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One time a couple of years ago, I was channel flipping and paused to watch a very over-rated cooking show. In it, the “chef” was presumably teaching viewers how to “cook” dinner. One of the recipes (and I use this word very loosely) entailed removing a frozen garlic bread loaf from the freezer and putting it in the oven. Now frozen garlic bread has always perplexed me, as it is a dish that can be made from scratch using less than five ingredients in under 15 minutes. So why it needs to be pre-made and frozen for twice the cost of doing it yourself is a little beyond my comprehension. Why a TV cook would make a recipe out of frozen garlic bread is a question that I will not even begin to tackle.
I, myself, am not in the custom of heating up, say, a frozen pizza for a dinner of soggy, chewy bread or eating a frozen papery envelope encasing a mud colored paste masquerading as a burrito. And here's news to give you pause as well. This week there was a compelling article in the LA Times indicating that eating frozen foods might actually be bad for your health. Aside from the obvious concerns regarding their high sodium content, it turns out there is a chemical present in the packaging of most frozen foods, PFOA, that is transferred to the food during cooking.
This potentially carcinogenic chemical does not break down in human blood and thus accumulates over time. The chemical has not proven to be dangerous to humans but has proven to cause cancer in animals. Just one more reason to pass up the frozen food isle next time you are in the market.
I have friends who live and breathe by their frozen hot pockets and I would hardly presume to take that pleasure away. However, there are certain things, like garlic bread for instance, that really don’t require much more effort than the homemade version. And given the news regarding frozen food packaging, it might be worth those five or ten minutes of effort for a dish that not only tastes better, but is better for you.
Making garlic bread is apparently a difficult enough endeavor that it requires not one or two, but eight different varieties of the frozen pre-made stuff, or so I found at a recent trip to the grocery store. These frozen garlic bread or garlic cheese breads range in price from $1.99 for a half a loaf to $4.99 for a full loaf with three cheeses.
A standard homemade garlic bread needs little more than a whole fresh baguette ($1.99), a few tablespoons of room temperature butter (less than $.50), a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley (about $.25), 2-4 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper (pennies for the remaining ingredients). Preheat the oven to 425°F, cut the loaf of bread horizontally down the center, then chop the garlic and the parsley, and then mix those with the room temperature butter some salt and pepper.
Use a spatula to spread the butter mixture over the cut side of the bread, then close to form a whole baguette. Wrap loaf in foil then stick in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. All in all, making your own garlic bread requires only minutes more than a frozen loaf and you can save a few pennies in the process.
Aside from garlic bread, there are an abundance of frozen snack foods along the lines of pizza, burritos, and taquitos. Let’s face it, if you really want pizza, call the delivery guy. If a frozen one costs $5.99, for about the same prices these days, with the help of a coupon, you can get a fresh one delivered to your door. Rather than feeding a family of four on frozen burritos for $.99 a piece, get a package of tortillas ($1.99), a large can of refried beans ($1.89), and some cheese ($2.99) and you will have enough for a family of four for dinner plus extra for the kids to snack on for the rest of the week.
Or try your hand at homemade taquitos with some sautéed ground beef or shredded cooked chicken. Roll a few tablespoons of the meat up in a large corn tortilla with a bit of cheese, brush the outside with oil, then bake for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and the outside is crispy. The final result it no doubt healthier, tastier, and all in about the same amount of time it takes to let the frozen stuff cook in the oven.
Ever since the invention of the microwave oven, frozen food has become an American institution, and that is unlikely to change. From garlic bread to pizzas, at some point we Americans couldn’t be bothered with the inconvenience of buttering bread. But let’s face it, whether for health reasons, economy, or pure quality and taste, some foods are better fresh than frozen, and are more than worth an extra five minutes of your time to make that frozen food fresh, fast.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/743-frozen-foods/
Frozen Food, Fresh
One time a couple of years ago, I was channel flipping and paused to watch a very over-rated cooking show. In it, the “chef” was presumably teaching viewers how to “cook” dinner. One of the recipes (and I use this word very loosely) entailed removing a frozen garlic bread loaf from the freezer and putting it in the oven. Now frozen garlic bread has always perplexed me, as it is a dish that can be made from scratch using less than five ingredients in under 15 minutes. So why it needs to be pre-made and frozen for twice the cost of doing it yourself is a little beyond my comprehension. Why a TV cook would make a recipe out of frozen garlic bread is a question that I will not even begin to tackle.
