These freezer pasta meals come in at just $0.24 per serving. Not only are they insanely inexpensive (can you even buy a pack of gum for $0.25?), they offer convenience and endless possibilities for variety to spice up your work lunches.
Do the work once and you’ll be able to fill your freezer with over three weeks worth of tasty meal prep lunches to bring to work.This was music to my husband’s ears, since he was getting pretty tired of taking leftovers and sandwiches to work every day.
My husband takes these to work a few times per week, and since writing this post, I’ve also used this as a side for dinner. Super-versatile.
🍽️ Why This Works
Fast: You can make 3 weeks worth of lunches in under 20 minutes. You can probably make 6 weeks worth in 30 minutes. Since these last so long in the freezer, it’s tempting to do that.
Silly Easy: This is so simple to do that everyone can do this even if you don’t cook. It’s boiling water and then freezing the noodles. We all can do this.
Great First Time Cook Project: Whether you are in high school looking for an after school snack or a college student cooking for the first time, this recipe is perfect for you. You can make a batch in the amount of time you check Instagram.
This is great, especially if the first-timer is using a semi-homemade recipe like the Three Ingredient Broccoli Alfredo Sauce, which can be frozen in little cups.
Frugal: This is less than a quarter per batch. You just can’t pass that up.
Adaptable: Simply by changing the sauce, you can change up the recipe to whatever you like. You can make your own sauce or use a jar of your favorite. Either way, this is your recipe.
🍝 Ingredients
Pasta | Use any leftover boxed pasta that you have available. We all have those half-used boxes that are taking up space in the pantry.
Sauces | Since we are using those one or two ounce disposable cups, I added a red sauce to some, and pesto to others.
I figured it would help me from getting bored eating the same thing every day for lunch.
🍽️ Instructions
Step One: Cook the pasta in a salted pot of boiling water until al dente. I cooked up two boxes of pasta. Then drain.
Step Two: Stir drained pasta with olive oil to prevent sticking. I used a little over one teaspoon for each box of pasta.
Step Three: Place pasta in an even layer on a cookie sheet. My pasta overlapped a bit, so I had to snap a handful of pieces apart once frozen.
Step Four: Place in the freezer for two hours. If you have a small freezer like me, use a small wire shelf from the dollar store to be able to freeze two sheets at once.
Step Five: While the pasta is freezing, mix together your sauce and let it cool completely before packaging it up. You’ll see two types of sauce in this post, but since I way over-estimated how much I needed, I’m only accounting for the cost of one sauce – the broccoli alfredo sauce.
Remove the frozen pasta from the freezer and transfer to a large bowl. If some of your pieces are frozen together, gently snap them apart.
I opted to mix my pastas together even though they were different varieties.
Tip: Larger pastas are easier to freeze and less likely to stick together. If some of them do stick together, it’s a lot easier to snap them apart than a smaller pasta.
Make Portable Pasta Lunch Packets
I used zippable sandwich bags and small one or two ounce cups w/lids to package up the pasta lunches. If you prefer not to use the cups, you can freeze your sauce in ice cube trays. Since most ice cube trays hold 1-oz. per cube, you’ll need to use two ice cubes for each bag of pasta.
It’s important to work quickly when packaging up your pasta so it doesn’t thaw. Place one cup of pasta into each bag. Try to remove as much air as possible from each bag, fold over once if your bags are large enough and seal. Place them into the freezer immediately.
Package up your sauce cups. Each cup holds two ounces. I just used a regular spoon to scoop in my sauce. Place lids on cups and transfer to the freezer.
If you’re using an ice cube tray for your sauce, you’ll have to add the frozen cubes to the bags of pasta later.
I’m storing my pasta in a basket on the top shelf of my freezer and just sliding in the cups in the leftover space on the side. Super easy to grab and go!
Update: I found it just as easy to add the sauce containers to the Ziploc bags and that saves an extra step in the morning.
💡 Expert Tips
I know I touched on it above, but I’ll explain a bit more about my choice for the sauce. The reason I chose the the little cups to store the sauce was because I wanted my husband to have some variety with his lunch each day.
Keeping the sauce separate from the pasta allowed me to save leftover sauce from our dinners in the cups and add it to our sauce stash.
This provides a much larger variety than if the sauce was packaged together with the pasta. He can just choose the sauce he’s in the mood for, grab the pasta, and go.
This is just an easy way to break up the monotony of essentially eating the same thing for lunch a few times each week.
🌡️ Reheating Instructions
Lightly massage the bag of pasta to break apart any pieces that are frozen together. Place the pasta in microwave safe bowl. Remove the frozen sauce from the cup and place it directly over the pasta (if you’re using sauce from ice cube trays, use two cubes of sauce).
Microwave for 90 seconds. Then mix thoroughly, ensuring all pasta is covered in the sauce. Place back in microwave for 30 seconds. Let sit for one minute before removing from microwave.
Microwave times may vary according to your microwave’s wattage.
