What are some good recipes to freeze for dinners?

Question

I have frozen Lasagna before, but my husband didn't like it because it was "dry'. We are meat and potato eaters for the most part. We are just busy people and it would be nice to have some dinners just to pop in the oven. I know I can search on the net for recipes, but what are some of your favorite dinner recipes to freeze that come out still tasting good? And what is the best way to freeze food (containers, etc.). Thanks!

Answer 1

chili, chicken casseroles, pastas all freeze really well. If your husband thought the lasagna was dry after freezing..add more sauce either before freezing or during the reheating process. I have done that with mostaccoli and it worked well.

I use ziploc freezer bags or plastic containers.
Here is a family favorite...great for freezing...

Chicken Florentine Casserole
can also be adapted with either fish or shrimp, lies on a bed of spinach leaves and mushrooms, has a creamy white sauce mixed with garlic, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasonings, and is topped with baked mozzarella."
Original recipe yield: 4 servings.
Prep Time:25 MinutesCook Time:25 MinutesReady In:50 MinutesServings:4 (change)

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INGREDIENTS:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup butter
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 (13.5 ounce) cans spinach, drained
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cup bacon bits
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

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DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place the chicken breast halves on a baking sheet, and bake 20 to 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix in the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, half and half, and Parmesan cheese.
Arrange the spinach over the bottom of a 9x9 inch baking dish. Cover the spinach with the mushrooms. Pour half the mixture from the saucepan over the mushrooms. Arrange chicken breasts in the dish, and cover with the remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits, and top with mozzarella cheese.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) oven, until bubbly and lightly browned.

enjoy

Answer 2

Hmm. I'd try thelasagna again, but add extra sauce, or just make your sauce thinner than usual (add more liquid to it)! If it's a little soupy after being cooked once, it should be nice and saucy after being re-heated.
If you're meat & potato people, try shepherd's pie. Easy, and filling, and freezes really well. If he finds this dry, you can always serve it with a quick gravy on the side.
Other pasta dishes are good - stuffed shells, manicotti, etc.
Or casseroles. Cheeseburger casserole, tater-tot casserole, chicken divan, porkchop casserole, you get the idea.
One of my family favorites is taco pie. I just cook up ground beef with taco seasoning, some peppers and onions, then layer that in a pie plate with flour tortillas (I normally use whole wheat) salsa, diced tomatoes and lots of cheese! A small package of ground beef makes enough for 2 pies so we always eat one, and the other goes in the freezer.
As for dishes, You could use glad ware -type dishes, but if you re-heat in the oven rather than the microwave you'll have to transfer it before baking. You could use pyrex pie plates and casserole dishes, but if you're trying to prepare a week at a time, you might run out pretty quick!
What I often do (which I know isn't great for the environment, but it's better than all the packaging that comes with a store-bought frozen dinner!) is buy at my dollar store packs of tin baking pans. They're made specially for this, they even have cardboard lids that fit on them, and I can get them in round or rectangular, and they even come in individual sizes! I usually find them in packs of 4 for $1, so they're probably even cheaper than gladware...
Anyways, good luck.
Also, a good site for recipes that are either easy & quick or freeze well is www.kraftcanada.com

Answer 3

My husband and I drive truck for a living. In order to save time and money I have come up w/ a way to make our dinners tastey and interesting.
The day after we come home I go grocery shopping and cook the entire day, the food actually tastes better when it has time to sit. (I freeze 3 out of the 4 portions and take the fresh one w/ us.)
Some of the meals I have cooked and froze are spaghetti w/ Italian sausage, beef pot roast w/ carrots, Lasagna, fried pork steaks, baked pork chops,Shedded pork w/ Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.
I bought some cheap plastic containers and put them in gallons freezer bags to keep them fresh.( no freezer burn!) I have done this for 4 weeks now, by next weekend I should be able to have quite a variety to load the electric cooler and not have to cook for that weekend.
I made up a new recipie for red potatoes and froze them they came out of the freezer/microwave just awesome!!! Super easy, too! Boil some red potatoes,(don't let them get mushy...) drain and let cool,leave the skins on and carefully cut in 1/2. Melt a 1/2 of a stick of butter in a pie plate,coat potatoe 1/2's w/ melted butter & lay them skin side down in pie plate. Heat oven to 350 degrees. season w/ salt, pepper, onion powder, and a dusting of Paprika for color. Bake for 30 min. turning them at 15 min. I like them kinda crispy but not crunchy. Eat some for dinner and freeze the rest! Yummy :)

I cheated w/ the Lasagna (hubby didn't even notice) but to save time I bought a Stouffers family Lasgna and baked it, and froze 4 servings,2 in each container and had the rest for dinner that night.
If your gonna throw it in the oven instead of the microwave, you can buy foil tin containers and cover w/ tin foil.... I would still put them inside a freezer bag to avoid freezer burn.
I have also made pumpkin bread and banana bread froze 1/2 and took the rest w/ us. It was actually moister once it came out of the freezer. Good Luck and have FUN!!--I did! :)

Answer 4

Actually, I love to freeze lasagna and eggplant parm.... maybe yours was dry before the freezer, or it was overcooked after the freezer?..... or not wrapped well. Definately use the micro and cover well during cooking to keep it from drying in the oven.

