Freezer Meals // Freezer Meals 101

 Baked Caesar Chicken

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: baked chicken, chicken

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
• pepper to taste
• 1 cup creamy Caesar dressing*
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese grated

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

1. Place the chicken breasts on the bottom of a casserole dish or foil baking tray and sprinkle with pepper.

2. Mix the Caesar dressing, sour cream, and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan together until well combined.

3. Spread the dressing mixture on top of the chicken, then sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

4. Cover the pan with foil and freeze.

5. Alternatively, you can place all ingredients except the cheese into a large freezer bag. Squish around to coat the chicken evenly.

6. Place the cheese in a medium freezer bag. Remove excess air, seal and staple both bags together above the seal line.

Cooking Instructions:

1. Thaw.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°.

3. If using the bag method, place chicken and sauce on a baking sheet and sprinkle the cheese on top.

4. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

5. If desired, broil for 3 minutes at the end until the sauce and cheese on top is golden brown. Watch carefully to prevent burning.

Recipe Notes

*I prefer to use the Caesar dressing in a jar rather than a bottle. These can usually be found in the produce aisle of the grocery store.

Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Keyword: sloppy Joes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground chicken cooked
• 3/4 cup onion diced
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 3/4 cup BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

1. Cook the ground chicken in a large skillet, crumbling the meat as it cooks. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan and allow it to cool completely.
2. Place the chicken in a large resealable bag with the onion, green pepper, BBQ sauce, and tomato sauce.

3. Squeeze the contents of the bag together to combine.

4. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the contents of the bag and stir.

3. Bring the sauce to a simmer and allow the mixture to cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the ingredients are heated through.

4. Serve on hamburger buns.

Pizza Casserole

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot Pizza Casserole, pasta, pizza

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 283 kcal

Ingredients

• 2 cups ham cubed
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
• 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
• 1/2 cup green pepper chopped
• 28 oz. tomato sauce
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 cups small pasta

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Cube ham, grate cheeses, chop vegetables.

2. Put the pasta in a medium-sized resealable bag.

3. Put ham and cheeses into a large resealable freezer bag.

4. Mix together the other ingredients and pour over the ham and cheese.

5. Seal the bag and staple the pasta bag to it.

6. Freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.

2. Put the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on low.

3. Cook the pasta on the stovetop according to the package direction.

4. Drain pasta and stir into the casserole before serving.

Chicken Fried Rice

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken, rice

Servings: 6

Calories: 204 kcal

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked rice
• 1.5 cups chicken breast cooked and diced
• 1/2 cup celery diced
• 1 cup onion diced
• 1 cup carrots diced
• 1 small jar water chestnuts sliced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 4 Tbsp soy sauce

Instructions

1. Cook the rice and add it into a large resealable freezer bag. 

2. Add the chopped onion, celery, carrots, water chestnuts, and peas, then the cooked chicken.

3. Pour garlic cloves, oyster sauce, and soy sauce into the bag. 

4. Squish everything together to combine. Remove excess air and seal. Lay flat and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. On the day you want to cook the Chicken Fried Rice, take it out of the freezer and thaw.

2. Heat in a covered casserole dish in the oven until warm or fry up in a skillet or wok.

Chicken Asparagus Bake

Cook Time

20 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Keyword: asparagus, casserole, chicken

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 265 kcal

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups rice cooked
• 1 cup chicken cooked and diced
• 1 cup asparagus chopped, fresh or frozen
• 1/2 can cream of mushroom soup* (5 oz.)
• 1/2 can cream of chicken soup* (5 oz.)
• 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
• salt and pepper
• optional: 2 slices of cooked bacon crumbled

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Cook the rice according to package directions.

2. Cook and cube the chicken. Mix them along with the other ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Put it into a large resealable bag and seal it. Lay flat and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.

2. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.

Recipe Notes

*As this recipe calls for 1/2 cans of soup, it's smarter to double it (or quadruple it) so that you can use the full cans plus have additional meals in your freezer.

