Plant-Based Freezer Meals
Many of my students want to know what dishes can be made ahead of time and frozen. This is a great question, because not all foods freeze equally well. But those recipes that do freeze well can help on so many fronts:
Prevent boredom by not requiring you to eat the same thing day after day
Lessen your overall cooking load, especially if you live alone, because a freezer full of entrees can take care of several meals a week
Serve as an emergency reserve when it’s impossible to make the lunch or dinner you’d planned to make
Caveats
Before I provide my list of go-to freezer entrees, let me mention a few tricky ingredients.
Potatoes – chunks of cooked potatoes can become squishy when frozen in soups and stews, so I avoid freezing potato-heavy dishes, except for those with mashed potatoes.
Fully cooked rice can turn mealy when frozen
Not all pasta dishes freeze well. Some baked pasta dishes like lasagna work very well, whereas dishes that involve tossing cooked pasta with a sauce usually don’t freeze well. (Note that whole-grain cooked pasta (without sauce) freezes well – see my post on this topic.)
Storage options
I recommend freezing dishes in individual portion sizes for easier thawing and heating. Here’s a list of safe types of containers for freezing whole or individual portions.
Freezer-safe glass dishes with snap-on lids
Soup “cubes” that freeze 1- or 2-cup portions
Plastic freezer bags (BPA-free)
Silicone storage bags
Mason jars (wide-mouth are easiest)
Heavy-duty foil (can wrap first in parchment if you don’t want foil touching your food)
Vacuum sealer packages
Freezer paper
Meals for freezing
Here is my list of dishes that you can make to completion, then freeze in individual portions. You will be so happy to find them when you want a good meal and don’t want to cook. Happy freezing!
These are for people who like a classic red enchilada sauce. This filling of mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, and corn—with a little tofu and spices—is flavorful, with lots of different textures and tastes. Free of oil and other processed ingredients, these plant-based enchiladas deliver a great meal.
This is a variation on the British “Bubble and Squeak,” a dish using potato and cabbage leftovers, fried with butter, bacon, or other fats. This is a healthier dish with tons of savory goodness, especially when topped with gravy.
Some dishes are just homey and good. Scalloped corn, like its close relation scalloped potatoes, is one of them. Blended cashews made into a white sauce provide an excellent substitute for a traditional dairy-based white sauce.
Your friends and family won’t miss the meat with this lasagna. The cashew-based ricotta is the key, and it’s super-delicious.
Yes, you can make eggplant parmigiana without oil! Roasting the eggplant slices releases their flavor and keeps the dish clean-tasting. Light and delicious, this Parmigiana will please the eggplant lovers among us.
This gorgeous and deeply tasty plant-based pie, made without oil or butter, gets its power from perfectly whipped russet potatoes and a umami-rich dark gravy that mingles with lentils and a host of chopped vegetables.
This is my plant-based Thanksgiving entree. Its mild flavors are perfect for Thanksgiving, but "mild" shouldn't be confused with "boring." Many succotashes are made on the stove, but this one is baked, with cashew cream, flaxseed meal, and a creative mix of spices and herbs holding everything together deliciously, without oil or butter..
This plant-based chili’s flavor runs deep, a tough challenge for vegan chili recipes. You might not taste the cocoa powder or cinnamon, but they contribute to the complexity of this flavor profile. A little tahini lends it some creaminess, and cilantro and limes add bright notes at the end. As a bonus, this chili freezes well and makes at least 8 servings, meaning “Leftovers!,” one of my favorite words.
This delicious plant-based stew comes from the unexpected combination of green lentils and millet. The curry flavoring here is on the mellow side, and softened even further by the miso. From a health standpoint this stew checks all the boxes: legumes, whole grains, and leafy greens. With a salad and optional bread, this stew makes a brilliant winter meal.
Mushrooms and lentils share the spotlight in this stew, with support from tomato and vinegar flavors. The result is a protein-packed, deeply flavorful plant-based stew that tastes great on its own or with spaetzle, rice, or other grain.
