Turkey and mushroom meatballs with a herbaceous tomato sauce is a quick and easy freezer meal that can save you time on those busy evenings. You can serve them with pasta, over rice or on their own as an appetizer.
In a bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients until well combined.
Shape into 1 ½ inch balls. Place them on a sheet pan lined with wax paper, making sure they aren’t touching. Transfer to the freezer until sauce is prepared.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil to medium heat. Sauté the garlic and oregano for about 30 seconds.
Add remaining sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, for around 8 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove bay leaves and let cool.
Take the meatballs out of the freezer and transfer them from the sheet pan to a large zip-top freezer bag (about 10 x 10 inches). Pour the sauce in a separate medium zip-top bag (around 7 x 8 inches). Place the sauce bag inside the meatball bag and freeze.
Baking Instructions:
When it’s time to prepare the meal - place the frozen meatballs in a shallow baking pan. Bake uncovered in the oven at 400ºF for around 25 minutes, or until they are no longer pink.
Thaw the sauce package in cold water. Then open it up and heat the sauce in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add the meatballs to the sauce and serve over pasta, rice, or on their own.
Notes
If you aren’t keen on turkey, you could always swap it out for ground beef, chicken or even a pork/beef mixture.
When you freeze the meatballs individually on wax paper before adding them to the zip-top bag, this helps prevent them from sticking together when it’s time to separate them for baking.
You want to make sure the sauce cools before pouring it into a freezer bag, but remember not to leave it out for more than 2 hours to avoid harmful bacteria.
For best results, the raw meatballs/sauce can be frozen for up to two months.