13 Unexpected Ways To Use Frozen Meatballs

We all love homemade meatballs, but sometimes, they just take too much effort to prepare. That's where store-bought frozen meatballs come into play. They make for a quick and easy meal enhancement that can help bulk up your dishes without having to deal with any raw meat or preparation. And since you can just microwave them, throw them into an air fryer, or warm them up in a pan, they're one of the easiest protein sources you can have on hand. But, you don't just have to use frozen meatballs for dishes like spaghetti and meatballs — there are so many more ways to use this frozen product, and some of them may have never occurred to you before.

We've compiled some of our favorite unexpected ways to use frozen meatballs, so you can use up that bag that you have in the freezer. From pairing them with fruit to adding them to soup, you might just be surprised at how versatile they can really be when you aren't afraid to use them in unconventional ways.

Admittedly, this may sound like an exceedingly strange combo if you've never had it before, but believe us when we say that it's a snack that really delivers a ton of flavor. Basically, all you have to do is place your frozen meatballs in a slow cooker, add some grape jelly and ketchup, and cook on low for several hours until the meatballs get nice and hot and the sauce forms a sort of sticky glaze. Then, you can skewer each meatball with a toothpick and eat it on its own. It makes for an excellent snack, and it's also a popular appetizer to serve at parties.

The reason this flavor combo works is because you have a salty, umami base from the frozen meatballs, and the sweetness from the grape jelly and ketchup provide a really nice flavor balance. Plus, there's just enough acidity in the ketchup to keep things tasting bright. If you like the pairing of sweet and savory flavors, then this is a dish you absolutely have to try.

A lot of home cooks think of meatballs exclusively in terms of pasta, but you can pair them with other carb sources to make equally delicious meals. In fact, that's essentially what a meatball sub is. You still have the meatballs, the sauce, and the cheese, but you're just switching out the pasta for bread instead. It makes for a handheld dish that still gives you that warm, comforting feeling you get from spaghetti and meatballs as well. Try making this Italian meatball sandwich with frozen meatballs, and you'll understand why we love the combo so much.

But don't assume that the only sandwich you can only use meatballs for is a meatball sub, as you can also make a homemade banh mi, or use them as a filling for a torta. Essentially, you can replace the meat in a lot of sandwiches with meatballs to switch up the flavor profile and make for a heartier, more substantial meal.

Head to your favorite taco spot, and you'll likely see a ton of different taco varieties on the menu. You can use a wide variety of meats, beans, and other protein sources as taco fillings, so it only makes sense that meatballs could function the same way. Are taco meatballs traditional? Not really. But that shouldn't stop you from trying them out in your favorite taco recipe. Most meatballs have a meaty flavor to them, of course, but they're otherwise pretty neutral-tasting. That means that they can be topped with for favorite taco toppings to put a twist on more classic recipes.

One thing you'll want to keep in mind if you're making meatball tacos, though, is that you may need to cut the meatballs into smaller pieces to make them easier to eat. Depending on the size of the meatballs you're using, you can halve them or cut them into quarters. Otherwise, things can get messy quickly, or you may have to take bigger bites than you really want to.

Have you ever ordered sweet and sour chicken or pork from your favorite local Chinese takeout spot? If so, then you know the combo of sugar and acidity makes this dish addictive as soon as you take that first bite. Often, you'll find both chicken and pork versions of this dish on Chinese restaurant menus, but you don't have to feel limited to those meats alone. If you want to switch things up — or you're just trying to clean out your freezer — frozen meatballs can also do the trick in this kind of recipe.

The main ingredients you'll need for this dish, besides the meatballs, include bell peppers and canned pineapple. You'll want to use canned pineapple specifically, because this dish calls for both pineapple juice and chunks. Soy sauce, brown sugar, and ketchup contribute to that delicious sweet and savory flavor. Serve it over rice for a copycat Chinese takeout recipe, and you'll have recreated one of your fave restaurant meals at home.

If you've ever had Swedish meatballs before (yes, even the kind served at Ikea), then you know that they're usually served over mashed potatoes, with a decadent gravy on top. So, why not recreate this dish with the meatballs you currently have in the freezer? This is one of our favorite ways to eat frozen meatballs, because the gravy keeps them nice and moist. Sometimes, frozen meatballs can end up a little dry, but the gravy largely negates that issue.

When you follow a specific Swedish meatball recipe, you can actually make the gravy from scratch. This is probably the best way to get the freshest possible flavor in your dish. However, since you're already using frozen meatballs, you may be looking for a shortcut on the gravy front as well. Luckily, you can find plenty of store-bought gravy options at your local grocery store, so you can make a totally fuss-free meal. You can even use instant mashed potatoes if you're pinched for time.

Most pizza places you'll go to will have a variety of different toppings to choose from. Some of the more common options include pepperoni, sausage, and ham. But one of our all-time favorite toppings is meatballs. They're now considered a vintage pizza topping, so you can't find them everywhere — plenty of pizza spots pass over the meatballs in favor of more popular toppings. But if you have frozen meatballs, you can easily make a meatball pizza at home.

For an ideal presentation, you'll cut the meatballs into smaller chunks so they don't roll around on top of the pizza and you aren't forced to take massive bites. Though, even if you're using smaller pieces of meatball, you're still getting a lot of meat in a single bite, which is what makes this style of pizza so appealing. Now, this just gives you an excuse to have an at-home pizza night in the near future.

