Baked meal-prep ideas
October 1, 2018 9:51 AM Subscribe
What are some ideas for weekly meal-prep lunches that take advantage of my sudden interest in baking (and my impulsive purchase of a stand mixer)?
I've followed a Keto diet for a long time, but due to some recent unrelated appetite issues, I'm taking a break and cooking carby/wheat-y stuff, but it's hard to come up with ideas, being so out of practice.
I love Steak and Ale Pie and things I can take slices of, and individually baked somethings sound particularly appealing, so I can grab an item or two and toss them in my bag. I just don't know what those somethings should be. Do I want to make portable vol-au-vents? Also, I like creamy/hearty things. Realistically, I'll probably be cooking every few days, so no particular need to take staleness into account.
I'm fine with impractical time-consuming ideas, since this appetite thing is coinciding with the desire to distract myself in general. Thanks for any ideas!
I've followed a Keto diet for a long time, but due to some recent unrelated appetite issues, I'm taking a break and cooking carby/wheat-y stuff, but it's hard to come up with ideas, being so out of practice.
I love Steak and Ale Pie and things I can take slices of, and individually baked somethings sound particularly appealing, so I can grab an item or two and toss them in my bag. I just don't know what those somethings should be. Do I want to make portable vol-au-vents? Also, I like creamy/hearty things. Realistically, I'll probably be cooking every few days, so no particular need to take staleness into account.
I'm fine with impractical time-consuming ideas, since this appetite thing is coinciding with the desire to distract myself in general. Thanks for any ideas!
Calzones are very easy: I make them using budget bytes pizza dough and filling with whatever I have on hand: particularly impressed myself last time with zucchini/lemon/olive/provolone. If your keto involved a lot of roasted veggies and meats, you can easily wrap them in dough and bake them.
posted by theweasel at 10:11 AM on October 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by theweasel at 10:11 AM on October 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
savoury muffins and scones (I mean UK-style scones e.g with cheese in), Cornish pasties, sausage rolls. Those rip-apart modular stuffed breads
Making veggie burgers to do in batches in the oven is baking-adjacent...
posted by runincircles at 10:21 AM on October 1, 2018
Making veggie burgers to do in batches in the oven is baking-adjacent...
posted by runincircles at 10:21 AM on October 1, 2018
Akin to the calzone idea and using a similar, easy-peasy pizza crust recipe, are these hot pockets. This version is just ham and cheese but we've done pizza sauce and cheese plus ham or chicken or peppers or _________ [insert whatever's hanging around the fridge and is going to need eating]. They're great warm, keep for a few days, or can be frozen once made.
posted by humuhumu at 11:55 AM on October 1, 2018
posted by humuhumu at 11:55 AM on October 1, 2018
This recipe is a classic in Brazil, it's very quick and versatile, and you can use a blender or your new mixer for the dough. Basically, any filling will do! (I like leeks and cheese, or anchovies and red onion). Brazilian blender pie. Image search.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 11:58 AM on October 1, 2018
posted by TheGoodBlood at 11:58 AM on October 1, 2018
Empanadas, of course! You can start here and google for more. They can be filled with anything.
posted by Miko at 12:58 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by Miko at 12:58 PM on October 1, 2018
Nthing pizza dough. If you have a dough hook make it in bulk, freeze for later after proofing.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:44 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:44 PM on October 1, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks for the ideas guys! Would also love some more complicated ones. I'm not looking for time-saving necessarily, and diverse labor-intensive ideas are especiallly welcome.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 3:06 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 3:06 PM on October 1, 2018
Foccacia with a range of fillings.
