Hello lovelies,
on some evenings, a freezer with a few ready portions is worth more than any quick recipe. That's why I cook many of my soups and sauces as a double batch, and half of it goes straight into the freezer.
Here are 14 vegetarian freezer meals that hold up well, 11 of them vegan, plus everything you need to know: what to freeze raw and what to freeze cooked, what stays out of the container, how long it keeps and how to warm it up again. The notes on each dish come straight from the recipes, the rules for cooling, thawing and reheating from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and the notes on texture and storage times from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Which vegetarian freezer meals work best?
The dishes that freeze best are saucy or brothy ones and anything that is baked through anyway: soups, curries, Bolognese and lasagna. Add to that everything you shape raw and cook from frozen, like gnocchi, ravioli and broccoli balls.
Freezing is a perfectly good way to keep cooked food. The USDA's guide to leftovers and food safety says leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for 3 to 4 months. Frozen leftovers stay safe indefinitely, it adds, but they can lose moisture and flavor when they sit in the freezer for a long time.
The table shows all 14 dishes in this post: what state you freeze them in, and what each recipe advises.
| Dish | How to freeze it | Note from the recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Creamy potato soup | blended, cooled and portioned, up to 3 months | add the vegetable garnish fresh so it keeps a little bite |
| Lasagna soup with red lentils | without the noodles, 3 months | add a splash of broth when reheating, the lentils thicken |
| Vegan Bolognese | the sauce, cooled and portioned, up to 3 months | make a double batch while you're at it |
| Chickpea curry with coconut milk | cooled completely and portioned, up to 3 months | as when making it ahead: spinach and lime go in when you reheat |
| Aloo gobi | in portions, up to 3 months | cook the potatoes slightly firmer, thaw overnight in the fridge |
| Lentil shakshuka | only the lentil tomato sauce, airtight, up to 2 months | crack the eggs in fresh when you reheat |
| Autumn pumpkin lasagna | fully baked, in portions, up to 3 months | reheat it in the oven |
| Swiss alpine lasagna | baked, in portions, 3 months | reheat covered at 160 °C (320 °F) so it doesn't dry out |
| Cauliflower parsnip gnocchi | shaped raw, pre-frozen on a floured tray, then bagged | drop them frozen into gently simmering water |
| Pumpkin ravioli with sage butter | filled raw, on a well-floured tray | straight from the freezer into simmering water, a couple of minutes longer |
| Vegan gyoza with tempeh | filled raw, spaced out on a floured tray for 2 hours, then bagged | keep for around 3 months |
| Broccoli balls | shaped raw | bake straight from the freezer, a few minutes longer |
| Pumpkin burgers | once fried | crisp them up again in a pan |
| Spinach rolls | fully baked | crisp them back up in the oven |
Not every dish is freezer friendly. My rice paper dumplings with tofu and shiitake, for example, are not suitable for freezing, because the rice paper goes soft when thawed and breaks. For more dishes that hold up in the fridge for a few days, see my vegetarian meal prep recipes for the week.
What should you leave out when freezing meals?
Anything that turns soft when thawed or tastes best fresh: pasta, poached eggs, fresh greens and the vegetable garnish on a blended soup. Add them when you reheat.
With pasta, the reason is simple: in the soup, the noodles would soak up a lot of liquid and go soft, especially when you reheat leftovers. Cooked separately and added only in the bowl, they stay al dente. That goes for the lasagna noodles in my lasagna soup just as much as for the risoni in my minestrone with savoy cabbage.
| Ingredient | Do this instead | Example from the recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Pasta and risoni | cook separately and add only when serving | lasagna soup, minestrone with savoy cabbage |
| Poached eggs | freeze only the sauce, crack the eggs in fresh when reheating | lentil shakshuka |
| Vegetable garnish | add it fresh so it keeps a little bite | creamy potato soup |
| Fresh spinach and lime | stir in when reheating so everything stays bright and fresh | chickpea curry, make-ahead tip |
| Potato chunks | cook slightly firmer before freezing | aloo gobi |
| Avocado | don't freeze it, it turns watery and loses its color once thawed | wild garlic avocado dip |
The National Center for Home Food Preservation points the same way. In its list of foods that do not freeze well, cooked macaroni, spaghetti or rice frozen on their own turn mushy and taste warmed over, and cooked egg whites turn soft, tough and rubbery. Baked or boiled potatoes can become soft, crumbly and mealy, and the aloo gobi recipe also has you cook them a little firmer for the freezer.
