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Some of the easiest meals to freeze are casseroles, soups, stews, and bulk proteins.
When preparing meals to freeze, I typically try to avoid recipes with a few specific ingredients like mayonnaise, cheese, cream, or high-water content vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, and potatoes.
A few of my favorite tips when deciding on what to freeze:
1. Think About Freezer Space
When preparing a meal to freeze, be sure to think about how much available freezer space you have! Different meals will take up different space so you want to make sure you can fit everything in your freezer without overstuffing it.
Consider stacking casserole pans on top of one another or how you can be it individually wrapped items into smaller spaces in between bigger containers.
2. Divide Into Portion Sizes
Another thing to think about when you are freezing meals is portion sizes! Think about if the meals are for you or the whole family. Also, think about how quickly you will be able to eat a recipe once it’s thawed and reheated!
It can be really helpful to freeze meals with various portion sizes that way you can pull out a meal for the proper crowd when needed without wasting anything!
3. Label EVERYTHING!
My number one piece of advice: label everything! Be sure to include the type of meal, date made, serving sizes, reheating instructions and any additional notes you may think of while preparing that you most likely won’t remember when reheating.
4. Storage Containers
You know I love using glass containers to store most of my weekly meal prep recipes and leftovers. But when planning freezer meals, glass isn’t necessarily the best choice. Glass can be bulky and can also sometimes crack in the freezer.
For freezer lunch and dinner meals, I recommend disposable aluminum baking pans that are not only easy to thaw and bake in but can also be thrown away so it makes clean up even easier!
Food is always going to taste the best and most freshest when you let it defrost in the fridge overnight, but if you do plan to reheat from frozen, I do recommend portioning out into servings when storing. For casseroles, you can store them in small aluminum foil pans that are the perfect size for 1-2 servings.
For individual meals and portion sizes, you can also just wrap up tightly in tin foil and place in a freezer-safe Ziplock bag. Soups and stews are also great to store in Ziplock bags because you can lay them flat so they take up less space.
Freezer meals are so great but don’t forget about the reheating process! Just be sure to consider the amount of time needed to properly reheat any frozen meal so that you can enjoy all the healthy meals you worked so hard to prepare!
A few of my favorite tips and things to remember when defrosting and reheating freezer meals:
- Try to slowly defrost soups and casseroles (if possible!). I like to put the freezer meal in the refrigerator overnight or up to two days.
- If you don’t have time to let something thaw overnight, you can place it in a bowl of cool water to speed up the thawing process.
- Try to reheat meals as they were intended to be cooked (i.e. soups over the stove, casseroles in the oven, etc.)
- Consider how your item is stored when reheating (be careful if you chose to freeze in glass or if you can just reheat directly in the pan (like the disposable aluminum tins).
If you’re looking for more freezer-friendly options, check out my Ultimate Postpartum Meal Prep Guide (perfect for any type of meal prepping)! Or for breakfast, lunch and dinner options, don’t miss my 50+ Macro Friendly Foods round up!
For delicious side options for these freezer-friendly meals, I’ve rounded up my favorite healthy side dish recipes!
You can also check out my 50+ Macro-Friendly Chicken Recipes or 15+ Healthy Ground Beef recipes for more healthy recipe inspiration!
What are the best type of recipes to freeze?
Some of the easiest meals to freeze are casseroles, soups, stews, bulk proteins, sandwiches and more.
What type of foods don’t freeze well?
I typically try to avoid freezing recipes that include ingredients such as mayonnaise, cheese, cream, or high-water content vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, and potatoes.
How do I reheat frozen meals?
I like to put the freezer meal in the refrigerator overnight or up to two days. If I forget or don’t have time, to let something thaw overnight, you can place it in a bowl of cool water to speed up the thawing process. Try to reheat meals as they were intended to be cooked (i.e. soups over the stove, casseroles in the oven, etc.).
How should I store these freezer-friendly recipes?
For freezer meals, I recommend disposable aluminum baking pans that are not only easy to thaw and bake in but can also be thrown away so it makes clean up even easier! Or, use these small aluminum foil pans that are the perfect size for 1-2 servings. I like to freeze meals with various portion sizes that way you can pull out a meal for the proper crowd when needed without wasting anything.
If you make one of these recipes and love it, please be sure leave a review! Or snap a picture and tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @LaurenFitFoodie or hashtag #LaurenFitFoodie!
