A step-by-step recipe on how to freeze meatballs for soup and stew: selection of products and cooking technology. Video recipes.
Meatballs are a delicious and nutritious addition to soups or vegetable stews. Ready-made meat balls can be bought by weight in the supermarket, but many housewives consider such semi-finished products to be of low quality and prefer to cook them at home. Some people twist koloboks directly during the preparation of the hottest dish, without thinking whether it is possible to freeze meatballs for future use. Others are harvested several weeks in advance by placing them in the freezer.
If you freeze minced meatballs for soup or stew, then such a semi-finished product can be stored for up to 2 months if the temperature in the freezer is not higher than -18 degrees, and the packaging ensures tightness.
Procurement of such a product allows not only to preserve the taste and benefits of meat, but also to save a lot of time during daily cooking and leave more time for communication with the family.
The recipe for frozen meatballs for hot dishes involves the use of any quality meat - fatty pork, chicken, or diet beef. And for fish soup, balls of minced fish are usually prepared. In addition, the list of ingredients includes an egg, because it ensures the stability of the shape during cooking. Spices play an important role in ensuring a rich taste. The number of ingredients depends on how much of the blank is planned to be used in the next two months.
Next, we will describe in detail how to freeze the meatballs so that they do not stick together, for soup and stews.
See also making soup dressing for the winter.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 78 kcal.
- Servings - 6
- Cooking time - 20 minutes cooking, 8 hours freezing
Ingredients:
- Pork - 500 g
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper - 1/2 tsp
- Semolina - 4-5 tbsp.
- Egg - 1 pc.
Step by step preparation of frozen meatballs for soup and stew
1. Make minced meat before freezing the meatballs for soup and stew. To do this, remove cartilage, bones, pleura and excess fat from the meat, cut into small pieces and grind in a meat grinder. If a blender is used for chopping, then the pieces are immediately slightly frozen in the freezer.
2. Drive a chicken egg into the resulting mass. The protein ensures the stability of the shape, and the yolk is a source of nutrients.
3. Then add salt and your favorite spices. The choice of flavors depends on personal preference and combinations with products. You can use ready-made mixtures suitable for a particular type of minced meat.
4. Next, we will talk about how to freeze meatballs for soup or stew so that they do not fall apart during cooking. The use of semolina allows to provide a stable shape during heat treatment. Pour in a small amount of this ingredient and begin to knead the meat mass. Semolina not only ensures the sticking of the minced meat, but also serves as a filler, increases the calorie content of the dish, allowing the body to quickly fill up with lunch and get a boost of energy.
5. When the mass becomes homogeneous, leave it for 10-20 minutes under a lid or plastic wrap. So the ingredients are saturated with the taste and aroma of each other, and the semolina will absorb some moisture and swell slightly.
6. Wet palms in clean water and start forming koloboks. It is desirable that they are the same size. You can divide into portions by eye or use a kitchen scale for this. The size of the meatballs is usually small, so for each, it is enough to separate 20-30 g of minced meat. The usual shape of such a blank is balls, but you can always deviate from the accepted rules and make the meatballs square using an ice mold.
7. Before freezing meatballs for soup and stews in a bag or container, you need to pre-freeze the balls to prevent them from sticking together. To do this, prepare a tray or a wide flat plate, pour a little flour on top or lay out parchment paper in one layer. After that, we proceed to laying out the resulting meatballs. They need to be placed at a short distance from each other.
8. Insert the dish with the preparation into the freezer and leave for 2-4 hours. The small size of the meatballs allows them to freeze quickly enough. After that, we place each ball in a storage bag or in a convenient container under the lid. It is important that the container is hermetically sealed and the product does not dry out. This will preserve flavor and texture.
9. The simple recipe frozen meatballs for soup or stew are ready! Now they can be obtained at any convenient time and used for their intended purpose: add to liquid hot dishes or stews, as well as stew in a sauce in a pan and serve with your favorite side dish.
See also video recipes:
1. Freezing meatballs
2. Freezing of semi-finished meat products
