Do you need to defrost precooked frozen food or can you thaw and reheat in a pan?

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Sorry for the dull question but based on a subscription ready meal service I’ve seen whereby you get bricks of frozen things like curries and chillis etc, according to their instructions you can just put the bricks in a pan to thaw out then cook until piping hot.
Is there any reason you can’t do this with home cooked leftovers? Freeze the leftover bolognese/curry/chilli into small bags and reheat in the pan when needed, or should it really be defrosted thoroughly before reheating?

I do it. I don't see why it needs to be defrosted as long as you cook it throughly.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I imagine the instructions to defrost are to prevent there being cold spots that don't come to a high enough temperature. If you had something you could simmer awhile and cook it well past everything having defrosted I don't see the problem.

That's how I re-heat batch cooked bolognaise and chilli. I freeze in tubs that are smaller than my pans!

Ahh this will save me so much time and thinking ahead!

I always cook from frozen, never had any problems.

The only issue I can think of would be someone adhering slavishly to suggested cooking times, maybe, and consequently not getting it quite hot enough?
Or maybe there's a more scientific reasoning, but I'm happy to carry on as I am.

You are defrosting it by putting it in a pan, and then you reheating it. Unless I'm missing something?

I'll either microwave defrost if have forgotten to take out of the freezer, leave out on the side to defrost. Depending on size, leave in a sink of water to defrost.

You're doing the same thing, just in quicker steps. As long as fully reheated, no problem. (Not to me anyway!).

Yes of course you can do this.

But you do need to thaw first, then turn up the heat and cook. Otherwise you risk having some (edge) bits that thawed early and cooked well, v the (central) lingering icy bits that just about melt and start to get warm

I do this with things like bolognaise or chill, or sauces, but in the microwave on full blast. I do it a few minutes at a time and stir/check.
For some reason, I'm more hesitant to do this with food that involves chunks of meat/chicken, like curry, and I tend to use the defrost function on the microwave first-no idea why though!

I heat anything like this from frozen but unless it’s very wet like bolognaise, I add a little cold water so that it doesn’t dry out. As long as it’s heated thoroughly it’s fine. You need to be able to stir it thoroughly to avoid just reheating areas of it and leaving others cold so the more liquid there is the better.