What’s on your meal prep menu, and how do you make sure it freezes well?

[MealPrepIdeasPls]

I’m trying to get into meal prep and stock the freezer up to have a rotation of meals for the next couple of weeks, but im really struggling with meal ideas! I’m only really wanting to prep lunch and dinner at the moment

at the moment im planning to cook a sausage and bean casserole, a beef stew and something pasta related.

I am wary though because I know pasta and potatoes don’t freeze well. How can I counteract that?! Any ideas?

Anyone,

Make the mains without potatoes and freeze, then do the spuds on the day.

I find lasagna freezes fine, but I oven heat rather than microwave post defrosting as the pasta doesn't quite feel right otherwise.

For other pasta dishes I wouldn't bother batch cooking, although bolognaise is fine, just do the spaghetti on the day.

I think this is what I’ll end up doing, and serving with mash or some other carb.

lasagne is going on the list and the other pasta dishes are coming off. My idea was to freeze without cooking, and then thaw and cook from there

I would like to do this more. Right now the main things I will make and freeze are
Pasta sauces
Soups
Cottage pie
Chilli (can chuck on nachos or microwave rice)
Fish pie
Chicken cacciatore
Lasagne (I know you say pasta doesn't freeze well but I find pasta bakes are okay if they are cooked in the oven after)

Oh I've not tried not cooking first, not sure how that would work.

in my head I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.

in reality I can imagine it being different

I want to start utilising the freezer more because I end up wasting so much food at the moment

Males sense. I buy the foil trays with card lids, so they can go in the oven. And remember to label everything or you'll get some dodgy freezer surprises!

Soup freeze well and are a good way to use up veg that will go off otherwise.

I batch cook all my lunches in the slow cooker and freeze them, they always seem to turn out well.

I use 400g meat - chicken breasts or boneless skinless thighs, pork loin, beef shin, mince, pork shoulder.

Then because I’m lazy and hate prep I buy ready sliced veg and chuck a whole load of whatever I fancy in there, usually a bag of red onion, a couple of bags of sliced mushrooms and half a bag of frozen sliced peppers (they don’t sell these fresh sliced for some reason). Then plenty of a seasoning mix - chilli con carne, salt and pepper chicken, jerk chicken, hotpot, casserole, piri-peri, bbq. Whatever suits the meat and my mood. Sometimes add a tin of tomatoes or some tomato puree. Leave it on low for most of the day then put it on the hob for 10 mins to thicken up or fully evaporate the liquid. If I’m doing chicken or pork I usually let it cook off completely and shred the meat for pulled chicken/pulled pork. I get 4 decent portions out of each batch, and will try to make sure I have a range of different batches in the freezer so I can have something a bit different every day.

That then forms the basis of a meal and I use frozen veg or salad as a side.

I am intentionally very low carb due to diabetes but you could serve it with jacket potato, microwave rice, pasta etc instead.

Trying to think what I’ve done recently (I batch cook a lot)

chicken and leek thing topped with cheese and mustard mash
beef stew
soups
portions of pulled pork in BBQ sauce and ham in parsley sauce
chicken stuffing balls (was an instagram recipe!)
lasagne
pasta bake
cottage pie
meatballs in sauce or gravy
chilli
hotpot

Yes lasagne I freeze with raw lasagne sheets in. I think it works better than cooking it before freezing. You don't really want to be cooking the meat X3 just for one meal.

Soups are my mainstay at this time of year. Burritos, curry. I freeze single portions of mash. You can do these on a baking tray with an ice-cream scoop, then bundle into a plastic bag when frozen.

Home made oven chips - cut to chip shape, parboil 3 mins, steam dry, add a tiny amount of cooking oil, again open freeze. Not really a meal as such though.

Cook a ham and freeze separate slices (good for sandwiches) or in cheese sauce. Pulled pork also freezes well.

