Freezer Meal Tips

Freezer Meals for One

Freezer cooking is a great solution for those who live alone or even for those in families who just want individual meals to take to work for lunches. One of the most common things I get asked about is how to make freezer meals for just one or two people.There are many of my readers who are interested in making freezer meals for seniors who live alone or for young adults just moving out on their own. Whether you’re wanting to make meals for yourself, a friend, your parent, or your child, I’ve got all the tips you need to make single serving freezer meals.

These ideas also work well for weekly or monthly meal prep for singles or couples.

I recently put together meals for my mother-in-law and for my dad. They were simple, easy to reheat, and perfect for one person. You can see how I made them step by step in the video below:

Containers for individual freezer meals:

Individual plastic containers – These containers are great for meal prep because they are freezable, microwaveable, and dishwasher safe.

Medium sized (quart size) freezer bags – Plastic freezer bags or reusable silicone bags are a versatile option for freezing meals in smaller portions.

Souper Cubes – These containers are designed for freezer cooking. They are particularly good for soups and stews. You can get them in 1/2 cup, 1 cup, and 2 cup sizes. The 2 cup trays are perfect for things such as individual lasagnas.

Mason Jars – If you use mason jars for soups or stews, be sure to leave space at the top because the liquid will expand as it freezes.

Small foil containers – Foil containers with lids are particularly handy for dishes that need to be cooked in the oven such as pasta bakes, enchiladas, or casseroles.

When it comes to containers, the important thing to remember is to ensure to get out all the extra air that you can. In freezer cooking, air is what causes freezer burn.

Freezer Meal Recipes for One or Two:

These are some of the best make ahead recipes I’ve found that adapt well to being made into individual dinners.

Beef and Bean Burritos – These are all individually wrapped so they can be pulled out one at a time.

Chicken Fried Rice – Make the full recipe and divide into individual containers. Since everything has already been cooked ahead, these dishes will only need to be reheated making them ideal for taking as a work lunch or for dinner.

Chili – I recently made individual keto meals for my husband and I used Souper Cubes to take his keto chili recipe and make 1 cup portions for him to take out as needed.

Simplest Butter Chicken – When I “make” this in single portions, I precook the chicken and I also cook up some basmati or jasmine rice. I then put the butter chicken on on side of the container, the cooked rice on the other, and some frozen peas in the middle. This creates a full balanced meal.

Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas – When I make these for my mother-in-law, I place three enchiladas in a small foil container and then pour the enchilada sauce and shredded cheese on top before adding the lid and freezing.

Mini Meatloaves – These meatloaf muffins are ideal for single servings!

Blue Cheese Hamburgers – Take out one patty at a time to cook up for a great summer meal.

Chicken Asparagus Bake – This is another recipe where all the ingredients are cooked ahead of time. Once you spoon this into individual containers and freeze, each will only need to be reheated.

Hamburger Soup – Simmer the soup on the stove before transferring cooled soup into mason jars or medium sized freezer bags. Pull out and reheat on a chilly day.

Make Ahead Mac and Cheese – Put in smaller containers that can be baked.

Stir Fry Packs – Simply pack these in several quart sized bags instead of one gallon one and then take out and fry up to serve with rice. Such an easy meal!

More freezer meals for one (or two):

Freezer Breakfast Recipes for One or Two People:

How to make single serving freezer meals:

Sit down and plan out which recipes you want to make.
Make a grocery list with the ingredients you’ll need.
Ensure that you have the containers you’ll need.
Make space in your freezer.
Shop for the ingredients (and containers if you don’t already have them).
Prep all similar ingredients together (brown the ground beef, cook and cube the chicken, cut the onions and other vegetables, shred the cheese, cook the rice, etc.)
Set aside a few hours or an entire day to assemble the meals. The time needed will depend on how many recipes you’re making and how involved the recipes are.
Clean up.
Enjoy not having to cook again for a long time!

It’s always more fun to do this with a friend or family member. Get some music playing to keep your energy up, drink plenty of water, and wear good running shoes to protect your feet and back from getting sore. It will be worth it!

