Saturday, January 8, 2011

Pizza burgers for the freezer

A couple times each year I make pizza burgers, a DH favorite, for the freezer.  They're quick to put together and I usually double or triple the recipe because they're very handy to have for a quick lunch at home or for DH's lunch bag.  This week I put together 4 dozen pizza burgers but only 45 made it into the freezer. 

We all needed lunch and they were so handy...

I thought I'd posted about these OAMC staples several years ago but when I told a friend the recipe was on my blog, she couldn't find it.  I couldn't either.  So here it is.

Pizza Burgers

1 pound lean ground beef or venison
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 quart spaghetti sauce, or substitute pizza sauce
3 ounces pepperoni sausage, finely chopped (optional)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
18 regular hamburger buns

Brown meat with onion in a large skillet.  Drain, if necessary.  Stir in spaghetti or pizza sauce, chopped pepperoni and cheese.  Fill the buns with meat mixture. 

Wrap each bun for the freezer.  Originally I used aluminum foil but DH has to use a microwave when he takes these to work so I now wrap the burgers in wax paper.  I fold the paper in what's called a drugstore wrap.

To freeze for later: Put the wrapped buns in a plastic bag and freeze. If I'm using store-bought buns, I re-use the plastic bag they come in but any bag that will hold the buns close together so they don't tumble around is good.

If desired, thaw the buns, still wrapped, for no more than 1 hour before re-heating.  Bake foil-wrapped buns at 350ºF. for 15-20 min. or microwave wax paper-wrapped buns for 45 seconds to heat through.

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