Ideas to fill up the freezer with

[BritBratGrot]

I enjoy batch cooking, my favourites to fill the freezer are lasagne and curry (butter chicken if you ask).

We've just finished my stocks of both and DP wants to have a turn coming the freezer but many of his signature meals aren't freezer batch type things - he does our roasts, toad in the hole, pasta, and a bulgur salad thing which is v healthy and the kids love, but we eat it lots and it won't freeze well with various fresh leaves etc

Anyway we're after some new freezer ideas please. Ideally they'd not all be meat based (inc eg quorn) but nothing too out there as DS is fussy. No allergies.

Lasage ia perfect tbh but we can't eat that 4 days a week apparently.

TIA

Chilli
Different pasta sauces e.g. cajun chicken, chicken and mushroom (can cook the pasta fresh when needed)

chilli
bean chilli
bolognese
lentil bolognese
tomato / hidden veg pasta sauce
fish pie
cottage pie
hunters chicken pie
other currys.... tikka massala / saag (use chicken or chickpea or mix both)

Shakshuka sauce freezes really well, then you can just reheat and add eggs - great for easy weekend brunch
Lentil soups and stews
Thai green curry
Homemade burgers with any meat

Thanks all. For some reason many of these don't quite hit the mark. I don't need them to be veggie but do need them to contain some veg, enough to mean they don't need much else thought going into veg to complete as a healthy meal.

We're going to start doing lasagne sauce sans pasta & cheese, so eg bolognese. But neither child likes it with mash on top as much as lasagne, and it's not really different enough for eg cottage pie to feel like an answer.

The shakshuka sauce idea i do like

Burgers are a favourite but by the time we've got rolls and chips and toppings prepared it's as much faff as cooking a whole meal, so no real time saving

Chickpea curry is worth trying i think, though one struggles with spice. I've eaten mouthwatering chana masala many times but it's never turned out as well when I've cooked it myself, no idea why.

Boy also dislikes chicken 🙄 and hates anything, even eg brownies and icecream, with even a hint of a coconut taste. It's uncanny! So no thai curries

Maybe we should cook all these lovely things for the rest of us and give him beans on toast every day.

He wouldn't eat boiled or fried eggs, bacon or mince a year ago so things have really improved, and i want to gently expand his tastes with things which won't have him terrified after a mouthful.

Keep the ideas coming! Despite my fault finding I do really appreciate all of them

Try the batch lady’s books lots of new ideas in there! Veggie recipes too - it gave me a few ideas as we all get menu fatigue here 🙄😩

I make a massive batch of ragu. It's vegetarian. Grated tempeh. Lentils. Mushrooms. Onions . Peppers. Tomatoes. Herbs. Celery. Garlic.Mock mince if you're ok with it. I usually freeze it in family size portions. Get it out in the morning. Then make it into lasagna. Chilli. Moussaka. Spaghetti bol. Pasta bake. Cottage pie (i know you say your kids aren't keen). A quick cheese sauce is natural yoghurt whisked with an egg and grated cheese.

These are popular with my dc

Butternut crumble https://www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes/butternut-squash-feta-crumble

Pasta bake https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/vegetable-pasta-bake

butternut squash macaroni cheese
cauliflower cheese
lentil lasagne

I've got at the mo :-
Pork cassoulet, Lamb tagine - both with veg + beans/chickpeas
Duck ragu - I add fresh spinach when re-heating.
Tuscan chicken - again add spinach & cream later.
Boeuf bourguignon
Venison casserole
Pulled pork
Char sui pork

I use my freezer a little differently - possibly similar to your DH, I like making things with a lot of fresh veg/herbs so I use my freezer to freeze components of things rather than entire meals.

I'll freeze things like:

• a batch of small meatballs, ready to drop into stock to make wedding soup or add to a jar of tomato sauce with pasta
• Meat in a marinade to be defrosted and then grilled or baked with rice
• Fish pie mix I do myself, all cut up and ready to go
• Cooked portions of grains, chickpeas, butter beans, borlotti beans that I cooked myself from dried. Cooked bulgur, quinoa and freekeh freeze brilliantly - then I just pull out, zap for a few mins and mix with herbs and veg.
• Ginger/garlic/onion base for curries - cuts out the first 15 minutes of any curry preparation

I also don't like mash on top of pies - I make a sliced potato topping like this: https://simplehomeedit.com/recipe/crispy-potato-topped-beef-pie/

Also the freezer friendly section of that website is definitely worth checking out - I've never had a dud from her recipes and they've all been winners with the kids: https://simplehomeedit.com/category/get-ahead-freeze-recipes/

If you all like something, apart from 1 child, I would cook the food you like and, as you say, provide him with an alternative id absolutely necessary. Not every day, and I would hold off on offering the alternative until he has tried the food on offer. Otherwise all of you are stuck on the same foods, which seems unfair to everyone. In our house they always had to try what was on offer, and sometimes they din't love it. But that is okay, other times they did. They're all adults now and eat and cook a very varied diet.

Soup. Homemade bread - cut it before freezing.

I have done a few batch recipes from Taming Twins if you know her site? Some good recipies and you can increase quantities up to 3 x.