Recipes Main Dishes Casserole Recipes 15 Make-and-Freeze Casseroles for Time-Saving Dinners By Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves Instagram Vanessa Greaves is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes with nearly two decades of experience helping home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. A self-taught cook who grew up reading cookbooks for fun, Vanessa lives and breathes the challenges faced by busy everyday cooks to get dinner on the table. Education: Vanessa attended California State University, Dominguez Hills, majoring in English. Experience: While living in Los Angeles, Vanessa co-owned a travel service guiding overseas visitors on adventure tours throughout the Desert Southwest, where she developed a strong instinct for sharing knowledge and discovery. Trading in her hiking boots for high heels, Vanessa made the switch to fashion media, starting at Women's Wear Daily and moving up to W magazine, giving her a deep appreciation for both aesthetics and practicalities. After relocating to Seattle, Vanessa's interests turned to more domestic pursuits: raising a family, gardening, and cooking. Her home garden has been featured in The Seattle Times/Pacific NW Magazine, and she's proud to be part of the team that has grown Allrecipes into the world's largest online community of home cooks. Vanessa holds true to the founding principles of Allrecipes, believing that home cooks are the real experts, and striving to showcase their voices and contributions throughout. Vanessa's favorite recipe on Allrecipes is Lolah's Chicken Adobo. It's a family recipe that her Filipino mom taught her, and her mom taught her, and Vanessa in turn taught it to her son. She probably makes it every other week. To her, it tastes like home, comfort, and love Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Updated on January 29, 2021 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Staci When you want a warm and satisfying family meal, but you don't have time to actually make one, the solution is to stock your freezer full of ready-to-bake casseroles. The easiest way to do it is to make a full recipe and freeze half for later. Try 15 of our most popular make-and-freeze casseroles, and get tips for freezing, thawing, and baking them. 01 of 15 Tuna Noodle Casserole I View Recipe Photo by Denise Sakaki. It's so easy to throw extra vegetables into this made-from-scratch casserole. Some reviewers doubled the tuna or doubled the sauce, depending on their preference. To add extra crunch, top this with potato chips or buttered bread crumbs before baking. How to Meal-Prep Freezer Packs for Easy Weeknight Casseroles 02 of 15 Pesto Chicken Penne Casserole View Recipe fabeverydayblog "This is good stuff! But it makes a LOT. I just put about 2/3 of the recipe in a 9x13 pan, and froze an 8x8 to have on hand during the hectic holidays." —cecefltrn 03 of 15 Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups View Recipe Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups. Scott M. "I've actually made this recipe twice on our newly adopted 'Meatless Monday'. I used fresh baby spinach the second time and just laid a single line down the middle over the cheese mixture. My children love it." — JuiceBoxx10 04 of 15 Baked Ziti IV View Recipe Rae If you're not feeding a big crowd, you can bake half of this recipe and freeze the other half for another meal. Try our best make-and-freeze pasta sauces for quick dinners anytime. 05 of 15 Ham, Potato and Broccoli Casserole View Recipe Staci This popular casserole calls for French fries, but many reviewers substituted frozen potato nuggets, hash browns, or thinly sliced potatoes with happy results. SURELEE says, "Put this dish in the freezer and bake whenever you're too lazy to cook!" 06 of 15 Hot Tamale Pie View Recipe Dave Thompson This recipe freezes well, whether baked or unbaked. If you freeze it unbaked, cover it in foil while you bake it for an extra 30 to 40 minutes until cornbread is golden and casserole is heated through. 07 of 15 Spaghetti Pie II View Recipe Caroline C Here's a great tip for making the cottage cheese in this recipe look more like ricotta. Baricat says she's a big fan of ricotta, but she likes the tang that the cottage cheese adds to this dish. Here's her solution: "Process the cottage cheese in the food processor for a minute before adding it to the recipe. This way, you'll get that intriguing, tasty result, and your plate won't be covered in unsightly curds." 08 of 15 Crunchy Eggplant Parmesan View Recipe Rita Plunk Most casseroles can be baked before they're frozen. But for this one, the recipe submitter suggests you assemble and freeze the casserole, and bake it later. 09 of 15 Turkey Cabbage Rolls View Recipe Beth Wand Sidell Tip: To make the cabbage leaves easier to remove, cut the core out of the head and simmer the whole head of cabbage in salted water for a few minutes. The leaves will float to the top as they become tender enough to roll. 10 of 15 Chicken Pot Pie VIII View Recipe kosherspam The filling is made from scratch, but it's okay to use premade pie crusts to speed up production. You can freeze this easy pot pie baked or unbaked. Either way, you don't have to thaw it before baking. If the crust starts getting too dark before the filling is hot, just cover it with a sheet of foil — the filling will continue to heat but the crust will stop browning. Stash away these make-and-freeze soups to speed up dinnertime. 11 of 15 Curried Chicken and Broccoli Casserole View Recipe Rock_lobster "This chicken and broccoli casserole is my 13-year-old son's favorite dish and the one he requests for every one of his birthdays. It is very good and combines the creamy texture of the cheese sauce with the crunchy texture of the corn flakes. It is a standby meal and easy to make, freeze, and bake at a later date. You can freeze it for up to six months. If frozen, bake uncovered for one hour," Sean Greene says. 12 of 15 Cheesy Mexi-Rice Casserole View Recipe Patty Cakes "A great way to use leftover rice. This is delicious and has a little bit of 'kick' to it. We like it as a side dish with grilled chicken breasts. If you have any left, it freezes well, too!" —MAHooper 13 of 15 Chicken or Turkey Tetrazzini Deluxe View Recipe Rock_lobster "Cooked chicken or turkey breast, pasta, veggies, sherry and broth with creamy and cheesy elements, all baked into a classic. This casserole is a great way to use leftover turkey or chicken. Delicious and freezes well too," says recipe creator DACLKG. 14 of 15 Debbie's Frito® Pie View Recipe Soup Loving Nicole "I love this recipe because it can be prepared ahead and frozen. Thaw time is minimal. A great dish for game day or surprise company. I really love this dish because it is so simple to make, yet it tastes fabulous," says recipe creator Debbie's Goodies. "When you have time on your hands, you can make a couple up and freeze them. Then, when you are harried or just plain tired, just pop it in the oven and have a wonderful meal." 15 of 15 Chicken Spectacular View Recipe Laura Nzingha Williams Reviewer CAMPPJTPATTYL says, "After I assembled the casserole I froze it. I thawed it and topped it with shredded cheese before baking. It was delicious. I highly recommend this recipe if you want a casserole to freeze for later." Browse our entire collection of make-ahead and freezer-friendly meals. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit