Make-Ahead Healthy Meals for the Week

Freezer food are what I flip to once I want to get a brief, healthful dinner at the table on a busy weeknight. I’m now not speaking about keep-sold frozen dinners, but the soups, stews, and casseroles that I make in advance and freeze myself. Stored and reheated the proper way, those freezer food are simply as flavorful as they had been on the day they were made. When I have a stash of them handy, creating a scrumptious, wholesome dinner is as simple as heating one up!

This may contain: there are four pictures of different foods on the plates and one has an egg, tomato, cucumber, avocado, chicken, green beans, and other vegetables

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Below, you’ll discover my preferred freezer meals to make ahead, in conjunction with my great pointers for storing and reheating them. So pick out a recipe, make a huge batch of it, and save the leftovers for every other day. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later!

Nine thirteen Freezer Meals

Baked pastas and enchiladas are a number of my favorite make-ahead freezer food. They’re comforting, pleasurable, and assured to thrill, whether I’m warming them for a crowd or simply Jack and me.

To freeze these recipes, absolutely assemble them up to the point of baking. Tightly cowl the baking dish and freeze for up to 3 months. When you need to serve them, bake, covered, at 350°F for one hour, or until heated thru. Then, if the dish you’re making has a layer of cheese on pinnacle, uncover and bake until the cheese is browned and effervescent. So easy!

Best Vegetarian Lasagna

My philosophy on vegetarian lasagna? The greater greens, the merrier! Roasted mushrooms, fennel, onions, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, and leeks % this recipe with thrilling textures and flavors.

 

Cheese enchiladas in a baking dish

Easy Enchiladas

This clean enchilada recipe is certainly one of our family favorites! It features a rich homemade enchilada sauce, black beans, steamed spinach, and masses of melty cheddar cheese. Serve with diced avocado, jalapeños, and a squeeze of lime juice for a crowd-attractive meal.

Easy Baked Ziti

Dollops of lemony ricotta create a delicious creamy layer within the center of this spinach baked ziti. Garnish it with parsley after baking for a fresh, inviting look.

Stuffed shells

Heads up: the approach I use for reheating those filled shells is a little different from the only I use for the alternative recipes in this segment. I nevertheless absolutely gather the shells earlier than freezing, however in preference to baking them from frozen, I transfer them to the refrigerator to thaw in a single day, or for at the least 10 hours, earlier than I bake them. Then, I bake them, blanketed, for 30 minutes, or until they’re fully heated via. They come out best!

Veggie Burgers, Patties, and Meatballs

The next time you’re cooking veggie burgers or meatballs, double the recipe and freeze 1/2 for later! Stash the cooked, cooled patties or balls in a freezer-secure box or Ziploc bag, and freeze for up to three months. To reheat, bake them at four hundred for 10-20 minutes, or until absolutely thawed and heated via.

This may contain: a hamburger with lettuce, tomato and cheese

Easy Black Bean Burger

These clean bean burgers are SO simple to make! They come together in under half-hour.

Falafel

When I discover a stray bag of this crispy, herb-flecked falafel in my freezer, I sense like I’ve received the lottery. Serve it with pita, fresh veggies, and hummus or tahini sauce for a clean, flavorful weeknight dinner.

Veggie burger with avocado, lettuce, and purple onion – healthy freezer meals

Best Veggie Burger

Made with meaty mushrooms, walnuts, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce or tamari, these vegan veggie burgers have an brilliant savory taste.

Best Vegan Meatballs

Serve them over pasta, or stuff them into subs with a handful of arugula and lots of tomato sauce.

Saucy, “Meaty” Freezer Meal Recipes

Have you attempted cooking with inexperienced jackfruit? With its moderate taste and meaty texture, it’s a exquisite plant-based totally alternative for pulled pork or shredded bird. I love to use it to make saucy BBQ sandwiches and highly spiced vegan tacos, and both fillings freeze flawlessly. Transfer them to the refrigerator to thaw in a single day and reheat them at the stove, or defrost them within the microwave. And don’t forget about—hamburger buns and tortillas freeze well too. Keep some on hand, and you’ll be capable of collect those recipes in no time!

BBQ Jackfruit Sandwiches

My plant-based version of a pulled pork sandwich. Top it with pickles and a short cabbage slaw for scrumptious crunch.

Vegan Tacos

Love sweet and spicy flavors together? You HAVE to do this recipe! The easy mango salsa gives a clean contrast to the flavorful jerk-spiced taco meat. This recipe is a exceptional one for wonderful—you could keep the jackfruit heat in a sluggish cooker in order that visitors can help themselves for the duration of the night time.

Freezer-Friendly Soups and Stews

Soups are the healthful freezer meals I make most usually. They’re soothing, warming, and best for lunch or dinner. To be sincere, almost any soup recipe will freeze properly, however to get you began, I’ve shared some of my favorites below.

To freeze these recipes, allow them to chill absolutely after cooking. Then, transfer them to hermetic packing containers and freeze. Keep in thoughts that soup will expand inside the freezer, so don’t fill your boxes completely. Allow frozen soup to thaw in the refrigerator earlier than reheating it at the stove, or defrost it within the microwave, stirring each short while.

Best Lentil Soup

Coconut milk and curry spices fill this soup with wealthy, warming flavor.

 

Cabbage Soup

An complete head of cabbage wilts down into this nourishing veggie soup.

Butternut Squash Soup

We have this fan-favored recipe on repeat at some point of the autumn and winter. It’s clean, creamy, and full of candy, earthy flavor from the squash and clean herbs.

Black Bean Soup

This 10-element soup is thick and creamy, with a kick of heat from chipotles in adobo. Tame the spice with a dollop of Greek yogurt, vegan sour cream, and/or avocado.

Many-Veggie Vegetable Soup

This may contain: a bowl filled with soup and vegetables on top of a wooden table next to a window

This flexible soup recipe is my favored way to burn up some thing veggie odds and ends I actually have within the fridge. Cauliflower, broccoli, butternut squash, potatoes, or vegetables… They’d all be delicious in this many-veggie soup.

Corn Chowder

Every year, I make this recipe with the ultimate of my summer sweet corn. I revel in one bowl fresh and freeze the rest so that I can enjoy the flavor of summer time inside the bloodless months to come.

Tomato Soup

This comforting conventional pairs flawlessly with a quick grilled cheese sandwich.

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