soup

Slow Cooker Spinach and Sausage Soup

This freezer to crockpot soup is nice and hearty, making it perfect for cold days. I also like that it is easy to adapt this spinach and sausage soup according to your preferences.

This ground sausage crockpot recipe is hearty and delicious. If you hate spinach or the texture of cooked spinach, you can substitute zucchini for the spinach.

Ingredients for the Spinach and Sausage Soup Recipe:

1 lb. ground Italian sausage (I prefer the spicy variety*)
24 oz. jar pasta sauce
19 oz. can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
10 oz. chopped spinach, fresh or frozen
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth

1 cup small pasta shells

Brown the ground sausage in a skillet. *If you can handle spicier food, I strongly suggest you use the spicy Italian sausage as it is so much tastier in this recipe.

Once the sausage has cooled, add it to a large resealable freezer bag. Pour in the pasta sauce, the drained white kidney beans, chopped spinach, chopped carrots, diced onion, minced garlic, and chicken broth. Remove excess air and seal.

Put the raw pasta in a medium resealable bag. Staple the bags together and freeze.

On cooking day, take the bag out of the freezer and thaw. Separate the bags and add the large bag to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Add the pasta in the last 20 minutes.

Slow Cooker Sausage and Spinach Soup Freezer Meal

This hearty crock pot sausage and spinach soup is perfect for a winter day.

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: sausage, soup, spinach

Servings: 6

: 496 kcal

Ingredients

1 lb. ground Italian sausage I prefer the spicy variety*
24 oz. jar pasta sauce
19 oz. can white kidney beans drained and rinsed
10 oz. chopped spinach fresh or frozen
4 carrots peeled and chopped
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup small pasta shells

Instructions

Brown the ground sausage in a skillet.
Once the sausage has cooled, add it to a large resealable freezer bag. Pour in the pasta sauce, the drained white kidney beans, chopped spinach, chopped carrots, diced onion, minced garlic, and chicken broth. Remove excess air and seal.
Put the raw pasta in a medium resealable bag. Staple the bags together and freeze.

On the day of cooking:

Take the bag out of the freezer and thaw. Separate the bags and add the large bag to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Add the pasta in the last 20 minutes.

You can change up this recipe by using different types of jarred pasta sauce and determining which is your favorite flavor combination. I prefer to use fresh spinach but you can try it with either and see what your preference is.

Looking for more freezer to crockpot meals? My slow cooker freezer meal plans include printable grocery lists and labels.

Crock Pot Tortellini Soup

Beef Dump Recipes

For other Freezer meal dump recipes, check out this cookbook: Freezer Meals 101, Beef Dump Recipes

Crock Pot Tortellini Soup

By Sharla Kostelyk

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This tortellini soup recipe is so easy, not to mention that it conveniently cooks up in the crockpot. This soup can even be made ahead as a freezer meal. It is hearty enough for a complete dinner. You can customize and change up this recipe by adding different vegetable combinations. Start by using vegetables that you know your family likes, which consequently allows you to change it up after they are in love with this soup!

Tortellini Soup Recipe:

Throw into a large crockpot:

1 onion, chopped
1 900 mL tetrapak of chicken broth or homemade chicken stock
1 700 mL jar pasta sauce
3 cloves of minced garlic
3 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp chili flakes
2 cups water
3 cups frozen mixed veggies (I use an Italian blend that has carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, romano beans, lima beans, and red pepper, but any combination of mixed vegetables is fine)

Stir and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

15 minutes before serving supper, you will need to add:

4-5 cups of fresh cheese tortellini

Simmer for 15 minutes and serve. This recipe feeds our entire family of 9 people and there’s usually enough for a leftover lunch for a few of us as well.

For added flavor, you can further add some extra red pepper flakes and grated parmesan cheese to each bowl when serving. If you like things spicy, you can add a lot of red pepper flakes.

If making the tortellini soup as a freezer meal, put all the ingredients except the tortellini in a large resealable bag, remove the excess air and freeze it flat. Add the tortellini into another resealable bag and staple the bags together, so as to have everything you need in one place. On the day of cooking, thaw and pour the ingredients into a crockpot. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Then, stir 4-5 cups of tortellini into the crockpot, 15 minutes before serving the soup.

This tortellini soup is one of the recipes included in my Slow Cooker Freezer Meal Plans which have printable shopping lists, prep lists, recipes, and printable labels. You will love having the guesswork taken out of dinner!

Check out some of our other delicious soup recipes:

Pinto Tortilla Soup

Freezer to Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup

Tortellini Soup Recipe

This tortellini soup recipe is so easy. It cooks in the crockpot. This soup can even be made ahead as a freezer meal. It is hearty enough for a complete dinner.