Vegetable soup is light and fresh, but also comforting and warming at the same time. But, often, it just needs something extra for it to feel like a complete meal. If you're looking for a way to bulk up your vegetable soup and add protein, try adding some frozen meatballs to the mix. The best thing about incorporating frozen meatballs into your soup recipe is the fact that you can simply pop them into the boiling broth — you don't even need to cook them ahead of time. In a matter of minutes, they'll cook through, giving your veggie soup a lot more volume, and making it more filling in the process.

It's possible to make this addition to homemade soup. Even though you're using frozen meatballs, you'll still get most of that homemade taste you're craving. But if you don't even have the time or energy to make soup from scratch, you can also incorporate frozen meatballs into a canned soup, which can easily upgrade it without requiring a lot of effort on your part.

Sometimes, you may want to eat your frozen meatballs simply. Maybe you just want to snack on them all on their own, or perhaps you want to enjoy them with a side of fries or on top of a salad to make it a bit more substantial. But if you're eating your frozen meatballs in a relatively plain way, then the idea of just microwaving them might not be that appealing — after all, it'll leave you with a texture that's kind of soggy, which probably isn't what you're going for.

If you want to give your meatballs a better texture so you can enjoy them solo, try putting them in the air fryer. Cooking them at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for around 10 to 15 minutes can yield a crispier exterior than you'd be able to achieve through other cooking methods. However, you'll still get that dense, soft center you're going for. Of course, you can also use this cooking method before you incorporate frozen meatballs into any other kind of dish.

Do you need to feed a crowd? Or do you just want to make a dinner that feels fun to eat for kids and adults alike? If so, you may want to think about making meatball sliders. This is a take on the meatball sandwich, but it allows you to make much smaller serving sizes, which is ideal when you're preparing party food or you're feeding little ones who may not be able to eat a whole meatball sub at a time.

Just grab some slider buns from your local grocery store, remove the top buns, and slather on some marinara sauce. Then, add on your cheese. Finally, place a single meatball on each slider. Put the tops of the buns back on and put the whole dish in the oven, and you've just made the easiest party food ever. Feeding a crowd can sometimes be tricky and time-consuming, but this frozen meatball hack makes sliders a super-easy meal to make no matter how many mouths you have to feed.

When you don't have a lot of time or energy, but you need to get dinner on the table, a casserole can almost always do the trick. Generally speaking, you just have to combine a few ingredients in a baking dish and then put it in the oven, waiting until it bubbles before serving. But when even the idea of chopping up chicken breast or browning ground beef sounds like too much work, you can use frozen meatballs as a base for your casserole. Because they require no prep work, they make the simplest of dishes even simpler.

There are recipes for meatball casseroles out there, with many of them prominently featuring pasta. However, you can use meatballs in lots of different casseroles. Skip the sausage and use meatballs for a breakfast casserole, or take a chicken and rice bake in a whole new direction by using frozen meatballs in place of the chicken. You might just be surprised with how creative you can get when you start adding meatballs to your favorite casserole recipes.

Yes, spaghetti and meatballs may be the classic pasta dish that you might think to include frozen meatballs in, but that doesn't mean meatballs can't play a role with other pasta shapes. If you're looking for a particularly interesting twist on a meatball and pasta dish, try stuffing jumbo pasta shells with frozen meatballs. It's a really fun way to eat pasta, and it really makes those meatballs the star of the show as they peek out from inside the shells.

You'll want to use plenty of sauce in this recipe, of course, since it helps to hydrate the meatballs so they don't dry out. You can use marinara for a more classic flavor profile, or you can switch it up with an Alfredo or even vodka sauce if you want the dish to be creamier. Of course, make sure you pile plenty of cheese on top for maximum deliciousness.

One of our favorite quick dinner hacks? Adding some jarred curry sauce to protein and veggies in a pan, then serving it all with rice or bread. It gets dinner on the table quickly, and it's easy to switch up the ingredients according to your preferences that night. Tofu, chicken, and beef are some of our favorite proteins to use, but if you want to keep things as simple as possible, you can even use frozen meatballs in their place. The meatballs soak up all those flavors nicely, and the sauce helps them stay moist. And because meatballs tend to have a pretty neutral flavor to them, you can utilize them in basically any kind of curry.

Technically, you don't have to use a jarred curry if you don't want to. When you want a fresher taste, go ahead and make your curry sauce from scratch. That's going to make those meatballs even more flavorful. Just don't forget to add some veggies to the mix for a complete and satisfying meal.

Who doesn't love French onion soup? It's one of the most decadent soups we've ever tried, thanks to those sweet caramelized onions, dark, rich broth, and heaps of cheese to finish it off. But despite its richness and heartiness, a lot of people still consider it an appetizer, not a main course, perhaps because of its lack of meat. While we don't think that you need meat to make for an excellent meal, adding some frozen meatballs to your French onion soup is a great way to bulk it up and make it more filling. Beyond that, you'll also infuse the meatballs with all those intense, decadent flavors for which French onion soup is known.

If you really want to focus on the meatballs more than the soup as a whole, you can pull back on the amount of broth you use. This will concentrate those strong flavors more and turn the dish from a soup into more of a thick stew. That way, you don't have to fish around your bowl just to find a meatball. However, your French onion meatballs will be delicious regardless of how much broth you decide to use in the dish.