Frozen lasagna is a great go-to meal that can be easily heated in a pinch when you are otherwise too busy to cook a complicated meal for your family. Lasagna is a satisfying food, perfect for eating at either lunch or dinner. Prepared with ingredients at their optimum freshness and flavor before freezing, frozen lasagna is a convenient, fast meal that can be stored in its original packaging for up to 6 months. Freshly prepared lasagna at home, which is easy to make with simple ingredients, that is later frozen can be stored for the same amount of time, as long as it is properly wrapped and contained.
Baking Time
Store-bought frozen lasagna can be baked as-is, straight from the freezer, in a pre-heated oven. Package directions will indicate how long to bake the lasagna for, but as a general rule, it takes about 90 minutes to bake an average-sized frozen lasagna. For the first portion of the baking time, the lasagna will cook with its plastic covering still on with vents cut into it. For the second portion of the baking time, you will have to remove the plastic covering to ensure the cheese becomes caramelized.
Baking Temperature
Store-bought lasagna will have the proper temperature indicated on the packaging, but as a general rule, lasagna taken straight from the freezer to the oven will need to be baked between 375 degrees and 400 degrees.
Freshly prepared lasagna that is then frozen to be eaten later will need to be thawed first before baking. Although store-bought frozen lasagna is made to be taken straight from the freezer to the oven, fresh lasagna needs to be thawed before being cooked.
Portion Size
If you are able to split your lasagna into smaller portion sizes, this will reduce the time it takes to bake it. Smaller portioned lasagnas can be cooked in a glass casserole dish or microwave in a fraction of the time that it would take for a full-size lasagna pan.
Freezing Lasagna Portions
Uneaten lasagna that was previously frozen should be re-frozen in its original packaging, but alternatively, can be cut into individual portions and stored in freezer containers that are tightly closed with as much air removed from them as possible. Storing individual pieces in freezer bags is another good option and it is much easier to remove the air from them, keeping moisture out.
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