Making freezer meals has saved me thousands of dollars and countless hours, not to mention taking away the stress of having to think of what is for supper. Meanwhile, I have run out and won’t be making them again until September. Subsequently, trying to figure out every day what to make for supper and making sure I have all the ingredients give me an appreciation for the time I take to stock the freezer.
If you’ve never made freezer meals before, I have a step-by-step guide to making freezer meals that will walk you through everything you ever wanted to know about freezer meals.
Some of the recipes I use are specific to freezer meals. On the other hand, others are old family favorites that I have adapted into freezer meals.
Garden Taco Rice
(makes 2 meals or you can double this recipe to make 4)
Firstly, brown 2 lbs of ground beef. We use Yves Mexican Veggie Ground Round instead of beef.
Add 1 chopped onion.
When beef is browned, sprinkle in 4 tsp. of taco seasoning and 1 tsp. chili powder.
Stir in:
3 cups water
3 cups thinly sliced zucchini
2 cups corn
2 cans stewed tomatoes (I sometimes used the Mexican flavored ones)
Bring to a boil. Stir in 3 cups uncooked minute rice. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 7 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Divide mixture between 2 large resealable freezer bags. Label with these instructions:
Thaw. Reheat in skillet or oven. Near the end of cooking time, sprinkle with cheese. Cover and let stand until cheese melts.
- 2 lbs browned ground beef (or Yves Mexican Veggie Ground Round for a vegetarian version)
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 tsp taco seasoning
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups zucchini sliced thinly
- 2 cups corn
- 2 cans tomatoes stewed
- 3 cups rice uncooked
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Brown the ground beef
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Add taco seasoning, chili powder, and onion
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Stir in water, zucchini, corn, and tomatoes, then bring to a boil
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Stir in 3 cups of uncooked minute rice and reduce heat to low
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Cover and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally
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Divide between 2 large resealable freezer bags
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Thaw bag before reheating in a skillet or oven
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Near the end of the cooking time, sprinkle with cheese. Cover until cheese melts
Tante Gisele’s Chicken Fried Rice
(makes 2 large meals or you can double to make 4)
Make the kind of rice you prefer, keeping in mind that you need 8 cups of cooked rice.
Heat 5 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a wok or skillet. Add 3 cups of diced chicken breast. Cook the chicken until no longer pink.
Add:
2 cups diced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced carrots
2 small jars of sliced water chestnuts
2 cups frozen peas
Stir fry for a few minutes. After that, add the rice and 1/4 – 1/2 cup oil then fry.
Stir in 2 minced garlic cloves, 4 Tbsp oyster sauce, and 8 Tbsp soya sauce.
Divide into 2 large resealable freezer bags and label:
Thaw. Heat in a covered casserole in the oven.
- 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil (to fry chicken in)
- 3 cups chicken breast diced
- 2 cups onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 2 cups carrots diced
- 2 jars water chestnuts sliced
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 1/4-1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 Tbsp. oyster sauce
- 8 Tbsp. soya sauce
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Make whatever rice you prefer, as long as you end up with 8 cups cooked
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Using the 5 Tbsp. of oil, fry the diced chicken breast in a skillet until no longer pink
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Add onion, celery, carrots, water chestnuts, and peas for a few minutes
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Add rice and remaining oil, fry
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Stir in garlic, oyster sauce, and soya sauce
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Divide into 2 large resealable freezer bags and remove excess air
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Thaw the bag and heat in a covered casserole dish in the oven
Tante Gisele’s Chicken Fried Rice recipe is available in my Dinner in 20 Freezer Meal Menu Plan which includes printable shopping lists, prep list, recipes, and printable labels.
Black Bean Soup
(makes 1 lunch-size meal or you can double or triple for more)
Run 1 1/2 cups of water and a 19 oz. can of black beans (with the liquid) through a blender. Add 2 Tbsp. VE dry salsa spice, 4 tsp. vegetable stock mix, and hot pepper sauce to taste.
