You can freeze not only dumplings and cutlets, but also pies, stuffed pancakes and even broths for soups. Below you will find 10 original dishes, suitable for freezing. But before going to the recipes, there’s a bit of theory.
In the freezer -18 ºС. At this temperature, the action of microorganisms stops – frozen food is stored for a long time without losing its taste. How many? Given that we are constantly looking into the freezer, that is, there are temperature changes, the food is slightly thawed and again freezes, not more than two months.
Some products are not suitable for freezing. For example, zucchini, cucumber and other watery vegetables. After defrosting of them, along with moisture, almost all the taste goes away. Lettuce leaves lose texture, and raw potatoes get an unpleasant aftertaste.
Freezing and defrosting food should be able to. The colder the dish before sending it to the freezer, the better. If the products have been heat treated, it is recommended to cool them first at room temperature, then hold in the refrigerator and then freeze.
Defrost in the reverse order: we take the dish from the freezer, put it on the pallet and send it to the refrigerator for 10-12 hours. Slow thawing allows the products to absorb the moisture lost during freezing. So the taste is preserved as much as possible. But, if there is no time, you can use the defrost function in the microwave oven.
Vacuum bags, plastic and glass trays are used to store food in the freezer. Bags with zip-locks are convenient when you do not need to support the shape of the dish: they save a lot of space in the freezer. Plastic containers can be taken with you to work, they are convenient to warm up the lunch in the microwave, and glass trays are ideal for cooking in the oven, since you do not need to shift the dish from the dishes to the dishes.
Nourishing muffins for breakfast
Muffins belong to sweet pastries, but if you use ham and cheese instead of chocolate and fruits, then you can get a hearty mini-buns for breakfast. Their preparation takes a little time, and after freezing and reheating they are as delicious as they are with heat from the heat.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 pieces of bread;
- 3-4 slices of ham;
- 100 g cheddar or other hard cheese;
- 8 eggs;
- 1 cup of milk;
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder;
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper;
- dried parsley and other spices to taste.
Preparation
Bread and ham are cut into thin strips. Cheese grate on a coarse grater. Fill the cake molds with this filling by about two-thirds.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, milk, mustard powder and pepper. Fill with the resulting mixture of form. But not to the brim, otherwise the muffins will run away when baked. On top of each cell of the mold sprinkle with dried parsley and other condiments to your taste.
Preheat the oven to 200 ºС. Bake muffins for 15-20 minutes. Allow them to cool and then put in a plastic container and send to the freezer.
In the morning you can get the right amount of buns, warm in the microwave and get a quick, satisfying, and most importantly, delicious breakfast.
Cups of oatmeal for healthy breakfasts
Oatmeal is ideal for breakfast, nutritious and useful. It provides about 20% of the daily norm of fiber and protein, contains a lot of necessary substances and helps control your appetite. If you are too lazy to mess around with making porridge in the morning, there is a solution – frozen oat cups with various fillings (fruits, nuts, dried fruits and other).
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of oatmeal;
- 3 cups of milk or water (to choose from);
- 1 tablespoon honey;
- 30 g of butter;
- a pinch of salt;
- fruits, berries, chocolate, nuts, dried fruits and other fillers.
Preparation
In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Pour the oatmeal and mix well. Reduce heat to a weak one and boil the porridge 5-7 minutes before thickening. Stir constantly. Remove the oatmeal from the fire, add a piece of butter and a spoonful of honey, mix well. Allow to cool slightly.
Form the cupcakes with vegetable oil and spread the mess in the cells. Top each serving with a filler. It can be diced bananas, raspberries, raisins, coconut chips – something that you like eating oatmeal.
Wrap the form with food film and freeze. When the cups snap well, remove them from the mold and wrap them individually. This will save a lot of space in the freezer.
Get the right amount of cups from the freezer the night before, so that in the morning it’s easy to get a healthy and tasty breakfast. Just heat the porridge in the microwave. If necessary, add milk.
Stuffed peppers
Frozen stuffed peppers help out almost the same way as dumplings or vareniki. If you know that there is a busy day ahead and will not be ready for cooking, on the eve get the peppers from the freezer. Overnight in the fridge they will thaw, you just have to put them in the oven.
Ingredients:
- 8 Bulgarian peppers;
- 700 g ground beef;
- 250 g of rice;
- 250 g of tomato sauce;
- 1 onion;
- 2 cloves garlic;
- solid cheddar cheese;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Preparation
Wash pepper, cut off the tops to get “cups”, clean the internal cavity of the seeds. Cut off “hats” can be crumbled and used in the filling.
Peel onion and garlic and finely chop. Mix the minced meat (instead of beef you can use minced meat from turkey), rice, pepper, onion, garlic and tomato sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Start with peppers. Sprinkle with grated cheese on top.