With these tips, you will fill your freezer with meals to last you several weeks or even months.

You may also enjoy reading:

Complete Guide to Freezer Meal Prep

By Sharla

Taking time ahead to prep your ingredients and your kitchen for freezer cooking will make assembling the meals go so much faster and more efficiently. This guide to freezer meal prep contains everything you need.

Preparing your kitchen

Make room in your freezer.
Wash the dishes and set out tools such as measuring spoons, measuring cups, spatulas, and large bowls so that you’ll have easy access.
Wipe down your counters.
Print off recipes.
Create stations by setting out what you’ll need for each meal including the recipe and freezer bags or containers.

Brown the Ground Beef, Ground Turkey, and Sausage

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. Use a ladle to take out the excess liquid or drain the meat. A big thank you to my friend Kimberly Walker, who is a mom of 10 and a freezer meal veteran for sharing this tip with me.

If you don’t have a large counter top electric roaster, fry up your ground beef in a skillet, breaking it up with a Masher & Smasher as you go. Season it with a bit of salt and pepper. Drain the fat and store in a container with lid until ready to use.

We typically use large pots with lids to store our cooked ground beef overnight in the fridge.Remember: 2 1/3 cups of browned hamburger is 1 lb. This measurement will help you when you’re assembling your meals. You can keep a 1 cup measuring cup in the cooked beef and scoop out into the bags as needed.

Chopping, Mincing, and Slicing Onions

When you are chopping, mincing, and slicing dozens and dozens of onions, you need a better system than just using a knife and a cutting board. This is how we prep our onions for freezer cooking. It’s one of those things that’s better to show you, so watch the video below to see exactly how we do it.

Know ahead how many onions you need to be minced, how many diced, and how many sliced. I make note of this while I’m compiling my shopping list.

Set up a large cutting board and bring out your mandolin.
Cut both ends off each onion.
Peel the onions and discard the skins in the compost.
For minced onions, use the julienne tool on a mandolin. For chopped onions, use the french fry tool on the mandolin.
Be sure to use the safety guard.
Run an onion down the mandolin repeatedly until it is all sliced.
Use a knife to chop the sliced onion to complete the mincing or dicing.
Place the onions in a bowl with a lid or plastic container with a lid for using when you assemble your freezer meals.

Chopping Vegetables

You’ll want to cut everything ahead of assembling your freezer meals. This includes:

peeling and slicing carrots
chopping or slicing red, yellow, and green peppers
slicing mushrooms
dicing zucchini
getting broccoli or cauliflower into florets
slicing green onions

Store them in the fridge in bowls with lids, covered plastic containers, or freezer bags until you add them into your meals.

Shredding Cheese

Shredding cheese is usually pretty straightforward except when you have to shred 40 cups at a time! There are a few tricks that make shredding cheese easier and faster.

Cut the cheese into blocks that will fit into your food processor.
Use the shredder attachment.
Add some corn starch so that it doesn’t clump and stays nice and loose in the container.
Put the shredded cheese in a bowl. Add another tsp. or two of corn starch for every 4 cups or so of shredded cheese and give it a shake.
Shred the next chunk of cheese and continue the process until all the cheese is shredded.

Cooking Chicken Ahead

If you’re doing a variety of recipes for your freezer meals, you will likely have some that call for raw chicken and some that call for cooked chicken. The cooked chicken is then cubed or shredded before adding into the meal.

I’ve found that the fastest way to cook chicken on prep day is to put chicken breasts or thighs in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350° or 375° oven for about 45 minutes. Cool slightly before chopping or shredding depending on what your recipes call for.

Cooking Large Quantities of Bacon

Bacon is another thing that can be cooked in a large electric roaster if you have one. If you don’t or if you’re already using yours to cook your ground beef, you can cook your bacon in the oven on a cookie sheet.

The trick is in twisting the bacon so that you can fit more than twice as many slices on the cookie sheet!

Put the cookie sheet in the oven and bake at 375° until it’s reached the desired level of doneness. I would never dream of telling anyone how long to cook it for because there are two camps when it comes to bacon. Those who like it crispy and those who don’t!

