Give me your best big batch vegetarian freezer friendly recipes

March 19, 2024 6:19 AM

Breakfast lunch or dinner, stuff I can make in one go and then portion out to freeze for later.

I thought this would have been asked and answered in the past but couldn’t find much. I’m an intermediate to good cook. Fancier ingredients are fine. I’m a vegetarian but also cook a lot of vegan things.

I already do this often with chilli, lasagna, vegetable bolognese, sometimes curry though I’m not averse to more and better curries. Looking to expand my repertoire. Seasonally appropriate stuff would be especially nice.

I don’t like chickpeas!

posted by chives to Food & Drink (19 answers total)

Lentil soup. Not all recipes call for garlic, but I think it's needed when I'm veganizing. Lightly brown the chopped celery, carrots and onions for more umami. If using tomato paste, brown that a little, too.

Pasta fagioli, which means pasta and beans. It also contains vegetables and some form of tomatoes. Originally it was made without meat, and with water instead of stock. When making it to freeze I leave out the pasta, then cook and add it before serving. Again, brown the vegetables and tomato paste, if any.
posted by wryly at 6:48 AM on March 19 [3 favorites]

One of my favorites in this genre is Budget Bytes Peanut Stew.
posted by EvaDestruction at 6:48 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]

New Mexico Corn Chowder (Vegetarian)

Makes 1.5 quarts

tempeh - 1/2 cup (1 pkg tempeh)
green onions – 2
garlic – 1 clove, chopped
celery - 2 small stalks, chopped
poblano – 1, chopped
jalapeno – 1
mild green chiles - 3
potatoes - 3 medium / 2 cups diced
mushrooms - sliced
water/stock - 3 cups
paprika - 1/4 tsp
bay leaf
salt
flour - 3 Tbsp
milk - 2 cups (1/2 cup & 1 1/2 cups)
corn - 2 cups (3 ears/ 1 pkg 10 oz frozen)
parsley/cilantro/watercress

Saute tempeh
Add and sauté:
onions, celery, peppers, garlic
Add and simmer/cover about 45 minutes:
potatoes, mushrooms, water/stock, salt, paprika, bay leaf
Add and heat for 5 minutes:
flour, 1/2 cup milk
Add and heat but do not boil:
1 1/2 cups milk, corn
Garnish:
parsley/cilantro/watercress
posted by falsedmitri at 7:07 AM on March 19

Rice and peas! Throw out the scotch bonnet, scallions, and thyme sprigs before freezing.

Also, if you can't get ahold of a scotch bonnet pepper, use a habanero as a substitute, not a jalapeno as that page suggests. The flavor of habanero is closer to scotch bonnet, imo.
posted by May Kasahara at 7:18 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]

Indian curries have plenty of vegetarian varieties and they freeze very well. So does rice, naan, chapati, etc. You can portion out a curry with rice/naan/chapati into individual size take out containers so that all you have to do is heat and eat. Rice will be the most convenient accompaniment if this should be your plan, because you can throw it all in the microwave at the same time and it will be ready together. Naan/chapati will need to be heated up on a griddle or in an oven (wrapped in foil) for best results.

- palak paneer
- dal makhani
- tofu in coconut curry
- rajma
posted by MiraK at 7:18 AM on March 19

Best answer: Frittata! I make a dozen eggs' worth in an oven-safe pot and cut it into wedges, or, if I'm feeling fancy, into muffin tins, and freeze. Reheats beautifully, and you can make all kinds of flavor variations with different veggies and cheeses. Here's a decent template.
posted by restless_nomad at 7:21 AM on March 19 [3 favorites]

Budget Bytes Freezer Friendly Breakfast Burritos
posted by Juniper Toast at 7:24 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]

I just made a big batch of vegetarian posole/chile that was really good:
Giant (6lb) can of hominy
Can kidney beans
Can diced tomato
3-5dried ancho chilis
Smoked paprika
Cumin
Large onion
Minced garlic
Cocoa powder
Stock
Salt
Plenty of oil (coconut, corn, soy, etc)

I just pop the anchos in to simmer with the rest, then pull them out to mince finely and remove stems, then add them back in. This comes out warmly spiced but not hot, obv you can add more heat to the pot or at the table.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:52 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]

*throws confetti*

Congratulations, you are joining the group of Mefites to whom I've recommended my most-recommended cookbook ever!

