Freezer Meal Recipe Collections

Make Ahead Lunch Recipes

Coming up with dinner ideas is hard enough. But having to think about breakfasts and lunches too?! These make ahead lunch ideas will take the worry out of the midday meal.

Make Ahead Lunch Ideas:

There’s something so comforting about tomato soup. Pair this Instant Pot Tomato Soup with a grilled cheese or enjoy it on its own.

These Hot Roast Beef or Ham Sandwiches are great for large group gatherings or for bringing with you when you go camping.

Tater Tot Pizza Casserole is a favourite for kids.

Buffalo Chicken on Buns has all the flavours of the dip in a sandwich.

Our Hearty Sausage and Spinach Soup is packed with flavour. It is one of my all-time faves!

This Instant Pot Asian Noodle Soup pairs well with a salad or raw veggies.

Shrimp Stir Fry Packs make a fast and easy meal. They are nice and light. Lunch is ready in minutes.

Turkey Sloppy Joes are a lighter option and great for lunch.

The Easy Homemade Pizza Pockets from Eating on a Dime make packing lunches a breeze.

These Make Ahead Pizza Rolls from Spaceships and Laser Beams are great for school lunches.

When kids have allergies, it can mean missing out on some of the fun foods. That doesn’t have to be true with these gluten free vegan Pizza Bagel Bites from Strength and Sunshine.

Amy and Jacky share this Instant Pot Sloppy Joes recipe that can be made ahead and served on a bun for a quick lunch.

Yum! Awe Filled Homemaker’s Instant Pot Beef Lettuce Wraps. You’ll have a hard time believing this is a freezer meal.

This Old Gal has Air Fryer Tijuana Street Tacos. The meat can marinate beautifully as it thaws in this delicious freezer meal.

The Sweet Pulled Pork Wraps at Sidetracked Sarah are a crowd pleaser.

The Soccer Mom’s Freezer Chicken Soup is another great comfort food recipe. The next time you are feeling under the weather, this is what you’re going to wish you had in the freezer ready to go.

Check out our Lunch Freezer Meal Menu Plan to make things even easier. It includes some make ahead lunch recipes as well as prep lists, shopping lists, and printable labels.

Kid Friendly Freezer Meals

By Sharla

One of the concerns a lot of moms have about diving into freezer cooking is whether or not their kids will actually eat the meals. I completely understand!

I’m the mom of 7 kids and there are a few very picky eaters in the bunch. The last thing you want is to spend all that time and money making freezer meals and then have your kids refuse to eat them.

Obviously, you know your kids best. If they refuse to eat mushrooms, don’t choose recipes full of mushrooms (or get sneaky and blend them well!). If they are sensitive to spice, tone down the spices called for in the recipe.

I find that there are some generalities when it comes to food that appeals to children. If it has pizza flavours or tater tots or can be eaten with their hands or is served on a bun, then most kids like it.

This list may include recipes that you know at a glance won’t work for your kids because you know their preferences. Skip those of course. But I’m pretty sure you’ll find some freezer meals kids will actually eat on this list.

Kid Friendly Freezer Meals:

Instant Pot Pizza Casserole – Generally, kids love pizza and pasta and this has both.

Tater Tot Pizza Casserole – Tater tots and pizza is a combination made with kids in mind.

Pizza Stuffed Chicken – Are you noticing a trend here?!

Tater Tot Casserole – This is hands-down my kids’ favourite meal.They would eat it every day if they could. I wish it had some veggies in it!

Italian Meatballs Tater Tot Casserole from Premeditated Leftovers

Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos – Tacos are a surefire win with my kids!

Best Ever Freezer Meal Spaghetti Sauce – It’s hard to go wrong with spaghetti.

Buffalo Chicken (made on slider buns) – My kids completely devoured these!

BBQ Pulled Pork – This is great for hot summer days because it cooks in the crock pot. I usually bring this freezer meal camping with us.