This simple-to-make plant-based black bean soup is the epitome of the saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” So few ingredients, so much tasty satisfaction. Plus, it’s low in fat (no oil used) and very high in fiber, which has been shown to offer many health benefits.
A potato and a bit of cashew cream give this vegan version of cream of spinach soup some heft and creaminess. A whole pound of spinach is used here, but it quickly shrinks in bulk after it hits the hot broth.
This wonderfully complex soup used to take over 24 hours with soaking time. Now it’s done in 90 minutes with the Instant Pot, mostly hands-off time. The subtle blend of spices will keep you coming back for more.
The “groundnut stew” is a favorite dish in many parts of West Africa. I know why! The peanuts, tomatoes, onion, Chile peppers, sweet potatoes, and okra work together to produce a taste like no other stew I know. This is a rib-sticking plant-based lunch or dinner that you’ll be coming back to again and again.
The combination of mellow pintos and smoky chipotles makes this dish satisfying on its own or easily combined with other elements for a satisfying and super-healthy meal.
A makeover of Alison Roman’s Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric (a recipe for “the stew” “that broke the internet”), this version has 1500 fewer calories and 131 fewer grams of saturated fat. It’s also oil-free. But it has all the flavor and savory goodness of the original. Both are plant-based, but this one is healthier.
This soup has a simple, deep flavor—the red wine vinegar at the end is the key. You can always load up on garnishes to dress it up if you’re feeling fancy.
Based on an old tradition in the Southern U.S., this stew showcases that lovely legume with a beauty spot, the black-eyed peas. In this plant-based version, I use smoked paprika and mushrooms to get a smokiness and earthiness similar to pork flavor. The Instant Pot makes this dish a snap.
This lovely plant-based curry is a snap to make in the Instant Pot. Pre-soaking the black-eyed peas means that all the ingredients will reach the right texture, without getting over-cooked, in 12 minutes of pressure. This method avoids the need for oil, which saves on fat and calories. Seasonings and heat level can be adjusted to taste. The curry freezes well.
This delicious plant-based curry is high on flavor and low on calories (about 165 calories per serving). You can customize it, using your favorite vegetables.
This lovely curry makes good use of home gardens’ harvests—eggplant and summer squash. I like to serve this curry with baked Indian fritters.
This excellent curry is surprisingly flavorful, given the simplicity of the recipe. The spices’ aroma fills up the kitchen and makes your mouth water while you’re cooking the dish.
Recipes with eggplant usually call for loads of oil. I used my broiling method to cook the eggplant with only light sprays on both sides. The rest of the recipe brings classic Indian spices and ingredients to the party for a delicious curry.
This gluten-free, oil-free, plant-based burger has the two characteristics most needed in a good veggie burger: the right texture and an interesting flavor combination. Homemade vegan burgers with beans can be mushy, a real turn-off. These burgers get their structure from sturdy legumes, ground chia “eggs,” oatmeal, and seeds. The flavor comes from ketchup, mustard, and a good dose of dry spices.
Many vegan meatball recipes contain beans, which give the meatballs a soft, squishy texture. This recipe uses mushrooms, walnuts, and grated tempeh—held together with a little vital wheat gluten—to get a firm, chewy texture. These meatballs hold up very well in sauces or soups.
This no-oil “ground beef” substitute, with its chewy-crispy texture, can be used in tacos, burritos, tostadas, enchiladas, taquitos, or on nachos. They are the ultimate all-purpose ingredient for quick Mexican dishes.
This is a family-friendly recipe and great for summer dinners. And only one pot to clean up! I found that green lentils work best because they hold their shape better than brown or red. Delicious!
No-oil method for turning bland tofu into flavorful slices of umami goodness. I love how this method takes all the jiggle out of tofu, too. The slices are great on sandwiches, or you can cut the slices up and use the pieces for bowls, stir-fries, fajitas, and the list goes on.
These gluten-free black bean burgers have incredible texture and taste without any added oil. The burgers are baked rather than pan-fried, which not only saves on oil but also eliminates time standing at the stove. They freeze well and go with lots of toppings.