Most saucy things freeze fine. I tend to just bulk cook and freeze the saucy portion of a meal like Bolognese. But pasta freezes ok when it's mixed with sauce. So Bolognese mixed with pasta and topped with cheese can be frozen.

Potatoes also freeze if prepped correctly. Mashed potato freezes fine. Par boiled/steamed potatoes also freeze fine and can be cooked from frozen. Most of the things you can buy in the freezer section of a supermarket you can prep and freeze at home.

Things I bulk cook and freeze:
Bolognese
Chili
Korean mince
Curry - butter chicken, korma
Slow cooked beef (ragu, shredded Mexican beef)
Lasagna
Paprish chicken
Enchiladas

The batch lady has entire books devoted to this. She gives instructions on when to freeze and how to cook afterwards - slow Cooker, oven, airfryer. Highly recommend.

I’m trying to do this for Xmas as it’s the only way I can cope with having all the family staying for ten days to two weeks. I did it a couple of years ago and it saved me from going insane. Ideas for meals welcome! I froze lots of soups , some crumbles and main dishes. Plus I made sourdough bread and froze that too.

I batch cook and freeze in 450ml containers. One container=one portion.
Lentil dahl
soya mince bolognese
veggie chilli
thick lentil and veg soup
various lentil or chickpea curries
quinoa with roast veg
I just cook rice, pasta or baked potatoes at the meal time and heat up the defrosted portion to go with it.

I find soup freezes really, really badly for me! I don’t know why. But when I do a leek and potato it ends up really strange, the bulk of the soup sort of clumps together and then the water all separates out.

@MiddleAgedButterfly - can you share your Dahl recipe please? 😊

If you make any soup that contains milk/cream, freeze it before you add the milk and add it on thawing instead. I make and freeze HM soup "concentrate" - I just make it with less water then top up with the kettle to serve. Yes soup might separate a bit but I find it comes together again when heated through. I guess a quick blitz with a hand blender might help if it's struggling.

Also don't over blend soups containing potato as they can go kind of gummy.

My leek and potato does the same, I think it’s the potato. But it’s actually fine if you defrost it fully, tip into a pan and stir really well.

Also any soup with cream in won’t freeze perfectly so I tend to freeze before adding cream.

Mash freezes well ime.
For pasta as pps I make sauce when it's sauce which takes long and protion it. Cooking pasta on a day is no hassle.
I have chili with rice
Red thai curry with rice (i put in some veg raw so it doesn't go to mush - baby corn, mangetout)
Chicken and veg curry (veg airfried separate to only like 70% then mixed in when all is cooled)
Meatloaf and mash with gravy
I always make separate portions of rice for fried rice dishes. As well as cooked torn in pieces chicken. On the day I take them out, add basic frozen veg mix, eggs and spices and you have quick fried rice dishes.
Gulash
Enchiladas (I layer them for freezing rather than roll)
Kabsa

My regular batch cooks

Lamb shoulder casserole
Short ribs in stout
Moroccan chicken casserole
Butter chicken
Satay chicken curry
Thai red curry
Massaman lamb curry
Lamb shawarma soup
Keema
Dal
Lots of soups
Stock (used for risotto)
Bolognese
Tomato pasta sauce
Minestrone
Chilli
Quesadilla filling

Most of these I need to cook some sort of carb and maybe veg alongside, but these are easy to do in the time it takes to defrost the freezer meal.

I recommend this dal, it’s really good
https://www.souschef.co.uk/blogs/the-bureau-of-taste/king-dal-recipe-2

Batch Lady on Youtube is fantastic for inspiration for prepping several meals at once using similar ingredients, so not 5 portions of chilli.

For liquids like soups, I freeze in a container, then decant that block into vacuum sealer bags. All my freezer meals and portioned chicken breast, minced steak etc is from Costco so I buy 4 trays of chicken breast or thighs, trim, portion and vacuum seal before freezing.

@Luciey can you share the Korean mince and Mexican beef recipes please, if they are online?