good one-dish meals to freeze and reheat?

Hi,
For Christmas this year I am giving my inlaws the gift of homemade food that they can just put directly in the oven for some nice weekday meals. Since they live in Boston and I am here, I need to think of some things I can make all at once over Thanksgiving and leave in their freezer. My inlaws love good food but hate to cook (I don't understand how these things go together, but that's another post).
I don't usually make a lot of one-dish meals, so some suggestions would be appreciated...All I have thought of so far is spinach lasagne, shepherd's pie, and macaroni and cheese (can you even freeze this well?). I don't mind complicated recipes as long as they wind up all in one pan.
Thanks in advace, will post when all is said and done!

pot pies, soups, chili, stews that you can have going in a crock pot while making other things.

Spanikopita, pasties, jambalaya. Would they be willing to cook some noodles or couscous if you made the rest of the meal and supplied the dried starches? That would open up lots more possibilities.

You might also want to check out the casserole recipes in the LTH recipe collection.

Any Indian curry is better reheated anyway. Find a simple Chicken Tikka Masala or Makhani recipe.

QUICHE. The Thomas Keller quiche in Food and Wine from a few months ago (I think it's on epicurious or something like that) is just awesome reheated.

Epicurious has a page on meals to reheat and to freeze. (I often do this for new Moms as an alternative baby gift.) The suggestion of separate starches is a good one: it's often the potatoes, rice, or pasta that suffers from freezing, though I've had good results with pasta. Another suggestion online was to avoid flour as a thickener and use cornstarch or tapioca.

One of the casseroles I usually send is farfalle noodles with chunks of sauteed salmon and peas, in a garlic parmesan cream sauce. I like to use Glad Ovenware when giving these kinds of gifts; they're convenient because they can go in the oven (under 400 degrees) or in the microwave, unlike aluminum tins.

While it's not a 1-dish meal, my mother used to freeze her cheese straws, as well as various savory strudels (mushroom filling, spinach, a sort of kreplach-esque meat filling) and they popped right from freezer to oven to great effect.
Aslo many great pasta sauces freeze really well. They can be complex and long simmered etc, then just dumped over fresh noodles.

Lasagna can work well as a cook and freeze. It's easiest if you cook it, let it cool completely, and then slice it into portion size pieces. Package those up individually and stick them in the freezer. Eat it for dinner or take it to work for lunch.

Mhays wrote:Epicurious has a page on meals to reheat and to freeze. (I often do this for new Moms as an alternative baby gift.)

My office is basically a baby farm (9 babies born in two years/18 total staff), and we have a tradition of making freezable one-dish meals for the new moms. I've had good luck with epicurious, particularly with soups hearty enough to serve over rice or couscous. For example, I really like this kale and white bean soup with kielbasa.

A recipe I frequently make for the moms and for myself is a West African groundnut stew. This freezes very well. I'll heat it up, put some quinoa in the rice cooker--makes for a quick and filling dinner.

A friend will be having surgery that requires a week-long hospital stay, so I want to make a few dishes that her husband can just heat up and serve while she is out of commission. Lasagne is definitely on the list; what else might be good for a situation like this? My friend said her youngest son is not picky, but the 11-year-old only likes certain foods -- she described him as a "cheeseburger, eggs, grilled cheese, taquitos, pancakes,
waffle, kind of kid." I am trying to think of something I could prepare that would appeal to him, too.

Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!

Well none of those are really freezer friendly. Most freezer friendly foods have some kind of liquid or sauce...soups, stews etc. Beef stew, lasagna, chili, chicken cacciatore, swiss steak, etc. Those are the kinds of things I think freeze well.

roast a few chickies, quarter them up.

bbq is very freezer friendly.

