Well....yes...home made is always better...but.
What kind of gravy?

I had in mind a creamy beef based gravy.

I normally wouldn't take the premade route, I always try to do everything from scratch, but I have a recent significant injury resulting in 2 hip replacements and a steel plate the length of my femur. This has led to a back problem, so I am unable to stand for any length of time and tire easily.

You don't have to explain why you are using pre-made meatballs, Louise. There is nothing wrong with using frozen meatballs or anything else for that matter. And don't let unkind/snide comments bother you.

IME, if the gravy is good enough, you can get away with serving meatballs made out of dog food with it :-) Go for it!!

Not sure what a creamy beef based gravy is...

Cream (milk) gravy or Beef-broth gravy?

I'm never eaten Italian sausage in a gravy but, to be honest, neither 'sound' good to me. Which isn't to say that I might not be pleasantly surprised.

The Kirkland brand frozen meatballs are actually pretty good, as far as frozen meatballs go. They will be fine in any sauce you choose. I actually really like frozen meatballs in Swedish meatball-type sauce (basically a beef gravy enriched with sour cream or heavy cream) - for some reason their very fine-grained texture just works well in that sauce.

Given you asked the question you must want an honest opinion. Not sure why anyone would consider that unkind.

Not sure Italian style meatballs and a Swedish style gravy would work well. Would not be my choice. ......and my opinion has zero to do with the fact they are frozen.

Oops, I missed in the first post that they are the Italian style meatballs (Kirkland makes some that are not Italian as well). They'll probably still taste fine in a creamy beef gravy, just not quite like a traditional Swedish meatball.

There is very little difference in the recipes of Swedish versus Italian meatballs. Primarily just the seasonings....Swedish uses nutmeg; Italian has Italian seasonings. And maybe includes ground pork or Italian sausage as part of the mix, but not always.

I can't imagine most folks would be able to tell the difference between the two if they were covered with the same gravy..........

I have used frozen Italian meatballs in non-Italian dishes and they were fine -- they are not that highly seasoned nor as "Italian" as the ones I make myself.

I make my beef roasts heavily seasoned with "Italian" herbs and garlic and are served with beef gravy. (Leftovers are thinly sliced for Italian beef sandwiches) I have never had anyone say no to the meal! Therefore, I see no reason you cannot use the meatballs. Some of the seasoning will probably meld with the gravy and be very good.

I am hoping that you will feel pain free very soon!

Since you're talking about June, I'm assuming these are for company? If so, and if you haven't eaten these frozen meatballs before, I suggest you try a couple of the meatballs ahead of time (suck all the air out of the bag before resealing so they don't get freezer burnt.

Whether they're prepared foods or scratch, there's a lot of difference between meatballs. Some are fine and some are coarse, some are fluffly and some are dense, some a tender and some are like Superballs, and most importantly some are salty and/or peppery and some are bland as paper.

If you know what they taste like, you can adjust your gravy. Try making a small amount of your gravy to go with, so you get the whole flavor. Adding a peppery gravy to peppery meatballs, for instance, is really bad for company. Also, if there's parmesan asserting its flavor, rather than just lending salt and glue, you might want to make something more like a white sauce/stock/parmesan sauce than a true beef gravy or Swedish. If the meatballs are dense and rubbery, you can simmer them in stock to heat them and they should loosen up some. Etc.

I wouldn't worry about Italian herbs unless they're really pizza-ish tasting. Oregano and thyme, for instance, can go with anything if they're not too heavy. There's no good way to cover up "pizza flavor" that I know of, so it would be better to season the gravy to go with it, if that's what you have. That can be marjoram, anise and/or fennel, but maybe just some garlic and/or onion can pair with it well.

I'm sorry you are going through this, I would order a pizza, but gee whiz, yes, frozen Italian meatballs will be delicious with a gravy.

The only gravy my mother made for her whole life was meat drippings thickened with flour and then 2% milk. Some kitchen bouquet. I knew nothing else until I was in my 20's but it was gobbled up by the family is all I remember.

I'm sorry you've been injured and I hope you're healing well. And that does sound like a very traumatic injury.

We made our meatballs for years. I've made entire roasters full of my SILs Swedish meatballs, sweating bullets trying to make sure mine were all round like hers and not flat sided after browning them.

not sure where the recipe even is now - I can't think of anyone needing a large batch who has made their own meatballs in about a decade, they are all Costco frozen. No one complains.

My youngest SIL organized and made most of the lunch for a friends memorial a few weeks ago. 4 bags Costco meatballs, many jars of premade Alfredo sauce thinned a little. No work - Very few were left.

I've recently sampled Coscto's meatballs and have to say, they're respectable! Pleasantly surprised!

Sure, I'd let them simmer in sauce and serve them if I didn't have time or energy to make homemade.

cynic, I always think you could do a lot worse than store-bought food, depending!

Ever since I discovered Mama Mancini's meatballs I haven't made my own in years. But they're not packaged for large servings. We get two meals from them - one dinner and one lunch.

http://www.mamamancinis.com/products/beef-2-2/

Thanks for the recommendation, Seagrass. There are often times I am not in the mood to make meatballs for 2 of us. And apparently they're sold in my Publix store so I'm good to go.

Janie - I picked up a package today and put in the freezer for a fast, easy meal. I add more (jarred) marinara when I cook them. I like the all beef ones. They have stuffed, turkey, gluten-free, etc. but the beef ones are our favorite. Sometimes they go on sale for 3.99 a package, but today I paid 5.99.

Frozen is not a problem. Pretty much every meatball you get in any restaurant was delivered frozen in a bag to that restaurant, and the food companies have dozens and dozens of variations on them. I use Schwan and Kirkland because they are so much better than mine and so I never roll meatballs any more. I'd not bother pre-mixing them with a sauce (gravy, BBQ, tomato, etc.) since heating them and the sauce separately would be much quicker, the act of saucing them would make freezer burn unimportant, and that gives you more options when you're staring into the freezer desperate to whip up something quick for supper. BBQ meatballs (like sausage chunks in marinara) with huge toothpicks are really good entertainment grazing food.