Asian Sticky Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 to 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 to 10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons ketchup

Assembly Instructions:

1. Combine the chicken, olive oil, soy sauce, peanut butter, and ketchup in a large freezer bag. Squish the ingredients together to combine the chicken with the sauce.
2. Remove excess air from the bag and seal to close. Freeze the ingredients until you’re ready to cook.

Cooking instructions:

1. Transfer the sticky chicken ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Transfer the ingredients to a baking dish and cook for 45 to 55 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

How Do You Thicken Sticky Chicken Sauce?

Since this Asian sticky chicken recipe is prepared in the oven, you shouldn’t have an issue with the sauce being runny when you’re ready to serve your dinner. But if you’re worried that the sauce won’t be thick enough after baking, stir together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water. Pour the mixture into the sauce before cooking. The cornstarch will help the sauce thicken as it cooks.

Make-Ahead Tuna Casserole Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2x 6 oz. cans flaked tuna, drained
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 2x 10 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
• 1 tsp. pepper

For cooking day:

• package of egg noodles

Assembly instructions:

1. Mix everything together in a large bowl.
2. Put mixture into a large resealable bag.
3. Remove the excess air and seal. Lay flat and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Cook egg noodles according to package directions to al dente.
3. Mix the noodles with the contents of the freezer bag.
4. Put in a casserole dish and bake in a 425° oven for 20-30 minutes.

Serve on its own or serve alongside a salad or steamed broccoli.

Leftovers can be placed in an airtight container and kept in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. 

Variations for tuna casserole:

• Sprinkle seasoned bread crumbs or Panko bread crumbs combined with a bit of melted butter on top of your casserole. 
• Top with french fried onions.
• Use frozen mixed vegetables in place of the peas.
• Crush potato chips to create a crispy topping. 

Lemon Pesto Chicken

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup jarred pesto sauce
• 1/8 cup lemon juice
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• optional: 1 tsp. lemon rind

Put the shredded Mozza cheese in a medium resealable bag and seal.

Place the chicken breasts in a large-sized resealable bag. Add the pesto, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. If you want some extra zip, toss in some lemon rind. Remove the excess air from the bag and seal.

Staple the medium bag to the large one above the seal to ensure there are no leaks. Lay flat in the freezer.

On the day of cooking, thaw. Put the chicken in a casserole dish. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes, covered. Uncover and top with the mozzarella cheese and bake for another 5 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Make Ahead Ginger Beef

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef stir fry strips
• ½ cup onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons ginger, minced
• 1 cup beef broth
• ¼ cup soy sauce

Assembly Instructions:

1. Combine the beef strips, onion, garlic, ginger, beef broth, and soy sauce in a large freezer bag. Squish the ingredients together to combine the beef with the sauce.
2. Remove excess air from the bag and seal to close. Freeze the ingredients until you’re ready to cook.

Cooking instructions:

1. Transfer the ginger beef ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
2. Pour the ingredients into your slow cooker and set the crockpot to cook on low for three to four hours.

Salsa Verde Fish Tacos 

Ingredients:

• 3-4 tilapia filets
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/4 cup salsa verde
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced

For serving:

• hard or soft taco shells
• taco toppings (see list of suggestions below)

Assembly instructions: 

1. Place the fish in a large resealable freezer bag.
2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the salsa verde, crushed pineapple, minced garlic, and seasonings.
3. Pour over the fish.
4. Remove the excess air from the bag, seal, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw. Bake in a 350° oven for 10-12 minutes or fry in a skillet on the stovetop until it easily flakes.
2. Serve in taco shells with other toppings.