For blended soups with potatoes, cream or coconut milk, the details depend on the ingredients. I explain what works in my guide to freezing soups with cream or potatoes.
Soups, curries and sauces: cook double, freeze half
Soups, curries and sauces are the easiest freezer stash: you cook one big pot, eat half and freeze the rest in portions.
My creamy potato and vegetable soup freezes very well once blended: let it cool, portion it out and freeze it for up to 3 months. I add the vegetable garnish fresh so it keeps a little bite, and when you reheat it gently, a splash of water or stock loosens it if needed.
The lasagna soup with red lentils and spinach tastes almost better on the second day, so I like to cook a double batch and freeze half without the noodles. Frozen, it keeps for 3 months. Add a splash of broth when reheating, because the lentils thicken as they stand. With 22 g of protein per serving it brings far more protein than the potato soup with 5 g. The Parmesan means it isn't vegan.
The vegan Bolognese with smoked tofu and mushrooms cooks for 2 to 3 hours. It keeps covered for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, and it freezes beautifully for up to 3 months, so it's worth making a double batch. Cool it and portion it out before freezing.
Quicker still is the chickpea curry with coconut milk and spinach, ready in 25 minutes. Cool it completely, portion it out and freeze for up to 3 months. Just as when you make it ahead, stir in the fresh spinach and the squeeze of lime only when you reheat, so everything stays bright and fresh.
For the vegan aloo gobi with cauliflower and potatoes, cook the potatoes slightly firmer if you plan to freeze it. Portioned, the curry keeps for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge and reheat it gently.
From the lentil shakshuka with poached eggs, freeze only the lentil tomato sauce, in airtight containers for up to 2 months. Reheat the sauce gently and crack the eggs in fresh when you're ready to serve. The eggs and the sour cream or yogurt make this one vegetarian.
How to freeze lasagna in portions
Lasagna freezes best fully baked and cut into portions, so you can take out exactly as many pieces as you need.
The autumn pumpkin lasagna with beets makes a generous batch, and fully baked it freezes in portions for up to 3 months and reheats well in the oven. Aim for a nice thick béchamel so it doesn't turn mushy, and make the tomato sauce and béchamel 1 to 2 days ahead if you like.
The Swiss alpine lasagna with potato and apple keeps 3 months once baked and frozen in portions. Reheat it covered at 160 °C (320 °F) so it doesn't dry out. With cream and cheese it's vegetarian, a real Sunday dish that needs nothing more than a green salad with a sharp dressing.
Freeze raw, cook frozen: gnocchi, ravioli and broccoli balls
Homemade gnocchi, ravioli and gyoza can be frozen raw as soon as they are shaped or filled. In my recipes they go onto a floured tray for that, and the gnocchi and gyoza then move into a bag.
The cauliflower and parsnip gnocchi make a decent amount that you can prepare in different ways or freeze. Pre-freeze the raw shaped gnocchi on a floured tray, then drop them straight from frozen into water that is only gently simmering.
For the pumpkin ravioli with sage butter, freeze the filled raw ravioli on a well-floured tray. Later, drop them straight from the freezer into simmering water and cook them a couple of minutes longer. The dough and filling can also be prepared a day ahead and kept in the fridge.
Arrange the raw filled vegan gyoza with tempeh with space between them on a floured tray and freeze them for 2 hours before transferring them to a freezer bag. They keep for around 3 months in the freezer.
The baked broccoli balls with chickpeas work the same way: shaped raw balls freeze nicely and can go straight from the freezer into the oven, just bake them a few minutes longer. Once baked, they are also lovely cold in a wrap or lunchbox.
Burgers and spinach rolls: crisp from the freezer
Fried patties and savory bakes go into the freezer finished and come back crisp in a pan or the oven.
For the pumpkin burgers with a sesame crust, shape the soft mixture with wet hands and don't skip the rest in the fridge. The patties freeze well once fried, and a hot pan crisps the sesame crust up again.
The vegan spinach rolls made with yeast dough freeze well fully baked and crisp back up in the oven. That way you always have savory finger food ready for a buffet, a brunch or a New Year's Eve spread. You can make the yeast dough a day ahead and let it prove overnight in the fridge.
If you want to cook the whole holiday meal ahead, you'll find the schedule in my make-ahead Christmas dinner timeline.
How long can you freeze cooked food?
