Once-a-Month Cooking Prep: "Cream of" Casseroles Recipe (2024)

Making simple homemade cream of chicken (or “whatever”) soup in bulk can make a week of super frugal, super nourishing meals, plus some for the freezer.

Some people love “Once a Month Cooking” where they make 30 meals in a day or two and rest on their laurels for the next 28. That gets a little overly stressful for me, so I’ve found I’d rather cook a double batch of a meal on a normal night, eat one and freeze the other, or do some big prep that will last over multiple meals (I call it “connected meal planning”), like quadruple homemade cream of chicken soup for casseroles or a big batch of beans for soup, tacos, and a side dish.

These three casserole recipes, along with the “cream of X” soup recipe, have beenreverse engineered for Real Food, which is the theme for the week. 🙂

All the casseroles reheat great and freeze acceptably if you are careful to keep it all moist and airtight.

How does Katie freeze make-ahead meals? I have enough glass dishes with lids that I can make many things right in various casserole dishes, albeit weird sizes. I freeze soups and sauces in glass jars, or even in plastic bags. For some reason I’m not scared of plastic bags, no. 4 plastic, no BPA. I would not heat food in them, though. I do still use Gladware for freezing some things…you do what you can! [See the full details on how I think about freezer cooking and store meals.] I keep a lot of ingredients to make prep quicker in my freezer, too, like onions, peppers and more. What can you freeze?

Katie’s Real Food Cream of {X} Soup

This recipe is originally from the 30-Day Gourmet Freezer Cooking book, modified slightly for real food. It makes the equivalent of 4 cans of soup, so I always plan enough casseroles to use it up within a week. It freezes well inside a casserole but can separate if you freeze it alone, according to the authors. I’ve never tried it by itself because of that, but I have seen other bloggers who make ahead cream of soups and freeze them. Attempt at your food’s own risk! UPDATE: More than a few folks say they freeze the cream of soup just fine, so I’m going to go for it next time!

Method:

Melt butter over low heat. If using onions for extra flavor, saute in butter until limp. Add flour and whisk together until smooth. Cook 1 minute. Do not let it brown! Gradually add milk and chicken stock, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when sauce has thickened. This may take up to 15-20 minutes.

Options:

• Cream of celery: Sautee a stalk or two of chopped celery with the butter before adding flour.
• Cream of mushroom: Sautee chopped fresh mushrooms in butter.
• Cream of broccoli: Add chopped steamed broccoli to the soup after it thickens.
• Cheesy sauce: Add shredded cheese (sharp cheddar gives the most flavor) after removing from heat. Stir to melt.
• If you want to make a big batch of soup and have different flavors, you can always saute mushrooms or celery separately and simply add to the finished soup, one can-equivalent at a time.

I’ll make a batch this week – the chicken stock is already thawed – and use it for the following casseroles within 5-7 days:

Learn how to make a roux and a great cream of potato soup.

Honey Dijon Chicken Casserole (Katie’s print version first, original version with changes below)

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Honey Dijon Chicken Casserole

The original recipe is from a Quick Cooking magazine from 2000. Original ingredient is in italics, my substitutions in bold.

Method:

In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Stir in the chicken, potatoes and carrots. Put in a greased 9×13 baking dish. Cover and bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees F. Uncover, add shredded cheddar and Parmesan cheese (because everything’s better with cheese! I added that!) and bake 15-30 minutes longer until potatoes are done. Serves: 8 (Works great cut in half!)

Total cost: under $5 (depends a lot on your chicken cost)

This was one of those meals that I couldn’t figure out how to avoid the aluminum foil when I had to cover my 9×13 pan. Thanks to one of my faithful readers who recommended flipping a cookie sheet over, I now have a safe cookware substitution as well!

To Freeze: Bake all the way or within 15 minutes of “done” but don’t add the cheese. Freeze in casserole dish, well wrapped. Thaw completely or add to the cooking time to heat through until bubbly, probably about 30 minutes at 350F. Add cheeses as instructed for the last 10-15 minutes.

Campbell’s {Katie’s} Easy Chicken and Biscuits

Method:

Mix everything but the biscuits in a 3-qt shallow baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Stir the mixture and add dollops of biscuit dough liberally over the top. Bake 15 minutes more or until biscuits are golden. Serves at least 6.

To Freeze: Freeze the casserole “guts” (cream soups, veggies, seasonings all mixed up) and the biscuit dough separately. You could freeze the casserole in a dish or just in a plastic bag. Thaw both parts completely and then bake as directed above, adding the biscuit dough partway through baking. I don’t recommend freezing this one assembled because the biscuits would burn.

Total cost: under $5

This is a photo of the biscuit casserole, just about done. It was taken almost a year ago before I understood anything about food photography (so please don’t pin it)! 🙂

Potato Beef Casserole

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Cooking Frozen Casseroles

You don’t have to thaw these casseroles completely to cook them. Certainly you may, and then just follow to baking instructions on the recipe (perhaps adding 5-10 minutes if the dish is coming cold from the refrigerator).

You CAN go right from the freezer to the oven, as long as your dish can handle it. I recommend putting the casserole in a unheated oven and allowing it to be in there while the oven preheats, just to reduce the shock of going from frozen to 350F. You need to add from 1/2 to double the cooking time (i.e. for a 30 minute bake time, cook 45-60 minutes). You’ll know the casserole is done when it’s bubbling on the edges, and typically the center has caught up by then. Enjoy!

Final Notes

Many say that white potatoes aren’t good for you, either. I’m willing to bet that both of my potato-based casseroles here would be great with cooked brown rice, too. I just love potatoes, so I’m not giving them up yet!

Sometimes I use the cream of chicken recipe from Tammy’s Recipes as well. It’s very tasty! I also have a few more casserole dishes, a creamy chicken enchiladas and a chicken tetrazzini, both only made better with the inclusion of homemade real food.

UPDATE: I did it! In one hour, I had all three done and ready to go, minus the biscuits which I will make Friday. Woo hoo! My only dishes were a cutting board, knife, pot, whisk, ladle, food processor, and big bowl. I was finished with them before the honey dijon casserole was on the table, and HALF that recipe made enough that I froze an entire meal’s worth of leftovers! That’s one big recipe; use at your own risk. I need to plan a 3-in-1 meal day more often. I’m so looking forward to the next couple days… 🙂

Be sure to see my guide to Reverse Engineering Recipes for Real Food Quality for more tips on keeping packaged food out of your kitchen!

Other Helpful Freezer Posts:

• Freezer Cooking for Working Moms (and other busy cooks)
• Why I can throw together a meal so fast: 10 Easy Prep Foods I Always Have in My Freezer
• Update: How to Store and Freeze Fresh Produce and Grains

http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/10/27/my-first-roux-and-a-cream-of-potato-soup-recipe/

Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.