Life as a stay-at-home mom of a 5-week-old and 3-year-old means I have next to no time to spend cooking at the end of the day. Fortunately, I saw this challenge coming, so I did a bit of freezer cooking while I was pregnant so we’d have something to eat that required very little effort from me.
After all, my hubby can’t cook a big meal either. Approximately 5 minutes after he walks in the door, I shove a kid into his arms– whichever one has driven me to the edge of sanity that day.
So long before our newest family member entered the world, I made several of our favorite freezer-friendly recipes to stash away. Here is the list of delicious, easy and mostly healthy recipes we go to time and time again.
Our Favorite Freezer-Friendly Recipes
- Emily Bites Spicy Sausage Pasta
- Iowa Girl Eats BBQ Cheddar Meatloaves
- Biggest Loser Turkey Burgers
- Slow Cooker Gourmet Cheeseburger Soup
- Joy Bauer Meatball Subs
- Emily Bites Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf Muffins
- Iowa Girl Eats Spinach & Artichoke Chicken Casserole
- SkinnyTaste One Pot Cheesy Turkey Taco Chili Mac
- Emily Bites Ravio-Sagne
- Taste of Home Sausage and Egg Casserole
- Pioneer Woman Chicken Spaghetti
- Kraft Sausage with Peppers and Pasta
- Iowa Girl Eats Cheesy Taco Soup
- Emily Bites Chili Cornbread Bake
- Eat Well Spend Smart Gluten-Free Chicken Enchiladas
My Top 5 Freezer Cooking Tips
- Add broth to soup.
I have noticed that whenever I reheat soup that has been frozen, it is much thicker in consistency. I recommend adding either chicken or beef broth to any frozen soup to thin it out a bit, unless you prefer it to be more like a stew. - Freeze cooked meat.
One trick I’ve used that is very helpful is to cook and freeze 1-lb. batches of shredded chicken, ground beef, ground turkey and sausage. Having my meat already cooked definitely speeds up the time it takes to make a meal, not to mention fewer dirty pans. And it’s way more efficient to cook a couple of pounds at one time. - Double what you’re already cooking.
I know some people like to have a big freezer cooking day that takes a few hours, but that’s not the way I roll. My technique was to make these meals for dinner and double the recipe to make an extra one for the freezer. It takes longer to accumulate meals that way, but it’s much less work. - Don’t forget breakfast foods.
This roundup focused on entrees, but you can freeze breakfast foods like muffins, pancakes, waffles or muffin tin omelets. - Package meals well.
I cooked most of these meals in 8×8 aluminum foil pans. After each had completely cooled, I put a piece of regular aluminum foil on top, then wrapped the whole pan in heavy duty aluminum foil and put the pan in a 2.5-gallon ziploc bag. Doing it this way helps avoid freezer burn.
I hope these meals and tips will inspire you to try freezer cooking. As always, make the technique work for your family. I’m not a big fan of seafood or beef, so most of my recipes center around poultry. Your family may be different, and that’s fine.
Even if you just want to fill your freezer with cooked meat and steamable veggies, you can save a lot of time cooking dinner each night.
I’d love to hear your favorite freezer-friendly meals. Share them in the comments below.