Similarly, quiche - you can go nuts with different flavour combinations!
posted by Naanwhal at 4:53 PM on October 1, 2018
Similarly, quiche - you can go nuts with different flavour combinations!
posted by Naanwhal at 4:53 PM on October 1, 2018
Tourtiere, twelve ways! (though I prefer a traditional one myself, it's fun to experiment)
posted by halation at 5:57 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by halation at 5:57 PM on October 1, 2018
Tangential, but my favorite stand mixer trick is using it to shred cooked chicken breasts!
posted by apricot at 7:24 PM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by apricot at 7:24 PM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
Strombolis that bananacabana mentioned are awesome. The ones I've experienced/ made myself look a little different than linked. I roll my outside pastry a little thicker, my inside pastry more thinly, and have about 2 - 3+ times volume of meat/cheese to pastry. Cheese is a great glue.
Meat can be anything; different salamis/ pepperonis/ ground meats/ sausage (season/cook first).
Curry triangles/ Curry pockets. If you know/ want to make flake pastry by hand, you can cut squares of them and fill with curry seasoned cooked ground meat with onions/ stuff. Potatoes/ carrots/ peas are often added as a filler, but I like mine unadulterated. Non-puff pastry versions also exist.
There's a thing called a Beef Wellington
There are all kinds of stuff called pasties. Similarly, Jaimaican patties. There's samosas.
If you're interested in a different type of baked (well, in this case, steamed) good, maybe give Chinese BBQ pork buns a shot.
There's always quiche. When I'm lazy, I just cut butter into salted flour with a pastry cutter. When its the consistency of pea gravel (or a little smaller), quickly enrobe, water, and roll out with a chilled roller. It's less messy when it isn't hot out, same with flake pastry.
posted by porpoise at 7:28 PM on October 1, 2018
Meat can be anything; different salamis/ pepperonis/ ground meats/ sausage (season/cook first).
Curry triangles/ Curry pockets. If you know/ want to make flake pastry by hand, you can cut squares of them and fill with curry seasoned cooked ground meat with onions/ stuff. Potatoes/ carrots/ peas are often added as a filler, but I like mine unadulterated. Non-puff pastry versions also exist.
There's a thing called a Beef Wellington
There are all kinds of stuff called pasties. Similarly, Jaimaican patties. There's samosas.
If you're interested in a different type of baked (well, in this case, steamed) good, maybe give Chinese BBQ pork buns a shot.
There's always quiche. When I'm lazy, I just cut butter into salted flour with a pastry cutter. When its the consistency of pea gravel (or a little smaller), quickly enrobe, water, and roll out with a chilled roller. It's less messy when it isn't hot out, same with flake pastry.
posted by porpoise at 7:28 PM on October 1, 2018
Soufflés can be a lot of fun. There's also scalloped potatoes; Mom occasionally put vegetables as well as ham, for a one-dish meal.
My favorite baked meal is roasted vegetables - it's basically pot roast without the meat. Carrots, potatoes, whole or half onions, and garlic cloves are the basics; sometimes I add parsnips, turnips, or winter squash. Coat everything with olive oil, add some water and something like onion soup mix or beef base (vegetarian beef-flavored base is widely available if you want it.) Cover and bake at 400-450 until tender. Tastes better after reheating on Day 2.
Strata make good lunches as well as breakfasts. You can put in whatever add-ons you like, and it even works with the bread left out.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:26 PM on October 1, 2018
My favorite baked meal is roasted vegetables - it's basically pot roast without the meat. Carrots, potatoes, whole or half onions, and garlic cloves are the basics; sometimes I add parsnips, turnips, or winter squash. Coat everything with olive oil, add some water and something like onion soup mix or beef base (vegetarian beef-flavored base is widely available if you want it.) Cover and bake at 400-450 until tender. Tastes better after reheating on Day 2.
Strata make good lunches as well as breakfasts. You can put in whatever add-ons you like, and it even works with the bread left out.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:26 PM on October 1, 2018
Quiche is great. It keeps and travels well and can take a wide range of flavor combinations.
posted by Miko at 8:40 PM on October 1, 2018
posted by Miko at 8:40 PM on October 1, 2018
I'd note that the problem you're going to run into with a lot of baked lunch-type things is that they're really best fresh, or, at minimum, reheated in the oven. If you have a toaster oven in your workplace, you can use that, but if you don't, I feel like you might be in for some disappointment. Also, I make these suggestions in the belief that when you say 'baking', you mean 'things like breads and pastries', not 'things cooked in an oven'.
