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Cheese. Broccoli. Potatoes. 3 of my favorite comfort food items. I decided to try to figure out the perfect way to combine the three of them into a new freezer meal recipe. After a few trial and errors I have come up with a super quick, easy and delicious recipe I’m hoping you will all adore! I’m calling it the Cheesy Broccoli Potato Bake freezer meal.
I know, I know…… real creative.
As I was planning the design for my kitchen in our new built home I knew I wanted a lot of fridge and freezer space. I chose the Frigidaire Gallery® All Freezer and Frigidaire Gallery® All Refrigerator appliance set so I could have the commercial style built in look for less. And I’m so happy I did. I have a big family, love to cook, love to garden…and most of all I love to make freezer meals. Have you made freezer meals before? If you haven’t you really should! I think freezer meal cooking is the answer to world peace. Well, at least there is peace in my house when I have a freezer full of meals.
Here is a great post I made on Freezer Meals for Beginners if you are new.
Now keep in mind, you don’t have to have a huge freezer to do freezer meal cooking, you can use whichever freezer you have. However it sure makes it nice to have more space. Because more space = ability to make even more freezer meals! And you know I get a little crazy sometimes …I’ve been known to make 50 freezer meals in a day. And even though it’s a lot of work up front, I love when that day is over and I have all those glorious freezer meals in my freezer. Then I don’t have to cook much for over a month. It’s the best.
I’ll admit, having this new freezer makes everything so much easier with freezer meal cooking as there is so much room. I have been able to stay more organized, and because of that, I’m able to enjoy more time with my family.
Okay, now onto the recipe!
Cheesy Broccoli Potato Bake Recipe
To make this dish I was thinking of what would be the easiest way to do this. I know that the au gratin potatoes in the box mixes were super easy to make but powdered processed cheese was not what I was looking for. And I could make this using real potatoes but that takes so much time when I am doing my big freezer cooking day. Then I discovered WinCo had the dried potato slices in their bulk section so I grabbed a bagful and got to work experimenting at home. And it worked beautifully!
First thing to do is to make a homemade cheese sauce. This involves simmering the garlic in the butter for a bit until it’s golden.
Then next we whisk in the flour, mustard and pepper. Then slowly cook it till it’s all golden-ey brown.
Brown baby, brown baby, brown baby, brown.
Baby.
Then add in the milk, and continually stir until it is almost boiling.
Remove from heat, add the cheese and stir until mixed, melted and looking like a cheese sauce.
Allow to cool.
While this is cooling, bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot. Once boiling, remove from heat and toss your dry potatoes into the pot with the water, making sure they are all completely covered with the water. Let this sit for 10 minutes then pour water and soaked potatoes into a strainer. Rinse potatoes with cool water until potatoes are nice and cold. Set aside.
Next step is to make my topping, which is totally optional by the way but makes this recipe so much more flavorful!
I mean…c’mon…it’s bacon.
Bacon is my best friend ya’ll, as my thighs will affirm.
Now at this point you have 2 options. To make this right now or to freeze it away for another day.
To make right now:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add 1 ½ cups of water to cheese sauce. Then add soaked potatoes and broccoli and mix it all up well. Add to a 9×13 baking dish and cook for 50-60 minutes or until golden and bubbly on top. Add topping on and then bake for an additional 10 minutes. Then enjoy!
To make and freezer for later:
Make sure the cheese sauce is cool. Sometimes if I’m in a big hurry I will quick cool the cheese sauce by putting the pot on top of a bowl of ice and whisking the sauce until its cool (about 5 minutes). Then combine cheese sauce, cooled soaked potatoes and frozen broccoli into a bowl, and mix well. Then add to freezer safe bag, seal, label and freeze. Make the topping, seal and freeze with the main meal.
The day before cooking it allow it to thaw for 24 hours in your fridge. On the cooking day preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then add in 1 ½ cups water to your freezer bag, seal and swish it until it’s all incorporated well. Then pour into 9×13 baking dish and make sure none of the potatoes are sticking out of the sauce. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden and bubbly on top. Add the topping on and then bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Happy freezer meal cooking!
