My wife and I are prepping some meals ahead of time before Baby #2 arrives early next month.
She just made 3 small lasagnas (8"x8" pans) this afternoon and we are debating whether to bake them first and then freeze them down, or freezing them uncooked and bake when we are ready to eat.
What is the proper method to maintain the quality of the food as much as possible? Cooking and thawing times when we decide to serve it are less of a factor.
We used standard noodles (not the no-boil type) and it has canned sauce, pork sausage, ground beef, ricotta, and fresh mozzarella in case the ingredients impact is the best option.
Best Answer
I'd say freeze nearly all of them uncooked and bake when ready. That way they go through only one cooking and maintain the fresh lasagna taste/feel.
The sauce and and the cheese will freeze ok. Mozzarella is a pretty sensitive cheese and once it's been baked, it's not going to hold as well when thawed and re-warmed. In my experience it gets gummy and the fat runs off. You have much better chance of enjoying a good meal with the cheese frozen raw.
Unfortunately, your noodles will likely take the hardest hit, but will likely fare better than going through two heat cycles.
The ground beef and sausage will also fare better that way.
The reason I suggested freezing MOST and not all, is that there are times when you're behind the 8-ball, hungry, and don't have the time to bake the sucker, and even ponder settling for dog-food. At that point having a silver bullet in the freezer is a bonus ;) and you'll be ok with inferior lasagna.