Other Prep

Anything you can do ahead will save you time and energy on the day you assemble your meals. Take a look through your recipes and see what else can be done the day before. Cube the ham, roll the meatballs, cube or shred the cooked chicken, anything to save time the next day.

I know prep can be a big job, but you will reap the rewards on the day you go to assemble your freezer meals and most of the work is already done for you.

The Best Tips to Organize Your Freezer

By Sharla

Have you been wondering how to organize your freezer? Maybe when you look in the freezer, it’s a hot mess and you’re not even sure where to start. The good news is that you’re one step ahead of the game because you know that your freezer needs to be organized. It’s just a matter of HOW to organize it so that it stays that way and you save yourself some work down the road.

How to Organize Your Freezer

Here is a step by step guide to organizing your freezer in a way that is easier to have it stay that way. We’re also sharing some great little tips along the way.

Take Everything Out of Your Freezer

The first step to organizing your freezer is to take everything out of it. If all the frozen food is still in the freezer, it’s going to be impossible to see everything that’s in there. Because you are just taking it out for a short period of time, you don’t have to worry about the food going back. Just remember, the first step is to take everything out of the freezer.

Do a Quick Wipe Down of Your Freezer

It gets dirtier than you think in there! Do a quick wipe down. You may be surprised as to how much grime can grow in a fridge, even though the temperature is freezing. I’d suggest wiping down all the grime so that you don’t have to look at it the next time you open the freezer.

One tip here is to use a warm (almost hot) cloth when doing the wiping or the wet cloth will just stick to the freezer.

Defrost Your Freezer if it Needs it

This step is optional. Whether or not it is necessary will depend on what type of freezer you have and how much ice buildup is in your freezer. If you’re going to be following this step, your food will be sitting out for longer, so I suggest you place it in a cooler with ice or if you live somewhere that is below freezing outside, you can place the food is a box outside.

There are a few methods of defrosting depending on the type of freezer you have. Read about the methods and how to defrost your freezer here.

Throw Out the Bad Stuff

While you are in your freezer, knee-deep, this is the time to throw out the bad stuff. You can throw out old meat that has been in your freezer for longer than you can remember. This is also a great time to rid your freezer of anything that is freezer burnt. (Read about how to prevent freezer burn so that this doesn’t happen to you next time.)

If you haven’t eaten it in two years, you are most likely not going to eat it anytime soon. Feel free to toss out anything that you don’t think is edible.

Stock Up on Organizational Tools

If you want to go a step further in your freezer organization, then you may want to invest in some organizational items. Purchasing the right items can take your freezer organization just a little further.

Plastic bins – these are such an inexpensive way to organize your freezer. You can get plastic bins from the Dollar Store. Use these to store small items such as canned juice concentrate, individual steaks, small packs of fruits or veggies,
Magazine holders – Magazine holders are an excellent way to store items flat in the freezer.

Label the Items in Your Freezer

How many times do you just throw some food in the freezer without a label? Stop doing that because then you have no idea WHAT the item is or when you put it in there. When you label an item you are making your life a whole lot easier! You don’t need a fancy labeler to organize the items in your freezer, a permanent marker works just fine!

Freeze Things Flat

A big mistake a lot of us make, when we are trying to organize our freezers is freezing items as they are. If you are freezing soups, casseroles, fruit, or vegetables, it’s wise to freeze them flat. Make sure you label them items and then stack them up! Just because you freeze it flat, doesn’t mean it will taste differently.

Freeze Smaller Portions

When it comes to your freezer, you may be unmotivated to get anything out of your freezer and deal with it. However, if you freeze smaller portions, you are able to get to the items a lot easier. Freezing small portions makes more sense if you want to unthaw smaller portions at a time. Of course, this doesn’t work for everyone. However, it’s not a bad idea to keep in mind.

