How to Prep Ahead, Store and Reheat Gluten-Free Sheet Pan Dinners

Meal prep can mean different things to different people.

For some, it’s a Sunday spent cooking and portioning out individual meals for the week ahead. For others, it can mean washing and chopping veggies, marinating meats or preparing a complete sheet pan so you can slide it in the oven the next day.

I tend to fall into the second camp. I like to have a few components of my meal made ahead to simplify cooking when the time comes, but I prefer the flexibility of deciding exactly what to make a little closer to mealtime. What I plan on Sunday may not be what I feel like eating on Friday.

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Why Meal Prep for Sheet Pans?

Sheet pan meals are great for busy schedules because they practically cook themselves in the oven, and they simplify clean-up. The only real downside is that the prep is a little time-consuming. Chopping vegetables and marinating meats can take more time than the actual cooking.

Simplifying busy weekdays – You may not have time for all the chopping Tuesday after work, but having the veggies prepped and the meat thawed, you’re less than an hour from dinner when you walk in the door.

Entertaining – This may be a less obvious advantage of meal prep, but it’s a huge time saver. If we’re having guests, I’ll often do two or even three sheet pans. One colourful rainbow veggie pan made ahead completely, a second with marinated chicken breasts or seasoned pork tenderloin, and a third with baby potatoes tossed in oil, garlic and rosemary.

Holidays – Even if you love cooking, nothing takes the joy out of the holiday meals more than sore feet and an aching back from standing and cooking all day while everyone else socializes. Having even one or two components of your meal made ahead on sheet pans simplifies your task on the day so you can enjoy your family too.

Leftovers – Making double or even triple portions (you may need more than one pan) means your meals for the next few days are easy. Sure you can make up plates for the microwave, or you can use your leftovers to make a completely new meal.

The true beauty of sheet pan dinners is that no recipe is required. Once you learn the simple formula, there is nothing to look up. Learn my simple Six Step Gluten-Free Sheet Pan Dinner Method.

What Can You Make Ahead?

The obvious time saver is to get the washing and chopping out of the way:

Vegetables like peppers, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms can be washed, peeled, chopped, and even arranged on the pan in advance. Keep cooking times in mind as some items take longer than others so you may need to cut those smaller or store them separately to be added to the pan part way through cooking.

Your chicken is perfect – but the potatoes aren’t cooked and the broccoli is burnt! What happened? Learn how to stagger ingredients on a sheet pan so everything finishes at the same time.

Proteins can be thawed a day or two before you plan to cook them.

Some meats like beef and lamb can start marinating a day ahead.

Chicken takes less time, but you can make your marinade in advance and add the chicken in the morning.

Potatoes tend to darken once they are peeled and cut, and if stored raw in the fridge, their flavor and texture may be affected. This makes them a less ideal candidate to make ahead. You can prep and coat in oil or store in water a few hours ahead.

To simplify potato prep for sheet pans, opt for baby potatoes that can be cooked whole or halved and get them ready just before cooking.

When to Cook Ahead

Fresh meats should be cooked soon after thawing. Ground meat, fish, seafood and poultry can be kept in the fridge for one or two days. Whole cuts of beef, pork and lamb will keep for 3 to 5 days. If you’re prepping your sheet pan further ahead than this, then cook your meat.

As I mentioned, potatoes don’t store well raw once they are cut and peeled. Either opt for whole baby potatoes, or partially cook your potatoes in advance, then you can store them in the fridge.

Grains like rice, quinoa, sorghum etc. are not suitable for your sheet pan. You can cook them in advance, or the day of your meal while your sheet pan is in the oven.

Best Cooked Fresh

Shrimp and fish can be seasoned and prepared a day ahead but are best cooked fresh.

How to Store Your Prepped Sheet Pan Ingredients:

Containers with lids work well, or you can store your prepped ingredients in the fridge in Ziploc bags. I especially like marinating meats in Ziploc bags.

Vegetables with similar cooking times can be stored together. Best not to season until cooking time since salt can bring moisture to the surface, drying out your vegetables and interfering with browning.

If you make up your sheet pan in advance, cover it with plastic wrap.

Meats are best stored separately from vegetables to prevent contamination, so don’t include them on a made-ahead sheet pan. Store them in a separate container and add to the pan just before cooking.

