Working women have no time to cook dinner on weekdays, so experienced housewives stock up on semi-finished products of their own production. One of the options fast food- fried frozen meatballs.
When not to freeze
Consume fresh better meals from purchased stuffing. If the meat base was frozen before being sold, it lost part useful substances. Cutlets from such minced meat, once in the freezer, will turn into a hearty dish, but devoid of all vitamins and minerals.
Fried semi-finished products with garlic cannot stand sub-zero temperatures. After defrosting, such cutlets taste like cotton wool.
Staged freezing
- Form future semi-finished products from minced meat with onions and seasonings.
- Fry for 5-8 minutes until golden brown.
- Transfer to a napkin. It absorbs excess fat, and then the cutlets will be less high-calorie.
- Freeze the workpiece on a wooden board. It is recommended to sprinkle the cutlets with flour so that they do not stick together and do not lose their shape.
- Put only chilled semi-finished products in the freezer.
- Wait 3-4 hours, and transfer the hardened cutlets into plastic bags or plastic containers.
- Paste stickers with the date, return to the freezer.
Take out as needed, but store no more than 2 months. Heat up in a skillet or microwave.
At the present time, the food industry offers enough new technologies to make life much easier for modern housewives. However, many doubt the quality of finished store products. And even more distrust arises towards semi-finished products. Agree, 1 kg of frozen cutlets cannot cost less than 1 kg of meat. but semi-finished meat products often cost 2 or 3 times cheaper than the main ingredient.
At such moments, you think about preparing your own semi-finished products. Today we will tell you how to freeze homemade.
How to freeze meatballs
Homemade cutlets can be frozen in completely different ways. Many people prefer to cook semi-finished products, while others freeze a completely finished product. Each of the options has a place to exist. Therefore, choose the one that is more preferable for you.
Freezing raw meatballs
Make out raw minced meat cutlets in the usual way. Next, cover the refrigerator tray (special flat box) or cutting board with cling film. Spread the cutlets on the film and send to freeze. When the patties are frozen, they easily peel off the film and can be transferred to ordinary bags so that they do not take up much space in the freezer.
It should be borne in mind that the temperature in the freezer at the time of the initial freezing should be as low as possible. When the cutlets are frozen, the temperature of the freezer can again be set to medium values.
Meatballs do not need to be thawed before cooking. It is enough to roll frozen cutlets in any breading and fry in the usual way or cook for a couple.
Freezing fried meatballs
Some housewives prefer to fry raw meatballs before subsequent freezing. In this case, the formed cutlets should be rolled in breading and quickly fried in oil.
Fry cutlets on both sides until golden brown. After that, remove the cutlets from the pan and place in Plastic container. Wait for the cutlets to cool completely, close the container with a lid and put it in the freezer. Subsequently, you can quickly bring such cutlets to readiness in a pan, oven or.
Can be frozen completely ready cutlets. To do this, roll the cutlets formed from minced meat in breading, fry on both sides over high heat. Then pour a little water, cover the cutlets with a lid and bring to readiness over low heat. Cool the cutlets, place them in a container and freeze.
When the cutlets are needed, it is enough to defrost them in the microwave, in a pan or in the oven, and they will be ready to eat. This will take you just a few minutes.
Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: Not specified
The modern rhythm of life does not always leave much time for cooking. An excellent way out of the situation will be homemade semi-finished products that can be prepared for future use. It is very convenient to stick and freeze them in advance, and then take them out of the freezer at any time and cook them. quick dinner in just 15-20 minutes. In addition, home-made frozen cutlets are much tastier and healthier than store-bought ones, the composition of which often leaves much to be desired. How to freeze cutlets at home will tell our recipe with step by step photos.
Ingredients:
- minced beef and pork - 500 g;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- garlic - 1-2 teeth;
- salt - 0.5 tsp;
- vegetable oil - 2 tsp;
- loaf - 2 slices;
- water or milk - 100 ml.
Recipe with photo step by step:
It is advisable to cook minced meat for cutlet semi-finished products yourself. To do this, we take pork and beef in a ratio of 1: 1, cut the meat into large pieces and twist it in a meat grinder. If the meat is not very fatty, you can add a small piece of bacon without the skin.