Cost Breakdown
- (2) boxes of pasta: $2
- Broccoli Alfredo Sauce: $2
- Olive oil: $0.11
- Total cost: $4.11
- Cost per packet: $0.24
I knew they were going to be inexpensive, but I was happily surprised to see that the cost per serving is just $0.24. To date, this is probably one of the cheapest freezer meal recipes I’ve posted. Though, my $0.59 freezer smoothie packets do come pretty close.
🍲 Meal Preparation
Meal prepping has become very popular and for a good reason. It’s one of those things that takes some work up front, but then you get rewarded every time its mealtime! I wanted to take a second to explain why it’s a good idea to consider meal planning and how it can benefit you. Take a look:
- Saving money is number one. First and foremost, you will save money when your meal plan because you won’t be tempted to hit the drive-through instead of eating at home. Eating out costs so much money, and you can have wholesome good meals right at home with little effort to warm it up.
- Meal prepping can reduce stress later. While you may have a day that you spend hours in the kitchen prepping, that will seem easy on those nights when you need something fast. Imagine going to the freezer and pulling out a meal that just needs heated up and minimal work from you. You’ll notice much less stress from cooking.
- When you meal prep, you can keep portion control in mind. This is great when you are trying to drop a few pounds or save even more money. You’re less likely to overeat when you have your portion already figured out. If you happen to be still hungry, you can munch on some veggies instead.
- You won’t have as many unnecessary purchases. If you go to the store with a list in hand and a plan, you’re less likely to buy a bunch of extra stuff. You’ll know that the convince of meal prepping outways the expense of junk food at the store.
- You won’t believe how much time you save. Ball games in the evening, piano lessons, and whatever else creeps up doesn’t have to end in you spending hours in the kitchen too. Most meal prep foods can be quickly microwaved or warmed in the oven, just like my microwave pasta.
Anyone can meal prep. Whether you have a large family and are trying to get your food organized or if you live by yourself. Meal prepping is the perfect way to save you time and energy.
That’s what’s so great about my microwavable pasta; you can just grab what you want and have an easy, effortless lunch. Heck, try this for a quick 5 minute dinner before you head out of the door for “second shift!” You know the hours from 3pm-10pm when you are running like crazy!
🍴 Substitutions
If you want some extra protein, add meat to the pasta. Keep in mind that the price will increase a little once you add some meat in, but as inexpensive as it is to make, it’s not a huge deal. Try adding some of the following to the pasta sauce.
- Chicken – Cook and dice some juicy chicken and add it to the pasta sauce. You’ll be amazed by how delicious it is and that it makes the meal even more filling.
- Ground Beef – Brown up a batch of hamburger, and you can either mix it with the pasta sauce or put it in individual containers. If you opt for an individual container, just grab one and warm it up with the pasta and sauce end enjoy!
- Sausage – I love the flavor of sausage with my pasta. It’s just so good, so it makes sense to brown it up and freeze it too.
The biggest tip here is to grab some meat when it is on sale to keep the price down. Also, look for the soon to expire meats (be careful!) and see if you score a deal there!
When using meat, try to use a tad less than you normally would. You can use leftover ⅓ pound of ground beef instead of a full pound to your pasta sauce. You still have a punch of protein without using a full pound of meat!
Add some veggies to the pasta sauce. This is a wonderful way to add some extra nutrients and flavor if you want. Try some of these ideas:
- Mushrooms – If you love mushrooms, it just makes sense to add a few into the mix. So good and hearty.
- Olives – Okay, so I know they aren’t exactly a vegetable, but they add lots of yummy flavors and look pretty too.
- Carrots – They give the sauce a sweetness that’s not overbearing. Plus, you’re adding valuable vitamins and minerals to the dish.
- Peppers – Chop up some green bell peppers for a hint of flavor. Before adding them to the sauce saute them with a little bit of olive oil, so they aren’t too crunchy or toss them in the sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Onions – Dice up some onions and soften them by simmering the sauce. They give you a boost of flavor and nutrients too.
- Tomatoes – For the tomato-based sauce, it makes sense to have some hearty tomatoes in it too. Use a can of petite diced and add them in. You’ll love how they taste!
Recipe FAQs
A lot of people are unsure if you can freeze cooked pasta. The answer is yes, you can. If you know you are going to freeze it, you can cook the pasta a few minutes shy of it being done. This will help the texture taste better when reheated. If not, no worries the pasta will be slightly softer once reheated.
Go ahead and reach for any variety of pasta you enjoy. Spaghetti, bowtie, elbow, they all work great. You will find even gluten free and veggie pastas will work as well.
The telltale sign of freezer burn is the ice crystals that form on the food, and white patches. When in doubt it is best to throw it out. Freezer burned food can taste bad and contain bacteria that can make you sick.
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
Freezer Pasta Meals {$0.24 per serving}
Equipment
- Plastic Portion Cups
Ingredients
- Pasta dried
- Sauce your choice
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a salted pot of boiling water until al dente. I cooked up two boxes of pasta. Then drain.
- Stir drained pasta with olive oil to prevent sticking. I used a little over one teaspoon for each box of pasta.
