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. At the moment, I have run out and won’t be making them again until September. Trying to figure out every day what to make for supper and making sure I have all the ingredients and then making time to cook lunch and supper is giving me a new appreciation for the times when my freezers are stocked with ready-made meals!
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 while others are old family favourites that I have adapted into freezer meals.
Garden Taco Rice
(makes 2 meals or you can double this recipe to make 4)
Brown 2 lbs. ground beef (we use Yves Mexican Veggie Ground Round instead of beef)
Add 1 onion, chopped
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 flavoured ones)
Bring to a boil. Stir in 3 cups uncooked minute rice. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Divide mixture between 2 large resealable freezer bags. Label with these instructions:
Thaw. Reheat in skillet or oven. Near end of cooking time, sprinkle with cheese. Cover and let stand until cheese melts.
Tante Gisele’s Chicken Fried Rice
(makes 2 large meals or you can double to make 4)
Make whatever kind of rice you prefer so that you end up with 8 cups of cooked rice
Heat 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil in wok or skillet. Add 3 cups diced chicken breast and cook until no longer pink.
Add:
2 cups diced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced carrots
2 small jars of sliced waterchestnuts
2 cups frozen peas
Stir fry for a few minutes. Then add in the rice and 1/4 – 1/2 cup oil and 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 covered casserole in 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 medium sized resealable freezer bag and label with instructions:
Thaw. Bring to boil in saucepan. Boil slowly uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring often. 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. 🙂