25 Cozy Make-Ahead Freezer Meals Parents Swear By

This spin on traditional Italian lasagna Bolognese (which swaps ricotta for a creamy béchamel sauce) has all the components you'd expect, plus clever shortcuts to minimize both prep and cook time.

Ground beef is mixed with beans, tomatoes, and warm spices — it's no wonder this classic recipe is a winter staple.

These bell peppers are literally stuffed with everything your dinner needs. The veggies, starch, and protein are all packed into colorful, single-serving pepper “cups” and finished with a cap of melty, browned shredded cheese.

Ultra-tender chunks of beef chuck roast, seared vegetables, and a rich, velvety red wine sauce make this classic French stew ultra-cozy.

This is a traditional Mexican stew of tender, braised beef in a red chile sauce that makes enough to feed a crowd. You can serve it over Mexican rice or in warm flour tortillas with some radishes and lime juice squeezed on top.

If creamy pasta makes you weak in the knees, white lasagna is going to be right up your alley. Unlike lasagnas made with marinara, you won’t find a drop of red sauce in sight. Here you get layers of hearty pasta, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, Italian sausage crumbles, and an entire pound of fresh spinach.

Better the next day is an understatement! You can use this no-bean beef chili as a topping for loaded nachos, Frito pies, or burrito bowls, stir it into queso dip, or make some really top-notch chili fries or chili dogs.

This one-pan dinner cooks in just 30 minutes — and packs in a ton of flavor. Stuff it into a hoagie roll, or spoon it over pasta or creamy polenta.

This recipe swaps the traditional Bolognese sauce for a meaty chili-spiced and fire-roasted tomato sauce, and is layered with lasagna noodles and a trio of creamy cheeses.

Turkey chili is a bit lighter than beef chili, and typically a little less expensive (ground turkey is often cheaper). Like most chilis, it’s freezer-friendly, very filling, and highly customizable.

This dinner has all the flavors you’d expect from really good chicken Parmesan stuffed into tender bell peppers.

This dish goes by other names, like Sunday gravy or sugo, and is a rich marinara-like sauce that's cooked with beef chuck roast and Italian sausage for several hours on the stovetop. It creates a pasta sauce with lots of depth and braised pieces of meat in tow.

This version of cheesy lasagna includes the same tender sheets of pasta, meaty marinara sauce, and creamy ricotta cheese filling, but it’s more fun to make and much easier to serve because every person gets their own saucy spiral.

Featuring tender sweet potatoes, ground beef, smoky-spicy chipotles in adobo, and a rich broth, this one-pot chili comes together in under an hour.

When it comes to moussaka, we find it’s best to go big or go home. Plan on moussaka being the centerpiece of a family gathering or small dinner party. With bay leaves, cinnamon, herbs, tender potatoes, eggplant, ground meat, and béchamel sauce, it's as cozy as it gets.

Whether you toss it with pasta or serve it over creamy polenta, you can't go wrong with this cozy Italian-style meat sauce.

This easy, cheesy spinach lasagna is total comfort food for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

With a smoky flavor and subtle heat, this cozy chili will make you think it has the richness of meat — even though (spoiler!) it's totally vegetarian.

There are many Mexican dishes known globally for their incredible flavors, and pozole is one meal that will never disappoint. It’s a hearty and comforting stew that’s packed with tender pork, guajillo peppers, and hominy.

It’s no wonder that baked ziti is one of the best pasta dishes out there. Because you don’t have to deal with pasta sheets or lasagna noodles or spend a lot of time layering everything together, baked ziti gives you the same satisfaction of eating lasagna — without all the fuss.

This chili is plant-based and loaded with black beans, thick chunks of sweet potato, bell pepper, and onion. It requires minimal prep, leans hard on pantry ingredients, and is totally doable on a weeknight. Best of all, it freezes like a dream.

These Korean braised short ribs are the definition of umami-rich winter comfort food.

Greek pastitsio features layers of pasta, homemade meat sauce, and the most delicious topping of creamy bechamel.

Burgoo is a Southern specialty meant for the masses. Kentuckians simmer beef chuck, pork shoulder, and chicken in a tomato-laced broth with chunks of hearty potatoes and frozen vegetables until it becomes a thick stew perfect for sharing.

An easy, cheesy crowd-pleasing casserole made with savory ground beef and baked with tender rigatoni noodles.