Lasagna, sure-

I tend to stay away from freezing things with most veggies, and do mostly meats. Not a fan of many frozen veggies at all. Might wanna do a package type thing? A meat along with a frozen item that rocks?
Suggestions on frozen sides in bags:
Trader joe's gnocchi with spinach and peas in spicy (it's not spicy at ALL) sauce
Tj's polenta with carrots (it's got other stuff in it)
Tj's gnocchi with mozzarella

Seriously tho -
If you are a smoker,
ribs
pulled pork
smoked chickens

My freezer is always full of portions of those come winter. Freezes real nice. I thaw/nuke a meat, throw some frozen side in a pan, and steam a green veggie or cauliflower in the world's best steamer (your microwave) when I need a 10 minute meal that has some pride in it.

Make a chili. Portion out the hamburgers, or bean burgers and freeze them (uncooked). Send over the buns, a jar of pickles, and a pack of thick American Cheese & some awesome potato chips.



Buy/bake one good loaf of white bread & add a nice gruyere cheese so pops can have an adult grilled cheese if the kid wants American.

Waffles and pancakes freeze well. Send them over with jam & maple syrup for the kid. Or make the batter, so all they have to do is pour it into the pan, scramble some eggs, heat the syrup, & fry the sausage or bacon.

I still love breakfast for dinner.

I agree that waffles and pancakes freeze well, or well enough.

Chicken pot pies. You can make your own, or buy high quality pre-made ones. I seem to remember that Kaufman's was very good.

Since the kid seems to like cheese, really nice mac-n-cheese could be good, and freezes well.

Darren72 wrote:I agree that waffles and pancakes freeze well, or well enough.

Homemade taste way better than the one's that are frozen at the grocery store.

pairs4life wrote:

Darren72 wrote:I agree that waffles and pancakes freeze well, or well enough.

Homemade taste way better than the one's that are frozen at the grocery store.

To be clear, I was suggesting that the OP make homemade waffles or pancakes and freeze them, not buy pre-made ones.

These are all great suggestions!! Thank you so much. I really like the idea of making up some waffles in advance that can be frozen. My goal is for Corey to be able to get dinner on the table without having to do much work; I think he will have a lot on his mind while his wife is in the hospital.

And a cheeseburger "kit" sounds fun! Seebee, I did have roasted chicken in the back of my mind -- I've made that before for my friends, and they inhaled it. Maybe that's a meal I could bring over hot one evening.

Quiches and stratas freeze well.

You could do filled buns -- like baked bao, but with any kind of filling you like in the center: chili, cheese, sausage, stew, vegetables, as well as the traditional Chinese roast pork and such. Or pasties or empanadas.

Crepes are another option. Make the crepes, freeze separated by waxed paper, send the filling in a separate container.

Darren72 wrote:

pairs4life wrote:

Darren72 wrote:I agree that waffles and pancakes freeze well, or well enough.

Homemade taste way better than the one's that are frozen at the grocery store.

To be clear, I was suggesting that the OP make homemade waffles or pancakes and freeze them, not buy pre-made ones.

I agree with you Darren72. Didn't want OP to think frozen homemade wasn't significantly better than frozen one's from the store.

I agree with you Darren72. Didn't want OP to think frozen homemade wasn't significantly better than frozen one's from the store.

I will be seeing the kids in just a little while, so I thought I would seize the opportunity to find out from the source his favorite toppings and food flavors to add to my "knowledge base."

annak wrote:Since the kid seems to like cheese, really nice mac-n-cheese could be good, and freezes well.

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese. Also good with turkey or pulled pork (and probably a lot of other left over meats) in place of chicken.

I had a good conversation with my friend that helped me refine what would work for the family; it was actually fun to think about recipes and methods that would appeal to her 11-year-old. Here is the list of dishes/meals I am going to prepare:

Lasagne
Tossed Salad Greens with Vinaigrette
Bread

Waffles (cooked in advance and frozen so they can be heated up when needed)

Baked BBQ Chicken (for which I am still searching for a good recipe; any suggestions welcomed and appreciated!)
Mac ‘n Cheese
Green Beans

3-Cheese Cornbread Casserole (Could be served for breakfast or dinner; this is one of those egg dishes you prepare in advance and refrigerate overnight before baking)

I want to thank everyone who provided suggestions here; they helped me very much in developing my list. Now to figure out when I'm going to do all this cooking!

Sharon