What are some good make-ahead dishes to freeze?

Question

My husband is going into the hospital for surgery on Monday, and I want to have some dishes frozen to make dinners easier for me to cook next week. What are your favorite dishes to make & freeze?

Answer 1

chili
lasagna
stuffed shells
manicotti
mac and cheese
cabbage rolls
meat loaf

Answer 2

When I worked full time I would freeze dinners all the time. Some of the eaiest were meat that would make multiple meals. Such as chicken breasts and ground meat. Make sauteed breaded chicken cutlets and freeze. When you pull them out you can make chicken parm, a lemon sauce to put on it, garlic sauce, put ham and cheese on it and put it under the broiler or just heat and eat. I also take a few pounds of ground meat to make several meals. Meatloaf, meatballs and patties to throw on the grill. Then take a few pounds of the ground meat and cook it in a skillet. Take some and add taco seasoning and freeze for tacos, to one pound add mixed veggie, and gravy and make a shepards pie, take a pound and add beans, spice and tomato puree and make chili. Mac and cheese freezes well as do homemade soups. Beef stew is also a great one to freeze or just through in the crockpot in the morning and foget about it for the day until ready to serve. Chicken pot pie and just about any chicken casserole are also great to make ahead. Good Luck. Hope all goes well.

Answer 3

I buy the largest family pack of chopped beef I can find and I make meatballs, and meatloaves. Even though the meatballs are cooked in sauce, I freeze them individually so I can control portion size. Also, I make the meatloaves the size of a loaf pan so that (even though they cook in a flat pan) I can store them easily in the freezer in aluminum loaf pans

Answer 4

Hi there, make up a large pot of bolognaise sauce with or without meat, freeze it in portion sizes, then you just take out what you need for however many people, you can then make spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne's, moussaka etc, meatless ones can have chicken added or pork, use it as a sauce etc. Its very versatile.
Try allrecipes.com its my favourite site for any kind of recipe and they are all rated!

Answer 5

lasagna freezes well and all you would have to do is reheat it. Baked Spaghetti is another one.

Any of your casseroles will freeze well.

I would think mac and cheese would freeze fairly well if you cover it really good....

that's about all I can think of at the moment

Answer 6

Soups and stews are great for freezing. We also love hearty casseroles, like the recipe below. Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmigiana Pasta Bake

**triple-tested at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute**

INGREDIENTS
2 pound(s) ziti or rigatoni pasta
3 tablespoon(s) olive oil
4 medium celery stalks, chopped
2 clove(s) garlic, crushed with press
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium (about 1 1/2 pounds) eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can(s) (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can(s) (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon(s) salt
1 cup(s) plain dried bread crumbs
1 cup(s) fresh parsley leaves, loosely packed, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup(s) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 package(s) (1 pound) part-skim mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat 8-quart saucepot of salted water to boiling over high heat. Add pasta and cook as label directs.
2. While pasta is cooking, prepare eggplant sauce: In deep 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add celery, garlic, and onion, and cook 10 to 12 minutes or until vegetables are tender and golden. Add eggplant; cover skillet and cook 10 to 12 minutes or until eggplant softens slightly, stirring frequently. Stir in crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes with their juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375° F. In medium bowl, with fork, mix bread crumbs, parsley, grated Parmesan, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
4. Drain pasta. Return pasta to saucepot or place in large bowl; stir in eggplant sauce to coat. Add mozzarella and toss to combine. Divide pasta mixture between 2 ungreased 13" by 9" baking dishes and spread evenly; top each with half of bread-crumb mixture. Bake 1 casserole, uncovered, 30 minutes or until top browns and sauce bubbles. Let stand 10 minutes for easier serving. Meanwhile, prepare second casserole for freezing by cooling, uncovered, at least 30 minutes in refrigerator. Cover container tightly and freeze.

For more ideas, check out this article about make ahead meals: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food/quick/makeahead-meals-0205?src=syn&mag=ghk&dom=yah_ans

Answer 7

i love to make Chili and freeze it, also Spaghetti is a good one too. Oh and chicken noodle soup homemade is a good choicetoo! Yumm

Answer 8

Casseroles
Soups
Grilled Chicken breasts (to thaw and eat as-is or use in salads, or heat and use in a sandwich or othe rdish)

Answer 9

Lasagna. Freezes really good. Also, soups, chilis, pot pies.

Ah geez, now I am really really hungry! All these goodies!