Pour into a medium-sized resealable freezer bag and label with instructions:
Thaw. Bring to boil in a saucepan. Boil slowly uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring often. Serve topped with sour cream and grated jalapeno jack cheese.
- 1.5 cups water
- 19 oz. canned black beans
- 2 Tbsp. VE dry salsa spice
- 4 Tsp. vegetable stock
- hot pepper sauce, to taste
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Blend ingredients together
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Pour into a medium-sized resealable freezer bag
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Thaw bag and bring to a boil in a saucepan
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Boil slowly uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring often
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Serve topped with sour cream and grated jalapeno jack cheese
Our Other Favourite Freezer Meal Recipes:
Sloppy Joes (gluten-free)
Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup (gluten-free)
Beef and Corn Casserole (gluten-free)
Spanish Rice Casserole (gluten-free)
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Casserole (gluten-free)
Vegetable Pesto Minestrone (gluten-free)
Stuffed Peppers (gluten-free)
Better Than It Sounds Prune and Olive Chicken (gluten-free)
Check out our Freezer Meal Menu Plans which come complete with printable shopping lists, prep lists, printable labels, and full recipes or our Chicken and Beef Dump recipe books.
I love keeping our freezers stocked. It makes me feel secure knowing that if we’re too tight on the budget to buy groceries one week, I’ve got backup! We have been stuffing the freezer with garden veggies all summer 🙂 Your freezer meals sound delicious!
Always good to have food in stock for when you’re tired or don’t have time. You still gotta eat 🙂 Visiting from No Ordinary bloghop1
The Twerp and I
Is there a Gluten Free Veggie ground out there? Because the ones I find in the store have wheat in them . I have not been able to find a gluten free alternative to the big brand veggie ground.
Yves Ground Round and Lightlife Smart Ground Round both have wheat in them. Those are the main names for veggie ground available in stores. I am still looking for a gluten free alternative. If I’m able to find anything, I will keep you updated.
Mow many servings do you get out of each freezer meal?
Our kids don’t eat as much at mealtime as typical kids do so these feed our whole family (there are 9 of us). I assume this means they would typically feed 4-6 people easily.
What is VE dry Salsa spice? Would I be able to find it in the spice aisle?
Hi Sharla! Is it great to see a like-minded busy mom out there who is WILLING to share secrets on time-saving, budget-friendly, healthy alternatives for meals! Thank you!!! I just wanted to leave a few comments with you, based on my own experiences from doing this for many years now. Ground turkey-I use it pretty much everywhere I would normally use ground beef. I know using a veggie alternative is wonderful, but in my area of the world, it is RARE that the veggie stuff goes on sale, but ground turkey goes on sale once a month, sometimes twice and I stock up. Same with chicken breasts. Since we don’t eat red meat in our house very often, our meals consist primarily of turkey, chicken and fish. There are quite a few crockpot fish recipes out there that can be prepared while the fish is frozen (who knew???) and they are AMAZING!!! You should check them out if you haven’t already. I haven’t looked at your entire list of make-ahead stuff but I also do things like spaghetti sauce, taco meat, sloppy joes, burgers, chicken divan, chili, pot roast, general tso’s chicken (for the crockpot), meatballs, just about anything I can cook normally, I figure out a way to pre-prep and freeze it. I love the Chicken Dump ideas. I am going to try those, too. One last thing, related to breakfast-when my oldest son was little, he loved oatmeal, and I didn’t like using the pre-packaged stuff, so I would make my own. Being a new (sleep-deprived) mommy, I would often make enough for 10 adults rather than 1 small child. So, what I would do is put it in a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap overnight. Once it had congealed, I would pull it out and slice it up, almost like a loaf of bread, and then lightly sautee it in some butter and sprinkle it with cinnamon. It had a nice little crisp to it and it was warmed through and best of all, PORTABLE!! I hope some of these ideas find homes with you, from one busy mom to another. Again, thank you so much for doing what you do. 🙂