Tomorrow’s Food Network episode is one of my favorites so far, for a couple of reasons. One, it chronicles the last day of a week of freezer cooking (cooking and freezing meals and ingredients for later)…and I happen to love freezer cooking. Two, it chronicles an epic supermarket trip my boys and I took, and they really made me laugh that day. They were nutso.
There’ll be recipes and ideas on the show, but I thought I’d list some of my favorite freezer-friendly recipes for you, as well as give little freezer tips here and there. This is by no means comprehensive…I could go on all day!
MY APPROACH
First, my overall approach to freezer cooking: Generally speaking, I do a mix of one-dish meals—things like casseroles, soups, stews, and chilis—but I also like to prepare ingredients up to a certain stage and freeze them so I can grab them and start cooking some of my favorite meals. One of the things that some folks don’t love about freezer cooking is that there are sooooo many casseroles, which can get to be a little old after awhile…but if I have a bunch of individual ingredients prepped and ready to go, not everything has to wind up being in casserole form. (I’ll give you some examples in a minute.)
Also note: When you have a freezer full of food, you can then fill your fridge with salad greens, spinach, and other veggies so you can make a big, healthy salad on the side. Perfect!
MY CONTAINERS
When I do freezer cooking, I almost never freeze things in nice baking dishes or Pyrex pans—primarily because I don’t want to tie them up for such a long time.
I’m an ardent fan of foil baking pans of various sizes: You can buy them in bulk at warehouse clubs, and in most cases you can wash and reuse them a time or two…or, if you’re not in the mood to wash anything, you can just toss them once the food is gone.
Plastic freezer bags of various sizes are another favorite freezer vessel of mine, and my general approach is filling the bag, then totally flattening it as I seal it. So whether it’s taco meat or soup, they freeze flat and allows me to stack them as high as they’ll go. This is much better than filling ’em in an upright position, which makes ’em more bulky.
I also love these food storage containers for stews, soups, sauces, etc. They are totally handy and can easily be reused.
More rarely, I’ll whip out my trusty vacuum sealer…but sometimes it can be a pain. I usually just use it when want to cut up a large piece of meat into smaller steaks or freeze pieces of raw chicken. Usually, Ziplocs are good enough for me.
LABELING
Labeling is very important from two angles: First, it’s always a good idea to know how many centuries ago something was cooked. Second, in the case of foil-covered pans or storage containers, you generally can’t see clearly what’s inside. Labeling keeps you from having to “break the seal” and peel the foil back or open a container. A Sharpie is my favorite tool, as it writes as clearly on foil as it does on plastic.
One helpful thing you can do is to write, along with what the dish is and the date, baking/warming instructions on each package, i.e. “375/40 minutes.” Of course, you’ll need to add the thawing time to that (or adjust the baking time accordingly.)
FREEZER-FRIENDLY INGREDIENTS
While I have a zillion one-dish recipes (casseroles, etc.) that I love to cook and freeze, one of my favorite freezer cooking tricks is making ready-to-go ingredients in bulk. Here are some things I do…and why:
Grilled chicken breasts. I love grilling up a whole bunch of marinated chicken breasts, then freezing them whole in packages of 2 or 4. (I don’t want to put a whole bunch in one large bag because then I’d have to open and close it, which would affect the quality over time.) If you have frozen grilled chicken breasts, you can thaw them out and:
* Slice them and put them on top of a Caesar Salad
* Dice them and put them on top of a Cobb Salad or Chef’s Salad
* Chop them, quickly saute in a little oil and taco seasoning, and put them on tacos or inside quesadillas.
* Dice them and stir them into Tortilla Soup.
* Leave them whole and put them inside panini.
* Shred them and put them in chilis, soups, or pastas.
Or cut ’em in half, melt cheese on top, throw on some bacon, and make these sliders!
That’s a whole lot of dinner options right there, and you don’t have to worry about stocking your fridge with raw chicken all the time; it’s cooked up, all ready to go! You just have to remember to remove it from the freeze and thaw it out.
Browned Hamburger. Oh, the possibilities. I freeze it in smaller bags and larger bags so I’ll have the right quantity for what I need. Here are the worlds that are opened up:
Tacos. Throw it into a skillet with tomato sauce and taco seasoning and heat it up real quick, and you can have regular tacos, taco salads, nachos, even…
Taco Pizza with shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes on top! (The recipe I linked to doesn’t have meat on it, but you’d just put it on top of the cheese layer.)
* Make a quick Spaghetti Sauce! (see below.)
* Make chili and sloppy joes (see below!)
Uncooked hamburger patties. Flash freeze them on a sheet pan for 30 minute so, then freeze in zipper bags 2, 4, or 6 at a time. I love just forming a slew of patties all at once, then not having to worry about it.
All the better to make Patty Melts with, my dear!
BREADS AND BREAKFASTS
Pie Crust. Formed into disks and stored in ziplocs. To use, just remove, let thaw for 30 minutes or so, then roll out.
Pizza Dough. Unrisen, stored in ziplocs.
Muffins of all varieties! I love these muffins from my mom.
Sweet rolls of all shapes and sizes. These Blueberry Lemon Sweet Rolls are divine, and you can freeze them, unrisen and unabaked…then thaw and bake them later. Or you can freeze them all ready to go and warm them when you’re ready.
Baked French Toast. I make full batches, and freeze them in smaller foil containers (either round or square) before the baking stage. Then I just pop ’em in the oven straight from the freezer. Yummy breakfast!
* You can also do a savory version using crumbled sausage, onion, cheese, etc.
Cooked, crumbled breakfast sausage for things like these breakfast burritos.
SOUPS, STEWS, AND SAUCES
(Freeze these flattened in Ziploc bags, or in storage containers. Then just thaw them out and heat them up!)
Spaghetti Sauce. Fabulous!
Sunday Night Stew. I swear, it gets better the longer it freezes.
Sloppy Joes. Crowd-pleasing!
Thick, hearty Chili, of course! Serve it on its own piled high with onions, cheese, and cilantro…or make Frito pies, pile it on baked potatoes…or on nachos.
Yum.
CASSEROLES
Either thaw them completely before baking, or bake, covered in foil, at a lower temperature for 30-45 minutes before increasing to the regular temperature for the normal cooking time.
Lasagna, of course.
Chicken Spaghetti…naturally.
Chicken Pot Pie. (I make this on the show tomorrow.) I love using these round foil cake pans for pot pie. The perfect size!
Sour Cream Noodle Bake. Luscious and ooey gooey.
Turkey Tetrazzini. Feeds a crowd.
OTHER STUFF
Then there’s other stuff, like . Make a ton, then just toss ’em in the oven as you need ’em.
And Calzones! Flash freeze them after you assemble them but before baking them. Then just bake them straight from the freezer when you need them and serve with marinara sauce.
Spicy Dr Pepper Pulled Pork makes a ton and can be frozen in smaller batches to serve as is, or as a topping for tacos, nachos, etc…
Or for sandwiches like this.
I’ll stop there—I don’t want to overload you! Hope this gives you some great ideas for the fall when school starts. And remember to serve big salads with all this stuff: load it with raw veggies so you have a nice balance.
Hope you love the show tomorrow, guys. I’ll post more freezer ideas in the coming weeks!
