Big Batch Meatballs & Meatloaf

When quarantine started we went to Smartfoods and purchased a 5 lb. roll of frozen ground beef and a 5 lb. roll of frozen Italian sausage.  Fast forward to yesterday.  We thawed them both in the fridge and used them to prepare a large batch of meatballs, meatloaf, taco meat and still froze 3- 1 lb. chunks of the Italian Sausage.  Prep time for all was less than one hour.

Meatballs/Meatloaf. . . essentially the same recipe just in different proportions.   The quality of the beef and Italian sausage will cause variations in taste.  The better the Italian sausage the better the flavor.  Depending on the seasoning in the sausage, I might also add 1 Tbsp.  dried Italian seasoning, tabasco. . .etc. . . same with the meatloaf.

Meatballs:

2 lbs ground beef
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 large onion, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4-1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt  (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp. pepper (adjust to taste)
1 cup to 2 cups Panko bread crumbs.  (I eyeball this so my measurements aren't exact)
2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix well with fingers.  If the meat mixture is too dry, add a bit of milk to help the meat balls hold together.
Form into meatballs, as uniform as possible.  Place in large pan or cookie sheets.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Divide into batches and freeze.



Meatloaf:
(I doubled this for an extra large meat loaf so we had enough for a second meal.)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground Italian Sausage
1 medium onion finely diced
1 cup Panko bread crumbs.
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix well with fingers
Form into loaf.  Place in center of pan
Bake for 1 1/4 hour to 1 1/2 hour or until center of meat loaf is up to temperature.