Individual Serving Freezer Meals // Freezer Meals 101

Tater Tot Pizza Casserole Freezer Meal

BySharla

Tater Tot Pizza Casserole Recipe:

• 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 chopped green pepper
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Freezer meal instructions:

Place the frozen tater tots, tomato sauce, seasonings, pepperoni, and chopped green pepper in a large resealable bag. Remove the excess air and seal.

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

On the day you cook this, 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.

Cover with tin foil. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes. If cheese is not fully melted, remove the tin foil and cook for another 5 minutes. 

Cook immediately instructions:

Lay the frozen tater tots in an even layer on the bottom of your casserole dish.

In a small bowl, mix together the tomato sauce and seasonings. Spread the tomato sauce over the tater tots.

Sprinkle the cheese on in an even layer and finish with your choice of pizza toppings. 

Cover with tin foil. Heat oven. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes.

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

One of the greatest things about this recipe is that it’s so easy for little ones to help with it. They can dump the tots in the pan, spread the tomato sauce over the tater tots, and sprinkle on the toppings.

If you made it ahead as a freezer meal, they can pretty much assemble the whole thing. Depending on their age, they may need help putting it into the oven. This recipe is a great way to give kids a bit of independence in the kitchen.

Moist Meatloaf Muffins (freezer meal)

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.

Mini Freezable Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients

  

• 3 lbs ground beef
• 2 Tbsp. minced dried onion
• 2 tsp. salt divided
• ½ tsp. black pepper divided
• 2 Tbsp. fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried
• 3 tsp. fresh parsley (divided) or 1/2 tsp. dried
• 1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning
• 72 oz. spaghetti sauce 3 24-ounce jars
• 24 oz. cottage cheese
• 30 oz. ricotta cheese
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• 18 ounces oven-ready lasagna noodles break them in half
• 1 lb. mossarella cheese thinly sliced
• 1 lb. mozzerella cheese shredded

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Grease mini lasagna pans and set aside.
• Brown ground beef with minced onions in a large pan. When meat is cooked, drain off the fat.
• Stir in spaghetti sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, basil, 2 teaspoons chopped parsley, and Italian seasoning.
• In a medium-sized 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.
• Place mini pans on a large sheet pan and bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until bubbly and the cheese is somewhat crispy.
• At this point, you can let the lasagna cool, then cover and freezer for later.
•  OR, if you plan to eat them immediately, cover with foil and continue baking an additional 20-25 minutes.

To reheat frozen lasagnas, bake them uncovered 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.)