Favorite Frozen Meatballs?

[efincoop]

I decided to make MOINK Balls for a holiday party we were invited to, so I did a quick search on the best rated brand of frozen meatballs. Here is the AI search summary:

"The best-rated brand of frozen meatballs is often considered to be Kirkland Signature Italian Style Beef Meatballs from Costco, praised for their flavor and quality. Other top contenders include Simek’s Italian Style Beef Meatballs and Rosina Italian Style Meatballs, which are also highly regarded for their taste and texture."

I don't have a Cosco membership, but we do have Whole Foods close by & they carry Simek's in addition to their own brand and a brand called Cooked Perfect. If any of you have a favorite brand or have tried any of the brands mentioned, I would love to hear your thoughts.

[Ace]

I haven't tried any of the brands that you mentioned above but we like the Italian Village brand 0.5 oz from our local U S Chef Store. They also have Rosina brand (all beef) in the .05 and the 1.0 oz size. Hope that helps...


We made these last night...

[Johnny Booth]

I have never had a store-bought Italian meatball in my life.
I have had those IKEA things they call meat…. 🤢

[efincoop]

Understood. I am like you when it comes to making my own meatballs, but I'm going to take the easy route for this situation.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

The Ai says they may be made my Rosina, but then it says they aren't made by Rocco which makes Rosina... anyway further searching lead me to believe that they are indeed close if not an exact match for Rosina frozen meatballs. They seem to be widely available, to include at Walmart.

[efincoop]

Wow! Thanks fo digging deeper! I'll check and see if our local Walmart carry's them.

[TomfromtheSoo]

I decided to make MOINK Balls for a holiday party we were invited to, so I did a quick search on the best rated brand of frozen meatballs. Here is the AI search summary:

"The best-rated brand of frozen meatballs is often considered to be Kirkland Signature Italian Style Beef Meatballs from Costco, praised for their flavor and quality. Other top contenders include Simek’s Italian Style Beef Meatballs and Rosina Italian Style Meatballs, which are also highly regarded for their taste and texture."

I don't have a Cosco membership, but we do have Whole Foods close by & they carry Simek's in addition to their own brand and a brand called Cooked Perfect. If any of you have a favorite brand or have tried any of the brands mentioned, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for posting this.

Up here, Simek’s and Cooked Perfect are readily available but I don’t have any experience with either of them.

But sometime you just want to make a sandwich! Any advice is appreciated on what might be the best choice. Thanks.

[efincoop]

I'll definitely report back!

[SheilaAnn]

Next to mine 😉😉😉😉😉😉 I buy from my local Italian deli. Which is of no help to you.

I gotta tell ya, in a pinch, especially if the meatball is not the star (moinks is all about the smoke and sauce, right?), I ain’t mad at Trader Joe’s Party Meatballs.

I’ve never had the Whole Foods offering. I will have to check them out.

[efincoop]

Great point. We do have a couple of trader Joe's near us, so that is definitely a possibility! Thank you.

[captainlee]

We make our own from a Mama Costantini South Philadelphia cook book. I had a bag of Costco brand in my hands the last trip down. We had a full basket and decided to hold off buying them this time. Hopefully somebody has tried the Costco brand and can report.

[Mosca]

I can’t help here either. When I make meatballs I make about 100 of them; the best frozen meatballs are the ones I made 6 months ago.

For what it’s worth, Mary Joan says the girls at work like the Sam’s Club meatballs. The internet says those are made by Fontanini, a division of Hormel Foods.

[Andrrr]

Yep, which reminds me I’m down to one package downstairs

[dpearce]

Ah! Yup, that's the brand I was thinking of! thanks Mosca

[efincoop]

Mosca I like this idea. Is your recipe a blend? Mine is pork & beef (1:2 ratio). I know some folks add ground veal as well. If a blend was used, would it still be a MOINK ball ?

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I like to put them on a lightly greased pan (mine has small holes in the bottom) and smoke them for about an hour. Then add them to the crock pot with sauce.

[dpearce]

I literally was just emailing our potluck work people yesterday and was about to say MOINK! But someone already beat me to it with meatballs (probably not as good, but hey, we don't need two meatball platters).

Anyway, we usually get those at Sams club, and for the life of me, I can see the package in my head but don't remember the brand. They've always been good.

FYI: I'm making Pig Balls instead. Anything bacon-wrapped at this time of year is pretty much going to be a hit.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I am glad you clarified that it was something bacon wrapped...

[dpearce]

Hey, it's an approved recipe on the free side of the house! I mean, I didn't name it though soooo... but I get it!

[Dewesq55]

I have used Cooked Perfect which are available in my local ShopRite. I think they are fine, but I don't have much to compare them to.

