How to freeze lasagna in aluminum pans

Foil pans work well for freezing foods you’ll re-heat in the oven. You can bake food in foil pans and then freeze it in the baking pan. Cover pan tightly with freezer-quality foil, paper, plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Plastic freezer/microwave safe containers are a good choice for foods you’ll reheat in the microwave.

You can freeze your lasagna in a foil pan, tightly covered with foil, or even right in the baking dish, provided the dish is safe for both freezer and oven. When you‘re ready to bake, just set the frozen lasagna, still in its foil, back in the dish and bake.

Line a glass or metal 9” x 13” pan with aluminum foil, allowing several inches of foil to hang over the edges. Wrap the extra foil over the top of the lasagna and stick in the freezer. When the lasagna is frozen through, you can just lift out the foil and use your pan for something else.

Also: you might have to use a higher temperature or bake for a longer time; the disposable aluminum pans do not conduct heat the same way glass pans do. And if you store the lasagna in the fridge before baking, or want to store leftovers in the pan, wrap it with plastic wrap first, THEN with foil.

Our science editor reports that the consensus in the medical community is that using aluminum cookware poses no health threat. In short: While untreated aluminum is not unsafe, it should not be used with acidic foods, which may ruin both the food and the cookware.

Metal pans, they say, can react with the acidity of ingredients like tomato sauce and add an undesirable metal taste to the food. (If you do choose metal your best chance is stainless steel, which won’t react like cast iron or aluminum will.)