Freezer Meal Side Dishes

The holidays are such a busy time. Anything you can cross off your list by doing it ahead of time will take some of the stress out of things. This cranberry sauce can be made weeks or months ahead to serve at your holiday meal.

Now you are of course welcome to just open up a can of cranberry sauce, but this is one side dish where you can taste the difference between store bought and homemade. And it’s so worth the extra effort to make homemade cranberry sauce. 

Using just 4 ingredients, you can make your own cranberry sauce and freeze it until you’re ready to use it.

This freezes well for up to 3-6 months. Imagine making this one afternoon in late summer and knowing that you have one of your holiday side dishes already made and ready to go!

Make Ahead Cranberry Sauce Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. bag cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup apple cider

Assembly instructions:

1. Add cranberries, sugar, water and cider to a stovetop pot and heat on medium heat.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes. Continue stirring regularly until the cranberries fall apart and the mixture reduces to a thick, chunky sauce.
4. Cool to room temperature.
5. Pour into a medium sized resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

Serving instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Transfer to a bowl and serve with your turkey, pork, ham, or chicken. 

Ways to use any leftover cranberry sauce:

• Glaze meats.
• Spread it on toast or bagels like jam.
• Pour over cream cheese or brie and serve with crackers.
• Heat up and pour over cakes.
• Bake into fruit muffins.
• Combine with bbq sauce over chicken wings.
• Mix it into oatmeal.
• Spread on the bread or a croissant for a delicious turkey and brie sandwich. 
• Make these tasty cranberry-brie bites as an appetizer.

Check out these other make ahead side dishes for your holiday meal:

• Mac and Cheese
• Buffalo Ranch Cauliflower and Broccoli
• Butternut Squash
• Southern Cornbread
• Honey Maple Glazed Carrots
• Rice Pilaf

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Make Ahead Cranberry Sauce

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cranberry sauce, holiday meal

Ingredients

• 12 oz. bag cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup apple cider

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Add cranberries, sugar, water and cider to a stovetop pot and heat on medium.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes. Continue stirring regularly until the cranberries fall apart and the mixture reduces to a thick, chunky sauce.

4. Cool to room temperature.
5. Pour into a medium sized resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

Serving instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Transfer to a bowl and serve with your turkey, pork, ham, or chicken.

These Mexican cornbread muffins are a nutritious side dish that can even be made ahead and frozen. They’ve got such nice flavours. You can even add a bit of extra kick if you like.

Having make ahead cornbread muffins in your freezer ready to go means dinner just got easier. If you are looking for a more classic cornbread, you can check out our Southern Cornbread recipe.

Mexican Cornbread Muffins Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 15 oz. box of Cornbread Mix
• 1 jalapeño, chopped*
• red pepper, chopped
• orange pepper, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

*If you prefer things less spicy, remove the seeds and membrane of the jalapeño.

Assembly Instructions:

1. Start by putting the corn bread mix, egg, milk, and melted butter into a large mixing bowl.
2. Whisk until smooth.
3. Fold in the chopped vegetables and shredded cheese.
4. Grease a muffin tin.
5. Fill each muffin tin halfway.
6. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.
7. Either serve warm or allow to cool (for best results, cool on a cooling rack) and place in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the excess air and seal before freezing.

Reheating Instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. If you want to serve warm, place as many jalapeño cornbread muffins as you are planning to serve on a paper towel lined plate. 
3. Microwave until warm.

How do I serve cornbread muffins?

Serve your savoury muffins as a side dish along such main courses as:

• Baked Beans
• Country Style Ribs
• Chili
• Soup
• Stew

Some people like to spread butter on their cornbread muffins, so it’s a good idea to set some butter on the table to provide that option.

What’s the difference between cornbread and corn muffins?

Corn muffins are often made as a dessert as they are sweeter whereas cornbread muffins are intended as a side dish or a savoury snack. Personally, I prefer savoury to the sweet. 

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Mexican Cornbread Muffins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: cornbread

Ingredients

• 15 oz. box of Corn Bread Mix
• 1 jalapeño chopped*
• red pepper chopped
• orange pepper chopped
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup Pepper Jack cheese shredded

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

1. Start by putting the corn bread mix, egg, milk, and melted butter into a large mixing bowl.
2. Whisk until smooth.
3. Fold in the chopped vegetables and shredded cheese.
4. Grease a muffin tin.
5. Fill each muffin tin halfway.
6. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.
7. Either serve warm or allow to cool and place in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the excess air and seal before freezing.

Reheating Instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. If you want to serve warm, place as many jalapeño cornbread muffins as you are planning to serve on a paper towel lined plate.
3. Microwave until warm.

