Rehydrating frozen meatballs?

I’ve got a bag of frozen, pre-made meatballs that I bought some time back to eat with pasta. Unfortunately, I didn’t go through them as quickly as I thought I would, and then I failed to notice that the bag was not sealed properly in my freezer.

Result: My frozen meatballs are now freeze-dried meatballs. Completely dehydrated.

I attempted to “fix” them by putting them in a bowl of water and microwaving them, hoping they’d absorb the water. It worked, somewhat, but they were still a bit “chewy”.

Any better way to fix these things?

marinara sauce

They’re never gonna be as good as they were before being dried out. Freeze-drying permanently alters the protein structures in the meat, so just replacing the lost water isn’t going to un-do that.

They wouldn’t be dangerous to eat, or anything, assuming you’re thawing them properly. Just … not as tasty.

That’s what I was afraid of. The ones I ate were reasonably tasty (I chopped them into smaller pieces before eating); the texture was the main issue.

Probably the best bet. Simmer them on low heat for 20-30 minutes, or just let them fall apart and call it bolognese.

Moderator Action

Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society, our home for meatballs and other food related items.

Hey, who ya callin’ a meatball? I’ll have you know I happen to represent that remark.

ditto

However I use my Swedish meatball sauce.

You could also try simmering them for a while in beef stock, like a batch of your basic herb-ox cubes.

Just chop them up and dump them in a marinara sauce, as suggested. Anything else and the chewiness will be noticeable.

You might also consider making a new batch of meatballs or meat loaf and mixing your (chopped up) old ones in.

However, I usually find that food damaged this much in the freezer doesn’t just have a different texture, but a different flavor. That’s a deal-breaker for me.