I have one of those vacuum sealers... stuff lasts forever... we do this instead of canning! Really keeps food quality high. It is soooo worth the investment!

I find that anything that is nice and moist before will be great afterward. Most leftovers freeze well.... I freeze any casseroles in serving sizes.... I usually make homemade sausage, meatballs and gravy (you may call it spaghetti sauce) and freeze those.... (I don't freeze the pasta, but I will freeze leftover cooked ravioli or stuffed shells.)... chicken piccatta is a favorite.... but even Near East rice pilaf leftovers freeze really well. Swedish meatballs....

I freeze extra servings of meatloaf, roast beef... really, everything. I will usually freeze the bulk of the gravy separately and heat the meat in the gravy. I often make several racks of ribs, and since I first slow cook them in the oven before I put them on the BBQ I freeze the extras so I just throw them on the BBQ whenever I want. However, go ahead and cook them with the BBQ sauce, cut up and freeze.

Also, I make a lot of soup in the winter.... again, put cooled soup in freezer zip lock bags, and get most of the air out. Then put a few bags inside yet another freezer bag. (I can't use my vacuum sealer with soup.) Don't forget to put the date on all this stuff you freeze!

I freeze all sorts of veggies as well.... usually winter veggies and veggie casseroles... in the summer we really just eat fresh food everyday.

The only thing I've not mastered is mashed potatoes... I just can't get them to taste and feel 'right' after the freezer. The best reheating I've done, which is acceptable but not perfect, is I put a blob of butter on top, and reheat in the micro in 30 second bursts, mixing from the outside in until nice and buttery and hot.

If you don't have the vacuum sealer, there are these zip lock or glad ware disposable plastic containers.... I put the food in there so as not to mush it, and then put the whole thing in a ziplock freezer bag. OR I wrap it well with plastic wrap then put in the freezer ziplock bag.

The KEY is not to let ice crystals form on the food... that is going to make a funky taste. If you must reheat, try it in the micro and defrost slowly (on 30-50%) and then heat.... make sure you are mixing to even it out often, if it's soft food..... or if it's not going to get all squishy, like if it's meatloaf, let it defrost in the fridge then heat in the micro or on the stove in brown gravy....

Keep trying.... I used to spend every weekend making dinners for the week.... and really, if you think hubby is getting just a little picky, tell HIM to cook a fresh meal for you!

Good luck!

Answer 5

I don't know what city you live in but there is something called Dream Dinners, It is a place you can go and make dinners to freeze. You follow their recipes and you can make like 2 weeks worth of dinners bring them home and freeze them. Then you have a freezer full of dinners ready to cook.

Answer 6

Chilli is fine after freezing. Allow it to cool, then put in an air-tight tupperware container, and freeze. When using again, de-frost before cooking through again thoroughly. The great thing about chilli is that if the flavour has changed considerably after the second cooking process, you can re-season it, and add extra tomatoes.

Answer 7

This is a neat way to conserve energy all-around. We buy fresh ingredients and prepare them for a week's menu - pre-cooked and stored in the freezer for easy reheating.
A rule of thumb: Avoid vegetable dishes (ideally, less processing for veggies is best to get their full nutritional value).

Try some of the recipes on this site: chicken, beef, pork, veal and some fish dishes retain their flavor and freshness after freezing. Less fat, the better.

Answer 8

Beef stew, chili, soups, etc. freeze and reheat really well. Just store them in Gladewear containers (it helps keep the freezer organized as well).

You can also try meals cooked in a slow cooker. Just toss in the ingredients before work and you can dish up when you get home.

Answer 9

potatoes do not freeze well so add them when ready to serve them...........
beef stew
macaroni and cheese
pre cooked meat loaf, hamburgers
turkey breast slices
turkey pieces
chicken pieces
spaghetti and meat balls
spaghetti sauce and cook noodles before serving
meat balls
ground meat for dishes
use containers for freezing

Answer 10

We like our soups and stews. Like pea soup with smoked ham hocks, chili, etc... I like GladWare containers for storage. Before you leave for work (or even the night before) pop one in the fridge to defrost. Then you can just nuke it or toss it in a pan on the stove. Grab a loaf of French bread or a baguette on the way home, and a bag of salad. Bingo! Dinner!