In a separate container, soak the bread crumb in water or milk. To make the pieces of loaf absorb moisture faster, cut them into large cubes.
We clean the onion from the husk and finely chop with a knife. It can be scrolled in a meat grinder along with meat, but it turns out tastier when chopped. Pass the peeled garlic clove through a press.
In the meantime, our bun has already softened. We knead it with our hands and add it to the minced meat along with the water / milk in which it was soaked.
Salt and pepper minced meat. Pour in a little vegetable oil (refined), which will make our semi-finished product especially juicy. We do not add eggs to minced meat, as they give the cutlets rigidity, besides, the semi-finished product is fried frozen and keeps its shape perfectly. If you still want to add eggs, take only the yolks, without proteins.
Mix the minced meat well with your hands and let it stand for 20 minutes at room temperature so that all the ingredients "make friends" with each other.
After the specified time, mix everything again and form cutlets (1 tbsp minced meat per 1 piece). We take a large cutting board, put a plastic bag on it and put the formed cutlets on top. Sprinkle with flour or anything else is not necessary, cutlets do not stick to the bag.
We send the semi-finished product to the freezer for 2-3 hours. Then we take it out and with one movement of the hand we turn the bag inside out so that the cutlets are inside it and the board is released.
We tie the package and send home semi-finished product for storage in the freezer.
Frozen meatballs do not need to be thawed to cook. We take out a few pieces and put them in a pan with preheated vegetable oil. Cover the pan with a lid and fry the cutlets on the smallest fire for 8-10 minutes on each side.
Very convenient, isn't it? We prepare a side dish according to our desire and the availability of products, for example, or boiled rice, and dinner is ready. The shelf life of homemade semi-finished products is up to 6 months.
One of the most simple ways freezing raw meatballs is freezing in silicone molds for muffins. So that when freezing cutlets do not stick together and do not stick to the package, it is necessary to bread them, best of all in breadcrumbs.
With wet hands, we form cutlets, bread and lay out in molds. The form does not need to be lubricated beforehand. In this form, put the cutlets in the freezer, and when they freeze, pour them into a bag or container.
Another convenient way to freeze cutlets is to lay them out on a plastic board or flat surface at a distance from each other. To prevent the patties from winding, cover them with cling film. If there are a lot of cutlets, it is better not to put the boards on top of each other so that the cutlets do not flatten out, but let the cutlets on the first board freeze slightly, at least 15 minutes, and keep the rest of the cutlets in the refrigerator, then put the next board on the first one, etc.
If there is not enough space in the freezer to put a large board there, you can stack the cutlets on top of each other, shifting with cling film. Then put this design in the freezer. The film can be lightly sprinkled with breadcrumbs.
Such a "sausage" can be made from raw breaded cutlets, or from those that are already frozen using any of the previous methods. So cutlets are more convenient to store and easy to take the required amount.
Do not forget to stick a sticker or put a leaflet indicating the date of freezing. You can specify the composition, for example, cutlets from pork, fish, cutlets for baby food etc., especially if there are several types of cutlets in the freezer at the same time. The leaf should be inserted between two layers of cling film so that it does not get wet.
You can freeze not only raw cutlets, but also ready-made, or cutlets that are fried, but require further heat treatment. They can be frozen by any of the previous methods, except for freezing in silicone molds. And then put in a container with a lid. Don't forget to attach the label. Here it is necessary to indicate whether the cutlets are fully cooked or not. I point out, for example, that they are fried.
Are there days when there is no time or desire to stand at the stove? Prepare for them ahead of time!
If you have looked at something interesting on our website, but are not sure that you have enough time for it, reconsider your attitude to the kitchen! We do not encourage you to leave the stove and take up cross-stitching or soap making. We want to teach you how to save your time and use it more rationally by freezing ready meals.
What can be stored in the freezer
We have already written about the fact that fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, tomatoes for pizza and much more can be frozen for the winter, and the fact that it is a huge success during the harvesting season suggests that our readers always have useful blanks!