In this form, peppers can already be frozen. When you need to cook them, defrost and bake in the oven at 180 ° C for 30-40 minutes.
Rustic potatoes with omelets and cheese
What to take for lunch in the office or for study? For many, this is an everyday headache. This recipe will help to vary the contents of your lunchbox. Ingredients are simple, cooking is simple.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 kg of potatoes;
- 500 g of salsa sauce;
- 500 g of hard cheese (for example, cheddar);
- 50 g of butter;
- 9 eggs;
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil;
- 1 teaspoon paprika;
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder;
- ½ teaspoon of salt;
- black ground pepper to taste.
Preparation
Wash the potatoes and cut them into cubes. If it’s young, you can not even peel it. In a bowl to the potato cubes, pour the paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper, pour in the olive oil. Mix everything thoroughly. Lay the potatoes in one layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and send for 45-60 minutes to the oven, heated to 200 ºС. At about the middle of the cooking, stir the potatoes.
While he is preparing, make an omelette. To do this, break the eggs into a bowl and whisk them gently with a whisk. Melt the butter in a frying pan and gently pour eggs into it. Remove the omelette from the plate for a couple of minutes until cooked, the eggs should stay a little liquid.
Spread the potatoes around the containers. In each of them, add 2-3 tablespoons of salsa sauce or any other sauce to your taste. Spread the scrambled eggs and sprinkle them with grated cheese.
From this amount of ingredients you will get six office lunches. Keep them in the freezer, and when necessary, take a container with you, warm up in the microwave and enjoy excellent potatoes in a rustic way.
Baked pasta with minced meat
Short macaroni in the form of corrugated tubules with diagonally cut edges are called penne. From them and ground beef can be prepared a delicious casserole, which will help out if you do not have time with dinner. It can be taken for lunch to work.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of ground beef;
- 800 g of tomatoes in its own juice;
- 500 g of penne paste;
- 400 g of marinara sauce;
- 400 g ricotta;
- 400 g of mazarella;
- 1 large onion;
- 1 egg;
- 3 cloves garlic;
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil;
- 2 teaspoons of a mixture of Italian herbs;
- ½ teaspoon of coarse-grained red pepper (flakes);
- salt and black pepper to taste.
Preparation
Peel and finely chop onion and garlic. Fry them in olive oil. Then add ground beef to them. Fry it, stirring constantly, until excess moisture evaporates. When the mince is browned, pour the tomatoes in your own juice and marinara sauce into the pan (if it is not at hand, you can use any other tomato sauce). Add the spices: Italian mixture, red and black pepper, salt. Stew for half an hour. After 30 minutes, transfer a third of the sauce from the frying pan into a separate bowl. Cool down.
Also in a separate bowl, combine the ricotta, grated mozzarella (leave some cheese for sprinkling) and eggs. Salt, pepper, whisk until smooth.
Cook the pasta. Rinse them under cold running water. Mix with ground meat and cheese. Put everything in a glass container. Pour the remaining tomato-meat sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese.
The container must be used necessarily glass, so as to bring the casserole from the freezer, it could be immediately sent to the oven. Bake should be at 190 ° C. In this case, if you send the casserole in the oven straight from the freezer, the cooking time will be 2-2.5 hours. Therefore, it is better to defrost the dish beforehand in the microwave oven or in the natural way, on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
Takitos with chicken and cheese
Takitos is a dish of Mexican cuisine, which is a corn tortilla with a filling. This recipe is a rescue in case everyone is hungry, but there is no time to cook and nothing. In just 15 minutes you will have dinner on your table as good as a restaurant.
Ingredients:
- 15 corn tortillas;
- 500 g of chicken breast;
- 250 g of cream cheese;
- 170 g of salsa sauce verde;
- 4 tablespoons chopped cilantro;
- 2 tablespoons lime juice;
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder;
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder;
- 1 ½ teaspoon of chili powder;
- ¾ teaspoon cumin;
- vegetable oil for frying and lubrication.
Preparation
Chicken breast cut into strips and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Cream cheese mixed with cilantro, lime juice and spices (cumin, onion, garlic powder and chilli powder). Since the dish is Mexican, Pepper Jack cheese is good for tatos. It has a creamy taste with slightly tart notes. But you can use other semi-soft varieties.
Tortillas can be prepared by yourself or bought ready-made. In the latter case, first send the cakes for 1-2 minutes into the microwave so that they are soft and do not break when folded.
Put the chicken and cheese mixture on the cakes. Add a little salsa sauce to verde. On how to cook it at home, read here. Roll the tortillas into a roll.
