Need recipes for casseroles that can be frozen?

Question

I have a friend with a new baby and I was wondering what would be some easy casserole dishes that can be frozen?

Answer 1

There are alot of good recipes that can be frozen completely, or partially with a minimum work left to do at the end. Some suggestions would be:
1.Most of your soups minus the noodles...they soak up too much of the liquid while sitting and are so much better to heat up the basic soup and adding the pasta at that point. So, good soups are like, chicken and veg, beef and veg, split pea, and the like. Stay away from the cream or potato or pasta ones.
2. Chicken and rice casserole (with variations like mushrooms or broccoli)
3. Chili
4. Beef and Bean casserole
5.Chicken Oriental (you just heat and pour over chow mein noodles, dry or cooked at the time of serving)
6.Meat loaf (adding mashed or a baked potato at time of serving.)
7.Calzones freeze very well.
8. Meatballs to be used in a variety of ways; swedish, sweet and sour, sandwiches, bbq, spaghetti......
9. Lasagna complete freezes well. I think it's because it has layers and not too much liquid to absorb when sitting.
Note:
When using potato, noodles (generally speaking) or milk or cream products, they just don't hold up really well. Noodles get thick and rubbery, Potatoes get mushy and lose their shape and cream (real cream-not so much the cream of...soups) seem to want to separate, thus not making a very appetizing dish.
If any of these interest you, just write for recipes. I'm happy to share!

Answer 2

Any casserole can be frozen that does not contain fish. This is just a personal taste of my own. The key is not to cook the casserole before freezing it.

Any of the traditional italian casseroles: lasagna, ziti, shells.

I also make a potato ham casserole. I don't really have a recipe for this, but you can't really go wrong.

Parboil 6 or 7 potatoes with the skins on for about 10 minutes. The potatoes should not be cooked all the way through. Slice the potatoes about 1/8 inch thick. Layer them with mild cheddar cheese and diced ham like a lasagna. Don't forget to salt and pepper each layer. It can get very bland if you don't do this. Freeze this way.

Defrost and add a pint of half and half and bake at 350 for about an hour.

Answer 3

Lasagne is a good one to make advance and freeze.
Just buy a jar of premade spaghetti sauce, add ground beef, garlic and oregano. Boil a package of noodles. Layer noodles in the bottom of casserole dish, top with sauce, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, then mozarrella, repeat.
Put it in an aluminim pan and freeze it. She can chunk the pan in the trash when she's done.

Answer 4

Almost any casserole can be frozen : enchiladas, baked ziti, lasagna, Chicken or Turkey Divan



Chicken Divan
(10-ounce) packages frozen broccoli, chopped
6 cups shredded chicken, cooked
2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove the outer wrappers from the boxes of broccoli. Open 1 end of each box. Microwave on full power for 2 minutes, until thawed. Drain the broccoli and put into a casserole dish. Add the shredded chicken.

In a medium bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, Cheddar, lemon juice, , salt and pepper, to taste, and wine. Whisk together to make a sauce. Pour the sauce over the broccoli and chicken. Mix well with a spatula.

Place the mixture into an 11 by 7-inch casserole dish or 2 (9-inch) square disposable aluminum foil pans that have been sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray. Pat down evenly and smooth with a spatula. Combine the Parmesan, bread crumbs and butter and sprinkle over the top.
Bake for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Chicken Enchiladas
8 soft corn tortillas
Filling:
3 cups chicken broth
4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast, 6 to 8 ounces
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 small onion, quartered
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/3 palm full
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
Sauce:
2 cups tomato sauce
2 teaspoons hot cayenne pepper sauce, several drops
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 pinches
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 1/2 cups Monterey Jack shredded cheese, available on dairy aisle

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Wrap corn tortillas in foil and warm in the oven. Bring broth to a boil in a saute pan. Set chicken into broth with bay and oregano and onion. Return to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Poach chicken in broth 10 minutes. Remove chicken breasts to a bowl and shred with 2 forks. Add 1/2 cup of cooking liquid and tomato paste, spices and salt and work through the chicken using the forks.
Combine all sauce ingredients and heat through, keeping warm until needed.
Remove tortillas from oven and switch broiler on high.
Pile chicken mixture into warm corn tortillas and roll. Line casserole or baking dish with enchiladas, seam side down. Pour hot tomato sauce over the chicken enchiladas and top with cheese. Place in enchiladas in hot oven 6 inches from broiler and broil 5 minutes to melt cheese and set enchiladas. Serve.

Answer 5

www.campbells.com has plenty of casserole recipes that I'm sure that can be frozen. try there....it's FREE!

Answer 6

What about chili, or ham and beans, or bbq'd pork torn into pieces for sandwiches, the lasagna thing works too although I see a lot of people have put that. Tuna noodle will freeze, chicken and noodles will freeze........Just about anything will be great and your thoughts will be very appreciated as well!

Answer 7

Lasagna

You can make the sauce ahead of time … and the whole thing freezes beautifully.

Ingredients

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 pounds ground chuck
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Freshly ground pepper
1 can [29 ounces] tomato puree
2 cans [28 ounces each] crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil
10 sprigs fresh basil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons grated Romano cheese

For the Ricotta filling:
1 container [32 ounces] whole-milk ricotta, drained in colander 1 hour
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Freshly ground pepper

For the noodles:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package [16 ounces] dried lasagna noodles

For assembly:
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Method
For the sauce, heat the oil and butter in a Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat; add onion. Cook until onion is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in the beef, breaking it up with a spoon over medium-low heat, until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the salt, garlic powder and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato puree and the crushed tomatoes. Stir in the dried basil. Increase heat to medium-high; heat to a boil. Stir in the basil sprigs and sugar. Stir in the Romano cheese. Lower heat to a simmer; cook 1 hour.

Meanwhile, for the ricotta filling, break up the ricotta into small pieces in a large bowl; mix in the beaten eggs, mozzarella, parsley, Parmesan, lemon zest, juice, salt, sugar, cinnamon and pepper to taste, stirring until smooth [do not overmix]. Taste; add additional salt, sugar and/or lemon, if desired.

Heat oven to 350°

For the noodles, heat a roasting pan or large pan of water to a boil; add salt. Cook noodles until al dente, 3-4 minutes, in batches if necessary [dried will take about 10 minutes]. Remove noodles with tongs to a baking pan, keeping them flat; add a bit of the cooking water to keep pasta supple.

Pour one-fourth of the sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan; cover completely with one-third of the noodles [overlapping is fine]. Add another one-fourth of the sauce; add half of the ricotta mixture. Add 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan; top with 2 tablespoons of the mozzarella. Cover with one-third of the noodles. Add another one-fourth of the sauce; top with remaining ricotta mixture, remaining 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan and remaining 2 tablespoons of the mozzarella. Cover with remaining third of the noodles. Cover with remaining sauce. [You may have leftover noodles].

Cover pan with foil; bake 30 minutes; uncover. Bake until top is bubbly, about 15 minutes. Set aside to rest 20 minutes before cutting.