But did you know that you can freeze not only vegetable products, semi-finished products, dumplings and dumplings? It is much more economical in terms of time to freeze ready-to-eat dishes that only need to be reheated and served. For heating, it is best to use a microwave - one of the most household appliances in the house.
Take advantage of these basic recipes and start experimenting with your favorite snacks!
How to freeze chicken
About whether it can be frozen fried chicken, every third hostess thinks, but only every fifth decides to experiment! In fact, chicken cooked in the oven or according to the principle of tapaka chicken tolerates freezing well and practically does not lose any taste or texture quality.
After defrosting, the chicken completely retains its shape, the skin remains in the same place, the color does not change. Checked! If you are afraid, try freezing a small piece, such as a wing or a leg!
You can cook chicken on a free day, and it is much more convenient to bake several carcasses at once, this will save time, since you will have to wash the dishes and the oven once. Cool the finished chicken well at room temperature, then wrap it with cling film so that less air gets into the package, and send the snack to the refrigerator. With an unexpected visit of guests or just when there is no desire to cook, reheat, cook for a side dish and enjoy!
Cutlets and meatballs - a quick dinner
When preparing cutlets, meatballs or other minced meat dishes for lunch, cook them in double volume. In terms of time costs, you will lose practically nothing, well, maybe an extra half hour will be spent on frying cutlets. But then, when there is no time to cook dinner, these blanks will definitely help you out.
Cutlets look no less appetizing fresh
Meat cutlets for freezing are best cooled and wrapped in a film for 2-4 pieces. Meatballs can be frozen directly in tomato sauce by placing them in a portioned plastic container that can withstand both low and high temperatures. You can also freeze fried pieces of meat in sauce and without, chops, including lazy ones, stuffed pepper and pigeons.
Freezing dumplings and dumplings
Now a little about how to properly freeze dumplings and dumplings. Dough products intended for cooking are best frozen raw. Always arrange dumplings in a single layer on a dish, trays or heavy cardboard.
You can cook homemade dumplings not only on the stove, but also in a slow cooker. This will save a lot of time. They are also convenient to use for quick soups or for hot appetizer in serving pots.
Dumplings in dumplings should be laid in one layer
Soup preparations
In order not to waste time preparing frying for soup, make several blanks at once. Fry onions, carrots, mushrooms, other vegetables that you like to add to broths and freeze them all in small portions in plastic bags or plastic cups. Glasses will then need to be wrapped with a film to prevent air from entering.
With the same success, you can freeze broths, which, for example, remain after boiling meat or chicken for salad. Plastic bottles and containers are suitable for this purpose.
The broth can be frozen in bags
Basis for pilaf and julienne
If you fry meat in pieces, onions and grated carrots, and then freeze this mixture, then it will take a few minutes to cook pilaf. You will only need to defrost the base, heat the meat and vegetables in a cauldron, add washed rice there, pour boiling water and wait until the dish is cooked!
For a quick julienne, prepare mushrooms with onions. You can also add fried chicken or boiled mussels here. At the right time, heat everything in the microwave and act according to one of the. By the way, fried mushrooms can be added to potatoes or rice.
How to freeze a cake
Freezing is tolerated by many desserts, but the best indicators are honey cake, which can be prepared even or from ready-made cakes sold in shops. The main thing is to use an oil-based cream for the layer, not sour cream. The cake (or pieces thereof) should be wrapped in cling film before being placed in the freezer, and it must be thawed in the refrigerator, taking it out a few hours before use.
The cake can be served with coffee made from frozen cubes. Just brew a fragrant drink in a higher concentration, and then pour boiling water over it. But it’s better, of course, not to be lazy, but to cook fresh!
The cake can be frozen whole or in portions.
Ready-made pancakes with and without filling, fried and baked pies and pies, pizza, plain biscuits, bread. You can still endlessly list dishes that easily withstand freezing and do not lose their properties.
We are confident that our readers, being enthusiastic women, will not be afraid of experiments, try new things and share their tips with us and other housewives in the comments.