KFC Style Chicken – Your kids will be amazed that you were able to make KFC chicken at home.

Chicken Pasta Bake – This pasta bake is comfort food at its finest.

Make Ahead Apple Pork Chops – This recipe is a good introduction to pork chops for kids because of its subtle sweet flavour.

Lemon Garlic Chicken – This SUPER easy to make chicken dish has mild flavours and goes over well with little ones.

Apple Maple Chicken – This dish offers enough sweetness to be eaten without complaint.

Homemade Mini Corn Dogs on Moms Need to Know

Crock Pot Freezer Meal Pizza Casserole from The Chaos and The Clutter (skip the mushrooms in that one if you have kids who don’t eat mushrooms)

Chicken Strips from Happy Money Saver – Homemade chicken strips are less expensive and healthier than the frozen store bought variety.

Sloppy Joes from The Chaos and The Clutter – I have childhood memories of eating Sloppy Joes in my mom’s kitchen and now, my kids will have memories of eating my recipe.

Turkey Sloppy Joes – I call these the gateway recipe for ground turkey!

Droolworthy BBQ Shredded Chicken with Garlic Mayo – We all love this recipe. The garlic mayo really makes it.

Easy Chicken and Veggie Casserole – The crispy onion topping is what makes this one so family friendly.

Kid Friendly Italian Biscuit Cups from Make Ahead Meal Mom

Chicken Alfredo Bake over on Make Ahead Meal Mom

Homemade Frozen Pizza at The Recipe Rebel

Homemade Pizza Pockets from The Girl on Bloor

Make things easy with the Kid Friendly Freezer Meal Plan. It includes make ahead recipes kids will love along with shopping lists, prep lists, and printable labels.

Make Ahead Keto Meals to Get You Started

By Sharla

My husband announced recently that he was going Keto. I’ll admit that I wasn’t exactly thrilled. It’s hard enough to cook for a large family, considering the allergies and preferences without throwing a new diet into the mix! But I knew that if I could find some good make ahead keto meals, it would be doable. Almost all of our dinners are freezer meals. This enables me to make them ahead of time and have them ready to go. It cuts back on time and saves us a lot of money. Most of all, it saves me sanity because I never have to think, “what’s for supper?”!

I knew that some of our staple freezer meals were already keto friendly, but I set about to find others I could use.

My husband has been doing a lot of reading about keto. One of the things that keeps coming up is that food prep is the key to success. I want him to be able to succeed with this, so I am on board with helping. We’ve had several friends have tremendous health results by going keto.

I know how busy our lives are, so I realize that being prepared is the only way we are going to be able to make this work.

As I’m preparing another freezer meal assembly day, I’m putting together a list of make-ahead meals that are keto or can be easily adapted to be keto with just a small substitution or two.

This list came about as a way for me to be able to support my husband with this lifestyle change and I hope that in sharing it with you, it can make things easier for you to get organized as well.

What is keto?

Keto is a high fat and very low carb way of eating. The keto diet aims to put your body into a metabolic state of ketosis. Bodies usually burn carbohydrates as their fuel. It is when you restrict the amount of carbs that you consume that your body can begin to break down stored fat. This creates molecules called ketones for the body to use as fuel.

While many choose a keto diet for weight loss reasons, others choose it for health reasons, particularly reducing blood sugar and insulin levels.

Make Ahead Keto Meals:

Instant Pot Pork or Chicken Shawarma

Lemon Mustard Chicken Dump Recipe

Easy Asian Meatballs

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Beef Dip – Skip the bun and use lettuce or cabbage leaves instead.

Lemon Pesto Chicken with Cheese

Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos – Use these keto taco shells or make it into taco salad.

Tequila Lime Shrimp

Italian Wedding Soup – Make without the pasta.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Instant Pot Italian Chicken and Veggies

Beef Fajitas – When serving this, use low carb tortillas or cabbage leaves for wrapping.