I, myself, am not in the custom of heating up, say, a frozen pizza for a dinner of soggy, chewy bread or eating a frozen papery envelope encasing a mud colored paste masquerading as a burrito. And here's news to give you pause as well. This week there was a compelling article in the LA Times indicating that eating frozen foods might actually be bad for your health. Aside from the obvious concerns regarding their high sodium content, it turns out there is a chemical present in the packaging of most frozen foods, PFOA, that is transferred to the food during cooking.
This potentially carcinogenic chemical does not break down in human blood and thus accumulates over time. The chemical has not proven to be dangerous to humans but has proven to cause cancer in animals. Just one more reason to pass up the frozen food isle next time you are in the market.
I have friends who live and breathe by their frozen hot pockets and I would hardly presume to take that pleasure away. However, there are certain things, like garlic bread for instance, that really don’t require much more effort than the homemade version. And given the news regarding frozen food packaging, it might be worth those five or ten minutes of effort for a dish that not only tastes better, but is better for you.
Making garlic bread is apparently a difficult enough endeavor that it requires not one or two, but eight different varieties of the frozen pre-made stuff, or so I found at a recent trip to the grocery store. These frozen garlic bread or garlic cheese breads range in price from $1.99 for a half a loaf to $4.99 for a full loaf with three cheeses.
A standard homemade garlic bread needs little more than a whole fresh baguette ($1.99), a few tablespoons of room temperature butter (less than $.50), a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley (about $.25), 2-4 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper (pennies for the remaining ingredients). Preheat the oven to 425°F, cut the loaf of bread horizontally down the center, then chop the garlic and the parsley, and then mix those with the room temperature butter some salt and pepper.
Use a spatula to spread the butter mixture over the cut side of the bread, then close to form a whole baguette. Wrap loaf in foil then stick in a preheated oven for 10 minutes. All in all, making your own garlic bread requires only minutes more than a frozen loaf and you can save a few pennies in the process.
Aside from garlic bread, there are an abundance of frozen snack foods along the lines of pizza, burritos, and taquitos. Let’s face it, if you really want pizza, call the delivery guy. If a frozen one costs $5.99, for about the same prices these days, with the help of a coupon, you can get a fresh one delivered to your door. Rather than feeding a family of four on frozen burritos for $.99 a piece, get a package of tortillas ($1.99), a large can of refried beans ($1.89), and some cheese ($2.99) and you will have enough for a family of four for dinner plus extra for the kids to snack on for the rest of the week.
Or try your hand at homemade taquitos with some sautéed ground beef or shredded cooked chicken. Roll a few tablespoons of the meat up in a large corn tortilla with a bit of cheese, brush the outside with oil, then bake for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and the outside is crispy. The final result it no doubt healthier, tastier, and all in about the same amount of time it takes to let the frozen stuff cook in the oven.
Ever since the invention of the microwave oven, frozen food has become an American institution, and that is unlikely to change. From garlic bread to pizzas, at some point we Americans couldn’t be bothered with the inconvenience of buttering bread. But let’s face it, whether for health reasons, economy, or pure quality and taste, some foods are better fresh than frozen, and are more than worth an extra five minutes of your time to make that frozen food fresh, fast.
Baked Ground Beef Taquitos
Made with vegetable oil, ground beef, white onion, ground cumin, ground coriander, chili powder, salt, black pepper, garlic, cheddar or jack cheese
Made with vegetable oil, ground beef, white onion, ground cumin, ground coriander, chili powder, salt, black pepper, garlic, cheddar or jack cheese
Serves/Makes: 12 pcs
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus extra
- 1 1/4 pound extra lean ground beef
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- 3/4 cup grated cheddar or jack cheese
- 12 extra large corn tortillas
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add ground beef and break up a bit with a wooden spoon. Finely chop onion and add to ground beef along with the cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and black pepper.
Cook ground beef for about 6 minutes total. Mince garlic and add to beef during the last two minutes of cooking. Remove meat from heat.
Place 2 corn tortillas directly on the upper rack of the oven for about 30 seconds. Remove from oven and place on a cutting board.
Place a couple of tablespoons of the meat mixture to the right of center on each tortilla and top meat with a tablespoon of grated cheese. Roll tortillas up tightly and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat process with remaining tortillas, placing them in the oven to heat up while you are filling the others.
When all are filled brush each taquito liberally with vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in oven for 10 minutes or until the tops are lightly toasted and the cheese has melted on the inside.
Serve the baked ground beef taquitos hot.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/743-frozen-foods/