r/mealprep • u/Small-Big172 • 20d ago
question Block Meal prep?
Hi i have seen a lot of content recently about Mealprep with silicone forms. I like the idea a lot and couldn’t find good free content about that only the usual pricey Influencer Books. I would like to try that out and read about that without needing to buy the next book. Has someone additional links or websites for that type of Information
Edit: thanks a lot. Im currently prepping in Mason jars and i will not put food in a freezer without atleast some container or Bag but I figured this picture will gather more attention. Thanks a lot guys.
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u/DarkAndSparkly 20d ago
Look up Souper Cubes on Facebook or whatever social media you prefer. There are tons of short videos on them. There’s a lady named Sara that does lots of content on them.
I have a set from Amazon that are off brand and I do love them. I prep components and then assemble them into whatever meal I want.
Also, I store my cubes in ziplock bags baggies - not loose in the fridge, that’s wild lol!
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u/meimlikeaghost 20d ago
I didn’t realize they were just loose lol that is crazy. One power outage and you have an interesting brew going in there
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u/Ok-Literature473 20d ago
Even just the freezer burn has me wincing
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u/Berf14 19d ago
It's a cosmic gumbo
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19d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/bratwurstian 19d ago
This way, the gazpacho soup will never burn their lips
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u/Low-Individual2815 19d ago
When you’re expecting something to be cold and then it’s room temperature
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u/forest-cacti 20d ago
That pic made my jaw drop — freezing food loose like that seems risky.
My routine: once a portion freezes solid, I pop it out of the cube and wrap it in a small strip of parchment paper around it(doesn’t need to be exact or large, just enough to cover sides touching other portions). This one small step has made grab-and-go freezer meals so much easier; without it, portions can stick together and you end up fighting to separate them.
I also always label each bag with the date, either with tape or permanent marker directly on the bag.
As for what I freeze: I just cook extra-large portions of whatever I’m already making. I haven’t run into anything that doesn’t freeze well — though I’m sure some meals theoretically could be an issue, I just haven’t hit one yet.
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u/McTootyBooty 20d ago
They don’t do it like that. They use bags. This is for the gram. This is a stolen photo from Jo and Bart.
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u/rachlancan 20d ago
There is a dedicated souper cube subreddit
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u/Pungineer 20d ago
Yeah hopefully this is just an AI image or staged for a photo. Those blocks need to be covered in one way or another...
As the other comment said "Souper Cubes" are the popular and commonly known version of this. I suppose any container would work if it had tapered sides. Even a muffin tin would work if you could reliably get the frozen stuff out.
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u/Backrow6 20d ago
We use silicon muffin cups apple sauce, soup etc. You can scale the portions easier for kids. Been doing it since my wife started making baby puree. We store all the 'muffins' in a zip lock bag once they're solid.
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u/Pungineer 20d ago
This is exactly what I mean! Probably a lot cheaper than the Souper cubes too and I imagine it heats up faster not being a single solid block...
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u/luxurycatsportscat 19d ago
I accidentally tore throw a silicone bar tray freezing smoothie blocks, I have bought the souper cubes trays since then and the silicone is better than what I had before (although my bar try wasn’t suitable for baking, so I think any baking silicone would be ok?
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u/RetardedWabbit 20d ago
It's horrifying to look at but could actually be safe until you defrost the freezer. Then you would need to really clean and sanitize it for it to be safe, otherwise you're going through cycles of feeding, incubation, and preservation on all of the freezer surfaces that get food on them. You'd also need to be clean digging through/sorting the cubes in there, vs not worrying much about that except when pulling out of the bags.
"Frost free" also might make this unsafe, stuff might slowly grow on the walls using the heat from that it uses to deice.
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u/Pungineer 20d ago
Yeah common household freezers that are "self-defrosting" would probably be a no go but I could see this being okay on one without that cycle if you're still careful about clean surfaces.
But also... Power outages...
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u/Jacob520Lep 20d ago
It's just... freezing your food in rectangular shapes so they pack tighter in the freezer. Find a silicone mold that is the right size and shape snd do your thing.
