Looking for Vegan Freezer Meals?
I've put together a collection of 28 Vegan Freezer Meals. They're all quick and easy recipes that rely mostly on pantry ingredients (for more on this topic, check out my 100 Vegan Recipes Using Pantry Staples). They're full of flavour, packed with nutrients, and are gluten-free and refined sugar free too. I've particularly focused on recipes that freeze and reheat well.
What type of food freezes well?
- In general, saucy foods like curries, stews, soups and pasta sauces tend to freeze best.
- I find gluten-free pasta is generally not good reheated. For this reason, I find it's usually easier to freeze just the pasta sauce and boil your own pasta when you reheat the sauce.
- Freezing rice can be a bit hit and miss too. Unless you're really careful, white rice can get quite mushy/watery/overly sticky when frozen and reheated. Freezing brown rice tends to have better results, especially when it's in a soup, so I've only included recipes that use brown rice.
- Freezing potatoes makes them mushy - any recipes that contain potatoes should be replaced with sweet potatoes or some other vegetable.
Tips on how to store these freezer meals
These freezer meals are best stored in Tupperware containers in the freezer.
Tips on food hygiene/safety for frozen food
- Transfer into a well-sealed Tupperware and leave to cool.
- Place in the freezer as soon as it has cooled down - don't leave it sitting around at room temperature for too long.
Tips on defrosting freezer meals
- Though you can leave the frozen food Tupperware to thaw out at room temperature for a few hours before you intend to reheat it, it's safer to do it in the fridge.
- The night before you want to eat it, transfer it from the freezer to the fridge to let it thaw out overnight.
Tips on reheating frozen food
- You can reheat it in the microwave, but it's safer and the texture is better if you do it in a pot on the stove (hob) because you can make sure it has been properly heated through.
- Stir regularly to make sure the heat has evenly distributed.
- Always reheat until piping hot.
- For soups, curries, pasta sauces, stews etc you will sometimes need to add a small splash of water if liquid has been lost during the freezing and defrosting process.
How long do freezer meals keep for?
Up to a few months. Any longer than that and the flavour and texture can begin to deteriorate.
Chickpea Korma Curry
A sweet, creamy, mild curry with chickpeas and cauliflower!
Potato Pea Curry
A nutritious and nourishing curry made with super simple ingredients!
Tip: Potatoes don't freeze well (they go mushy), so replace potatoes with sweet potatoes or any other vegetable.
Similar alternatives:
Thai Green Curry Rice Soup
A fragrant, aromatic soup filled with nutty brown rice and vegetables!
Similar alternative:
Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
This Roasted Red Pepper Pasta is creamy, nutritious and packed with flavour! A vibrantly colourful dish.
Tip: Freeze just the pasta sauce and boil the pasta fresh when you reheat the sauce.
Spanish Chickpea Stew
This Spanish Chickpea Stew is super easy to make, healthy yet satisfying.
Tofu Bolognese
This Tofu Bolognese is filling and satisfying, healthy yet comforting and full of flavour! A crowd-pleasing dish that's bound to satisfy even picky eaters.
Tip: Freeze just the pasta sauce and boil the pasta fresh when you reheat the sauce.
Similar alternative:
White Bean Chili
This White Bean Chili is super flavourful, comforting and healthy. A subtly spiced, rich white sauce filled with creamy white beans and nutty sweetcorn.
Creamy Tomato Soup
This Creamy Tomato Soup is rich and indulgent, full of flavour and warming and comforting!
Japanese Curry
A salty-sweet, subtly spiced curry sauce that's much healthier than the traditional version!
Tip: Potatoes don't freeze well (they go mushy), so replace potatoes with sweet potatoes or any other vegetable.
Sweet Potato Peanut Soup
This Sweet Potato Peanut Soup is warming and comforting, spicy and flavourful and super nourishing!
Similar alternatives:
Peanut Tofu Satay Curry
The fragrant, rich, peanutty curry sauce transforms tofu into something you won't be able to stop eating!
Similar alternative:
Chickpea Sweet Potato Peanut Curry
Thai Green Curry
This Thai Green Curry is fragrant, creamy and super nutritious!
Similar alternative:
Corn Chowder
This Corn Chowder is sweet and creamy, super easy to make, and nutritious and filling!
Similar alternatives:
Chickpea Coconut Mango Curry
This Chickpea Coconut Mango Curry is fresh and fruity, hearty and satisfying and filled with juicy mango, nutty chickpeas and creamy cashews!
Eggplant Chickpea Peanut Curry
This Eggplant Chickpea Peanut Curry is super nutritious, rich and creamy and perfectly spiced!
Tortilla Soup
This Tortilla Soup is rich and flavourful, comforting and warming and so nutritious!
Tip: If making the tortilla strips, make them fresh when you reheat it.
Chickpea Tikka Masala
This Chickpea Tikka Masala is rich and creamy, perfectly tangy and full of flavour. It's much healthier than the traditional version!
If you try out any of these vegan freezer meals, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Steve
I've found that GF pasta freezes and reheats just fine. Under-cook it for 1-2 minutes, drain, and toss in a very small amount of olive oil (after cooking) to stop it sticking. Then freeze in portions.
And rice freezes and reheats really well too. Wash it in several changes of water to remove the starch, Boil it for 5 minutes and then steam.it for 10 minutes. Again, freeze in portions, and it keeps all of its bite and flavour when you defrost it.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much for sharing, that's great to know!