15 Freezer Meals with Recipes and Shopping List!

Next month I'm taking the plunge and am going to do a huge freezer meal prep day so that I only have to cook one day next month and then let my freezer and crock pot do the rest for me. Tonight I spent the entire night prepping the list of things that I am going to need for all 15 recipes and thought that all of this was too good to keep to myself, so being the kind person that I am, I will give you all the recipes and shopping list to you to use if you would like! 


Slow Cooker BBQ Spareribs***
Ingredients:
1-2 lbs of country-style pork ribs
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 Tablespoons seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
Directions:
Place pork in resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix remaining ingredients together in a bowl and pour over pork. Mix together in bag and zip closed.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours. 

Black Bean Taco Soup
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef (or ground turkey works too!)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 package mild taco seasoning mix
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
1 (16 oz) can black beans drained and rinsed (you could use kidney beans or pinto beans)
2 (14 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
Directions:
Brown meat and onion, drain. Let meat cool for a minute, then dump into a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag.
Dump the remaining ingredients into the bag, mix together, and zip bag closed.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on HIGH for 1-2 hours or LOW for 2-3 1/2 hours.
Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo***
Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds chicken breasts
1 (16 oz) bag frozen broccoli florets
2 (16 oz) jars Alfredo sauce (I use light)
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag and mix together.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. 

Chicken Cacciatore***
Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breasts
1 (26 oz) jar of chunky vegetable-style spaghetti sauce
1 zucchini, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag and mix together.
Garnish: chopped black olives, shredded Parm cheese
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. 

Hearty Beef Stew***
Ingredients:
1 pound beef stew cubes
4 carrots, sliced
4 red potatoes, cut into large cubes
1 package dry onion soup mix
2 cans 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (10 oz) package frozen green peas

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together and zip bag closed. When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 7-10 hours (or HIGH for 5-6 hours).


Maple Dijon Glazed Chicken***
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup maple syrup 
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together and zip bag closed.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4 hours). Sprinkle with fresh or dried rosemary for serving.

Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ Corn and Black Beans***
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
Juice from 2 limes
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn 
2 minced garlic cloves 
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 
1 tsp cumin 
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together and zip bag closed.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4 hours).

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder Recipe:
Ingredients:
2 chicken or beef bouillon cubes
1 cup water
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced potatoes
1 cup diced carrot
1 (10 oz) package frozen mixed vegetables (I usually buy the broccoli, carrot, and cauliflower combo)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup (I used the (98% fat free kind)
1 can of milk (once you add the cream of chicken, use that can to measure your milk)
1 lb (16 oz) Velveeta cheese (I used the 2% milk kind), cubed
Directions:
Place your bouillon cubes, water, celery, potatoes, and carrots in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil until bouillon cubes have dissolved. Add your bag of frozen veggies and turn heat down to low (I usually set my burner at 3 out of 10). Place lid on top of pot and let simmer for 30-40 minutes (add water if necessary). Add cream of chicken soup, milk, and Velveeta cheese. Stir constantly until cheese is all melted. Pour into freezer bags and store in freezer until ready to use. Thaw 1 day ahead of time. Put in crockpot on low for 6 hours.

Slow Cooker Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Recipe:***
Ingredients:
1 c. soy sauce
1 c. sugar 
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 an onion, chopped
4-6 chicken breasts (mine were frozen)
Directions:
Put all of the ingredients but chicken into a pot over medium heat until boiling.  Pour over chicken in freezer bag. Put in freezer until ready to use. Thaw 1 day ahead of time. crock pot.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.  Serve over rice.


Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup***
Ingredients:
5 cups chicken broth 

1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1/2 of an onion, finely chopped
2-3 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 large carrots, finely chopped
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups egg noodles, uncooked
1lb chicken, chopped or shredded (or 2 cans canned cooked chicken)
Directions:
Put everything in freezer bag minus pasta and freeze. Thaw 1 day ahead of time. cook on low heat for 6 hours. Add the uncooked noodles turn heat to high, and cook for one more hour. Serve and enjoy!


Crock Pot Cheesy Ravioli Casserole Recipe:***
(Makes 10 1 1/2 cup servings)
Ingredients: 
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 garlic clove, minced 
2 (26 ounce) jars four cheese pasta sauce 
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded 
1/2 cup onion, chopped 
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce 
2 (25 ounce) packages frozen beef ravioli 
Directions

Divide everything into 2 freezer bags and freeze. Spray crock pot with pam and dump contents into crockpot. Cook low for 4-6 hours.

Slow Cooker Nacho Grande Soup
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced 
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning (I used low sodium)
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained (I used mild Rotel)
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Directions: 

Cook beef onion and garlic and then combine the rest of ingredients into a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw 1 day ahead of time and then cook on low for 4 hours. Serve with tortilla chips and cheddar cheese.