Course: Main Course, Soup

Keyword: soup, tortellini

Servings: 6

: 310 kcal

Ingredients

1 chopped onion
1 900 mL tetrapak of chicken broth or homemade chicken stock
1 700 mL jar pasta sauce
3 cloves of minced garlic
3 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp chili flakes
2 cups water
3 cups frozen mixed veggies I use an Italian blend that has carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, romano beans, lima beans, and red pepper, but any combination of mixed vegetables is fine

Instructions

Throw into a large crockpot.
Stir and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
15 minutes before you are set to serve supper, add:
4-5 cups of fresh cheese tortellini
Simmer for 15 minutes and serve. This recipe feeds our entire family of 9 people and there's usually enough for a leftover lunch for a few of us as well.
If you want, you can add some extra red pepper flakes and grated parmesan cheese on each bowl when serving. I like things spicy, so I add a lot of red pepper flakes.

Recipe Notes

If making the tortellini soup as a freezer meal, put all the ingredients except the tortellini in a large resealable bag, remove the excess air and freeze it flat. If you want to, you can add the tortellini into another resealable bag and staple the bags together so that everything you need is in one place. On the day of cooking, thaw and pour the ingredients into a crockpot. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours and stir 4-5 cups of tortellini into the crockpot 15 minutes before serving.

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From Freezer to Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup

By Sharla Kostelyk

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This crockpot soup is one of my favorite freezer meal recipes. It has healthy ingredients and the flavor is one that will have you craving more. In a busy family like ours, having delicious meals that can go from the freezer to the crockpot saves a lot of time and money. When I make this recipe, I made it two or four at a time and then freeze. I love having these on hand!

My neighbor Christie and I held another marathon freezer meal session last week and when we were planning it. This recipe was one of our “must-makes”. I am planning to take this soup camping with us. Bringing freezer meals will cut down on the amount of work that I have to do while on vacation. I’m planning on bringing our crockpot along so this will be an easy day of cooking for me!

I have to admit that not all of these made it to the freezer in the last batch. It’s just such a good recipe that I put one batch in the slow cooker the day after making freezer meals. We all thoroughly enjoyed it!

So as not to confuse you, I am giving the recipe to make one meal. However, you can double or triple or quadruple it as you need.

Chicken Taco Soup Recipe:

1 cup chopped onion
14 oz. can chili style beans
19 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz. can kernel corn, drained
8 oz. can tomato sauce *
1 can of beer (be sure to use gluten-free beer if you are wanting this to be gluten-free)
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
4.5 oz. can diced chilies
2 tsp. taco seasoning (note: some store-bought taco seasoning contains gluten so I make my own)
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

optional: tortilla chips or strips, sour cream, shredded cheese, green onions for serving

*for our freezer meals, I actually buy a ginormous can of tomato sauce (over 100 oz.) and measure it out for each recipe. This saves a lot of money and it cuts down on time because I’m not having to open each individual can.

Place all ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air and seal. Freeze.

For a soupier Chicken Taco Soup, you can add a tetrapak of chicken broth on the day of cooking. Without the chicken broth, it is thick enough for my kids to spoon this into tortillas and top with cheese. They love eating it that way.

On cooking day, thaw and cook the taco soup on low in crockpot for 4-7 hours (depending on your slow cooker). You can add the chicken broth to this step if desired. Shred the chicken breasts before serving.

Serve the individual bowls of soup with these topping ideas: sour cream, tortilla chips, sliced green onion, and grated cheese, or eat it as is.

To make this recipe gluten-free:

Most of the ingredients in this recipe are gluten-free. The only ones to be careful of are the chili-style beans (read the labels and select one that does not have any fillers that may contain gluten), the can of beer, and the taco seasoning. For the taco seasoning, you can either make your own (which probably tastes best anyway) or buy one that is a gluten-free blend.

(thanks to a very astute reader who caught that I had originally forgotten to note that beer can contain gluten!)

If you are looking for other recipes that can go from the freezer to the crockpot, you can find 24 other time-saving recipes in my ebook Chicken Dump Recipes.

This Chicken Taco Soup recipe is included in my Slow Cooker Freezer Meal Plan which includes printable shopping lists, prep lists, recipes, and printable labels. You will love having the guesswork taken out of dinner!

Chicken Taco Soup Recipe

*for our freezer meals, I actually buy a ginormous can of tomato sauce (over 100 oz.) and measure it out for each recipe. This saves a lot of money and it cuts down on time because I'm not having to open each individual can.

Course: Main Course, Soup

Keyword: chicken, soup, taco

Servings: 6

: 429 kcal

Ingredients

1 cup chopped onion
1 x 14 oz. can chili style beans
1 x 19 oz. can black beans drained and rinsed
1 x 15 oz. can kernel corn drained
1 x 8 oz. can tomato sauce *
1 can of beer be sure to use gluten-free beer if you are wanting this to be gluten-free
1 x 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 x 4.5 oz. can diced chilies
2 tsp. taco seasoning note: some store-bought taco seasoning contains gluten so I make my own
3 chicken breasts skinless, boneless
optional: tortilla chips or strips sour cream, shredded cheese, green onions for serving

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air and seal. Freeze.
Thaw. Heat in a stovetop pot or in the crockpot. Shred the chicken before serving.

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From Freezer to Crockpot (and Gluten Free!)

