Sheet Pan Meatball & Pepper Subs
Sheet Pan Meatball & Pepper Subs proves that roasting a sheet pan meal in the oven can still be moist and flavorful! Sheet pan dinners are such easy meals - they make for easy weeknight freezer meals too.
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Who says sheet pan dinners can't be a little saucy?
Probably the biggest complaint I've heard about sheet pan dinners (and had through my own experience cooking them) was that the meal turned out dry. And, of course that's a possibility - you're literally roasting the moisture out of your meal! But, as it turns out, it's super easy to combat that.
I've found that, if you roast the solid ingredients down to really concentrate their flavor and add in any wet ingredients after cooking, you can capture the best of both worlds. That's exactly what I did with this Sheet Pan Meatball & Pepper Subs recipe. You simply roast the veggies and meatballs in the oven and add in your sauce at the very end to get a super flavorful, savory, but not over-dry sub filling that's incredibly tasty.
This one was super easy to throw together for the freezer. You simply have to chop up a few veggies and assemble - really no meat prep needed! The flavors are so rich when you roast this too - this is definitely the way to go when prepping any kind of peppers, onions, or even tomatoes.
Here's how this sheet pan dinners series works...
A few summers ago, I shared a collection of sheet pan meals. The week after I share the last one, I posted a full freezer meal boot camp with all of these meals and more - prep them all in one day for weeks of easy dinners!
- Part 1 (Sheet Pan Beef and Broccoli) can be found here.
- Part 2 (Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas) can be found here.
- Part 3 (Sheet Pan Rainbow Beef) can be found here.
- Part 4 (Sheet Pan Sausage, Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, & Onions) can be found here.
- Part 6 (Sheet Pan Shrimp & Sausage Boil) can be found here.
- Part 7 (Sheet Pan Balsamic Beef & Brussels Sprouts) can be found here.
- Part 8 (Sheet Pan Barbecue Chicken & Sweet Potatoes) can be found here.
- Part 9 (Sheet Pan Greek Chicken) can be found here.
- Part 10 (Sheet Pan Pork Tenderloin) can be found here.
A few simple tips...
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- Aluminum foil is your friend! I line my cookie sheets in aluminum foil before putting the meal on to cook each time. Makes clean-up a breeze. I also recommend lightly spraying your aluminum foil with a non-stick spray before adding the meal.
- Aluminum foil is also helpful to guard against drips in your oven. Most of these frozen meals will be melting off a good bit of condensation when cooking - that can sometimes make for a messy oven (and lots of smoke). To prevent this, use a baking sheet with a ½-1" lip around the edge. If you don't have that, fold the edges of your aluminum foil up to make a lip - that helps!
- These bag openers are a must-have for prepping these freezer meals. It holds your freezer bag open to make meal assembly so much easier. I normally freeze my meals in these containers for Instant Pot meals, but for storage purposes, gallon freezer bags were my choice for this boot camp - it makes freezer storage much easier.
- I normally try to put my freezer meals in the fridge the morning of serve day to allow for a little bit of thawing. This allows any ingredients frozen together to break apart and for the meal to cook evenly. If you choose not to do this (and are cooking the meal straight from your freezer), I'd recommend adding 15-20 minutes to your cook time - definitely keep an eye on your meal once the recommend cook time below is over.
Sheet Pan Meatball & Pepper Subs
Ingredient List 1: If freezing these sheet pan dinners, put the following in your freezer bag:
- 16oz bag Italian-style frozen meatballs
- 5 roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoon salt
(Don’t forget to label your meal – here’s a free printable for that!)
Ingredients Needed For Serve Day:
- 8oz tomato sauce
- 8oz pack sliced provolone cheese
- 1 pack hoagie buns
- 1 box pasta salad mix (plus ingredients to prepare)
(If Prepping From Frozen) On Serve Day…
- Allow your meal to gently thaw in the fridge for 6-8 hours before cooking (if skipping this step, add 15-20 supervised minutes to the cooking time).
- Line your sheet pan with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.
- Place meal (in a single layer) on lined cookie sheet. Spread as thinly as possible.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
- While meal cooks, prep pasta salad according to package directions.
- Place sheet pan meal in a bowl and pour tomato sauce over; stir well.
- Serve meatball mixture on buns topped with provolone cheese.
(If Prepping From Fresh) On Serve Day…
- Line your sheet pan with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.
- Place meal (in a single layer) on lined cookie sheet. Spread as thinly as possible.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes.
- While meal cooks, prep pasta salad according to package directions.
- Place sheet pan meal in a bowl and pour tomato sauce over; stir well.
- Serve meatball mixture on buns topped with provolone cheese.
You can also download a recipe card for this meal here.
