Useful, tasty, and quick to prepare - culinary preps that will make life easier

A few hours in the kitchen on a weekend and the freezer is filled with healthy meal preps for every day. UNN has selected the best light and healthy dishes that can be frozen, so you don't have to worry about your meals for the next few days, or even a week.

The advantage of frozen foods for quick meal preparation

Frozen foods are not semi-finished products from the supermarket; they are regular products you buy, so you can be confident in their quality. Preparing frozen meals takes 2-3 hours, and as a result, you can eat delicious and varied meals every day without spending time on cooking. There is an incredible number of recipes, both sweet and savory, and even sauces.

Which foods cannot be frozen

Of course, there are foods that cannot be frozen, so they should be added when reheating the dish itself.

Dairy products, especially soft cheeses, cream, or sour cream, cannot be frozen, as they separate and release water upon thawing. It's worth noting that hard cheeses can be frozen, but their texture will become drier. However, if you are freezing hard cheese in a sauce, you should not do this. It's better to add it later. It's also not recommended to freeze cooked pasta, as it will swell and lose its consistency. The only exception among dairy products is butter, which freezes perfectly because it mainly consists of fat.

Do not freeze raw vegetables and lettuce leaves; after the freezer, they will turn into a mush. Vegetables can be frozen after blanching, but it's best to blend cooked vegetables.

It is not recommended to freeze potatoes; in the freezer, they acquire a starchy texture and turn into mush. This is the most common mistake; remember that potatoes do not tolerate freezing well.

Breakfast preparations

Syrnyky (cottage cheese pancakes)

Ingredients:

• Cottage cheese — 300 g;

• Egg — 1 pc;

• Semolina — 3 tbsp;

• Flour — 3 tbsp (can be a mix of wheat + coconut);

• Vanilla sugar — 1 sachet;

• Orange zest — 1 tsp.

Preparation:

1. Mix all ingredients, knead a soft dough.

2. Form syrnyky, freeze if desired.

3. Cook until golden brown. It's best to cook in an air fryer or oven.

Vatrushky (cottage cheese buns)

Ingredients:

• Cottage cheese — 360 g;

• Eggs — 2 pcs;

• Flour — 8 tbsp;

• Baking powder — 1 tsp;

• Pinch of salt;

• Sugar — 2 tbsp.

Filling:

• Mascarpone / sour cream / jam — 100 g;

• Sugar — 1 tsp;

• Fruits or berries;

Preparation:

Important: we only freeze the dough (form), the filling is added during baking. Mix all ingredients, knead a soft dough. Form balls, make indentations with a glass. Bake for 10 minutes at 170°C, add the filling and bake for another 5 minutes.

Boats (khachapuri-breakfast)

Ingredients:

• Cottage cheese — 360 g;

• Eggs — 2 pcs;

• Wheat flour — 8 tbsp;

• Baking powder — 1 tsp;

• Pinch of salt.

Filling:

Cheese / suluguni / mozzarella / egg — to taste

Preparation:

1. Knead the dough, form boats.

2 Add the filling, bake in an air fryer or oven until golden brown.

Galette with berries

Ingredients (for 2 galettes):

• Cottage cheese — 200 g;

• Cold butter — 200 g;

• Eggs — 2 pcs;

• Flour — 360 g + for rolling;

• Baking powder — 1 tsp;

• Salt — ½ tsp;

• Berries or fruits;

• Sugar, starch — for the filling.

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients for the dough, quickly knead. Divide, roll out. Add berries, fold the edges — freeze or bake at 180°C for 25–30 minutes.

Soup preparations

Ingredients (for all soups)

• Chicken — 3 kg (2 large chickens);

• Carrots — 4 pcs;

• Onions — 4 pcs;

• Celery stalks — 3 stalks;

• Potatoes — 6–7 pcs;

• Buckwheat — ½ cup;

• Cauliflower — ≈300–350 g;

• Bell pepper — 1 pc;

• Tomatoes (cherry or regular) — 250 g;

• Tomato paste — 2 tbsp;

• Cream — 100–150 ml;

• Dill — to taste;

• Bay leaf — 4–6 pcs;

• Black peppercorns — 8–10 pcs;

• Oil (I use ghee);

• Salt, pepper — to taste.