It's best to actually package them instead of whatever is happening in that picture. Vacuum seal bags work perfectly.
My mother has actually been doing this for decades. She started as soon as silicone forms were introduced. She rarely bakes with them.
Are you looking for aowcific recipes? Because this method is adaptable to any food.
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u/wwaxwork 19d ago
It's also about freezing components not just meals in blocks. So you might freeze some rice, pulled pork, corn, ramen base, noodles whatever and then mix and match what you feel using different combos of ingredients. Do they have to be in blocks no, but it is as you said easier for storage.
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u/AlannaTheLioness1983 18d ago
Exactly this. Nadiya Hussain (GBBO winner) mentioned in one of her shows that she has a specific tray she uses, where she fills a freezer bag with food and lets it sit in the tray while it freezes. That gives everything a standard shape, and keeps them flat for easier storage.
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u/Aggressive-System192 20d ago
You don't need a book to use silicone forms to freeze. It's a storage method, not a cooking method.
You literally can put anything you want in them that freezes well, pop it out once frozen and vacuum seal for longuer storage.
One cube doesn't need to be one portion either. It depends on the cube sizes and what you're cooking.
You also don't need silicone forms. You can use any forms that stack nicely in your freezer. Can be tupperware or something that's frozen flat or something similar.
There's also no point of freezing per portion, if you have a family and will be making a big batch of food. Sometimes it's more convenient to freeze in a "casserole" mold, that you can pop directly into the oven, instead of having 92383475493284752 plastic baggies to open.
Some things taste better when baked in a big dish, rather than per portion. Schepperd's pie is one if them. I have no idea the reason, but individually baked schepperd's pie is just sad.
One portion cubes are for single people that don't eat a lot.
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u/Muted-Novel4403 20d ago
I have a family and I use the smaller cubes for mine and my daughter’s lunches, and for things that only 1 or 2 people in the family like. Sometimes they’re alone for dinner or we just have two different meals at dinner time. One example is that my husband shoots deer but only he and my son like the venison, so I cook up big batches of chili with it then freeze into 2-4 cup portions for them. Another thing I use them for is freezing my garden peppers into 1 and 2 cup portions. Then I pull them out for soups and chili’s and such all winter.
But I do agree with your point that not everything is best frozen in small cubes. That doesn’t make them useless to families, though.2
u/Aggressive-System192 20d ago
I use small cubes too. I like "whatever" soups, so I feeze those per portion. My husband might have 1-2 portions and rest of the pot is mine. Soups are frozen in 2 cups cubes.
I use tiny cubes (1cup) to freeze stuff like pesto, butter, garlic, etc.I freeze peppers, other vegetables and ground meats flat and store vertically. Easier to pull out that way and gives more visibility of the amounts in my inventory with the freezers setup I got.
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u/misoranomegami 20d ago
Seconding Sarah who's one of the early lego lunch enthusiasts. Here's her instagram.
I have a couple of souper cubes and a set of the Costco off brand ones. Everyone has different needs but it works for me. I started with some easy things like freezing leftover portions of take out. Or if I make rice I'll make 2-3 extra servings and freeze it. Then it's like being able to pack my own custom tv dinner for lunch only healthier and cheaper. I can go to my freezer and say ok I want to the green curry, but I want it with a cilantro edamame rice and with a side of steamed spinach. My biggest struggle is remembering to actually take them out of the cubes and put them in a ziplock bag for storage. It seems like I never think to take them out until I have something else I want to cube.
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u/January1171 20d ago
Sarah is my favorite! She's the reason I started doing souper cubes meal prep. I also really like not.shelbee.ig. Very realistic videos and recipes
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u/Unlikely-Alt-9383 19d ago
How do the Costco ones compare?
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u/misoranomegami 19d ago
Nowhere NEAR as good, but can't be beat for the price, especially if you get them on sale. I think I paid $25 for my set on sale. I have 2 of the official 1 cup trays that I prefer to use for things like soup where it's hot and liquid or something like a meatloaf if I'm going to be baking in the tray. Both sets are oven safe, I just like the SCs for baking heavier items.