The Moosewood Daily Special cookbook is a collection of nothing but soups and salads, all of them vegetarian or pescetarian. Some would indeed be vegan-friendly as well. The book is designed so that you can pair up a cup of one of the soups and a small dish of one of the salads (many of them are main-dish style salads) and it makes a complete meal. But the soups also go good with a hunk of good bread as well (and if you really wanna get fancy they have some recipes for breads and biscuits; their biscuit and popover recipes are my go-tos).

I lived off this when I was doing more theater - I'd make a couple big batches of soups, dish them out into single-serve containers, and fling that in the freezer, and then each week I'd pick up a baguette or a few rolls from the deli and then when I got home from rehearsal and was in "I only have the brainpower to reheat dinner" mode I'd pull one out of the freezer and have it with a hunk of bread.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:53 AM on March 19 [3 favorites]

I made this Rancho Gordo black bean meatless chili last week and it was exceptional! I think it would freeze up very well. In general, I find Rancho Gordo recipes consistently excellent, and they have lots of vegetarian bean soups/stews that would freeze well.
posted by ourobouros at 8:32 AM on March 19 [2 favorites]

Fins your fave black bean burger recipe. This is a great one. You can freeze them uncooked, on a tray and then, once frozen, transfer to a bag. It's a bit more work (and other ingredients) to build a burger than defrost something, I admit, but it's a nice change from stews, etc.
posted by atomicstone at 8:57 AM on March 19

My favorite freeze for later recipes are calzones and hand pies. I use the same dough for both and you can pretty much stick anything in the dough, fold it over, and either pre-bake and freeze, or freeze raw and bake from frozen (I usually bake, then freeze since I'll serve a meal with them first and freeze the leftovers).

Dough
15 oz whole wheat flour
15 oz bread flour (can sub all purpose)
18 oz water
1.5 oz olive oil
3 teaspoons salt (diamond kosher; use 2 if using mortons kosher)
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast (you'll need to proof your yeast if using active dry instead)

I like to soak the whole wheat flour overnight in the water, but it's not necessary. Mix all your ingredients, kneading with a mixer for 7-10 minutes. Dough should be smooth and elastic. If kneading by hand, this will take longer. Coat dough lightly with olive oil and let rest until doubled. Can also cover and put in fridge overnight. Let warm to room temperature before proceeding. Punch down and divide. I usually get 12-16 or so hand pies of out this (depending on how big I make them) and like to roll out 4 at once, so I'll third or quarter the dough. Roll out, maybe to 1/4 inch thick. Make sure the middles are not too thin and the edges are not too thick. If it's sticking, using some flour on your counter/rolling pin. Use a butter knife or bench scraper to quarter the rolled out dough. Put filling on one half of each quarter with desired filling. Don't over fill. Leave a solid 1/2 to 1 inch margin from the edge and do not fill more than half of the dough. Fold over and crimp edges thoroughly. Patch tears with extra dough as needed. Move to baking sheet. When all are ready, brush with oil or beaten egg or water or nothing at all. Slice or snip open 2-3 vents on top to discourage too much leaking (they usually leak a bit anyway). Bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes or until thickest part of crust registers 200°F. The whole wheat doesn't tend to brown as much, though it will with an egg wash. Make sure to cool on a rack; leaving them on the sheet pan makes them soggy. Can bake from frozen.

