatballs mixture.  With about 2.4 lbs, I was able to make 1 meatloaf and 16 medium sized herbed meatballs. (Recipe below.) I put the meatloaf in the freezer. And also did a flash freeze of the meatballs.  Once they were partially frozen, then I transferred them into a plastic freezer baggie.

And with the other package of ground turkey, I made some Turkey Meatloaf Bites, similar to these BBQ Mini Meatloaves! I baked them in my mini-muffin tin and then let them cool completely before adding to the freezer.

Now we’ve got a meatloaf, meatballs and some Turkey Meatloaf Bites in the freezer for next month!

One Step Ahead!

(If you’ve read my Breakfast and Lunch Cookbook, you know what that means!)

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!

Herbed Meatballs Recipe

Easy and perfect for busy weeknights!
Prep Time5 minutes minutes
Cook Time25 minutes minutes
Servings - 4 servings

Ingredients 

  • 1.25 lb ground chuck
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup bread crumbs, homemade or store bought
  • 2 Tbsp Italian seasonings
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 lb. pasta noodles
  • 3-4 cups spaghetti sauce
  • Frozen veggies, as side dish.

Instructions

  • In a mixing bowl, combine the ground chuck, eggs, bread crumbs, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper. Form into 1"-ish size meatballs.
  • Brown on all sides, then add spaghetti sauce and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until meatballs have cooked through.
  • Serve Herbed Meatablls over pasta noodles with spaghetti saucesauce and frozen veggies.
  • (Alternative: Bake the meatballs at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Add sauce over the top before serving.
  • To Freeze: Flash freeze and then transfer to a plastic freezer baggie.
14 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Batch Cooking, Beef Recipes, Budget Friendly Recipes, Freezer Recipes and Freezer Meal Plans, How To Cook, Savings

These meals are a LIFESAVER!

Want a set of our best selling freezer meal bag holders?! You can now order them right here!

Comments

  1. Alyssa says

    January 25, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    Can’t wait to try these herbed meatballs.

    Reply
  2. the1chery says

    January 27, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    neither of the the turkey kasha chili links work.

    Reply
  3. Maria Woods says

    January 28, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    I may run the risk of sounding dumb but i have to ask: How did you flash freeze the meatballs?

    Reply
    • Jean says

      January 29, 2011 at 7:38 pm

      Maria,
      Put the meatballs on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer until partly frozen…atleast frozen enough to keep form when you pick them up. Then put them in a freezer ziploc bag and back into the freezer until you need them for a recipe.

      Reply
    • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

      January 30, 2011 at 8:10 am

      There’s no such thing as a dumb question! You just place them on a cookie sheet or other flat surface and put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Long enough for the outsides to start to freeze. Then you place them into a plastic storage bag or container. This keeps the meatballs from sticking together and making one giant meatball in your freezer!

      Reply
  4. Jen says

    February 2, 2011 at 1:28 pm

    I have a better way of cooking meatballs especially if you have a lot for entertaining or freezing. ~Bake them in the oven on large broiler pans.

    Reply
    • julie says

      February 1, 2014 at 12:39 am

      How do I bake them? For how long?

      Reply
  5. Pat says

    February 3, 2011 at 8:13 pm

    Meatball stroganoff. I also make my own sausage meatballs for breakfast, soup, etc.

    Reply
  6. Barbara Mansfield says

    April 26, 2011 at 9:53 pm

    A fast and easy way to cook meatballs is in a metal colander over a pot of boiling water. How long depends on their size. After several minutes over the water, I lift the colander and shake it gently. When they cool, the meatballs look as though they have been baked and much of the fat has drained into the water.

    Reply
    • Sue says

      October 31, 2013 at 8:24 pm

      So you are steaming the meatballs over the water?

      Reply
  7. Allison says

    September 13, 2013 at 1:19 am

    Silly question but I often have trouble judging the right amounts….how much spaghetti sauce do you add?

    Reply
    • Candice says

      November 19, 2013 at 9:27 pm

      I always use a very large jar of sauce, I can’t stand dry spaghetti. I honestly don’t think you can have too much sauce. Even if you had too much you can refrigerate or freeze the left overs. I’m not speaking for the recipe in question, just my personal opinion.

      Reply
  8. Allison says

    January 4, 2014 at 9:24 pm

    You should try substituting Oatmeal for the bread crumbs. It eliminates the gluten and makes the meatballs taste even better.

    Reply
    • Tracey says

      January 5, 2014 at 7:28 pm

      Allison, how much oatmeal would you add per pound of meat?

      Reply
      • Kristina says

        January 6, 2014 at 3:46 pm

        Tracey I would just put a cup of oats per pound of meat.

        Reply
    • Chris says

      January 16, 2014 at 4:07 pm

      Funny enough I cooked my homemade recipe – not too different from these – and I discovered I was out of bread crumbs. I substituted oatmeal and I could barely taste the difference.

      Reply
  9. Felicia says

    January 10, 2014 at 11:42 am

    I like to cook my meatballs in the slow cooker with the spaghetti sauce. The meatballs have so much flavor and are so moist and tender. I cook on low for about 6-8 hours.

    Reply
    • Jamie says

      January 8, 2016 at 10:38 pm

      Is the sauce greasy from the fat? This would be such an easy lunch with the frozen meatballs!

      Reply
  10. Tom Williams says

    February 4, 2014 at 12:40 pm

    I’m not counting 20 meals here. What am I doing wrong?

    Reply
    • Vickie says

      February 21, 2014 at 2:05 pm

      You may be failing to take into account that some of the meals are repeated…

      Reply
  11. Geni says

    August 12, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    Where do you find such low prices? Nothing in my area is that inexpensive!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Wines to Pair with 20 Meals from Costco for $150 says:
    January 14, 2014 at 5:28 pm

    […] Herbed Meatballs […]

    Reply
  2. 21 Gluten Free Recipes from Costco for $150 {Round 2} - says:
    October 7, 2014 at 3:16 pm

    […] Herbed Meatballs with Gluten Free Pasta & Frozen Vegetables […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search $5 Dinners

Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

© 2025 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



Copyright © 2025 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in