Can you freeze any meal for later use?

Question

I see books on recipes that you cook a meal and then freeze it for later use. Can you do this with any meal or recipe or is there something special in those recipes?

Answer 1

With most things you can freeze,here are a few suggestions that will freeze well.

Homemade chili and vegetable soup

Lasagna

homemade pizza's

Go to Betty crocker.com or
dinnersinthefreezer.com
organizedhome.com
They have recipes and will tell you the best wat to freeze dinners.

Here is a list of some things that do not freeze very well. handy to post to avoid runny or ruined meals.



Here is a general list of things that do not freeze well.

Cooked egg whites and soft meringues

Jell-O or gelatin( it weeps) except in soufflés that will be eaten frozen

Cake or pie with custard filling

Cake icing that contains egg white

Mayonnaise ( separates and gets runny)

Cloves and imitation vanilla

Sauces thickened with flour or cornstarch, except when used as a binder for other ingredients.

Milk, light cream or sour cream .( We do freeze milk sometimes but it tends to separate)

Heavy cream, except when whipped

Vegetables high in water content, such as celery, fennel, tomatoes, leafy salad greens, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes, zucchini and eggplant, UNLESS they have been cooked and finely chopped or pureed

Raw vegetables unless they have been blanched first

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Can You Freeze Any Meal

Answer 4

Most but not all

Don't Freeze

Hard cooked egg whites~Tough, rubbery, and off flavor; add when reheating

Products with artificial flavorings~ Taste changes; use only real vanilla or other extract

Unbaked biscuit dough~ Small, less tender biscuits

Unbaked muffin batter~ Poory textured muffins

Fried foods~ Stale taste when reheated

Unbaked cake batter~ Lower cake volume

Answer 5

Sweetie, that is the best way to plan a meal for days in advance--if ya haven't been doing this before now and you've really got three and one on the way I suggest you start now! As far as I know there is nothing you can't freeze for later use, so long as you can fit it in the freezer! Good Luck!

Answer 6

You can do it w/ most any meal. You may be seeing the "OAMC" (Once A Month Cooking) recipes.

About the only exception I can think of is to thicken gravies and sauces with cornstarch or arrowroot rather than flour. Flour-thickened liquids don't freeze well and become gloppy upon reheating.

Answer 7

I have frozen just about everything at one time or another... especially when I double up batches (which is recommended when you're busy). The best foods for this are broth based (stew, chili, soup, etc), although things like lasagna and enchiladas work good too. You can also cook up a HUGE batch of meat (like ground beef), break it into smaller portions once its cooled and freeze the packages for later use...chili, tacos, etc, etc.

Answer 8

actually, it is more like those recipes DON'T include some things.


It is better if the frozen meal is cooked a lot - like chili or pot roast or a stew. And things with a lot of liquid ( spaghetti sauce but not the pasta)

there are things that freeze badly ( boiled pasta) and
things that are a disaster (hard boiled egg whites.)

Answer 9

Majority of the time you can it just depends, exactly what type of meal are you talking about?