Ground Chicken Stroganoff Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chicken, cooked
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup white mushrooms, sliced
• 10 ounces cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• pinch salt

For serving:

• egg noodles
• 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
• parsley

Assembly Instructions:

1. Cook the ground chicken in a large skillet, crumbling the meat as it cooks. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan and allow it to cool completely.
2. Place the chicken in a large resealable bag with the garlic, white mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, thyme, paprika, pepper, and salt.
3. Squeeze the contents of the bag together to mix the sauce into the meat and vegetables.
4. Seal the bag and remove excess air. Place the bag in the freezer until you’re ready to eat.

Cooking instructions:

1. Transfer the frozen ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
2. When ready to cook, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the contents of the bag and stir to mix the ingredients together.
3. Bring the sauce to a simmer and allow the mixture to cook until the ingredients are heated through.
4. To prepare the stroganoff in the slow cooker, transfer the thawed ingredients into the bowl of the crockpot and cook on low for two to five hours.
5. When ready to serve, stir in the additional sour cream or Greek yogurt.
6. Serve over cooked egg noodles topped with parsley.

Lemon Pepper Chicken Recipe

ngredients:

• 3-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Freezing instructions:

1. Add the chicken to a large freezer bag and top with the lemon juice, garlic, lemon pepper seasoning, and cayenne pepper.
2. Squeeze the bag together to mix the sauce into the chicken, remove the excess air from the bag and seal. Place it in the freezer until you’re ready to prepare it.

Ham and Potato Casserole Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups frozen hash browns (cubes)
• 1 1/2 cups cubed ham (I use black forest ham, but you can also use leftover ham from a holiday meal if you have it)
• 1/2 cup onions, chopped
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 10 oz. can cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Assembly instructions:

1. Cube the ham. Chop the onions. Grate the cheese.
2. Add all ingredients to a large resealable freezer bag. Squish to combine the ingredients well.
3. Remove excess air and seal. Freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.
3. Dump the bag ingredients in. Bake at 375° for 50-55 minutes.

Droolworthy BBQ Shredded Chicken Freezer Meal with Garlic

Admittedly, it is messy to eat, but you won't mind having drips of garlic mayo mixed with BBQ sauce and minced onions running down your wrists because it is so worth it!

Servings: 6

Calories: 509 kcal

Ingredients

• 3-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3/4 cup finely minced onion
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bottle of barbeque sauce or 425 mL of your own homemade BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Place the chicken, minced onion, minced garlic, barbeque sauce, and apple cider vinegar in a large resealable bag.
2. Remove excess air and seal.
3. On the day you want to serve this, take it out of the freezer and allow it to thaw.
4. Cook it in the crock pot on low for 3-5 hours.
5. Shred.
6. Serve in on buns on top of garlic mayo. You can also serve this shredded BBQ chicken on nachos or in tacos.

Garlic Mayo Recipe:

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• dash of salt and pepper

Mix together all the ingredients and serve on buns before topping with the shredded BBQ chicken. If there’s any leftover, you can store it in the fridge in an airtight container. We never have any leftovers though because it is lick-the-bowl good (or so I’ve heard)!

Marry Me Chicken

Marry Me, Chicken Recipe:

• 3-5 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
•  1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 3/4 tsp. basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

For cooking:

• fresh basil

• Place the chicken breasts in a large resealable freezer bag. Dump in the remaining ingredients.
• Remove all the air that you can from the bag, seal, and freeze.
• Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 
  

• Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Dump bag contents in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 24-27 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside.
3. If desired, garnish with fresh basil and more shredded Parmesan cheese.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

  

• 12-14 russet potatoes medium-sized
• 16 tbsp butter (1 stick)
• 8 tsp minced garlic
• 4 tsp dried onion flakes
• 0.5 cup milk more or less to desired thickness or creaminess
• 4 tsp table salt
• 2 tsp pepper

Directions:

nstructions

• Peel the potatoes & place them in a large stockpot.
• Cover with water, add the lid & bring to a boil.
• Continue boiling until the potatoes are soft & falling apart when poked with a fork.
• Transfer the cooked potatoes to a large electric mixer bowl using a slotted spoon.
• Add salt, pepper, garlic, onion flakes. Beat with the whip attachment until mashed.
• Add butter & milk.
• Continue to beat for approximately 15 minutes at high speed (until all lumps are gone & it's very creamy) before serving.

