Can You Freeze Spaghetti And Meatballs?
Quick Answer
Yes, you can freeze spaghetti and meatballs for up to 6 months. To do this effectively:
- Cool the dish to room temperature.
- Transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag, ensuring to leave headspace for expansion.
- Seal tightly, label, and freeze.
Read on for more detail
Spaghetti and meatballs is a classic homemade meal that you just can’t beat. There’s just something about that savory, flavorful sauce and giant meatball mixed with pasta. It’s just delicious and there are so many different ways to serve it and enjoy it!
We like to serve our spaghetti and meatballs with a side of garlic bread and a topping of finely shredded mozzarella cheese. It’s the perfect comfort meal and it always spreads to feed plenty of people.
But since we tend to get a little over-eager when making pasta, it seems like we always have tons of leftovers when we make it!
Can you freeze spaghetti and meatballs? Yes, you can freeze spaghetti and meatballs for up to 6 months. All parts of this dish freeze quite well. The process is simple; you just need quality storage containers to keep your food well protected in the freezer.
In this guide, we will share with you how to freeze spaghetti and meatballs, from start to finish. We have also included a few helpful hints along the way.
Rest assured, this is one of the easier freezing processes you will ever come across! Keep reading to learn how to freeze spaghetti and meatballs.
How to Freeze Spaghetti and Meatballs
The biggest thing that varies from recipe to recipe is the size of the meatballs. Some people like a bite-sized meatball while others make prefer an extra-large meatball that dominates the whole plate.
This doesn’t necessarily affect the freezing process although you may find that you need to cut your meatballs in smaller chunks if they are very large.
Still, our process for freezing spaghetti and meatballs is super easy!
Here is a quick tip for you: If you are making spaghetti and meatballs and knowingly going to freeze them, you could leave the spaghetti noodles slightly undercooked. This just makes them freeze slightly better.
But, if you’re serving spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and just need an option for the leftovers, no worries! You can still freeze them and things will turn out just fine!
Here are our steps for freezing spaghetti and meatballs:
- Allow the spaghetti and meatballs to cool to room temperature.
- If your meatballs are extra-large, you may want to cut them in half to get the most out of your storage space. But this is optional.
- Spoon the spaghetti and meatballs, sauce and all, into either a freezer-safe container or a heavy-duty freezer bag. We recommend a freezer bag just because it saves on storage space and you won’t have to worry about the spaghetti staining your dish! Be sure to leave about an inch of headspace at the top for the sauce to expand.
- Remove as much excess air as possible and seal up your packaging.
- Label and date your packaging to keep track of what it is and how long it’s been in the freezer.
- Freeze spaghetti and meatballs in this manner for up to 6 months.
See how simple that process was? You really can’t go wrong with it, no matter how your dish was made in the beginning. This process should work pretty standardly across the board.
When you’re ready to use it, let it thaw out and then either bake it and top it with some shredded cheese or reheat it in a pot on the stove.
You may find that you need to add a bit more sauce or even just a touch of water so it isn’t dry. You can take a look and determine what you need when you are ready to heat it and serve it.
Related Questions
We hope that you find this guide to freezing spaghetti and meatballs to be a helpful and informative source for your process. It’s pretty easy, right?
We invite you to review our question and answer guide for some additional information that may be helpful to you.
Can You Freeze Spaghetti Noodles by Themselves?
Yes, you certainly can! The pasta by itself will typically be best in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you are preparing it just to freeze, leave it slightly undercooked. You will boil it again when you’re ready to use it.
Should I Package the Spaghetti and the Sauce Separately?
If you kept them separated while preparing and serving you can absolutely keep them separated to freeze.
Your processes will be pretty similar overall to what we shared in the guide. If you mixed them together, it’s perfectly acceptable to also freeze them together and you shouldn’t have any issues.