Sauces and toppings should also be stored separately.

Reheating Without Drying Out

Reheating leftovers, including sheet pan leftovers can be a bit tricky.

Microwave

You can make up a plate and heat it up in the microwave. This is the simplest and quickest way. Cover the plate with a microwave cover or another plate to keep steam inside and use the reheat setting on your microwave.

The problem with reheating in the microwave is that sliced meats will often overcook and dry out, and crispy vegetables will go soggy. You can solve the drying out issue by adding the meat near the end and just give it 30 to 45 seconds – enough to take the chill off. You can also add sauce or broth to give it a little extra moisture.

Oven

Reheating in the oven takes more time, but you might like the result better than the microwave. The oven tends to revive some of the crispness where the microwave can make some items rubbery.

Set the oven to 350°F. Put your food in an oven-safe dish and cover it tightly. You may want to add a little water or sauce to keep it from drying out. Warm it in the oven for 15 to 25 minutes. If you want it to crisp up a bit, remove the cover for the last five minutes.

Air Fryer

The air fryer is especially great for reheating crispy items like roasted potatoes or other roasted vegetables. Place the food in the air fryer with enough space in between to allow air circulation and heat for 3 to 6 minutes.

Skillet

A skillet on the stove is my favorite way to reheat potatoes. Heat a little oil or butter on medium and add your potatoes or other crispy item. Keep the lid off and turn your food a few times to heat all sides. Other items can be heated on the stovetop too. A little water or sauce will give it some moisture, and a lid will keep the steam in. Consider two pans if you have ingredients that you’d like crispy and others that need to retain moisture.

Reheating Precooked Sheet Pan Ingredients

I mentioned above that potatoes and some proteins don’t keep well in the fridge. If you are prepping those in advance for your sheet pan, you’ll need to precook them.

Potatoes can be “par-cooked.” This means cooking them partially in advance then finishing them up with the other vegetables on your sheet pan. Par-cooking can be done in the microwave, but I prefer to do it in boiling water on the stove. Cut your potatoes into bite-sized pieces, add water and cook them until they become slightly tender on the outside but still not cooked through. You can then store them in the fridge for a few days.

Ground meat (like meatballs) can be cooked in advance and stored in the fridge or freezer. Unlike potatoes, you want to cook your meat fully. Add the thawed meatballs to your sheet pan with the vegetables. They just need to heat through as they are already cooked.

Cook Once, Eat Twice – Making Leftovers Interesting

I LOVE leftovers. Not because I’m enamoured by eating the same microwaved meal day after day, but because precooked food can become ingredients for so many other dishes.

For example: Sunday’s sheet pan chicken breast with potatoes, and veggies can become chicken fried rice on Monday, chicken soup on Tuesday and chicken Caesar salad on Wednesday.

You could also make:

• Chicken stir fry served over rice
• Pizza with chicken and vegetables as toppings
• Pasta sauce with chicken and vegetables added
• Frittata – heat the leftovers on the stove, add eggs and finish the whole thing off in the oven.

Your turn – what would you make with the leftovers from a sausage sheet pan?

Make-Ahead for Holidays and Entertaining

If you’re having friends over for dinner, or hosting a holiday meal, prepping a couple of sheet pans ahead will save time and reduce stress.

I’ll often make two or even three pans. One colorful rainbow veggie, one with seasoned potatoes and one with a protein, like chicken, pork loin chops or salmon.

For the holiday meal I’ll do a ham, turkey or roast beef, often with mashed potatoes. But the other veggies are done on a sheet pan that I’ve made up the day before. I can pop it in the oven while I’m making the gravy and mashing the potatoes.

Make-Ahead Planning Guide

This at-a-glance guide will help you decide which steps you can do in advance and how to safely store your ingredients plus how to reheat and use leftovers. Feel free to print it off and slip it into a drawer for quick reference. 

Frequently Asked Questions

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Patty Maguire is a George Brown College culinary graduate whose training focused on nutrition and cooking for special diets.

Since her celiac diagnosis in 2012, she has shared a practical, whole-food approach to naturally gluten-free living that helps readers cook with confidence, eat out safely, travel well, and live fully.

Rooted in farm-family values and simple home cooking, her work has been recognised by Feedspot’s top 10 Canadian gluten-free blogs list.