[Mosca]

efincoop I go 50/50 beef to pork. This is my recipe, but I don’t stick to it slavishly. If something strikes my fancy I’ll change it. The basic recipe makes about 20-25 meatballs. I multiply by 4. I’ve cooked them a lot of different ways, but when you have so many the sheet pan is the way to go. Kenji uses buttermilk and fennel seeds; I don’t usually have those laying around, but if I did, I’d try them. Not on 100 meatballs, but maybe on a dozen. I usually make my spaghetti and meatballs with half meatballs and half sausage, so fennel does get in there.

If you have Paprika, just load the recipe from this page, it works just like any other webpage recipe.

Meatballs. This One.

Ingredients:
2 cups (5.2 oz) fresh bread crumbs*
3/4 cup whole milk, then more if needed
1 lb. 85% lean ground beef**
1 lb. ground pork
2 large eggs
1/2 cup finely minced yellow onion***
2 garlic cloves, minced (2 tsp)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano
1 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil, only if using the fried method

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl stir together bread crumbs and milk while adding more milk 1 Tbsp at a time to moisten bread fully. Let rest while you prep ingredients (or at least 5 minutes).
To breadcrumb mixture add beef, pork, eggs, onion, garlic, basil, parsley, oregano, parmesan and season over top of ingredients evenly with salt and pepper (I only use 3/4 tsp salt if I plan on using jar sauce to coat since it can be salty).
Gently toss mixture and break meat up with fingertips until ingredients are evenly mixed.
Shape mixture with greased hands into even size meatballs, about 1 1/4-inches each (or about 38g).
Oven Baked Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees before you begin preparing meatballs.
Spray two dark coated non-stick pans well with non-stick cooking spray (see note 4), or brush with olive oil.
Place formed meatballs on baking sheets, fitting about 20 per each and spacing evenly apart. Bake in upper and lower third of oven 10 minutes.
Remove and turn meatballs if browned already on bottom (use a thin metal spatula to scrape from baking sheet). Transfer pans to opposite racks and bake until cooked through, about 8 - 12 minutes longer (should register 165 degrees in center of meatballs).
Stir into warmed marinara sauce. Simmer on low heat if desired for even more tender meatballs (about 10 - 20 minutes, toss occasionally gently).
Pan Fried Stovetop Method
To pan fry meatballs pour 3/4 cup olive oil into a 12-inch non-stick skillet, heat over medium heat.
Cook meatballs in 3 batches (so they aren't overcrowded) until golden brown on bottom, about 4 - 6 minutes. Then turn to opposite side and cook opposite side until golden brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
Transfer meatballs to warmed marinara sauce (see note 5) in a large pot, submerge in sauce. Cover and simmer over low heat until meatballs are 165 degrees in center, gently tossing meatballs occasionally, about 15 - 20 minutes.

Notes:
*To make fresh bread crumbs tear slices of stale hearty bread into pieces and place in a food processor, pulse mixture to fine crumbs.
**You can also use 2/3 lb ground veal, 2/3 lb ground beef, 2/3 lb ground pork.
***Be sure to chop yellow onion to a fine mince, about the size of the minced garlic otherwise it won't be tender by the time meatballs are done cooking.
****Standard light aluminum baking sheets will work too meatballs just won't brown as much.

[SheilaAnn]

Holy downloads, Batman!! I have been manually putting in recipes that y’all post!!

🤦🏼♀️ my day is not wasted, I learned something!

[RichardCullip]

We have the big bag of Costco meatballs in our freezer. The’ve been used for spaghetti and meatballs, Swedish meatballs and meatball subs. I enjoy the convenience and the taste

[texastweeter]

I make huge batches of my wild game meatballs (venison a feral pork mix) and freeze them.

[efincoop]

Mosca thanks for posting your recipe. For what's it worth here is my Italian meatball recipe. It based on my mom's but I prefer more garlic so I upped that from the original. I have planning to convert everything to weight but haven't got around to it yet.

I considered making these, but I wanted all beef for the MOINK Balls.

Servings: (Scaled 67/100x)

Ingredients:

2.0 lbs Ground Chuck
1.0 lbs Ground Pork
2.35 Cups Fresh Breadcrumbs
0.25 Cup grated Locatelli romano cheese
0.25 Cup grated Parmesan reggiano
2-3 Eggs
.5 oz minced garlic (used 5 cloves)
1/2-3/4 Cup Chopped Parsley
black pepper & salt to taste


Directions:

Mix ingredients gently by hand.
Do not add all the eggs at once. Start wby adding half the eggs. You want a moist consistance, but not wet.
Fry a small portion to check for seaoning.
Add salt, pepper, garlic or cheese as needed.
Once desired seasoning is reached roll in to golf ball sized balls.
Fry to get a crust, but not until done.
Add to pasta sauce to finish cooking.

[Mosca]

This is a good recipe for meatballs. I used to do 2:1 beef to pork, I don’t remember why I switched to 1:1.