Filling examples:
Calzones: ricotta and super garlickly sauteed spinach with mozzarella
Hand pies: sauteed onions, garlic, cubes of rutabaga/turnip/potato/root veg of choice, and (drained) sauerkraut or thinly sliced sauteed cabbage, optional: sauteed sliced or cubed mushrooms). I don't love frozen cubed potato, so I tend to use other root vegetables if I'm planning to freeze them.

If yeasted doughs are not your thing, you can use store bought pizza dough instead. You'll probably get more like 8-10 out of a 1 lb ball of pizza dough. You can fill them with basically anything that's not too liquid-y. The also works for stromboli, which freeze just like calzones do.
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:11 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]

Anything in the gumbo, jambalaya, or étouffée area is especially good for batch cooking, because making a roux can take awhile. I make giant batches and decant into individual freezer containers, with rice as needed. Corn bread also freezes great; I wrap individual slices in foil in a plastic bag.

For some reason I’ve never had much luck finding good vegetarian cajun recipes, so instead I use meat recipes and just swap out the meats with a combo of seitan and beans. I use this website to tell me, for example, the volume of a pound of sausage or two pounds of shrimp, and then use that many cups of seitan and/or beans. I usually flavor the seitan accordingly, and also swap in veggie stock/oils, but make no other alterations.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 11:32 AM on March 19 [2 favorites]

Black bean burritos (like a dupe of Amy's) are good and freeze well.

I didn't think I'd like these blackbean quinoa burgers but I do (highly suggest adding more spice or using a curry paste instead of tomato paste), and I'm loving them crumbled into wraps with cucumbers, onion, and tomatoes cut up on top with some feta, I use a sriacha yogurt sauce I make on the wrap. Take 2 minutes and is so yummy. Freezer friendly and one batch makes 8 burgers. Could be eaten alone with some good sauce drizzled on top or thrown on top of a salad.
posted by lafemma at 12:05 PM on March 19

This calls for Eight-Pound Lasagna!

1.5T olive oil, divided
10 lasagna noodles (I use the no-boil noodles)
1 medium onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 pound carrots, shredded
.75 cup ripe olives, sliced (I omit these)
1 can tomato sauce (15 or 16 ounces)
1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)
1.5t dried oregano
.5t salt
.25t ground black pepper
2 cups cottage cheese, well drained
2 pounds chopped spinach, cooked and drained (or frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed)
1.5 pounds Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
3T grated Parmesan

Saute onion and garlic in 1T oil over moderate heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add mushrooms and saute, stirring occasionally, until moisture evaporates (about 12 minutes). Add carrots, cook 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in olives, tomato sauce, tomato paste, oregano, salt & pepper. Combine well and remove from heat.

Grease a 9x13 pan with .5T oil. Line the bottom of the pan with 5 lasagna noodles. Over the noodles, spread half the cottage cheese, half the spinach, and 1/3 the Monterey Jack cheese, in that order. Cover with half the tomato mixture. Repeat the procedure, starting with the remaining noodles. Top with the last third of the Monterey Jack cheese and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375F for 45 minutes.
posted by DrGail at 1:56 PM on March 19

I haven't tried freezing them, but I think bissara (Moroccan split pea or fava bean soup) and ful (Ethiopian or middle eastern fava bean dish that reminds me of chili) would both work well and are also pretty easy.
posted by sepviva at 3:07 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Dumplings! Make a batch, freeze them, and for lunch you can fry up or steam. Also seasonally appropriate for whatever fresh veg is available. One good recipe is this- https://thewoksoflife.com/vegetable-dumplings/
posted by inevitability at 3:32 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]

Best answer: This is a delicious spanakopita recipe and it freezes beautifully (I generally freeze individual squares separately so I can just pop one in my toaster oven to reheat).
posted by Empidonax at 8:33 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]

This fennel-dill-black-eyed pea stew is delicious and freezes well.

Add some salt early in cooking, it needs it. And the black-eyed peas never take as long as the recipe says.

I always make a double batch. You can serve it over rice if you want a starch, and a little crumbled feta adds some zing.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 5:03 PM on March 20