There is nothing quite like standing back at the end of a freezer meal day and admiring the stack of meals. Knowing that you won’t have to cook supper again for days, weeks, or even months is one of the best feelings in the world! Having meals made ahead is already such a time saver, but these little freezer meal tips add up so they will make you even more efficient.

1. Clean your kitchen before you start. This may seem obvious, but starting with a clean canvas will make clean-up less overwhelming later.
2. Make room in your freezer before you begin so that you’ll have room to put all of those great new meals you’ll be making!
3. Invest in an electric can opener. I cannot stress this enough. I wish we had gotten ours years sooner. When I think of all those freezer meal days where my wrist and thumb were so sore by the end of it, I can’t believe I didn’t make the small investment in a good electric can opener sooner. It’s also a huge time saver. Another bonus is that my kids love operating it. Opening cans is an easy way for my kids to feel involved and makes one less thing for me to do.
4. During your prep and while you assemble your meals, wear comfortable shoes. This is another tip that I cannot stress enough. This will be the difference between having very sore feet, shoulders and back and not. I even use an anti-fatigue gel mat in the kitchen by the sink for all the standing I do that day.
5. Make a good, energetic playlist for your freezer meal day. Good music helps the time go by faster and keep your mood upbeat.
6. Choose a friend to make freezer meals with or even a small group of friends. This helps the time go faster and maximizes your time. You can assign people to “stations” and have them assemble a large quantity of the same recipe. This also makes the experience a lot of fun. I make my freezer meals with my friend Christie, who also happens to be my neighbour. We get so much visiting in while we make our meals and we’ve gotten such a good system going that we just keep getting faster and faster.
7. For ground beef freezer meals, put 20 – 30 lbs of ground beef into a large counter top electric roaster and let it cook on 200/250° overnight. In the morning, it’s browned and ready to use. You’ll need to use a ladle to take out the excess liquid or drain the meat. This tip (and picture) is from my dear friend Kimberly Walker, who is a mom of 10 and a freezer meal veteran.
8. For recipes that call for cooked diced chicken, bake chicken breasts on a cookie sheet at 350° for 45 minutes and then chop. This allows you to cook a lot of chicken at the same time.
9. Use printable labels and add the date to them so you can see at a glance which meals to use first. A freezer meal inventory sheet can also be useful for this.
10. Dump recipes are the way to save the most time when assembling freezer meals. You can easily make ten meals in an hour or less. The downside of course is that there is less variety than using a freezer meal plan, but for speed, they just can’t be beat!
11. If you’re making dump meals with a friend, have one of you fill the bags with the protein while the other makes the sauces to pour in. This makes things go even faster.
12. Track your progress as you go and celebrate the victories. When you’re in the thick of a big freezer meal day, it can be easy to lose sight of why you’re doing it. You may start to feel discouraged. You can choose to keep track of your progress by crossing the recipes off a list or by keeping a tally sheet. At the end, celebrate your accomplishment! You can do this by giving yourself a treat such as chocolate or a glass of wine or going out for dinner with a friend, particularly if you and the friend made the freezer meals together.

Hopefully you’ll find these freezer meal tips helpful. If you’re new to freezer meals, you might want to read The Quick Start Guide to Freezer Meals. You can also check out our library of freezer meal recipes.

Have you wanted to try making freezer meals but not known where to start? The quick start guide to freezer meals is here to help! Freezer meals are the smartest thing I have ever done to save myself time, money and sanity. I love not having to decide what to make for supper every day.

In this quick start guide to freezer meals, you will find everything you need to try this method of cooking and see if it’s right for your family. I thought the easiest way to explain this would be to answer some of the most common questions I get about freezer meals.

How should I start?

Planning out a full day of freezer meals is daunting. Even doing a one hour mini session could be too overwhelming for some. My suggestion for those who want to try their hand and freezer meals but not jump in headfirst is simple. Take a few of your family’s favourite recipes that would freeze well and double them. Eat one for supper that night and freeze the other. After a week, you’ll have supper for the next week.

My guess is that after experiencing that second week of being able to eat ready-made meals without having to do any cooking, you’ll be ready to jump into making large batches of freezer meals in no time!

What recipes work best?

If you are wanting to use your own recipes, there are some that adapt well to being frozen. Things such as chili, taco meat, spaghetti sauce, lasagna, sloppy joes, chicken with marinades, soups, and casseroles are all examples of recipes that double easily and freeze well.

Once you are ready to branch out beyond your own recipes, you can find new ones to try in our freezer friendly recipes or dive right into our freezer meal plans that include shopping lists and printable labels.

Here are a few recipes that I recommend starting with:

The Best Ever Freezer Meal Spaghetti Sauce

Make Ahead Beef Fajitas

BBQ Shredded Chicken

Freezer to Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup

Sloppy Joes Freezer Meal

Pizza Casserole

Pinto Tortilla Soup

What can I freeze?

Many foods can be frozen. Not all foods freeze and reheat well, mostly due to texture issues. There are some adaptations that can be made to account for this. One example is that milk inside a freezer meal recipe does not reheat well but a substitute of evaporated milk or a high fat cream can be used in its place. You can read a more comprehensive explanation of what freezes well here or you can download this free cheatsheet about what freezes, what doesn’t and how to make adjustments in recipes.

What containers should I use?

My preference for freezer meal containers is using large resealable freezer bags because I find that I can fit the most in my freezer that way. Some people use aluminum foil pans so that the container can go directly in the oven. I find I can’t find nearly as many of those in my freezer and I don’t like the garbage it creates.

Some people are concerned about storing food in plastic. Alternatives include glassware, silicone containers, and mason jars. The freezer bags that I use are BPA-free and safe for using with food for freezing.

What supplies do I need?

If you are just doubling your usual recipes, the only supplies you will need are what you would normally use plus the storage containers. If you are planning an actual freezer meal session or full day, you will need large bowls, measuring spoons, measuring cups, knives, sharpies, resealable freezer bags, and a can opener. I highly suggest that you invest in an electric can opener. It saves a lot of time but also it saves your wrists. I wish I had bought mine sooner. It has been a worthwhile investment for freezer meal assembly.

There are a few other things that are not necessary to have but do make things easier. Labels are great as you can fit a lot more information on them such as the cooking instructions and even serving suggestions. A Sharpie works for labelling until you get to the point of printing out labels. A mandolin or food processor speed up the time spent prepping vegetables such as onions and peppers but are not a requirement. Knives will do the trick but are not as fast.

I don’t think it’s necessary to invest in those contraptions that hold your freezer bags up. It works just as well to place your freezer bag inside a plastic juice jug or container and fold the top of the bag over it.

How long do freezer meals keep?

The general rule of thumb is that you can store your meals in the freezer for 3-6 months. Removing the excess air from the bags will help prevent freezer burn and make the meals last longer.

Starting by doubling some of your tried and true recipes and freezing them. I think you’ll find that the freedom that comes with having meals ready to go every day will be life-changing. That may sound extreme, but take it from me, a busy mom of 7, truly life changing!

Filling your freezer really is as simple as that. This guide to freezer meals will hopefully give you what you need to gain a bit of confidence and give it a try for yourself. Let me know how it goes!