Freezer Meals for One // Freezer Meals 101

 Tater Tot Pizza Casserole Recipe

Ingredients
  • 2 cups frozen tater tots
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp. basil
  • 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes optional
  • 1/4 cup pepperoni slices
  • 1/4 cup green pepper chopped
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
Freezer meal instructions:
  1. Place the frozen tater tots, tomato sauce, seasonings, pepperoni, and chopped green pepper in a large resealable bag. Remove the excess air and seal.

  2. Measure out the shredded cheddar cheese into a medium-sized freezer bag and seal. Staple the bags together above the seal.

  3. On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw. Dump the contents of the large bag into a square baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese on top. 

  4. Cover with tin foil. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes.
Cook immediately instructions:
  1. Lay the frozen tater tots in an even layer on the bottom of your casserole dish.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the tomato sauce and seasonings.
  3. Spread the tomato sauce over the tater tots.
  4. Sprinkle the cheese on in an even layer and finish with your choice of pizza toppings.
  5. Cover with tin foil. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes.
Recipe Notes

This recipe is so versatile. You can add sliced mushrooms, finely cubed ham, crumbled bacon, or diced tomatoes. Whichever flavours you like on your pizza you can add to the casserole.


Meatloaf Muffins Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
  • 1/2 onion, minced
  • 1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
  • 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. ketchup
  • 1 Tbsp. chili sauce
  • 1 egg
  • salt, pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. parsley

Assembly instructions:

  1. Mix everything together in a bowl. I find using my hands works best. This is a great step to have the kids help out with.
  2. Grease muffin cups.
  3. Put the meat mixture into the muffin tin tray.
  4. Bake at 425° for 23-25 minutes.
  5. Cool the mini meatloaves completely before placing them in a freezer bag.
  6. Remove excess air. Seal and freeze.

Reheating instructions:

  1. Thaw. Reheat in the microwave or in the oven.
  2. You can serve it with ketchup if you want.

Freezer-Friendly Individual Mini Lasagnas

  • 3 pounds ground beef
  • 2 Tablespoons minced dried onion (optional)
  • 1 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 2 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
  • 3 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 72 ounces spaghetti sauce (3 24-ounce jars)
  • 24 ounces cottage cheese (about 2 3/4 cups)
  • 30 ounces ricotta cheese (about 3 1/4 cups)
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • 18 ounces oven-ready lasagna noodles, broken in half
  • 2 pounds mozzarella cheese (1 pound thinly sliced, the other pound shredded)
  • Mini Foil Pans

Brown ground beef with minced onions in a large pan. When meat is cooked, drain off fat. Stir in spaghetti sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, basil, 2 teaspoons chopped parsley, and Italian seasoning.

In another bowl, combine cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon parsley, and eggs.

Spread a layer of meat sauce in the bottom of the mini foil pans. Layer uncooked noodles, sliced cheese, cottage cheese mixture, and meat mixture as desired, ending with meat mixture. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake uncovered lasagnas at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until bubbly and cheese is somewhat crispy. Let cool, cover pans securely with foil, and freeze.

To prepare, bake uncovered, frozen lasagnas at 350 degrees for 1 hour. You can also prepare the lasagnas in the microwave. Pop them out of the foil pans, place on a microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 8-10 minutes. (You may need to thaw them slightly in order to be able to remove them from the pans.)

NOTE: The lasagna is NOT fully cooked after 35 minutes, so if you are planning to eat immediately, you need to cook it for a longer time (and probably cover with foil after 30 minutes to prevent the cheese from burning).

I’ve layered lasagnas all different ways with good results. Basically you just want to make sure each layer of noodles has a even amount of the meat or cheese mixture covering it. For easier handling and to prevent oven spills, place lasagna pans on cookie sheets.

Yields: 13-15 mini lasagnas


ngredients

Mix, Roll, and Freeze Together:

Add After Freezing/Cooking (Do Not Include in Freezer Bag):

Instructions

Prepare Freezer Bag: Add rolled meatballs to freezer bag, laying meatballs in even layer so they lay flat. Transfer freezer bag to freezer and freeze until ready to cook.

To Cook:

  • Oven Instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add frozen meatballs to a small glass or ceramic baking dish. If meatballs are frozen together, break apart. Bake frozen meatballs for 35 minutes. Remove pan from oven, pour marinara sauce atop meatballs, sprinkle shredded mozzarella atop sauce, then return pan to oven to cook for additional 5 minutes. Move on to “Final Steps” as written below.

Final Steps: Serve meatballs hot and garnish with fresh parsley.

Recipe Notes:

Rao’s Sensitive Marinara Sauce Substitute: You can use a different variety of marinara sauce, but I personally choose this product because of the minimal net carb content.

Maintaining Shape Of Meatballs In Freezer Bag Prior To Freezing: If you want the meatballs to be perfectly rounded, after rolling them from raw, lay them in a flat, even-layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, transfer the baking sheet to the freezer, and allow to chill for 30-45 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the freezer and re-roll the meatballs prior to transferring the chilled meat balls to a freezer bag to fully freeze in the freezer.

Remove Excess Air From Freezer Bag Without Flattening Meatballs In Freezer Bag: Either use a vacuum sealer or, seal freezer bag almost completely, leaving a small section open to fit a straw in, suck the air through the straw, and then seal remaining portion of freezer bag.

Cooking Meatballs Before Freezing: If you’d prefer to cook the meatballs before freezing, bake them at 400 degrees until internal temperature of meatballs reaches 165 degrees, about 25 minutes. You can choose to pour tomato sauce and sprinkle mozzarella cheese atop meatballs before freezing, or wait to do so after you have thawed the frozen meatballs and are ready to serve. If you freeze the pre-cooked meatballs with sauce, reheat in a large pan on the stovetop until warmed throughout. If you freeze the pre-cooked meatballs without sauce, reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees until warmed throughout.

Serving Options: Serve meatballs simply on their own, or atop Miracle Noodles or zucchini noodles.

Storage For Cooked Italian Meatballs: Store the cooked meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 2-3 days.



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