The Healthy Homemade TV Dinner Recipe That Has Saved Me From Ordering Takeout

As you probably guessed, I love to prepare healthy meals for my family. Like everyone else, though, sometimes life gets too busy for me to cook from scratch, especially with three kids. If I haven’t prepared a big batch of chili or a casserole that week, I often find myself scrambling for a way to get a healthy dinner on the table in a hurry.

Look, I love takeout as much as the next person, and I am certainly a fan of how quick and easy it is. I don’t love dining out or ordering in on a regular basis, though, because restaurant food tends to be higher in calories, saturated fat, and sodium than I would like. Plus, have you seen how much takeout costs these days? One thing that has helped me has been planning “safety net” meals I can fall back on when I don’t have the time or desire to cook or order food.

Often, those meals are ones I make in advance and pop in the freezer, so they have all the ease of a conventional TV dinner, but are nutritionally superior (and hopefully taste better, too!). Prepping and freezing homemade “TV dinners” doesn’t have to be a chore — you can double almost any recipe you’re making and then freeze the extras for a future meal.

A great variety of foods freeze well, and stocking your freezer with homemade options is a great way to make sure you have a healthy meal ready to go anytime. At my house, meatloaf with mashed potatoes and veggies is a favorite family heat-and-eat meal. I freeze slices in single-serve portions with a serving of mashed potatoes and veggies so that they’re ready for another night. The key to freezing food is to eliminate as much air as possible. I’ll either use shallow stackable plasticware or — my favorite way to freeze food — resealable storage bags. I love storage bags because they allow me to squeeze any extra air out of the bag before sealing it and they can be easily stacked horizontally or vertically in my perpetually too-full freezer.

The freezer is also convenient when you have leftovers but don’t want to eat them right away. Knowing how to properly freeze them can be a great option for reducing food waste, especially if you’re cooking for fewer people. Then you have a healthy home-cooked meal on hand to thaw, reheat, and enjoy! If possible, I defrost the meal in the fridge before reheating it. But, let’s be real, sometimes it just isn’t possible. In that case, I’ll simply remove the food from the storage container or bag and place it on a plate to defrost and reheat in the microwave. I recommend stirring the food about halfway through cooking to make sure it heats evenly.

Busy schedules are impossible to avoid, but food is one of the best ways to connect with those you love! Here’s my favorite “TV dinner” recipe when I want to enjoy a delicious and healthy dinner without the hassle.