Reheating Frozen Meals Using the Instant Pot

At the start of my journey of prepping frozen meals for my dad, I thought that I could prepare his meals in oven safe glass, and he could just pop them in the oven and it would be very easy to have a hot meal.  While it is still very possible, it seems that the density of the meals I prepare lend themselves to not heating very evenly in the oven, and taking up to two hours to be fully cooked.  My dad, clearly frustrated, resorted to microwaving the frozen meals, which resulted in separation, drying, and curdling. yuck.  So, with a little trial and error, we have come up with a way of reheating the meals from frozen!  

Steps to reheating the frozen meals:

1.  You must use Oven Safe, Microwave Safe, Freezer Safe Glass!  Not every pyrex, or glass bowl is specifically made for this purpose, and could result in the glassware breaking!  This is the set I use:  Glasslock 18 Piece (oven, micro, freezer safe) I purchased 3 sets, which stocks us about a month or so of freezer meals for my dad.  

2.  When taking the meals from the freezer, I first have him submerge the closed containers in cold or room temperature water for about 20 to 30 minutes.  Dad also will sometimes put the meal he wants in the fridge the night before, or in the morning before leaving for work.  This helps to bring the glassware to room temperature to prevent the possibility of breaking during the cooking process.  

3.  Once at room temperature, remove the snapped on lids, and cover tightly with a layer of foil.  I plan on playing around with a layer or two of parchment paper held by rubber bands, but have yet to try.  

4.  Place the trivet in the steel IP liner.  Add one cup of water.  Place meal on trivet.  Set to manual high pressure for 15 minutes (if mostly thawed or small container), to 35 minutes (mostly frozen large container, or soup/stew).  I find that soups or full liquids take the longest to heat through as they have no air pockets to aid in speedy cooking.  If not fully cooked, stir and add a few more minutes.  Quick release is fine.

Stay tuned for recipes!!

Getting Started

Welcome everyone!  

I have been asked to provide some helpful tips and recipes for meal prepping using the Instant Pot.  I am more than happy to oblige.  If you are visiting from Facebook, you may know that my mom passed away about a year ago, and my father has found it to be hard to cook full meals for only himself.  Within my family growing up, we all loved to cook and are somewhat foodies, so when a nurse suggested my father may want to look into Meals on Wheels, I found myself thinking that there must be a better way.  I gave it some thought, and came to the conclusion that with the help of the Instant Pot, and some other accessories, I could efficiently make healthy meals that could be frozen and reheated easily.  So, through my trials and errors, I can now share what has, so far, worked well for us!  

Here are some basic tips to get started:  

1.  Make sure to use the right type of glassware.  It must be oven safe, freezable, and microwavable.  The set that I use is this : Glasslock 18 piece and can be found at Amazon.com.  I like that it has a range of sizes, and most are good for one or two portions.  The largest size is good for storing a main dish with about 4 portions.  Glass is wonderful for long term storage, and avoids the toxins that could be found in some plastics.  

2.  Most foods can be cooked prior, but I typically only cook things halfway, or very al dente.  This is especially true for recipes like: risotto, pasta, or seafood.  


3.  Most of my searing is done separately in a wide flat pan.  I find the Instant Pot to be too crowded for searing.  I love this Calphalon 7qt saute pan and use it almost every day.  It offers so much space to really sear properly for the most flavor.  

4.  Practice using small batches to get the taste and cooking right, then double or triple the recipe the next time for making four or five portions.  While most of the meals I make are for my dad, I also put aside "emergency" me being lazy and not wanting to cook meals for my immediate family. 

5.  Use the freshest healthiest ingredients possible!  Since everything is being frozen, I like to use peak produce and clean meats, so that way you are sure to get the most benefits from the food being used.  My father has various health conditions, so I try to use as much pasture raised and organic as possible.  I purchase much of my meat in bulk (side of beef and pork from a local farm stored in a deep freezer) and also peel and freeze organic vegetables when they are in peak season.  This helps cut costs tremendously, and provides my family with healthy food throughout the year.  

Please stay tuned!  I am going to be posting up as many recipes as possible today.  You are  welcome to subscribe to be notified of new recipes as I complete them.  Feel free to comment with any questions or thoughts!

Follow this link to my post about reheating using the Instant Pot>  reheating-frozen-meals-using-instant-pot

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