What kind of container do you use when freezing a casserole?

This is one thing in which I am less than perfectly environmentally friendly and started buying foil trays with lids some time ago after faffing around with lining trays with plastic and trying to use them as molds. Pyrex will survive the freezer just fine BUT it can't go from a freezer straight into a hot oven and I prefer to reheat casseroles straight from frozen as I think this results in a fresher taste and a better texture. Just remember to lightly brush the inside of the tray with oil, particularly if your dish contains something acidic like tomatoes or sauerkraut.

When I do freeze in pyrex I cut a piece of greaseproof paper to fit the top and press that onto the surface of the food to exclude air and then cover the top with foil like you'd do if you were cooking it in the oven. Once it is frozen you can stack anything on it. Oh, and I leave the paper in place when reheating to retain the moisture and then whip it off for the last five minutes or so if I remember/ aren't too impatient.

Glass or metal are both safe in the freezer.

But what I do is...

I line the pan or casserole with plastic wrap then foil.

Make the casserole in the container.

Bring the foil and plastic wrap up over the casserole.

Freeze.

Once frozen you can remove the casserole from the container. Wrap securely for longer storage.

When you are ready to bake remover the plastic wrap and place the casserole in the same container that you made it in. You can thaw in the refrigerator over night then bake or bake from frozen.

I do lasagna this way in loaf pans. 3 loaf pans make the same amount of lasagna that a 13X9 pan does and it is perfect for 2 or 3 servings. And I have 2 for another time.

this is what my friend does.

she lines the casserole dish she intends to use with saran wrap, puts all the ingredients in the casserole dish and freezes it..since its lined with saran wrap, she just pops out the frozen casserole, wraps it tightly with the saran wrap and adds foil or shoves it in a plastic bag and back into the freezer it goes.

then, when its time to use it, she unwraps the casserole and it fits perfectly into the casserole dish..she thaws overnight in the fridge and pops it into the oven the next day for the meal. that way she can make several different sizes of casseroles and doesn't have all the casserole dishes in the freezer.

She makes cabbage roles, stuffed peppers, and all kinds of dishes like that.

I wouldn't call cottage pie a casserole!

What I do with actual stews or casseroles is ladle them into plastic freezer bags in individual portions. I live by myself so individual portions are what I need - make a big batch, let it cool, and bag it up.

If you want to freeze a batch of pies, foil dishes would do it. Open freeze them first - that is to say, put them in one layer in the freezer until they are frozen hard. Then you can stack them.

Those Gladware containers are fine. Just push a piece of plastic wrap on top to help seal the food against freezer burn.

This also lets you create individual portions for meals so all you have to do is take one out, and pop it into the microwave. You don't even have to remove it from the container, supposedly. I still do, though. Don't trust those plastic containers in the microwave even if they say they're microwave safe.

Foil tray with lid.

But a cottage pie isn't a casserole.

When I make lasagna I always make an extra "emergency lasagna" for the freezer. I put it in a regular Pyrex baking dish that has an airtight plastic lid. Just pop the lid off and bake.

Lots of glass and ceramic baking dishes come with airtight lids these days.

You can buy foil packaging in most grocery stores, they come in a variety of sizes and they also have tops that are oven proof - some do have plastic tops though so check to ensure it is the oven proof tops.

Yes, Pyrex is freezer safe, and many of their bakeware dishes can be purchased with plastic lids.

Deep foil trays with lids, then you can stack them.