If you're looking for a quick and easy start to a meal, you HAVE to try these air fryer frozen meatballs. Ready in just 13 minutes, they are perfectly cooked and ready to be used in your favorite dishes. OR you can toss them with your favorite sauce for a delicious glazed meatball that works for either an appetizer or a main dish.
One of my favorite easy meal starters is a bag of frozen meatballs! They cook up really quickly, and are a family favorite when served up with some sauce and some rice or pasta on the side.
These air fryer frozen meatballs have to be the EASIEST way to prepare frozen meatballs EVER. They are added to the basket of an air fryer and cook for just 10-13 minutes, and then they are ready to go! You can either serve them as an appetizer (think tossed with grape jelly and served with toothpicks) or as an easy weeknight meal idea.
We love ours tossed with some sweet and sour sauce, garnished with sesame seeds and served over a bowl of hot cooked rice (the Instant Pot method for white rice is my favorite). Another easy way to prepare them is tossing them with marinara and serve over cooked spaghetti noodles. Top with a little parmesan cheese and you'll have instant spaghetti and meatballs!
You Will Need:
- Frozen meatballs: You can use your favorite brand, or even homemade precooked meatballs that you have frozen for meal prep. I really like the ones from Costco, because they are a great size and a great price!
- Sauce of choice: If you don't have plans for adding your cooked meatballs to a prepared dish, you may be wondering how to serve them. I like to toss them with some sauce and serve over rice, or as-is with some steamed veggies on the side. Check out the list of suggestions below for some sauce inspiration!
- Air fryer: Of course you'll need an air fryer! I'm using my Ninja basket air fryer, but you can use an oven style one if you want. You'll just need to add 1-2 minutes onto the cook time.
How to Make Frozen Meatballs in an Air Fryer
How to Cook Precooked Frozen Meatballs in an Air Fryer:
- Preheat the air fryer to 350ºF/177ºC.
- Add the frozen precooked meatballs in a single layer in the basket of your air fryer, leaving some space in between them.
- Cook for 10-13 minutes, or until browned and heated through. Shake the basket halfway through to ensure even browning and cooking.
- Remove the meatballs and serve as is, or serve with your favorite sauce.
Adding Sauce
While you can serve the meatballs as-is, OR add to your favorite meals, adding a sauce of your choice can add BIG flavor without a lot of extra work. In fact, it only took an additional minute to warm up some store bought sweet and sour sauce to add to these perfectly cooked meatballs in the air fryer.
- Add your choice of sauce to a medium sized bowl.
- Microwave for 30 seconds - 1 minute, or until hot.
- Add the cooked meatballs and toss to combine.
- Garnish with sesame seeds, parsley, parmesan cheese, or any toppings of your choice.
- Serve as is, or with a side of cooked rice or pasta.
Best Sauces for Serving with Frozen Meatballs
- Marinara
- Sweet and sour
- Teriyaki
- Barbecue
- Honey Garlic
- Gravy
- Buffalo
- Grape jelly
Dinner Ideas Using Cooked Meatballs
- Meatball parmesan: Top with warmed marinara sauce, then shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Garnish with parsley.
- Swedish meatballs: Toss with a creamy gravy and serve with mashed potatoes. This recipe from The Recipe Critic looks amazing!
- Meatball subs: Toss the cooked meatballs with hot marinara sauce and fill sub buns with the marinara and meatballs. Top with shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese and broil for 1-2 minutes to toast the bread and melt the cheese.
- Sweet and sour meatballs: Toss the cooked meatballs with hot sweet and sour sauce, garnish with sesame seeds and serve over hot cooked rice.
- Barbecue meatballs: Toss with warmed BBQ sauce and serve over rice or in toasted sub buns.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Meatballs can easily be cooked from frozen in the air fryer. Just make sure they are added to a preheated basket, and they cook to an internal temperature of 165ºF. At 350ºF they should cook within 10-13 minutes, although toaster oven models will take a bit longer to cook.
Yes! Most brands of frozen meatballs are designed to be cooked from frozen, and they actually tend to cook better versus thawing them. Cooking from frozen helps ensure that they don't burn and lose moisture, since their frozen state slows down the cooking process.
If you are cooking your meatballs in a basket style air fryer at 350ºF, your meatballs should be ready in 10-13 minutes. Oven style models will need 1-2 minutes more time to cook. Once the meatballs have cooked through and have browned evenly, remove them from the air fryer and toss with your favorite sauce (if desired) and serve.
More Easy Air Fryer Dinner Ideas
- Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Tenders
- Air Fryer Ham and Cheese Sliders
- Air Fryer Sausage and Peppers
- Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas
- Air Fryer Chicken Breasts - Well Plated
Air Fryer Frozen Meatballs
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 350ºF/177ºC.
- Add the frozen precooked meatballs in a single layer in the basket of your air fryer, leaving some space in between them. You may need to work in batches if you don't have enough room to do this.
- Cook for 10-13 minutes, or until browned and heated through. Shake the basket halfway through to ensure even browning and cooking.
- Remove the meatballs and serve as is, or serve with your favorite sauce.
- To glaze with sauce: Warm 1 cup of your favorite sauce in a medium sized bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add the meatballs to the sauce and toss to coat. Serve with rice, pasta, or with a side of steamed vegetables.
Video
Notes
- Marinara
- Sweet and sour
- Teriyaki
- Barbecue
- Honey Garlic
- Gravy
- Buffalo
- Grape jelly
Nutrition
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Steve says
This recipe for meatballs in the air fryer was really easy. It's already getting hot here, and so I didn't want to make them in the oven. I think I'll be making them in the air fryer from now on!
Dexter says
Turned out great! But made meatball sub instead, with green peppers,onions, spicy marina sauce And provolone .
Dolly {Dash for Dinner} says
Sounds delicious!