Cheesy Broccoli Potato Bake Freezer Meal
Ingredients
- 1 Gallon Freezer Bag
- 1 Quart Freezer Bag
- 4 tbsp Butter
- 1 tsp Garlic puree
- 4 tbsp Flour
- 1/2 tbsp Dried Mustard
- 1/8 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 2 cups Milk
- 2 cups Shredded Cheddar
- 16 oz Frozen Broccoli
- 4 cups Dried Potato Slices I found these in the bulk section at WinCo
- 1 1/2 cups Water
Topping Ingredients(optional)
- 2 Tbsp Butter diced into small pieces
- 1 cup Panko Crumbs
- 1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan
- 1/4 cup Shredded Cheddar
- 1/2 cup Bacon Crumbles
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- The Sauce Base:
- In a large saucepan melt butter on medium low heat.
- Sauté garlic in butter until it just starts to turn golden, about 2-3 minutes.
- Quickly add flour, dried mustard, and black pepper, whisking continually.
- Continue whisking until a deep golden roux is formed, about 2-3 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the milk.
- Return to medium-low heat, bring to a near boil, remove from heat, and then stir in cheese quickly.
- Continue whisking until your cheese sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Allow to cool.
- While this is cooling, bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot. Once boiling, remove from heat and toss your dry potatoes into the pot with the water, making sure they are all completely covered with the water. Let this sit for 10 minutes then pour water and soaked potatoes into a strainer. Rinse potatoes with cool water until potatoes are nice and cold. Set aside.
- To make right now:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add 1 ½ cups of water to cheese sauce. Then add soaked potatoes and broccoli and mix it all up well. Add to a 9x13 baking dish and cook for 50-60 minutes or until golden and bubbly on top. Add topping on and then bake for an additional 10 minutes. Then enjoy!
- To make and freezer for later:
- Make sure the cheese sauce is cool. Sometimes if I’m in a big hurry I will quick cool the cheese sauce by putting the pot on top of a bowl of ice and whisking the sauce until its cool (about 5 minutes). Then combine cheese sauce, cooled soaked potatoes and frozen broccoli into a bowl, and mix well. Then add to freezer safe bag, seal, label and freeze. Make the topping, seal and freeze with the main meal.
- The day before cooking it allow it to thaw for 24 hours in your fridge. On the cooking day preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then add in 1 ½ cups water to your freezer bag, seal and swish it until it’s all incorporated well. Then pour into 9x13 baking dish and make sure none of the potatoes are sticking out of the sauce. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden and bubbly on top. Add the topping on and then bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Help!! My local Winco just told me they dont carry the dried potato slices anymore…can I use hashbrowns or another easy substitute? I bought all the other ingredients and really want to try it, but cant find someone locally who sells this.
Yeah, Winco had stopped allowing for bulk stuff I’ve heard, or pre-packaging it. Hmmm… you could use hash-browns but reduce the amount of water in this recipe as it would be too watery. I added water for those dried potatoes.
Hi! I am building up a collection of recipes that I can make ahead of time, pack into individual containers, freeze, then reheat in a microwave at work for a healthier alternative to processed frozen meals. So far I am going to try the Paleo Beef and Broccoli recipe, the Chicken Garlic Pasta Skillet recipe, and the Breakfast Bowl recipe. Does this recipe work well for cooking then freezing individual servings for microwaving later?
Yes you can cook then freeze individual servings for microwaving later for sure!
*cubes
This looks so yummy! Could I add small cues of ham to this? Would it freeze well? Thank you!
What if you want to use actual potatoes?
Then you would cook the potatoes, and don’t add water to the cheese sauce mixture. 🙂
Hey would this reheat nicely if you cooked it, cooled it and then froze it?
It would work this way too, but maybe be a bit more mushy. Still will taste good but the texture may be overcooked a bit.
What isthe serving size and how many servings per 9 X 13 pan?
if you want to bake it right away, do you still need to soak the potatoes first?
Yes you do need to soak no matter what. Thanks!