By Sharla Kostelyk

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Making freezer meals saves you money and using your crockpot saves time. Combine the two for the best savings of all!

I’m a big fan of freezer meals. They save money, time and best of all, eliminate that daily quandary of figuring out what to make for supper. If you are new to making freezer meals, you can learn how to easily plan, prepare and execute making freezer meals for an entire month (or two) in just one day or for a week in just one hour (click this link —>Freezer Meals 101).

I’m also a fan of my crockpot. With 7 kids, anything that makes life easier is good in my books! It is so nice to come home after doing appointments all day to walk in the door to smell supper cooking.

Combining freezer meals and my crockpot is the ultimate in time management for me. When making freezer meals, I always make at least half of the recipes ones that are compatible with crockpot cooking.

If you are looking specifically for the meals to be gluten-free, I have a guide for converting freezer meal recipes to gluten-free freezer meals.

12 freezer meal recipes for the crockpot:

Crockpot Chicken Recipes:

Sweet and Sour Chicken (gluten-free) This freezer to crockpot meal from The Nourishing Home looks delectable!

Chicken Tacos (gluten-free if gluten-free taco seasoning is used or made) This recipe from Sidetracked Sarah is made even easier because she uses rotisserie chicken.

Hawaiian Chicken (gluten-free if gluten-free soy sauce is used) This dump in a bag, freeze, thaw, and throw in the crockpot meal from Meet Penny is great for a busy day.

Better Than It Sounds Prune and Olive Chicken (gluten-free)

Crockpot Soup Recipes:

Vegetable Pesto Minestrone (gluten-free) This minestrone soup has a very unique flavor from the pesto and from the wine. Delicious!

Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup (gluten-free) This recipe from Meet Penny sounds delicious and is chock full of healthy ingredients.

Beef Vegetable Soup from Sidetracked Sarah (gluten-free)

Crockpot Beef Recipes:

Sloppy Joes (gluten-free) Sloppy Joes are such a comfort meal in our house, especially in wintertime.

Mexican Casserole (gluten-free if gluten-free taco seasoning is used or made) This family meal is from Sidetracked Sarah and can go from the freezer to a skillet or to the crockpot.

French Stew (gluten-free if gluten-free bread crumbs are substituted) Sidetracked Sarah’s husband loves this meal. Maybe yours will too!

Other Freezer Meal Recipes:

Pork & Peppers Crock Pot Bag (gluten-free if gluten-free Worcestershire sauce is used) Another simple weeknight meal from Meet Penny.

Cuban Black Beans (gluten-free) This is an inexpensive family meal from Frugal Family Favourites.

Make 10 meals in one hour using the system in my Chicken and Beef Dump Recipes books or try out my Gluten-Free Freezer Meal Menu Plan.

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Freezer Vegetable Pesto Minestrone

By Sharla Kostelyk

This soup is one of our family’s favorites as a result of the addition of the pesto. Even I’ve been surprised at how loved it is among even my picky eaters. It is jam-packed with nutrients too!

Freezer Vegetable Pesto Minestrone Recipe:

1 tsp. olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 ribs of celery, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 cup white wine (or you can use apple juice)
14-19 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
19 oz. can mixed beans
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup basil pesto

For cooking day:

4 cups vegetable broth

Saute onion in oil for a few minutes, then add garlic, celery, and carrot, then saute for a few more minutes until it all begins to get soft. Add this to a large-sized resealable freezer bag. Add wine, diced tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, seasonings, cheese, and pesto to the bag. Remove excess air, seal the bag, and freeze.

On cooking day, thaw, pour into a stovetop pot or crockpot. After that, add 4 cups of vegetable broth and cook until the desired temperature.

In addition, you can also add some cooked gluten-free noodles near the end of the cooking time.

Knowing that my family will request this dish frequently, I use a jar of pre-made pesto sauce and double, triple, or quadruple the recipe. You will not be sorry that you have extras of these on hand in your stock on a cold day!

This recipe is part of my 10 Days of Gluten-Free Freezer Meals series in the iHomeschool Network Autumn Hopscotch. You may also be interested in following my Gluten-Free Recipes or Freezer Meals Pinterest Boards.

Freezer Vegetable Pesto Minestrone

Course: Soup

Keyword: minestrone, pesto, soup, vegetable

Servings: 6

: 332 kcal

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
1 cup onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 ribs celery chopped
3 carrots sliced
1 cup white wine or apple juice
14-19 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
19 oz can mixed beans
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
1/4 cup basil pesto

For the day of cooking:

4 cups vegetable broth

Instructions

Saute onion in oil for a few minutes, then add garlic, celery, and carrot. Saute a few minutes until they start to get soft. Add to a large resealable freezer bag.
Add wine, diced tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, seasonings, cheese, and pesto to the bag. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

For the day of cooking:

Thaw and pour into a pot for the stove or crockpot.
Add 4 cups of vegetarian broth and cook until it reaches the desired temperature.
You can add in cooked gluten-free noodles at the end if you wish.

Recipe Notes

Make several batches of this at a time. You will not regret having it on hand for cold days.