Preheat the oven to 220 ºС. Cover the baking tray with foil and sprinkle with vegetable oil. Lay the rolls on it so that the edges are at the bottom and they do not touch each other. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
When the tatos are baked and cool, fold them into a freezer bag with a zip lock and put them into the freezer. In the situation “everyone is hungry, and cook once and not from what” again lay the rolls on a baking sheet, lightly drizzle with vegetable oil and warm in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
Homemade chicken nuggets
Nuggets are usually associated with fast food, but they can be the basis for a second for lunch or dinner. When there is no time to fry the cutlets, get them out of the freezer and warm up the nuggets. As a side dish, you can boil pasta or make a mashed potatoes.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ kg of chicken fillet;
- 200 g of flour;
- 200 g of corn flakes;
- 5 eggs;
- 1 tablespoon paprika.
Preparation
Wash meat, dry and cut into small pieces about 3-5 cm long. Grind cornflakes in a blender. Mix the flour and paprika in a separate bowl. Also whip the egg whisk separately.
Each piece of chicken dip first in flour, then in eggs and, finally, in flakes. Do this carefully if you want the nuggets to really crunch. Cover the baking tray with parchment and put the breaded chicken pieces on it. Bake the nuggets in the oven at 180 ° C for 15-20 minutes.
When the nuggets cool down, fold them into a sealed plastic bag, and put it in the freezer. Packages with frozen foods are useful to label. Indicate the name of the dish and the date of preparation.
Delicious Mitbols
Mitbols – a dish of Italian cuisine, which is a ball of minced meat. They are like meatballs and meatballs, but neither one nor the other. Meatballs are usually stewed, meatballs boiled in broth, and the meatballs are baked in the oven (Italian version) or deep-fried (American version). Mitbols are a great solution for those who do not have time and desire to stand by the stove. It’s tasty and satisfying. Mitbols can be eaten as a separate dish or served with a side dish.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of ground beef;
- 200 g of breadcrumbs;
- 200 g ricotta;
- 2 eggs;
- 5 tablespoons of olive oil;
- parsley, salt, pepper and other spices to taste.
Preparation
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Ricotta can be replaced with thick sour cream, but it’s better to use beef: the pork is too fat for this dish.
From the resulting stuffing, form balls with a diameter of about 5 cm. Put them in a container, wrap it with foil and freeze. Bake mitbols should be at a temperature of 180 ° C for 20-30 minutes.
Stew with chicken and vegetables – preparation for multivarka
Multivark essentially simplifies life: laid down products, pressed the button and do your own thing. And if in addition to freeze blanks, where all the ingredients have already been washed and cut, then the time savings become even more palpable.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of chicken fillet;
- 2 Bulgarian peppers;
- 1 onion;
- 2 cloves garlic;
- 1 tablespoon honey;
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar;
- 1 tablespoon of chili powder;
- 2 teaspoons cumin;
- 1 teaspoon paprika.
Preparation
Wash chicken and cut into strips. Pepper also wash, peel and seed. Peel and chop onion and garlic.
Take the package with the zip-lock buckle, pour in it all the ingredients, including honey and apple cider vinegar. Leave the air out of the bag as much as possible. Freeze. When necessary, unfreeze the package, pour its contents into the multivark and stew the stew for 3-6 hours. You can do all the manipulations in the morning, so that in the evening, when you come home from work, you can enjoy a delicious dinner.
Homemade pizza in a hurry
The guests are on the threshold, and in the fridge the ball rolls? In this case, it’s nice to have a pizza blank. We took off the foil and food film, and after 15 minutes at your table a delicious treat. Pizza dough, of course, can be bought at the store. But homemade tastes better.
Ingredients
For the test:
- 200 ml of hot water;
- 2-3 cups of flour;
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil;
- 1 tablespoon honey;
- 1 ½ tsp dry yeast;
- ½ teaspoon of salt;
- 1 teaspoon of a mixture of Italian herbs and garlic powder (optional).
Filling variant:
- chicken fillet;
- salami;
- bow;
- olives.
Preparation
In hot water, dissolve a spoonful of honey, then add the yeast and let stand for 5-7 minutes. Pour olive oil, pour in salt and seasonings if you decide to use them. Stir well. Accurately gradually enter the flour and knead the dough. Cover the bowl with the test towel and leave for half an hour. The dough should rise, having increased twice in volume.
Roll out the dough. You can make small portions of pizza (it’s easier to store), and you can make one big circle. Bake the dough without (!) The filling at 220 ° C for 7-8 minutes.
Get the future pizza out of the oven, let it cool down a bit and season with sauce. It can be anything, for example alfredo, barbecue or just ketchup with mayonnaise. Top out the filling. It also depends on your imagination and the products at hand. Do not forget to sprinkle with grated cheese!
Half-finished pizza wrap with food film, and then with foil and send for freezing. When the guests come, put pizza in the oven for 15 minutes. It is necessary only to make the filling and the cheese is melted.
Bon Appetit!
Write in the comments, what foods and dishes you freeze.