- Place pasta in an even layer on a cookie sheet. I used one cookie sheet per box of cooked pasta. My pasta overlapped a bit, so I had to snap a handful of pieces apart once frozen.
- Place in the freezer for two hours. If you have a small freezer like me, use a small wire shelf from the dollar store to be able to freeze two sheets at once.
- While the pasta is freezing, mix together your sauce and let it cool completely before packaging it up. You'll see two types of sauce in this post, but since I way over-estimated how much I needed, I'm only accounting for the cost of one sauce – the broccoli alfredo sauce.
- Remove the frozen pasta from the freezer and transfer to a large bowl. If some of your pieces are frozen together, gently snap them apart. I opted to mix my pastas together even though they were different varieties.
Making Pasta Bags
- Using sandwich bags and small one or two ounce cups w/lids to package up the pasta lunches. If you prefer not to use the cups, you can freeze your sauce in ice cube trays. Since most ice cube trays hold 1-oz. per cube, you'll need to use two ice cubes for each bag of pasta.
- It's important to work quickly when packaging up your pasta so it doesn't thaw. Place one cup of pasta into each bag. Try to remove as much air as possible from each bag, fold over once if your bags are large enough and seal. Place them into the freezer immediately.
- Package up your sauce cups. Each cup holds two ounces. I just used a regular spoon to scoop in my sauce. Place lids on cups and transfer to the freezer.
Reheating Instructions
- Lightly massage the bag of pasta to break apart any pieces that are frozen together. Place the pasta in microwave safe bowl. Remove the frozen sauce from the cup and place it directly over the pasta (if you're using sauce from ice cube trays, use two cubes of sauce).
- Microwave for 90 seconds. Then mix thoroughly, ensuring all pasta is covered in the sauce. Place back in microwave for 30 seconds. Let sit for one minute before removing from microwave.
Notes
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
Jordana says
How long can these packets stay in the freezer?
polly says
Is there a printer-friendly copy of this recipe/system?I can’t wait to try it for my mom, who is 85 and I make and freeze food for her every few days.
HLH says
First of all this is an incredible idea!
I just love this!
However I struggle with the pasta to sauce ratio…EVERY TIME. I always end up with to much pasta and not enough sauce. lol
I was wanting to know how much pasta you added to your baggies for 2 cups of sauce.
Thanks for the super awesome idea!
HLH says
I mean the 2 small plastic cups you used.
Jazmin Rode says
Each Baggie was about 1 cup of pasta. If that ratio isn’t saucy enough, maybe try adding 1.5 cups of pasta to a baggie and using 2 containers or sauce. Or just add a tiny amount of water to the bowl before heating if you’re in a pinch. 🙂
JEN says
Why not make yourself a bowl while your prepping and measure the amount of sauce you put in till the consistency is where you want it? That way you know exactly how much to put in each packet without all the guess work.
Jill says
This is so helpful for hubs lunches. I’m wondering if I go the ice cube route can I freeze pasta and sauce then stick frozen cube sauce in with pasta when I pack it in morning for him? Or do they have to stay separate till heating? Thanks again!
Jazmin Rode says
I think they’ll be fine if you pack them together!
Samantha says
Thank you so much!!! You are a genius!!!!
Rachel says
I love this idea but where did you get the little cups?
Anna says
Why is it necessary to freeze the noodles on the pans first? If I just throw in a handful of pasta or rice into a container, it will stick together but will be fine once heated. Does it not freeze consistently?
Cari says
Super glad I found this!! Pasta sounds super yummy now that it is cold out!!
Shannon Lopez says
What a fabulous idea to add to my lunch rotations!! OMG – THANK YOU!!!
Julie says
Just found your cool site! So love this idea..this is on to do list this weekend for sure 🙂
Jazmin Rode says
Thanks so much, Julie!! I hope you enjoy them. 🙂
kristen says
Awesome! I wonder if I could do the same with rice also? And if I add chicken, do I put it in with the pasta?
Jazmin Rode says
I have frozen rice in the past and it has worked out well. 🙂 And if you will be adding chicken, I would go ahead and add it in with the pasta (but be sure to flash freeze first) so long as there is no sauce.
Lynne Rose says
Love it, should be a lifesaver with gluten free pasta for my Celiac husband! Thanks.
P.S. You did not factor in the cost of the containers and bags. Seems trivial, but adds up FAST.
Nate says
Thanks for this post. Im a young lad who just scored a great job, Ive been attempting to be financially conscious and this is such a smart way to make lunches available ahead of time. Since i work 7am to 8pm time is precious. one batch of this opens up my nights to relax. So with that said, thank you 🙂
Jazmin Rode says
Thanks, Nate! I hope it helps you save some time.
Angela says
Wow I really love the idea of freezing the sauce in those little cups! Thats a good idea! Usually I just freeze all together and get super bored after a week! I may just go home and do this, this weekend!
Rebecca says
Hi, just wondering how long the alfredo sauce holds up in the freezer? Thank you!
Jazmin Rode says
We’ve kept it in there for up to a month and it still tastes just as fresh. I do recommend keeping it covered, either in the little cups I mentioned in the post or in a ziplock bag.