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1. Recipes
2. Freeze

Freezing meals

Looking for advice on how best to freeze meals? Check this out, plus there are some great recipes for dishes that are suitable to freeze.

• Make sure your freezer is running at -18°C.

• Only freeze really fresh food.

• Ensure cooked food is cold before being frozen – if it’s warm it’ll raise the freezer temperature.

• Wrap food well in cling film, then foil, or place in freezerproof containers to avoid flavours tainting other food. This also avoids freezer-burn, which is an icy layer on food that can dry it out and damage the flavour.

• If freezing large quantities of food, put the freezer on the fast-freeze setting.

• Freezing intensifies the flavour of a dish, so under-season and adjust once thawed and reheated.

• Liquids such as soup and stock will expand in the freezer, so don’t overfill containers.

• Food that is not wrapped well will get ‘freezer burn’, as direct contact with cold air dries it out

• Freeze in small batches – the quicker food freezes, the fresher it tastes when defrosted. Use your freezer’s fast-freeze compartment, if you have one.

• Steaks, chops and fish fillets freeze better when packed separately. Wrap tightly and label.

• Chop onions and freeze them in bags for busy times – much cheaper than buying bags of pre-chopped onions from the supermarket.

• Freeze liquids in bags, within a container, then remove the outer container once frozen.

• Freeze fruit such as mango chunks, raspberries and blueberries. Liquidise straight from the freezer to make an instant cold smoothie.

• How to freeze soup
• More tips about frozen food

Coq au vin

A tasty one-pot recipe for the classic chicken dish and an easy alternative to a traditional Sunday lunch.

Spiced meatball curry

If you can't finish this tasty low-calorie curry, you don't need to waste the leftovers: any remains can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Smoked haddock, prawn and fennel fish pies

This fish pie with fennel makes a pleasant change from a Sunday roast.

Juniper pork fillet with potatoes and smoked sausage

Here, tender pork is infused with the heady scent of juniper, and perfectly complemented by the tempting aroma of smoked sausage.

Winter minestrone soup

This hearty minestrone soup is perfect to make during the winter months.

Party sausage rolls

Here, we’ve used good Cumberland sausages spruced up, Italian-style.

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