Stuffed Pepper Soup – Make this without the rice for it to be keto friendly.

Droolworthy Shredded BBQ Chicken with Garlic Mayo – If you want to serve this on buns, there is a recipe for keto buns on Gnom-Gnom.

Cabbage Roll Casserole – Replace the rice with cauliflower rice.

Easy Chicken Marsala – Make as directed, but without the flour.

Chili Glazed Chicken – You’ll need to replace the honey for low carb sweetener like monk fruit or erythritol.

Cauliflower Rice

Make ahead bone broth:

One of the tips that many on a keto diet suggest is to have bone broth on hand. It’s nutritious and good to have when the temptations for sweets hit.

This Instant Pot bone broth recipe is a great way to get you started. It’s easy and faster to make in the Instant Pot than on the stovetop. Once you make your bone broth, allow it to cool. Pour it into ice cube trays or a silicone tray and place in the freezer. Once the broth is frozen, pop the cubes out of the tray. Place them into a large resealable freezer bag and seal.

Place the bag back in the freezer. You will now have individual portions of bone broth that can be taken out whenever needed. Using this method, you can pull out enough for a small snack or for an entire meal.

Other ideas for prepping ahead for keto:

If you have favourite keto meals and aren’t sure what can be made ahead and frozen, you can read about what freezes well, what doesn’t and how to adapt your existing recipes. This will allow you to freeze your own best recipes and have them ready to go. This Broccoli Cauliflower Salad isn’t a freezer meal, but it can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. It’s great for lunches or to have as a side dish.

Brown ground beef or turkey and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool. Fill medium sized resealable freezer bags. Remove the excess air. Freeze. This will allow you to pull out the bags when needed.

Make stir fry bags and freeze them. These are so quick and easy to cook up.

Bake keto muffins and freeze them for handy snacks.

Make Ahead Keto Breakfasts:

Smoothie bags in the freezer make for an easy on-the-go breakfast or snack. Be sure to include keto approved ingredients such as berries and spinach.

Make keto pancakes ahead and freeze them. I find that freezing them flat on a cookie sheet first before placing them in resealable freezer bags makes them easier to separate later.

Grain free sausage and cheese biscuits can be frozen and then warmed up in a toaster oven.

Freezable stuffed breakfast biscuits

Low carb breakfast balls can be made ahead and frozen.

Whip up a frittata and freeze (before cooking). Then, simply thaw and bake in a casserole dish or bake individual portions using a muffin tin.

These meal prep sheet pan eggs can’t be made and frozen, but they can be kept in the fridge for up to a week, allowing you to have breakfast ready each morning.

What are keto friendly foods?

meat
seafood
eggs
cheese
butter
heavy cream
seeds
nuts
low carb vegetables in moderation (a general rule of thumb is that vegetables grown above ground are low carb and vegetables grown below ground are higher in carbs and therefore, not keto friendly)
avocados
small amounts of berries

Please note that this is a very simplified version of the keto diet. You can find a more comprehensive list of what to eat on a ketogenic diet here.

101 Crockpot Freezer Meals

By Sharla

The only thing that can make life in the kitchen easier than having freezer meals on hand is having those meals be able to go from the freezer to the crock pot. These 101 crockpot freezer meals will make getting supper on the table a piece of cake.

101 Crockpot Freezer Meals:

I know, I know…101 is a lot of recipes! But I love the convenience of freezer meals and the only thing that makes supper easier than having them made ahead and ready in the freezer is being able to plop them in the slow cooker and have them ready when you get home.

I wanted to include a lot of recipes all in one list so that you would have a variety to choose from. You can choose which recipes to make based on cooking times or based on the ingredients that you know your family will love.

Freezer Crock Pot Chicken Recipes:

These recipes use chicken as their main ingredient. That is about the only similarity they share though. These are not your standard everyday boring chicken meals. They pack a lot of flavour.