According to the USDA, leftovers can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Most of my recipes say up to 3 months, and the shakshuka's lentil sauce up to 2.
Those times are about quality, not safety. The USDA notes that frozen leftovers are safe indefinitely but can lose moisture and flavor over long storage. The National Center for Home Food Preservation, in its overview of how long you can store frozen foods, puts it the same way: for best quality use the shorter storage times, and after them the food should still be safe, just lower in quality.
In the fridge, the window is much shorter: 3 to 4 days for leftovers, according to the USDA. For dish-by-dish fridge times, see my guide on how long meal prep keeps in the fridge.
How to freeze, thaw and reheat meals safely
Freezing well comes down to three habits: cool it, portion it and label it. Here's how to go about it:
- Cool it quickly: The USDA says leftovers must be refrigerated within 2 hours of cooking. To cool food quickly, divide large amounts into shallow containers; hot food can go straight into the fridge or be chilled in an ice or cold water bath.
- Portion it: Freeze one meal per container, so you only ever thaw what you'll eat.
- Label it: Write the dish, the amount and the date on every bag. The National Center for Home Food Preservation's rule of thumb is first in, first out.
- Thaw it safely: Safe ways to thaw leftovers are the refrigerator, cold water and the microwave, according to the USDA. Raw gnocchi, ravioli and broccoli balls skip this step and go in frozen.
- Or reheat from frozen: The USDA's advice on reheating leftovers says it is safe to reheat frozen leftovers without thawing, in a saucepan or microwave for soups and stews, or in the oven or microwave for casseroles.
- Reheat thoroughly: Reheated leftovers should reach 165 °F (74 °C) on a food thermometer, and the USDA advises bringing sauces and soups to a rolling boil. A splash of broth loosens soups and lentil dishes.
- Refreeze with care: According to the USDA, anything left over after you reheat frozen leftovers to 165 °F can be refrozen. Food thawed in cold water should be cooked before refreezing.
Fresh vegetables follow their own rules, from blanching to packing. I cover that in my guide with blanching times for freezing vegetables.
Frequently asked questions
What vegetarian meals freeze well?
Soups, curries, sauces like Bolognese and baked lasagna in portions freeze well, most of them for up to 3 months in my recipes. Gnocchi, ravioli and broccoli balls are frozen raw and cooked straight from the freezer. Fried burger patties crisp back up in a pan, and baked spinach rolls in the oven.
What foods don't freeze well?
The National Center for Home Food Preservation lists cooked pasta and rice frozen on their own, which turn mushy, cooked egg whites, which turn tough and rubbery, and baked or boiled potatoes, which become soft and mealy. My recipes do the same: pasta is cooked separately, and poached eggs and fresh greens go in when reheating. Rice paper goes soft and breaks when thawed, and avocado turns watery and loses its color.
How long do freezer meals last?
According to the USDA, leftovers can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. They stay safe indefinitely but can lose moisture and flavor the longer they sit. Most of my recipes say up to 3 months, and the lentil sauce for the shakshuka up to 2.
Do you need to thaw freezer meals before reheating?
No. The USDA says it is safe to reheat frozen leftovers without thawing, in a saucepan or microwave for soups and stews, or in the oven or microwave for casseroles. Raw gnocchi, ravioli and broccoli balls also go straight from the freezer into the pot or oven.
Can you freeze gnocchi and ravioli raw?
Yes. Pre-freeze the raw shaped gnocchi on a floured tray, and freeze the filled raw ravioli on a well-floured tray. Drop the gnocchi from frozen into gently simmering water, and the ravioli straight from the freezer into simmering water, cooking them a couple of minutes longer.
Can you refreeze leftovers after thawing?
According to the USDA, leftovers thawed in the refrigerator should be used within 3 to 4 days or can be refrozen. It is also safe to refreeze any food left over after you reheat previously frozen leftovers to 165 °F, while food thawed in cold water should be cooked before refreezing. Freezing small portions means you only thaw what you'll actually eat.
A few portions in the freezer turn a long day into a relaxed evening. Start with a dish you already cook often, and next time simply make a double batch. If you'd rather prep to a plan, my Meal Prep Week meal plan has you cook exactly once, on one Sunday afternoon, in just under two hours. What's always in your freezer?
Yours, Verena
Sources
- 1.USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) · Leftovers and Food Safety
- 2.National Center for Home Food Preservation · Foods That Do Not Freeze Well
- 3.National Center for Home Food Preservation · How Long Can I Store Frozen Foods
