Ree Drummond's Make-Ahead Freezer Breakfast Paninis Keep Busy Mornings Calm

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There’s nothing more stressful than waking up after a not-great night of sleep, only to realize you have to get breakfast prepared for yourself — and everyone else — before rushing out the door. But if you end up just grabbing a granola bar or handing out apples, everyone’s going to be hungry again in an hour. What to do? Leave it to Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, to have the solution. Not only does she have kids, but she lives on a ranch, so the work day often starts before dawn. But she keeps those early mornings calm by preparing hearty breakfast sandwiches ahead of time, then stashes them in the freezer so the family can heat and eat in the mornings before heading out.

Sounds convenient, right? Another thing we love about Drummond’s make-ahead breakfast panini recipe is that you can really customize it based on what you or your family love. Trying to fit in more veggies? Add some sauteed bell peppers or wilted spinach. Want to keep things vegetarian? Skip the ham. Crave more meat? Slap on some salami, or swap the ham for low-sodium turkey to lighten things up.

There’s an art to preparing these paninis for the freezer. First, Drummond toasts the bread in the panini press, without any filling, before setting it aside to cool. Next, she sears the ham, and sets that aside to cool, before scrambling the eggs. While the eggs are cooling down, Drummond whips up a lime mayo.

Next, the breakfast sandwiches are assembled, with the lime mayo, green chile, ham, eggs, and cheese in the middle. They’re wrapped in foil, placed in plastic bags, and tucked into the freezer.

When you want to serve the breakfast paninis, you can either bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes, or you can thaw them slightly in the microwave before finishing them off in the toaster oven, oven, or in a hot skillet. You’ll have a hearty, home-cooked breakfast with barely any effort thanks to your planning ahead, and thanks to how customizable The Pioneer Woman’s breakfast panini recipe is, you’ll never have to get bored of what’s waiting for you in the freezer.

Before you go, check out Ina Garten’s easy weeknight dinner recipes below:

Watch: We Tried Ina Garten’s Overnight Mac & Cheese & We Totally Get Why It Broke the Internet