Droolworthy Shredded BBQ Chicken with Garlic Mayo. from here on Freezer Meals 101

Lemon Garlic Chicken Dump Recipe from right here on Freezer Meals 101

Our Chili Chicken Dump Recipe

Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos here on Freezer Meals 101

Chicken Cacciatore from here on Freezer Meals 101

This Lemon Mustard Chicken Dump Recipe is super easy to assemble.

Lemon Garlic Chicken at Gwen’s Nest

Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken from Crystal & Co.

5 Chicken Dump Recipes on The Chaos and The Clutter including Caribbean Chicken, Sticky Chicken, Lemon and Garlic, Cantonese, and Chicken Hurry

5 More Chicken Dump Recipes on The Chaos and The Clutter including recipes for Teriyaki Chicken, Lemon Mustard, French Canadian Chicken, Pepper Lime Chicken, and Cindy’s Chicken

Freezer to Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup from The Chaos and The Clutter

Better Than it Sounds Prune and Olive Chicken from The Chaos and The Clutter

Sesame Orange Chicken from Make Ahead Meal Mom

Freezer Meal Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings from Slow Cooker Gourmet

Crockpot Chicken Posole Freezer Meal at Coffee with Us 3

Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken from A Sweet Pea Chef

Freezer to Crock-Pot Chicken Fajitas at The Humbled Homemaker

Slow Cooker Lemon Pesto Chicken at The Magical Slow Cooker

Easy Garlic Chicken over on Living Well Spending Less

Cashew Chicken Recipe from Eating on a Dime

Sweet and Spicy Chicken from The Nourishing Home

Cilantro Lime Chicken from Thriving Home

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas from Crystal & Co.

Honey Garlic Chicken by Spend with Pennies

Slow Cooker Chicken A La King Recipe from Happy Money Saver

Slow Cooker Kung Pao Chicken Recipe from Six Sisters’ Stuff

Chicken Cauliflower Curry on A Sweet Pea Chef

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings from Slow Cooker Gourmet

Chicken Enchilada Soup from The Magical Slow Cooker

BBQ Chicken and Vegetables Recipes from Taste and Tell

Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken from Chef in Training

Honey Sesame Chicken at Fabulessly Frugal

Freezer Crock Pot Beef Recipes:

Beef is another popular main ingredient for freezer meals. From ground beef to stew meat to roast, these recipes cover it all.

Easy Asian Meatballs from here on Freezer Meals 101

Ground Beef Stroganoff from here on Freezer Meals 101

Freezer to Crock Pot Beef Stew Recipe from here on Freezer Meals 101

Beefy Rice Slow Cooker Casserole from here on Freezer Meals 101

Our Stuffed Pepper Soup has the flavours of stuffed peppers, but with far less work.

Beef Curry from right here on Freezer Meals 101

Easy Make Ahead Crock Pot Meatballs on The Appetizer Chick

5 Beef Dump Recipes on The Chaos and The Clutter including recipes for Beef Hash, Chili, Taco Soup, Sloppy Joes, and Spaghetti Sauce

Sloppy Joes Recipe from The Chaos and The Clutter

Chinese Beef and Broccoli from Mommysavers

Crock Pot Taco Chili from Stockpiling Moms

Delicious Mississippi Pot Roast from Life at Cobble Hill

Pasta Fagiola from Sidetracked Sarah

Ropa Vieja from Lauren Greutman

Korean BBQ Beef on Pinch of Yum

Beef Sirloin Tips and Gravy at Six Sisters’ Stuff

Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce from Heidi’s Home Cooking

Broccoli and Beef Slow Cooker Freezer Meal from Large Family Table

Taco Pot Roast from Plain Chicken

Freezer Meat Loaf on Sidetracked Sarah

Crock Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup from Eating on a Dime

Ground Beef and Veggie Stew at Raising Clovers

Beef Enchilada Soup from Plain Chicken

Chihuahua Chili from Good Cheap Eats

Moroccan Meatballs from Skinny Taste (you can also use turkey instead of beef)