Seconding beef wellington, above, with the caveats that they should be individual wellingtons, and you should make your own puff pastry.
Turnovers or hand pies are tasty--I like this dough recipe, and have been thinking about doing a filling of tiny cubes of roasted pumpkin, onions, and cranberries--something like that might work well for lunches. (I also think that mushrooms, carrots, onions, and maybe lentils would be a nice filling.)
Char siu bao are traditionally steamed, but are also great baked. I don't have a recipe rec, because when I've made them, it's been a mishmash of a dozen recipes, but you could do worse than venturing out in this direction.
If you're open to things that need to be steamed or boiled before you can bake them, pirogi might appeal. I appreciate their endless versatility--once they're boiled, they can be frozen or tucked into the fridge, and then baked or pan-fried before serving to crisp them up a little. (You can also, obviously, eat them just boiled, but...like, why, you know?)
I grew up where everyone ate pepperoni rolls, and sometimes sausage rolls--effectively just a lean white dough, often the place's pizza dough or sandwich dough, rolled out, covered with pepperoni (or sausage) and cheese, then rolled up and baked. While not particularly difficult, they do make admirable lunches. If you want to add vegetables or a thin layer of tomato paste, that's probably also acceptable.
I don't know that they'd be a meal, per se, but gougeres are a lovely addition to a meal, and salad or soup plus gougeres would be a great lunch. Alternatively (or additionally!) you could fill them with some sort of herbed cream cheese and vegetable mixture, maybe.
A tart like this might be good--you'd have to start by either making puff pastry, or making something else that calls for puff pastry, but that doesn't really feel like a hardship.
posted by mishafletch at 2:32 AM on October 2, 2018
Seconding beef wellington, above, with the caveats that they should be individual wellingtons, and you should make your own puff pastry.
Turnovers or hand pies are tasty--I like this dough recipe, and have been thinking about doing a filling of tiny cubes of roasted pumpkin, onions, and cranberries--something like that might work well for lunches. (I also think that mushrooms, carrots, onions, and maybe lentils would be a nice filling.)
Char siu bao are traditionally steamed, but are also great baked. I don't have a recipe rec, because when I've made them, it's been a mishmash of a dozen recipes, but you could do worse than venturing out in this direction.
If you're open to things that need to be steamed or boiled before you can bake them, pirogi might appeal. I appreciate their endless versatility--once they're boiled, they can be frozen or tucked into the fridge, and then baked or pan-fried before serving to crisp them up a little. (You can also, obviously, eat them just boiled, but...like, why, you know?)
I grew up where everyone ate pepperoni rolls, and sometimes sausage rolls--effectively just a lean white dough, often the place's pizza dough or sandwich dough, rolled out, covered with pepperoni (or sausage) and cheese, then rolled up and baked. While not particularly difficult, they do make admirable lunches. If you want to add vegetables or a thin layer of tomato paste, that's probably also acceptable.
I don't know that they'd be a meal, per se, but gougeres are a lovely addition to a meal, and salad or soup plus gougeres would be a great lunch. Alternatively (or additionally!) you could fill them with some sort of herbed cream cheese and vegetable mixture, maybe.
A tart like this might be good--you'd have to start by either making puff pastry, or making something else that calls for puff pastry, but that doesn't really feel like a hardship.
posted by mishafletch at 2:32 AM on October 2, 2018
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She also has two recipes for empanadas (beef and chicken with chorizo and olives), plus individual chicken pot pies (and, I think, a pancetta and leek version in her first cookbook).
Happy baking!
posted by bananacabana at 10:02 AM on October 1, 2018 [4 favorites]