Seafood Curry Pasta Recipe:

5 oz. (150 g) scallops
7 oz. (200 g) deveined large shrimp
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
6 mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbsp. sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 cup pineapple juice
10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
370 mL can evaporated milk
350 g penne for day of serving

Method #1:

To begin assembling this meal, place the scallops and shrimp into a medium resealable bag and seal. It’s important to have these in a separate bag for two reasons. The first is that they require less cook time than the other ingredients and you don’t want to ruin this beautiful dish by having overcooked seafood in it. The second is because the acidity in the pineapple juice can begin to cook the seafood if it marinates together and that would be a culinary tragedy!

Place all the other ingredients except for the pasta in a large resealable bag and squish together to combine. Remove excess air and seal. Staple both bags together above the seal and freeze.

On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer. Thaw. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, heat the large bag of ingredients in a skillet over medium heat for 7 minutes. Add the seafood to the skillet and heat until cooked through. Serve over the pasta.

1. Cube the beef. Slice the onion, mushrooms, and bacon.
2. Add the beef, bacon slices, mushrooms, onion slices, and beef broth to a large resealable freezer bag.
3. Remove the excess air, seal, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Remove from freezer to thaw.
2. Add the bag contents to the Crock-Pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
3. If you want to thicken up the gravy, mix together 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and stir into the beef mixture in the slow cooker 20 minutes before serving.

You can serve this on mashed potatoes, rice, or cauliflower rice. Or if you’d rather, you can serve this beside vegetables or with buns. My husband likes to eat his with cauliflower rice fried up with lots of garlic. It’s actually pretty delicious.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Dump bag contents into the slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Ensure that chicken is cooked through before serving.
4. Serve over your choice of pasta noodles. We usually use penne or rotini, but a long noodle is fine too.

You can throw this together so quickly that you might as well make more than one at a time. Just prop the bags open by folding the top over and setting them open on the counter. Line the bags up and then add the chicken to each one before dumping in the rest of the ingredients. This chicken dump recipe couldn’t be easier!

Freezer Lasagna Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. browned ground beef or cooked ground Italian sausage
  
• 2 tsp. oregano
  
• 2 tsp. basil
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• crushed red pepper flakes
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seed
  
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  
• 1 onion, diced
  
• 900 mL chicken or beef broth
  
• 2x 15 oz. cans fire roasted tomatoes
  
• 5 oz. can tomato paste

For day of serving:

• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  
• 1 cup Ricotta cheese
  
• 5 lasagna noodles

Assembly instructions:

1. Brown the hamburger or ground sausage in a large skillet.
2. Allow the meat to cool, then combine it with the oregano, basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, bay leaves, fennel seed, nutmeg, onion, broth, tomatoes, and tomato paste in a large freezer bag.
3. Remove excess air from the bag and seal. Flatten the bag and store in the freezer until ready to eat.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw the meat mixture in the refrigerator.
2. Pour the ingredients into a large stovetop pot and cook over medium heat until boiling.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to meld.
4. Add broken lasagna noodles and cook until noodles are softened.
5. When ready to serve, spoon the soup into bowls and top each bowl with some ricotta and Parmesan cheese.

Philly Chicken Sandwiches Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1/2 an onion, sliced
• 2 tsp. seasoning salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 slices provolone cheese

For cooking day:

• 8 hoagie buns

Assembly instructions:

1. Place the slices of provolone in a medium freezer bag.
2. Place chicken and all the other ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag.
3. Remove excess air and seal. Staple the medium and large bags together above the seal and freeze.

Slow Cooker Cooking Instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Put the ingredients from the large bag in the crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
3. Shred the meat. Place the filling on the hoagie rolls and top each one with a slice of cheese. If you want, you can microwave or place it in the oven for a short time just to melt the cheese.