Air Fryer Frozen Meatballs

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These air fryer frozen meatballs are delicious, easy, versatile, and ready in just minutes. Serve them as an appetizer or an easy snack, and include them in different recipes for a quick family dinner.

white bowl with small meatballs on a brown kitchen cloth.

The air fryer frozen meatballs make a quick meal for busy weeknights - a quick, tasty, and easy dinner that your entire family will love. They are kid-friendly, the prep time is minimal, and the best part? They are so easy to include in other recipes.

How about serving them with spaghetti and marinara sauce, with rice or (our favorite way) mashed potatoes and a Swedish-style sauce?

meatballs in swedish sauce with peas, a spoon lifting one meatball.

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Recipe ingredients
How to cook frozen meatballs in the air fryer?
Expert Tips
Recipe FAQs
How to serve air-fried meatballs?
More frozen food recipes
Recipe
Air Fryer Frozen Meatballs

Using the air fryer for cooking frozen food is a great idea. You’ve just forgotten to thaw the food or are short on time but still want a delicious meal; frozen food and the air fryer go great together.

Check out one of our most popular recipes Frozen Chicken Breast in the Air Fryer, Frozen Air Fryer Chicken Wings, Air Fryer Frozen Potato Wedges, or Frozen Sweet Potato Fries.

Or try some of our favorite recipes for homemade meatballs: Ground Veal Meatballs, Turkey Meatballs without Breadcrumbs, Romanian Meatballs, Ground Beef Meatballs with Zucchini, or Chicken Meatballs in Creamy Sauce; they can all be cooked in the air fryer as well.

Recipe ingredients

frozen meatballs and a small bowl with cooking oil.

You will only need two ingredients to prepare frozen meatballs in the air fryer – precooked meatballs and a little oil.
You will need one pound of frozen meatballs of your favorite brand and 1-2 teaspoons of oil.
You can coat the balls with different sauces, like barbecue sauce, sweet and sour, teriyaki, or chili sauce if desired.

How to cook frozen meatballs in the air fryer?

Preheat the air fryer to 390°F/ 200°C if required by its instruction manual (check). Mine needs 3 minutes of preheating.
In the meantime, get the meatballs out of the freezer and open the package.
Place them in a single layer of your kitchen gadget basket.
Pour about one teaspoon of oil into the palm of your hand, rub your hands first, and then toss the meatballs to coat them.
Air fry the frozen meatballs for about 10 minutes, flipping them halfway through cooking.
Sauce: Your meatballs are now ready to serve. If you want to cover them with sauce, place them in a bowl, pour about ½ cup of your favorite sauce on top, and toss gently.

collage of two pictures of frozen meatballs in the air fryer basket before and after cooking.

Expert Tips

Never use a nonstick spray in the air fryer; it will damage the basket’s nonstick coating and make it unsafe for cooking.
Don’t overcrowd the basket. The balls should lie in a single layer, and the hot air should be able to circulate between them. If they’re stacked, they will steam instead of frying and not be crispy.

The cook time depends on the size of the meatballs. I had standard-sized ones, and they needed 10 minutes. Mini-meatballs will need less time, so check after 5-6 minutes already. Larger meatballs might need up to 12-13 minutes.
Don’t overcook them, or they will become dry and hard. They should be deeply golden brown, tender on the inside, and crispy on the outside.

Recipe FAQs

Do I need to thaw the meatballs?

No. Just put them in the air fryer straight from the freezer.

How do I know when the meatballs are fully cooked?

Frozen meatballs are already cooked, so you don’t have to worry about that. They only have to be fully heated through before serving. To check, cut one in the middle; it should be really hot inside.

How to store and reheat meatballs?

Refrigerate leftover meatballs in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You can enjoy them straight from the fridge or reheat them before serving.
Reheat them in the air fryer at 400°F/200°C for about 2 minutes.
Or reheat them in a sauce in a small saucepan on the stovetop, for instance, in marinara or sweet and sour sauce.

How to serve air-fried meatballs?

Make spaghetti and meatballs, for instance. Try our marinara sauce or our tomato sauce for meatballs. This Spanish sauce for albondigas is delicious as well.
Cover them with another sauce like BBQ sauce, teriyaki, buffalo, sweet-sour, or sweet chili sauce.
Make our McDonald’s sweet and sour dipping sauce, the spicy sweet chili dip (with baked potato wedges), peri peri sauce, or serve them with a simple mint yogurt sauce.
Make a meatball sandwich, and stuff them into pita bread or wraps.

close up of cripspy small meatballs sprinkled with parsley.

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