There is nothing better than knowing you already have dinner prepared and waiting in the freezer!
In this post I’m sharing three easy freezer-to-oven dinners that you can prepare ahead of time and freeze, ready for those busy days when you don’t have the time – or simply don’t feel like – preparing a meal from scratch.
These are proper family dinners rather than individual meal-prep portions, and all three went down really well with my family.
The three meals I prepared were:
- Peri-peri chicken and potato bake
- Mexican chicken lasagne
- Kebab and Mediterranean vegetable bake
1. Peri-Peri Chicken & Potato Bake
This is such a simple family dinner because practically everything cooks together in one dish.
You will need
For the chicken:
- Around 12 chicken drumsticks, skin on
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1 tsp salt
- Peri-peri-style spices/seasoning of your choice
For the vegetables:
- Potatoes
- Red onions
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Coarse black pepper
Method
Cut a few slits into each chicken drumstick. This helps the marinade get right into the chicken.
Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and ginger paste, salt and spices. Add the chicken and coat everything thoroughly in the marinade.
If you have time, leave the chicken to marinate for around 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the potatoes and red onions into large wedges. Toss them with a little olive oil, salt and coarse black pepper.
Place the vegetables into one freezer bag and the marinated chicken into another, making sure you include all that lovely marinade.
Freeze until needed.
When you’re ready to cook, place the potatoes and onions into an ovenproof dish and arrange the chicken drumsticks over the top. Drizzle with a little olive oil to help the skin crisp up.
Bake until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the potatoes are tender. You can turn the chicken halfway through cooking if needed.
I like to garnish mine with coriander and serve it with rice.
2. Mexican Chicken Lasagne
This is a really easy alternative to traditional lasagne because instead of lasagne sheets, we’re using tortilla wraps.
You also don’t have to make a traditional white sauce, making this much quicker to put together.
You will need
- Boneless chicken thighs
- A little oil
- Onion
- Garlic and ginger paste
- Paprika
- Coriander powder
- Cumin powder
- Cayenne pepper
- Salt
- Sweetcorn
- 500g passata
- Tortilla wraps
- Double cream or sour cream
- Grated Cheddar cheese
Method
Cut the chicken thighs into pieces and cook them in a little oil.
Add the onion and garlic and ginger paste, followed by your salt and spices. Add the sweetcorn and passata and cook everything together to create your chicken filling.
In a separate bowl, mix a little double cream (or sour cream) with grated Cheddar.
Then it’s time to assemble your lasagne.
A round cake tin works brilliantly because it’s already roughly the same shape as the tortilla wraps.
Start with a tortilla wrap, followed by some of the chicken mixture and cheese. Add another tortilla and continue layering, including some of the cream and cheese mixture.
Finish with a generous layer of grated cheese.
Cover and freeze.
When you want to eat it, bake until piping hot throughout with a lovely golden, melted cheese topping.
This one was particularly good because despite using tortilla wraps, it still tasted surprisingly similar to a regular lasagne.
3. Kebab & Mediterranean Vegetable Bake
The final meal is a simple lamb kebab and vegetable tray bake.
For the kebabs
You’ll need:
- Lamb mince
- Finely chopped onion
- Garlic and ginger paste
- Gram flour
- 1 egg
- Tomato purée
- Salt
- Your preferred kebab spices
Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly and shape into round kebabs.
A little trick I use for freezing these is to place the kebabs onto greaseproof paper, cut around them and stack them with paper between each layer.
That makes it much easier to separate the frozen kebabs when you need them.
For the vegetables
I used:
- Aubergine
- Peppers
- Red onion
- Spring onions
- Tomatoes
You could also add courgette or whatever vegetables you have available.
Chop the vegetables and freeze them in a freezer bag.
When you’re ready to make dinner, spread the vegetables over an ovenproof dish and arrange the frozen kebabs over the top.
Add spring onions and tomatoes and drizzle with a little olive oil.
Bake until the kebabs are completely cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Turn the kebabs during cooking if you’d like them browned on both sides.
Finish with coriander or parsley and serve with rice, pasta or another side of your choice.
Why I Love Freezer-to-Oven Meals
There are lots of different ways to meal prep, but I particularly like preparing complete family dinners.
Instead of having to remember to cook something or assemble lots of different ingredients at the end of a busy day, most of the work has already been done.
Prepare a few dinners when you have some spare time and you’ve essentially given your future self a night off!
These three meals are also really easy to adapt. Change the vegetables, seasonings, meat or sides depending on what your family enjoys and what you already have in the house.
If you’re trying to make family mealtimes a little easier, I hope these give you some inspiration for your own freezer.
Note: Always ensure meat and poultry are fully cooked and piping hot throughout before serving. Cooking times will vary depending on the dish, portion size, oven and whether food is cooked from frozen or defrosted first.
