Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, and Homemade Gravy make a fantastic freezer-friendly meal! These recipes will please your whole family.
One of my favorite dishes is Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes. It may seem crazy and complex, but considering that all the components can be made ahead and frozen, it can definitely be a delicious weeknight meal no matter the season.
Simply make a bulk batch of meatballs, a big vat of gravy, and a large pot of mashed potatoes. Divide them into dinner-size portions, chill, label, and freeze. Super easy and so fun to pull out on a night when you want something homey and comforting, but don’t have it in you to stand at the stove.
Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes is also an economical dish. With potatoes selling for about $1-$1.50 for ten pounds, you can easily make up a batch of mashed potatoes for less than $1, accounting for butter, cream cheese, and seasoning. Recently I bought ground beef for $1.49 a pound, making a dinner’s worth of meatballs about $2 after adding eggs, spices, and bread crumbs. Add in a vegetable and you definitely have a good cheap eat.
Dinner for 4 for about $5!
The Meatballs
Make up a batch of meatballs, bake, cool, wrap, and freeze in meal size portions. You don’t need to thaw them before reheating, making this an ideal dinner for the night your plan doesn’t go according to plan.
I’ve got a few favorite Meatballs variations:
The Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes go pretty quickly around here, but when I take the time to make a lot, I’m always thankful I did! The best mashed potatoes for the freezer are the ones that contain a good amount of fat in the way of butter, cream, cream cheese, or sour cream.
These are the best for freezing:
- Mashed Potatoes for the Freezer
- Burning Love Mashed Potatoes (without the bacon topping unless you want to go for the gold)
For making fresh:
- Rebel with a Cause Smashed Potatoes (a great gluten-free option)
And of course…
The Gravy
The gravy is the best part out of all this! While my husband is not a gravy fan, I’m proud to have raised enough gravy fans among my six kids to justify making large vats of gravy. It’s so simple, and really pulls together the meatballs and mashed potatoes.
Storing meatballs in gravy and mashed potatoes
Meatballs
These can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Or these can be stored up to 3 months in the freezer.
Mashed potatoes
You can keep the mashed potatoes in an airtight container for 3-5 days in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for up to 10 months. When you are ready to eat them, allow them to thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
Gravy
Gravy will be good for 3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container, and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw fully in the refrigerator before reheating.
Homemade Gravy
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/8 onion chopped for 1/4 cup
- 1/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 2 cup beef broth
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme or dry dill if you prefer
Instructions
- In medium saucepan, melt butter. Sauté onion until clear. Whisk in flour and cook until bubbly. Whisk in broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened.
- Stir in seasonings. Serve immediately or cool, package in plastic container with a lid, label, and freeze.
- If using from frozen, warm on the stovetop and whisk to blend.
Want the 411 on freezer cooking? Check out the Ultimate Freezer Cooking Collection of Tips and Tricks.
Or pick up a copy of my book, Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook for over 200 recipes and 10 freezer cooking plans to help you fill the freezer, eat well, and save money.
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Nancy says
It's 6am and this sounds sooo good! I better include it in my next menu plan. 🙂
Tanya says
YUM!
Connie says
Freezer mashed potatoes and meatballs are a staple around here. Such an easy thing to prepare and can be served so many ways.
Yum!
Anonymous says
Those look yummy. Alas I'm the only meatball eater here so that would never work.
~Micha
twinsz says
I made this last night. Yummy!! The gravy was the best. I used the dill and one of my kids was liking it up off his plate. Thanks for the recipe. I will be making this again.
Christina says
This looks delish!
Trippy Momma says
this sounds awesome! I'm thinking about doing some freezer cooking (for the first time ever). I was wondering what you freeze your mashed potatoes in. Is there something that you can take from freezer, to fridge, straight to oven??? that would be handy.
FishMama says
I put the mashed potatoes in a baking dish. Dot with butter, wrap and freeze. Thaw and bake to serve.
Debbi Does Dinner Healthy says
This is an awesome meal! Cheap and hearty! Thanks!
Amy says
What size baking dish do you use for your mashed potatoes? I’m making a ton of your recipes this week!
Jessica says
Meal size. Whatever is the right size for your family.
Lisa Hetherington says
How long do you need to reheat meatballs/what temperature if you are reheating them from froze?
Thanks!!
…Lisa
Jessica says
@Lisa Hetherington, I just reheat on the stovetop and check periodically. Probably about 15 – 20 minutes.
Lisa Hetherington says
@Jessica,
Thanks!!
amber says
I love this recipe just made it and it came out wonderful! My family loved it so awesome.