Chicken broth (base for all soups)

1. Wash the chicken thoroughly, cut off the back part.

2. Preheat the air fryer or oven to 220°C.

3. Fry the chicken for 15 minutes:

• 7 min on one side;

• 7 min on the other.

Transfer the chicken to cold water and boil.

For convenience, you can boil two chickens in two pots, adding to each pot:

• 1 carrot;

• 1 onion;

• 1 celery stalk;

• 4–5 black peppercorns;

• 2–3 bay leaves.

Important: do not salt the broth.

5. Boil the broth for 1.5 hours on a slow simmer.

6. Remove the chicken.

7. Strain part of the broth into 2 containers — this is concentrate → to the freezer.

8. From the remaining broth, cook 3 soups.

Buckwheat soup

1. Add a little water to the pot with broth.

2. Add 4 chopped potatoes, boil for 10 minutes.

3. Add ½ cup of washed buckwheat, boil for another 10 minutes.

4. Add sautéed onions and carrots (1 onion and 1 carrot).

5. Add herbs, adjust salt and taste.

6. Bring to a boil — and it's ready.

Cauliflower soup

Prepared the same way as buckwheat soup, but instead of buckwheat, add cauliflower cut into florets.

The whole process is identical.

Tomato-vegetable cream soup

1. Sauté 1 onion and 1 carrot directly in the bottom of the pot

for approximately 2 minutes

2. Add 1 chopped celery stalk, fry for 1 minute.

3. Add bell pepper, fry for another 2 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes, these can be cherry tomatoes, you can remove the skin if desired

5. Simmer for approximately 5 minutes.

6. Add 2 tbsp of tomato paste.

7. Pour in broth (optionally, you can add 2–3 potatoes for thickness)

8. Bring to a boil, add cream.

9. Salt, pepper, and blend with an immersion blender.

Dinner preparations

Ingredients for future dishes:

Chicken thigh — 1.6 kg;

• Chicken thigh fillet — 0.7 kg;

• Pork mince — 1.7 kg;

• Bacon (chilled) — 400 g;

• Sausage — 300 g;

• Mozzarella — 2 packs;

• Ricotta — 1 pack;

• Rice — 400 g;

• Tortillas — 4 pcs;

• Ketchup - 6 tbsp;

• Mayonnaise - 3 tbsp;

• Tomato paste - 2 tsp;

• Cabbage - 700 g;

• Tomatoes — approximately 1 kg;

• Bell pepper — 1 pc;

• Onions — 3–4 pcs;

• Carrots — 1–2 pcs.

• Pickled cucumbers (gherkins)

• Eggs — 1 pc;

• Spices — to taste.

Lazy cabbage rolls

Ingredients:

• Cabbage — 700 g

• Pork mince — 1 kg

• Rice — 2 cups

• Onion — 1 pc

• Carrot — 1 pc

• Egg — 1 pc

• Salt, pepper, spices

Preparation:

Shred the cabbage and mix with mince, parboiled rice, sautéed onions and carrots, egg, and salt. Form and freeze.

Marinated chicken thighs

Ingredients:

• Chicken thighs 1 kg

• 3 cloves garlic

• 2 tsp tomato paste

• 2 tsp dried basil

• 1 tsp paprika

• 2 tsp salt

Important: do not marinate the chicken, mix everything, then vacuum seal and freeze. The meat will marinate itself during thawing.

Nest burgers (6 pcs)

Ingredients:

• Mince — 700 g;

• Onion — 1 pc;

• Ketchup;

• Pickled cucumbers (gherkins);

• Tomato — 1 pc;

• Mozzarella — ½ pack.

Preparation:

Form nests from the mince with a glass, add the filling and freeze.

Tortilla pizza

Ingredients:

• Tortilla — 4 pcs;

• Ketchup;

• Sausage — 300 g;

• Bell pepper — 1 pc;

• Tomatoes — 2 pcs;

• Mozzarella — 1.5 packs.

Preparation:

You can add anything you like here, then freeze.

Thigh fillet and bacon rolls (6 pcs)

Ingredients:

• Chicken thigh fillet;

• Ricotta — ½ pack;

• Bacon — strips;

• Salt, pepper.

Preparation:

Pound the fillet, salt, pepper, and add ricotta. Wrap in bacon. Freeze.

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