Crockpot Freezer Meals with Pork:

BBQ Pulled Pork here on Freezer Meals 101

Corn Chowder with Bacon from here on Freezer Meals 101

Crock Pot Pizza Casserole on The Chaos and The Clutter

Spiced Cranberry Pork Roast from Make Ahead Meal Mom

Country Style BBQ Ribs with Peppers and Onions on The Magical Slow Cooker

Easy Creamy Ranch Pork Chops over on Large Family Table

Boneless Country Style BBQ Ribs from Happy Money Saver

Sausage, Peppers and Onions from Grace and Good Eats

Easy Crock Pot Sausage Gumbo on Happy Money Saver

Smothered Pork Chops from Eating on a Dime

Slow Cooker Sweet Pork from Six Sisters’ Stuff

Cranberry Pork Chop Recipe from The Frugal Girls

Easy Smokey Pulled Pork at Make Ahead Meal Mom

Crock Pot Ham and Northern Beans from Stockpiling Moms

Slow Cooker Honey Parmesan Pork Roast on Sidetracked Sarah

Amish Pork Chops from Raising Clovers

Vegetarian Freezer to Crock Pot Recipes:

Meatless freezer meals are not only for vegetarians. They are great for lighter fare, saving money, cutting down on fat, and of course for those who really are vegetarians!

Chickpea and Vegetable Curry here on Freezer Meals 101

Freezer Spinach Artichoke Dip over on The Appetizer Chick

Crock Pot Tortellini Soup on The Chaos and The Clutter

Vegetable Pesto Minestrone from The Chaos and The Clutter

Pinto Tortilla Soup over on The Chaos and The Clutter

Slow Cooker Mixed Bean Casserole on The Chaos and The Clutter

Freezer Meal Sweet Potato Stew at Pinch of Yum

Freezer Meal Veggie Chili Recipe from Real Food Real Deals

Crockpot Vegetarian Fajitas over on the Pieper Life

Freezer to Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna at Slow Cooker Gourmet

Quinoa Chili with Three Chiles from Good Cheap Eats

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Gumbo from Oh My Veggies

Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup from Sidetracked Sarah

Creamy Tomato Soup at Family Freezer

Stuffed Quinoa Peppers on Pinch of Yum

I know that these crockpot freezer meals will help you make weekday dinners so much easier! It is such peace of mind knowing that you can just open the freezer and pull out supper.

Can I put a freezer meal straight into the crock pot?

A freezer meal can go directly in the slow cooker from the freezer, however, there are a few things to consider.

Most recipes are designed to be thawed first so the cooking instructions are made accordingly. You will need to adjust cooking times if you put the meal in while fully frozen, particularly if there is raw meat involved to ensure cooking safety.

If your meals are frozen in square or rectangular bags or containers, they won’t fit in the crockpot while fully frozen. You can solve this problem very easily by placing the bag or container in a sink or room temperature water for 20 minutes. This will thaw the contents and allow you to dump them into the slow cooker.

If you are looking for a simple way to make freezer to crock pot meals, our Slow Cooker Freezer Meal Plans include prep lists, printable shopping lists, recipes, and printable labels. They take the guesswork out of slow cooker freezer meals.

The Best Freezer Meals for Fall

By Sharla

These are the perfect freezer meals for Fall. You’ll be so glad you made these ahead and have them on hand for those busy weekdays.

Our Best Fall Inspired Freezer Meals:

Apple Pork Chops

Apple Maple Chicken

Beef Curry

Chickpea and Vegetable Curry – The colours in this one scream autumn!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Other Freezer Meals for Fall:

Honey Curried Chicken from Simply Stacie – To make this into a freezer meal, just dump the chicken and all of the other ingredients (be sure to melt the honey first) into a freezer bag, seal and freeze. On the day you want to cook it, thaw and cook according to her instructions.

Be sure to also check out our extensive list of make ahead soup recipes for the fall.