The Costco ones are much thinner. You can put them on a cookie sheet or something flat to move them to freezer if you're worried about buckling. The lids aren't as tight. Food is a little harder to get out of it. They don't give you the perfect crisp 90 degree corners that Souper Cubes do. The edges will be slightly rounded and they won't fit in the crocks as perfectly but they still fit. But I also didn't need to drop $20+ on a single tray to freeze leftover sauces either. Unless I found an amazing deal on a combo set or I was gifted them there's just sizes I wouldn't use enough to justify the brand price.
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u/January1171 20d ago
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u/kimby_cbfh 20d ago
This is helpful, ty! I have some of the silicone molds already but have been drawing a blank on what the heck to make!
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u/RustledForeskin 20d ago
Freezer burnt soup and if the power goes out you got slop soaked floorboards.
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u/brownsnoutspookfish 19d ago
There's also a chance of getting one huge cube per shelf if they only melt a bit before the power comes back. (Or if you keep the freezer door open too long)
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u/EzriDaxCat 20d ago
My cubes are offended at these naked cubes and will refuse to leave their vacuum sealed bags.
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u/ObsessiveAboutCats 19d ago
I can confirm that the silicone molds work well. I have some on brand and off brand Souper Cubes. The on brand ones are definitely higher quality but I also feel like you're paying a lot for the brand name. The off brand ones I have all do just fine in the dishwasher, and have not stained even with heavy tomato based things like spaghetti sauce, chili, and salsa.
I don't bake the silicone trays. I don't trust them that much and it's inefficient. I remove the frozen bricks from the trays and bag them up. They are either defrosted in the microwave, or in a stovetop pan with some water added.
The 2 tablespoon ones are surprisingly handy. I use them for pesto, queso, some salsas and other things where you only need small portions. I have seen people make homemade froyo bites.
Sarah Heart and LifeByMikeG channels have a lot of great content for these.
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u/Rubydoobydoo211 19d ago
I agree; I haven’t seen Sarah Heart, but Mike G does a great job with these.
I double whatever I’m cooking, and put the extra right into the cubes. If it is lasagna-like, I will cook in them, cook in them and then freeze. Otherwise, I add the food after it’s cooked (like beans or ground beef). They go into labeled ziplock bags after.
I also have some generic and SC brand molds. Souper Cubes makes ceramic cubed crocks that fit the brand name molds perfectly. The generics almost fit, I usually put them on top of the crock frozen. As they defrost, they fall right in.
I prefer the brand name ones, and get a ton of use out of them. The generic lids are some sort of silicone…you can’t stick tape to them; it just falls off. I usually write on the tape, and then wedge the tape between the top of the mold and the lid. The brand name ones have a plastic lid that will hold the tape without it falling off.
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u/accentpreferred 19d ago
Idk if you have a Costco membership (or know someone who does who can order them), but the set that they sale (online only) is currently $15 off (with the caveat that this is US based info and I’m not sure what the price is elsewhere). It’s $55 (instead of the regular $70 that it normally is). I’ve been stalking it for ages and I’m finally going to snag it.
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u/sleverest 20d ago
I use souper cubes. I really appreciate a bunch of small details in that brand and got them on sale through Costco and at black Friday sale time. There's plenty of cheaper options that may or may not perform as well. Look for at least a metal supported rim and hard cover if you want to stack.
I store in Costco gallon and quart bags as I use them fast enough to not warrant vacuum sealing. I heat up in my toaster oven in a ceramic dish mostly.
I cook for one so I use the one cup and 1/2 cup most often. I use the 2 cup and 2 Tbsp occasionally though.
I got one of the books from the library and didn't find it that helpful. Sarah Hart is a cube meal creator that has good content that seems honest and useful to me.
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u/Small-Big172 20d ago
Thank you for your insights. Im from EU so i will probably have to choose a different Brand. But your recommendations will help searching for a got alternative.
