Make Ahead Meals – Meal Plan {Gluten Free}

This gluten free make ahead meal plan will give you easy meal prep ideas for the holiday season, or any time of year. I’ll show you how to make a variety of gluten free meals and egg dishes that are as delicious as they are nutritious! Better yet, they can be made ahead to save time, and they are easy to reheat and serve – even to a crowd!  

Bonus Resources –– Grocery list and 5 Ways to make eggs ahead of time!

This make ahead meal plan post is sponsored by our friends at Eggland’s Best. Thank you for supporting the brands that allow me to keep cranking new recipes out of the Cotter kitchen!

Alright, I know Thanksgiving has yet to pass, but I wanted to go ahead and share with you all this make ahead meal plan. Consider this my gift guide to feeding family and entertaining! FOR FREE! Because, if you have ever hosted a holiday brunch at your house, you probably know how stressful it can be. I mean, think about this…

How much time do YOU have on Christmas Eve to put together a breakfast for Christmas morning? I have ZERO. ZILCH. NADA. Let’s be honest; I have way too much going on.

• Last minute shopping and wrapping of presents
• Get ready for afternoon church service
• Make dessert to take to Holiday Party, Christmas Eve dinner at the in-laws, or wherever you’re going.

My point is, I desperately need a make ahead meal plan like this one. Without it, I spend majority of the holidays running around the kitchen like a crazy Cotter. Haha.

Thankfully, making meals ahead of time for meal prep or holiday prep can be easy! Even meals with eggs.

5 Quick Ideas For MAKE AHEAD Eggs

• Egg casserole or strata – Prep and freeze, or place in fridge so it’s ready to bake later.
• Egg wraps – Use a gluten free tortilla, add scrambled eggs, then wrap in foil. Freeze or keep in fridge.
• Sheet pan scrambled eggs – Great way to meal prep when you are serving a crowd! Easy to store, too. Just place in a glass container so you can quickly heat and eat later.
• 3-ingredient egg waffles or pancake bread – This a super quick brunch idea. You can freeze for a couple of months, or keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
• Slow cooker or Instant Pot eggs. Your slow cooker or Instant Pot are perfect for making hard boiled, soft boiled, scrambled, or even baked eggs (quiche).

Tips for Freezing Casseroles

Okay, this tip is new to me but, oh so cool! Thanks to The Kitchn for their inspo!

1. When assembling any make-ahead casserole, line your 9×13 pan with foil, with enough extra foil hanging over to cover the top. Prep the casserole, then freeze it in the pan.
2. When the casserole is frozen, wrap the extra flap of foil over the top of the casserole and remove the wrapped meal from the pan. Seal and label it for later use. This way, you don’t need to keep it frozen in the pan!
3. When you are ready to reheat the frozen casserole, simply place the foil-wrapped casserole back into a 9×13 pan and reheat in the oven. BAM!

More tips for reheating eggs and egg casseroles can be found in our last freezer meals meal plan. WOOHOO!

Fresh eggs = better quality (especially for meal prep!)

So, now I think we should picture Eggland’s eggs wearing little capes. Because after all, they are nutritionally super heros! Haha.

Oh, and they’re STRONG, too! Let’s just agree that some brands of eggs break more easily than others. I can’t be the only one who has opened a carton of ordinary eggs and found a couple of them broken. Am I right?

The hen feed given to Eggland’s hens is SUPER high in minerals and vitamins.

As a result, the shells are stronger, so the eggs won’t break as easily. The fact that the hen feed has no animal fat or by-products is also helpful in this regard.

Other reasons why Eggland’s Best eggs are proven to stay fresher than their competition. 

1. Eggland’s Best eggs are placed in refrigerated storage within 24 hours of being laid.
2. Also, they are packed and sent to stores within seven days after that!

This is way above and beyond the typical practices of the industry. That little “use by” date says a LOT. The industry standards allow for eggs to remain in storage for as many as 21 days before packing.

Gluten Free Make Ahead Meal Plan

Our make ahead meal plan goes beyond a delicious, nutritious breakfast. I’ve got you covered for lunch, dinner, and even dessert!

Everything is easy to make in a slow cooker, instant pot, or get it done quickly with the oven/stove.

Plus, ALL of the meals shown below are FREEZABLE. Yay!

Breakfast

• Tex-Mex egg casserole 
• Sheet pan turmeric scrambled eggs
• chocolate chip pancake bread  (vegan alternative – HERE. Skip the topping)
• 3 ingredient waffles 
• French bread ham breakfast strata 

Lunch or Brunch

• Egg wraps
• Instant pot lentil gumbo
• Everything but kitchen sink soup and/or Persimmon soup (vegan option)
• Pumpkin frittata with fried garlic and herbs

Dinner

• 5 ingredient tuna noodle casserole
• Sheet pan honey mustard chicken
• Slow cooker Hawaiian beef
• Instant Pot Colombian chicken potato soup
• Chinese cauliflower fried rice casserole
• Instant Pot tortilla chicken verde chili
• Crockpot West African peanut stew

Freezer Friendly Holiday Desserts 

• Apple coffee cake
• Cranberry sour cream cake
• Almond flour cookies (dough is freezable)
• Amaretto cake bites

PRINTABLES to Keep You Organized

And because we’re all needing a little extra help this holiday season, I’ve put together a printable grocery list (below or PDF version here). Plus a PDF of all the recipes included in this meal plan —> =HERE!

Do you have any go to make ahead meals for the holidays? Favorite holiday dish, make ahead egg recipes or cooking tips? Do share! And please, feel free to use the comments to ask any questions about this make ahead meal plan.

Happy Cooking!

LC