This plant-based BBQ sauce goes with everything and makes a lovely gift for friends and family. It’s smooth, thick, and doesn’t have a dominant tomato flavor. With no added oil or sugar, it’s also healthy and can be slathered onto so many foods guilt-free. You can also stir it together with mayonnaise or hummus for fusion sauces and spreads for vegetables, sandwiches, bowls, and more. There’s just so many ways to use it.
This vegan universal stir-fry sauce, made without oil, goes with so many different vegetable and tofu/tempeh combinations. You can play with flavors using this as a base — you can add sesame flavors, peanuts, chilis, more garlic, etc. Have a jar of this in your fridge, and you’ll be able to whip up a stir-fry in no time!
This super-fast alternative to marinara sauce has a fresh taste and a skinny profile. No oil or butter here—just clean flavors that stand up to a mound of pasta or vegetables.
Stuff baked potatoes with shepherd’s pie filling! This clever solution gets you all the same flavors but skips the oven and making the whipped potatoes.. A perfect plant-based entree.
Without oil and coconut milk, this sauce is healthy and very tasty. It goes with many things: roasted vegetables and rice, baked potatoes, pasta, any kind of grain, you name it!
This is “New York-style” pizza sauce because of its seasoning and the fact that it’s cooked, not raw. It’s a classic sauce that holds its own against any and all toppings.
A good peanut sauce is quite versatile. You can use it over vegetables, pasta, grains, seitan satay, or as the finishing touch for bowls. Peanut sauce makes everything taste better.
This sauce works on everything: falafel, baked potatoes (sweet or white), all sorts of vegetables, and cooked grains as well. It’s fast to make and lasts about a week in the refrigerator.
This is the familiar and comforting sauce many of us know from our childhoods. It doesn't have the sugar, oil, and preservatives you might find in canned sauces. You can control the heat level.
This chutney is super-flavorful. Packed with cilantro and mint, it makes a big impact on breads, appetizers, roasted vegetables, or just spooned out of the container into your mouth!
This marinara and rich and thick, even though it has no oil or meat. Starting with a can of good whole tomatoes is key—they really create the texture of this sauce.
This non-dairy crema made with cashews is the perfect substitute for both sour cream and cheese in many Mexican dishes like tacos, tostadas, nachos, and dips.
This versatile and healthy sauce is easy to make and can be used in pot pies, casseroles, and as the basis for garlic pizza sauce as well.
Without oil or butter, this plant-based gravy is healthy, whole-food, robust, and creamy. It goes with so many dishes. (It also freezes well.) You can play with the spices and herbs as you like.
This nutty, caper-y, lemony plant-based pesto slathered on toast, hot pasta, boiled potatoes, broiled eggplant just works. And you don’t need oil to get this creamy pesto.
This sauce is a real omnivore-pleaser. It always gets rave reviews. It’s tasty on pasta, grains, roasted vegetables, or even shredded raw vegetables…or a combination of them in a big bowl. It’s a great way to go heavy on vegetables for dinner. There is no oil or other added fat in this recipe.
The secret to this delicious plant-based pesto is miso. That subtle nutty, umami flavor fills the place left by parmesan cheese. Tahini, the other surprising ingredient, takes the place of oil for a healthier pesto.
This Instant Pot technique result is a fluffy quinoa dish bursting with flavors and colors. It’s fun to put toppings on the table and let everyone build their own masterpiece.
The magic ingredient in this recipe is time. As much as I strive for efficient recipes, I haven’t yet found a shortcut for the soaking time in this one. But almost all of the time is hands-off.
This savory plant-based recipe results in beautiful, tasty sweet potato cakes with a light texture. They're perfect as a main dish or a side dish, and they're baked, not fried.
These fritters are very much like pakora appetizers at Indian restaurants. Baking them rather than deep-frying makes them a lot healthier.
These are the perfect plant-based centerpiece for Thanksgiving, but they’re great all year round. Baked and not pan-fried, they contain no oil. The autumn spices can be changed up to reflect the season…or your current mood.
This fabulous dish is pure plant-based comfort food, even though it contains no oil or refined ingredients. The blend of vegetables with the plant-based cheeses hits the spot.