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli:
(Recipe from Food.com)
1 lbs ground beef 
1/2 onion, chopped
1 ½ carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes , undrained
1/2 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans , drained (I skipped this, not a fan of red kidney beans!)
1/2 (16 ounce) can white kidney beans , drained
1 1/2 (10 ounce) cans beef stock
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano 
1 teaspoons pepper 
2.5 teaspoons parsley 
.5 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
1(10 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
4 ounces pasta 
Directions:
Brown beef in a skillet. Drain. Throw everything minus pasta into freezer bag and freeze. Thaw 1 day ahead of time. Cook in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.


Slow Cooker Pineapple Glazed Ham Recipe:***
Ingredients: 
4 thick slices of boneless ham, fully cooked (I cut mine about 3/4" thick)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple (do not drain)
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard (optional)
Directions:
Throw all ingredient into freezer bag. Freeze. Thaw 1 day in advance. Throw in crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3 hours.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Tangy Meatballs***
1 12 oz jar chili sauce
1 jar grape jelly
1 pkg. frozen meatballs (or 2-3 packages of Little Smokies)
Directions
Throw everything into freezer bag. Throw everything into crockpot the day of still frozen and cook on low for 5-6 hours, serve over rice.


***indicates that there is no cooking necessary for the pre-freezer phase, you just dump everything into the freezer and in it goes***

Shopping List:
Produce:
12 CARROTS
7 CELERY STALKS
4 CLOVES OF GARLIC
GREEN ONION
2 GREEN PEPPERS
2 LIMES
6 ONIONS
2 POTATOES
1 RED ONION
4 RED POTATOES
1 ZUCCHINI 
1 BUNCH CILANTRO
FROZEN:
1-16OZ BAG BROCCOLI FLORETS
1-16OZ BAG CORN
1PK FROZEN MEATBALLS
1-10OZ BAG MIXED VEGGIES
1-10OZ BAG PEAS
2-15OZ BAG RAVIOLI
MEAT:
9LBS CHICKEN
3 POUNDS GROUND TURKEY (ALL RECIPES WITH BEEF I REPLACE WITH TURKEY)
1LB STEW MEAT
1LB COUNTRY STYLE PORK RIBS
4 SLICES HAM STEAK
CANS:
1-4OZ CAN GREEN CHILIES    
1-10OZ CAN DICED TOMATOES AND GREEN CHILLIES   
2-26OZ JAR 4 CHEESE PASTA SAUCE   
2 CANS BLACK BEANS   
3 CANS CHICKEN BROTH   
1 CAN CREAM OF CHEDDAR SOUP   
1 CAN CORN   
2 CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP   
1-20OZ CAN CRUSHED PINEAPPLE   
1 CAN RED KIDNEY BEANS   
1 CAN WHITE KIDNEY BEANS   
1-4OZ CAN SLICED MUSHROOMS   
2-14OZ CANS STEWED TOMATOES   
1-28OZ CAN DICED TOMATOES   
2-8OZ CANS TOMATO SAUCE   
1-15OZ CAN TOMATO SAUCE   
2-16OZ JARS ALFREDO SAUCE   
1-26OZ JAR VEGGIE PASTA SAUCE   
1-10OZ JAR PASTA SAUCE   
2-CANS BEEF STOCK   
2-CANS CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP  
CONDIMENTS    
1-12OZ JAR CHILI SAUCE   
1-12OZ DIJON MUSTARD   
1-16OZ JAR GRAPE JELLY   
KETCHUP   
SOY SAUCE   
WHITE VINEGAR   
RED WINE VINEGAR  
DAIRY
1 BAG SHREDDED CHEDDAR
1 BAG SHREDDED MOZZARELLA
1/2 GALLON MILK
1 PACKAGE VELVETA CHEESE
DRY MIXES
2 TACO SEASONING MIXES
1 ONION SOUP MIX 
BAKING
OIL
BROWN SUGAR
MAPLE SYRUP
SUGAR
SPICES
PARSLEY
CHICKEN BULLION
SEASONED SALT
SALT
PEPPER
CUMIN
GARLIC SALT
GARLIC POWDER
ITALIAN SEASONING
PASTA
EGG NOODLES
SPIRAL PASTA
SUPPLIES
FREEZER BAGS
SHARPIE

Once you have everything made, write the cooking instructions on the freezer bag so that you know how to cook it the day you want to use it!

I'll be sure to post back on my whole experience with doing this with pictures to let you all know how it went!

2 comments

  1. What a great resource! You are inspiring. Thanks for planning meals for me :).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very well composed post, with some delicious looking recipes! Very, very helpful!

    ReplyDelete