Recipe Notes

*If you prefer things less spicy, remove the seeds and membrane of the jalapeño.

Check out some of our other make ahead side dishes:

Old Fashioned Southern Cornbread

Honey Maple Glazed Carrots

Make Ahead Mac and Cheese

These Dr. Pepper baked beans can be served as a side dish or as a main course. With only 5 ingredients, this is an easy recipe. Make it ahead as a freezer meal or serve immediately.

Dr. Pepper may be a popular carbonated beverage to some (or “pop” as we call it here in Canada!), but it’s also an ingredient I like to use in cooking. We have our Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork and our Dr. Pepper Crockpot Ribs. The pop tenderizes the protein and also gives it such a nice flavour. If you’re really a fan, you can even make Dr. Pepper Cake! These baked beans are a great dish to take to a summer potluck or BBQ. This is a stick-to-your-ribs kind of dish, so is also great for camping.

Dr. Pepper Baked Beans Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 28 oz. can baked beans
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Dr. Pepper

Assembly instructions:

1. Combine baked beans, cooked and crumbled bacon, chopped onion, and brown sugar.
2. Add 1/4 cup Dr.Pepper.
3. Mix well.
4. Pour into a large resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air. Seal and freeze. (If you want to save on clean up, you can just pour everything directly into the bag and squish to combine before sealing.)

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Pour into a 2 quart baking dish.
3. Bake, uncovered for 1 hour at 350° or until bubbly.
4. Serve.

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Dr. Pepper Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 28 oz. can baked beans
• 4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Dr. Pepper

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Combine baked beans, cooked and crumbled bacon, chopped onion, and brown sugar.
2. Add 1/4 cup Dr.Pepper.
3. Mix well.

4. Pour into a large resealable freezer bag. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Pour into a 2 quart baking dish.
3. Bake, uncovered for 1 hour at 350° or until bubbly.
4. Serve.

Check out these other make ahead side dishes:

Freezer Garlic Bread

Honey Maple Glazed Carrots

Old Fashioned Southern Cornbread

Who doesn’t like good old fashioned cornbread? Whether you are looking for a side dish for your next dinner or holiday feast or wanting to eat cornbread for cornbread’s sake, you’ve come to the right place! This skillet Southern cornbread is everything you’re looking for.

You can serve this on its own, deliciously drizzled with honey or alongside dishes like chili, soups, stews, baked beans, or pulled pork.

Can you freeze cornbread?

Cornbread freezes beautifully! Wrap the cornbread tightly in plastic wrap and place in a large freezer bag. Seal and freeze. It lasts 3-4 months in the freezer. Reheat or serve at room temperature.

If you want to be able to take out individual pieces, then slice the cornbread before wrapping and freezing.

What’s another name for cornbread?

Now I didn’t grow up in the South, so I’m sure there are some stories behind these names but most of them just sound funny to me! Cornbread is also called Journey Cakes, Hoe Cakes, Johnnycake, Spoonbread, Corn Pone, and Indian Pone.

Corn Dodgers or Hush Puppies are basically when cornbread is made in a ball or fritter shape.

Skillet Southern Cornbread Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup self-rising corn meal
• 1 cup flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 ¼ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• ¼ to ½ cup vegetable or olive oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Pour the oil in an 8-inch cast iron skillet and place it in the oven to heat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together corn meal, flour, sugar, and baking soda.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs until well blended.
4. Stir together the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. The mixture will be somewhat thick.
5. Carefully remove the skillet from the oven and add the batter to the skillet.
6. Immediately return the skillet to the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven.
8. Cover the skillet with a plate and flip the cornbread onto the plate. Cut into wedges.
9. Serve warm or allow to cool and wrap in plastic wrap before placing in a freezer bag and freezing until needed.

It’s so nice to have a few of these in the freezer so that you always have it ready to serve as a side dish for your weeknight meal or holiday dinner such as Thanksgiving. If you want to get creative, you can even use this recipe to create cornbread stuffing.

What goes with cornbread?

• on its own with jam or honey
• BBQ Baked Beans
• Classic Chili
• White Chicken Chili
• Pulled Pork
• Sausage and Zucchini Soup
• Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken Breasts
• Chicken Paprikash Stew
• White Bean and Chicken Soup
• Taco Chili
• Beef Stew
• Shrimp Boil
• Tomato Soup
• Mexican Pinto Beans
• Spinach and Sausage White Bean Soup
• Reggae Gumbo
• any stews
• any soups

Check out these other make ahead side dishes:

Honey Maple Glazed CarrotsMake Ahead Rice Pilaf

Make Ahead Mac and Cheese