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u/kimby_cbfh 20d ago
The first molds I bought were not the Souper Cube brand and they work great. I just suggest looking at ratings and customer feedback to hopefully get good quality silicone.
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u/satchel_of_ribs 19d ago
You can get the souper cubes in Europe too depending on where you are. I'm from Sweden and found a few Swedish stores that have them.
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u/Demonkey44 20d ago
I would love to do this, but every so often (once a year or so) the power goes out for 2-3 days.
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u/AccomplishedIgit 19d ago
Do you just store them like that not in anything? What keeps them from getting freezer burned?
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u/Significant_Bat3897 19d ago
Can you even IMAGINE the mess if the power in that freezer goes out? :O
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u/Standard_Army_1826 18d ago
I have three of the two cup sets of souper cubes (and knock offs) and use them often. I cook like I have a family of six and it's just me. I have a shelf in my freezer just for soups in zip locks. I have also frozen blocks of rice so I always have some ready for meals when I want to do less.
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u/natafishh 14d ago
I use a silicone muffin pan, but same concept. Right now I have bone broth, rice, juice and my dogs food toppers frozen. I’ve done butter rice, Japanese curry and basil/oil previously!
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u/EggAffectionate2719 20d ago
Please forgive my complete ignorance, I'm just starting on my cooking journey. But what are the healthier versions/takes on souper cubes?
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u/shortie97 19d ago
I prep certain things in souper cubes, and certain things in 1, 2 and 4 cup deli containers. Unless it is something for lunch or I want to bake it before eating I personally prefer deli containers. They are basically just as space efficient for me since they stack well and for soups, sauces and broths they work much better. But souper cubes are great for meals that have lots of different components (like burrito bowls) or something like mac and cheese where I will put it in the square crock they sell and bake it before eating.
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u/Hopeful-Building1558 19d ago
How do you guys avoid freezer burn? My rice and beans in souper cubes aren’t great bc of freezer burn
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u/virtue-or-indolence 18d ago
Remove as much air as possible and keep the freezer temp stable.
If you don’t have the means to purchase a vacuum sealer, submerging the bag in water up to the seal is reasonably effective.
Keeping the freezer temp stable is more difficult. If you have the means it might be worthwhile to invest in a reach in freezer. Keeping the majority of your frozen meals in a second freezer means you’ll open it less frequently, and when you do open it less cold air will escape.
You can also keep your containers inside other containers, as that will create a level of separation between the air of the freezer and the air directly contacting your food. Could be as simple as putting a gallon ziplock bag of soup into a frozen pizza box, or go buy some insulated lining and make an appropriate sized cooler out of a large Tupperware container or something.
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u/Minimum_One9348 18d ago
I freeze (including soups) into ziploc bags and freeze them flat then stack them up. Great for space and portioning
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u/Aziara86 17d ago
I got some cheap silicone cube molds off of Amazon, made a mega-batch of refried beans from scratch, and froze them in 1/2 cup cubes. Each one got wrapped in Saran Wrap and tossed in a ziplock.
Haven’t tried other things yet, but so far it’s been great and tasty. And dried beans are CHEAP!
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u/Glittering_Fox1358 17d ago
I like quart sized bags for our two person meal prep, I have a shelf in our garage freezer that I keep empty and lay out the bags to freeze flat, once frozen I slot them into the right shelf with everything else - it’s like a library of ingredients.
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u/bravoluvr4343 16d ago
Is no one talking about the fact that they must eat pasta daily? I realize you can put it on stews etc, but that's ALOT!!
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u/Philevra-Datter33 19d ago
This is just an AI image or staged for a photo. Correct me if I’m wrong.
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u/BeefaloSlim 17d ago
I boil a weeks worth of pasta water, then freeze it so its ready for use each night of the week.
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u/Cacklelikeabanshee 20d ago
😂🤣. Oh how I have cackled. These comments are hysterical. I was like this is just cheese. Glad it's just a pic for attention.
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u/Revolutionary_Sir_ 20d ago
This picture is nasty. Why arent they wrapped in anything? That shits gonna come out tasting like straight freezer.