Paula says
Making more of these today! I’m very thankful for you, Jessica, and all others who take the time to try these things out and post ’em so I have meals ready and more time for my family! Thanks!
nicole says
I am going to use your gravy recipe tomorrow night with dinner!! Thank you
Rosemary says
I’d love to know your meatball recipe. You gave the recipe for the mashed potatoes and gravy, but not the meatballs. I have everything I need and I’m ready to try it out asap. Sounds like a fun alternative to meatloaf.
Rosemary
Jessica says
@Rosemary, the link is kinda hidden up above. Here it is again: http://lifeasmom.com/2010/06/more-ground-beef-freezer-meals.html
DEANNA says
Hello,
I was wondering how long everything is good in the freezer for- I usually date my stuff but I like to have an idea of when I need to use it by.
Thanks for the great recipes and ideas !! 🙂
Jessica says
This post addresses a lot of those kind of questions: http://lifeasmom.com/2010/05/freezer-cooking-storage-length-and-methods-of-packaging.html
Ellen says
How much gravy would you need to have enough to freeze for the 4 lb. of meatballs? I’m assuming just one batch wouldn’t cut it.
Jessica says
@Ellen, You would need to quadruple the gravy to match the 4# of meatballs. I use the meatballs with a variety of sauces, so I don’t always make the large batch of gravy.
denise says
great recipe mine turned out great and instead of tyme or dill seed I used minced garlic…yummy!
thanks for the recipe
Jessica says
Always glad to hear!
Linda Chen says
Thanks for the tips and the recipy.
Kris says
Made the meatballs and a batch of gravy today. I froze some of the gravy and meatballs together in lunch size containers for my husband. He’s been scrounging lately for lunches due to my lack of summer cooking. I figure even if he takes bread to dip in the gravy it’s better than the pathetic pickings we’ve had lately. I also have 3 containers of meatballs in the freezer for dinners.
Jessica says
@Kris, that sounds so good right now. Glad to hear that it worked well.
ray says
I just made this for dinner tonite. It is amazing the meatballs are so juicy and tasty I used fresh herbs and the gravy taste really good. I put garlic in my water when I boiled the potatoes. This is definately a keeper.
Carla says
We saved this meal for last night as my husband is running in the Memphis marathon on Saturday and I figured it would be a great carb loading meal (we added wheat rolls to the mix). Unfortunately I didn’t have time to do my own meat balls (Kroger has great frozen turkey meatballs) but we finally got to try the gravy I made earlier in the week. Yum. The guys will probably never let me get away with store gravy again! 🙂 Everyone was happy after a night of martial arts practice.
Jessica says
@Carla, thanks for the great feedback!
Jade says
Ah this sounds amazing! After all said and done and cooked, how much gravy does this recipe make? Thankyou! Making tonight anyway!
Jessica says
It makes about 2 cups of gravy.
Dee Taylor says
Hi there! I enjoy following your posts, your recipe ideas are great! I have a quick question about baking the mashed potatoes that you freeze, then thaw to bake. Do you cover these with aluminum foil when baking in the oven, or just bake them uncovered? Just wondering! Thanks.
Jessica says
It depends on if they’ve thawed completely or not. I don’t want the tops to dry out before the inside is hot. Dabbing them with butter helps prevent that. If it’s fully thawed, go ahead and bake uncovered. Otherwise, do half and half.
Linda Chen says
I think that meal looks delicious.
Janet says
This sounds so good right now. We are home from school today with a fresh 6 inches of snow on the ground. But what a difference a few years makes in prices! Good quality ground beef is running around $6.50 a pound around here these days and I just bought 5 pounds of potatoes on sale for a $1 — such a low price the store was limiting it to four packages per customer.
Laureen matthies says
Jessica, would it work to lay the meat balls with gravy on bottom of casserole or a loaf pan and top with the mashed potatoes. I need to take a meal to a family. I always struggle with how to put it together . I found a recipe that says to put meatballs in centre of a 3L casserole and place the vegebales and mashed potatoes in dollops around the outside and the gravey in one area. I think the gravey might soak into the vegetables and potatoes. I’ve cooked the meatballs this dish won’t get eaten until 9p.m and I will have to have it ready to go by 6p.m.
Jessica Fisher says
If it were me, I’d probably package it into two different pans with the gravy and meatballs together in one, separate from mashed potatoes and vegetables. I do think that the potatoes would soak up the gravy if packaged together for three hours.
Heather says
My daughter is going to love this for lunch next fall! She really prefers hot lunch but I have to pack it each day. I plan to pack this in an easy lunch box freeze and then microwave before school and pack with microwave hot packs. Thank you so much!