STOCKING THE FREEZER! Freezer Subs / Making Pizza Subs (Freezer Meals)

RECIPES AT THE TOP / CHIT-CHAT AT THE BOTTOM!

Want a new freezer meal idea? 

Do you like toasted, cheesy sub sandwiches that are as delicious as your local deli/sub shop? How about if you can keep them in the freezer ready at a moment’s notice? 

Here’s how I stock our freezer with Freezer Subs AT HOME MY WAY!

Freezer Subs / Making Pizza Subs

(PRINTABLE RECIPE IS HERE)

Ingredients:

• French Bread Loaves (I get the skinny ones at Walmart.)
• Lunch meats of your choice (I used Frickes sliced ham found near the big hams in Walmart)
• Pepperoni (Pepperoni adds a nice spiciness to homemade subs!)
• Cheese (grated or sliced)
• Butter/margarine, softened (about a half stick per large bread loaf) OR olive oil works fine here
• Garlic Powder
• Sauces (optional) – pizza sauce, ranch dressing, BBQ sauce, buffalo sauce, etc.
• Foil (I prefer heavy duty foil.)
• Gallon Freezer Storage Bags or the bread bag the french bread came in
• Permanent Marker

Instructions:

1.      Slice the bread in half lengthwise without cutting completely through so that it opens like a book.

2.      Spread softened butter/margarine OR drizzle with olive oil on the inside top half and sprinkle with garlic powder.

4.      Layer lunch meat on bottom half and top with slices of pepperoni.

6.      Pour a strip of your favorite sauce down the middle (over the meat/pepperoni).

7.      Top with some grated or sliced cheese.

8.      Close the top and bottom halves of the bread.

9.      Cut the loaf into four equal sandwiches (or however many you want).  (We initially tried three, but they were really too big.)

10.  Place each sandwich in the center of a big square of foil, bring side corners together over the ends of the sandwich and then roll like a burrito.

11.  Label the sandwiches with the marker on the foil and include "Heating Instructions":

12.  Store sandwiches in either the long plastic bag that the loaf came in or a gallon freezer bag (to keep all together)

Heating Instructions:  Unwrap/ thaw in microwave two minutes.  Re-wrap / Bake @ 350° 20 minutes.

 

Other sandwich ideas: 

• Roast Beef + cheddar w/ sauce of your choice;
• Ham, Swiss, Bacon, Ranch (ham, bacon crumbles or slices and ranch dressing & cheese)
• Buffalo Chicken (chicken, mozzarella or blue cheese and buffalo sauce)
• Hot Veggie (onions, pepper slices, mushrooms, olives, pizza sauce & mozzarella)
• Breakfast Subs (sausage or bacon, cooked eggs, peppers/onions/mushrooms and cheese (no garlic powder and no sauce)
• Turkey, Bacon BBQ (turkey, bacon, BBQ Sauce and cheese)
• Garlic Cheese Bread – no meat at all.  (butter/garlic powder/cheese

FUN FACT #1

The name, "Subs" comes from the long loaves of break looking like submarines.

FUN FACT #2

It is speculated that the first sub sandwiches was created by an Italian immigrant in Portland, Maine.  Giovanni Amato came to Maine around 1900 and sold bread to dock workers (Hog Island Shipyards).  The workers asked him to add slices of meat, cheese, and vegetables to the bread rolls and the first “Italian” sandwiches ("Hoggies"/"Hoagies") were born around 1903. In the early 1920‘s Giovanni started selling his new sub sandwiches by the thousands!

FUN FACT #3

Sub sandwiches are also called "Italians", "Grinders", "Heros", "Subs/Submarines" and "Hoagies".  They all mean basically the same thing - cylindrical loaves of bread filled with meats, cheese and vegetables shoved all together to make one delicious sammy!

FUN FACT #4:

My favorite sub sandwich is the Italian Club from my local Pickleman’s restaurant in Columbia, Mo.   The salami, giardiniera peppers, mayo, and vinegar+Italian spices makes that sandwich the bomb diggety!

HINT:

Frozen Subs are a great way to use up lunch meats and cheeses that might be expiring soon!

THE CHIT CHAT

 

Doug and I recently tried meal prep together for the first time when we made these subs.  We had a great time!  Who knew!   It was so nice to whip up something we both liked that we could heat up on a day we were too tired to cook.  

I usually stock up on the $1 loaves of french bread at Walmart because we love having garlic bread as a side w/ BBQ and Italian type suppers.  I especially stock up when they are marked down to $.66 and keep in the freezer.   (Like $.34 makes a bit of difference lol – but every little bit counts!) 

We decided to make pizza subs not because we have ever eaten pizza subs out but because we both love pizza and so thought we couldn’t go wrong making our favorite pizza into subs. 

These Frozen Subs / Pizza Subs were a huge hit.  We ate them one day after attending a community festival.  We were both hot and too tired to fight the crowds for eating at a food truck so I mentioned trying the subs at home.  Bingo!  

Thawing in the microwave seemed essential since we started with completely frozen subs. Unwrap, cook for two minutes in the microwave, and then wrap up again in the same foil for toasting in the air fryer or oven.  

We both LOVED these sandwiches and plan to make lots more varieties for future freezer meals.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!  Let me know if you make them!

 

ENJOY!

 

Gina