10 Frozen Food Recipes For Quarantine
Pickings at the grocery store are getting slim – fresh produce, dairy, and meats go flying off the shelves the day they’re stocked, and don’t even get me started on the god damned toilet paper! Luckily, there seem to be a plethora of frozen foods left. If you’ve got the adaptability and creativity, you can still make all manner of dinners with what remains. To get you started on the road to crafty quarantine cooking, here are 10 frozen food recipes that will get you through this time of isolation!
1. Fried Rice
This tasty addition to our frozen food recipes is perfect for quarantine – you can use fresh as well as frozen vegetables for this, not to mention it’s a perfect way to get rid of that leftover white rice. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
1 1/2 cups of white rice
1/2 cup of soy sauce
About 5 drops of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of green onions, chopped, fresh or freeze-dried (if you can’t get them, not the end of the world, you can deal)
Mixed frozen vegetables of your choice, cooked and drained
1 can of bamboo shoots
Pepper to taste (more soy sauce for more salt)
1/4 cup of tonkatsu (katsu) sauce
Directions:
In a large stir fry pan or a large skillet, heat up the vegetable/canola oil over medium-high heat.
Once the oil is hot, throw in the green onions and the vegetables and cook them until the green onions are soft, salting and peppering to taste.
Add the rice, then drizzle the soy sauce and tonkatsu (adding more to taste if need be – soy for salt, katsu for sweet).
Stir all that nonsense until the rice gets brown from all the sauce. This is the point at which you’ll taste it and address whether it needs more flavoring.
Next, put a splash of soy sauce in the beaten eggs and whisk it up a bit.
Make a crater in the center of the rice and pour in the egg. Let cook for 10 seconds then mix the egg in with the rice.
Throw in a bowl and serve!
Note: Recommended that you make it with bacon if you can get your hands on it! Plus if you use bacon, you don’t need to use any kind of oil! Just cook it in the pan at the beginning!
2. Frozen Fruit Smoothie
Epidemic or not, Summer is looming just from around the corner. If we’re still stuck in quarantine by then, we’ll probably have to deal with those hot days inside. I’m sure some of you have already been dealing with the rising heat (Arizonans I’m sure) and you’ll definitely be needing this recipe, but otherwise, you’ll be needing it really soon. You can use any combination of fruit you can find for this, and what’s more, you don’t need ice if you use frozen fruit!
For the full recipe, click the link!
3. Easy Smothered Burritos
This is a great one that I learned in college, and it really kicks up our frozen food recipes game. It’s quick, easy, and filling. Healthy? Who has time for that?! It’s quarantine time people! Here’s what ingredients you’ll need:
1 pack of frozen Burritos
1 large can of red enchilada sauce
1 jar of nacho cheese dip
1/2 bag of shredded cheese (cheddar, pepper jack or Monterey Jack would be dandy)
Black pepper to taste
Salsa, sour cream, and chopped green onion for garnish (if you want… if you can find it…)
Cooking grease
Directions:
Set the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a casserole tray with cooking grease and assemble the frozen burritos along the base, filling as much space as you can.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Move quickly! Remove the tray from the oven or pull out the rack. Pour half of the enchilada sauce over the burritos and return to the oven.
Bake again for 15 minutes.
I’m the same manner as before, pour the remaining enchilada sauce.
Bake again for 10 minutes.
In the same manner, as with the enchilada sauce, dump the whole jar of nacho cheese over the burritos.
Bake once more for 5 minutes.
Top with shredded cheese and let sit until the cheese melts.
Serve with chosen garnishes and enjoy!
4. Honey-Garlic Shrimp And Rice
What more need be said? It’s sweet and garlicky happiness full of happy rice, shrimp, and broccoli!
For the full recipe, click the link here!
5. Ravioli Lasagna
As a reminder, my personal frozen food recipes aren’t about health but keeping you fed through this time of shortage. To that end, the ravioli lasagna is the perfect frozen food recipe for quarantine! Assuming you are able to get your hands on them, you’ll need these ingredients:
2 boxes of frozen ravioli with whatever filling you choose
3 jars of pizza sauce (meaty, garlic, whatever you can still get)
2 bags of shredded mozzarella
5 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
Pepper and salt to taste
1 tub of ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix one bag of mozzarella cheese with 3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, egg, and all of the ricotta. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste.
Coat the inside of a crockpot with olive oil.
Pour in a thin layer of sauce (combined in a separate bowl if you got variations).
Place a layer of frozen ravioli, covering as much of the previous layer as possible.
Spread a layer of the cheese concoction across the layer of the ravioli.
Repeat this process until you run out of space or ingredients, leaving just enough room for a layer of cheese.
Top the whole shebang with half of the other bag of mozzarella, as well as the remaining parmesan, and pepper to taste.
Set the crockpot to slow cook for 4 hours.
That’s it. Once finished just serve!
6. Spicy Coconut Wonton Soup
If we’re being honest, a good bag of frozen dumplings can be delicious in their own right. Sadly, the classic plate o’ dumplings is just a little side dish, but here’s a delicious way to turn those tasty little bastards into an amazing and filling entree perfect for any pandemic!
For the full recipe by clicking the link here!
7. Tater Tot Casserole
1 bag of frozen tater tots
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese
1 pound of ground beef
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup of beef stock
1 tablespoon of thyme
1 tablespoon of rosemary
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
Salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lube a baking
In a large skillet over medium-high cook the ground beef until nearly but not all the pink has been cooked out.
To the skillet add the Worcestershire sauce, beef stock, cream of mushroom, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
Stir, mix and coat well.
When the beef is well coated and settles back into cooking, add half of the shredded cheese. Mix it in and stir until the cheese is melted.
Pour the mixture into the baking dish.
Top the mixture with the taster tots, seasoning them with garlic salt and pepper to taste.
Bake until tater tots are happy and golden.
Sprinkle with half of the remaining shredded cheese and bake once more until the cheese is melted.
Let cool and serve!
8. Lemon Ravioli Casserole
Here’s another ravioli dish for our frozen food recipes – a lemony, zesty ravioli casserole with lots of yummy capers too! It’s, easy, quick, and yummy, and perfect for quarantine!
To see the full recipe, click the link here!
9. Cheesy Rice And Broccoli Bake
Another great way to use leftover rice and frozen food! The cheesy rice and broccoli bake makes for a delicious side dish as well as a quick entree. To make it you’ll need these ingredients:
1 cup of leftover rice
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of shredded cheddar
1 bag of frozen broccoli, microwaves and drained
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Butter or cooking grease
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, lather a deep baking dish with butter or baking grease.
Over medium-high heat in a large skillet, heat up the olive oil. Once hot, throw in the garlic and cook until golden brown.
Add the cream of mushroom soup and half the bag of chess as to the skilled. Cook and stir until the cheese is melted and happy. Add salt and pepper to taste
Throw the rice and broccoli into the mixture and stir until everything is well coated.
Pour the mixture into the baking dish.
Top fully and evenly with the other half of the bag of cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool and serve! Makes for a great side dish but filling enough if you need to use it as an entree.
10. Teriyaki Meatball Bowl
Here’s a nice, easy and delicious frozen food recipe that’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser! Why is that you may ask? Well because you can customize the dish depending on meatballs – classic, turkey or chicken for lighter meat, or even vegetarian meatballs. Granted, your potential meatball adventure is largely dependent on availability, but oh well!
For the full recipe, check out the link by clicking here!