Know What’s In Your Freezer

You may think it’s weird to take inventory of what’s in your freezer, I think it’s smart. Whatever works best for you, take inventory and know what’s in your freezer. You may have 4 bags of chicken and 4 bags of corn. If you write that down, you’ll know what’s in your freezer. From there, you can plan meals and know what’s in there without causing more work for yourself.

You can use this Freezer Meal Inventory sheet to help you keep track. Then you’ll know at a glance what you have left. I suggest that you print it off and put it in a plastic sheet protector before hanging it. That way, you can update it using a dry erase marker.

These 9 tips for organizing your freezer are going to help you to get organized and stay organized. You don’t want to pass up any of these steps because I feel like it’s going to make your life easier. I do think that organizing a freezer is a bigger job than most people are willing to do. However, if you take the time and just do it, you will save yourself a lot of time and money down the road.

Good luck!

You might also find these articles helpful:

How to Prevent Freezer Burn

The Quick Start Guide to Freezer Meals Freezer Meal Hacks to Save You Time and Money

How to Prevent Freezer Burn

By Sharla

It is possible to prevent freezer burn. Have you ever had the night time munchies and needed a sweet snack? You remember that half-gallon of ice cream that’s tucked away in your freezer and you prepare to get a scoop or two, only to discover there are ice crystals covering your midnight snack. Talk about a downer! This can be not only a huge letdown, but also a waste of money. While you won’t get sick from eating freezer-burned food, that ice cream has certainly lost its appeal. How do you stop your food from becoming freezer burned? These tips will help ensure that freezer-burned ice cream doesn’t haunt you again.

How Does Freezer Burn Happen?

In order to prevent freezer burn, it’s important to know why it keeps happening. Freezer burn is the result of air coming into contact with the surfaces of food and causes moisture to escape from the food, drying it out. It can even change the colour of your food with greyish-brown spots. There are also a few other reasons why your food might be becoming freezer burned.

While it is technically safe to eat food that has freezer burn, it is not appealing visually or tastewise. Having to throw food away wastes money and it’s always a disappointment to discover freezer burnt food. Therefore, it is best to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Preventing Freezer Burn

Maintain the Right Temperature

Make sure that you have your temperature dial set to the right temperature to make sure that’s not part of the problem. Set the dial to low or cold. Freezers are meant to keep food frozen and under 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Food that reaches temperatures warmer than this are susceptible to freezer burn.

Keep a Full Freezer

You might think that the fuller the freezer, the harder your freezer is having to work to keep your food frozen. That’s actually not true. It works more efficiently when it’s not half-empty. There’s actually less warm air in your freezer when you have it stuffed. Your freezer doesn’t have to work as hard when it’s stuffed to the gills with other frozen foods.

Keeping your freezer more full also lowers the utility bill as your freezer doesn’t take as much energy to keep its contents frozen. This is yet another way that making freezer meals can save your family money.

Maintain Air Flow

While you do want to maintain a full freezer, you don’t want your food blocking the airflow. Make sure there’s space at the top and bottom of your freezer where airflow is not being blocked. This ensures that your freezer works optimally.

Freeze Foods at the Right Time

Don’t make the mistake of putting hot steak or pork chops directly into the freezer for future enjoyment at a later date. Because you won’t be able to enjoy them later. Putting warm or hot food into the freezer is a mistake which can also lead to freezer burn.

Instead, put your food in the refrigerator for an hour or two before moving it to the freezer, allowing it to chill first.

Use the Right Containers and Remove Excess Air

This is the number one thing you can do to prevent freezer burn. It’s important to make sure that you package your food in air-tight containers, and freezer wrap food when you store it in the freezer. Make sure that air is not being left in storage bags. There are some great containers that will do the trick like Ziploc freezer containers and Ziploc freezer storage bags.

Be sure to take out as much excess air as you can before freezing. One tip is to close a freezer bag almost all the way and then insert a straw in the tiny opening left and suck out the air before fully sealing. Vacuum sealing is another way to ensure there isn’t much air in there.

If something needs to be in a casserole type dish, place plastic wrap directly on top of the food and then place a lid or aluminum foil on top of the dish. This helps keep extra air away from the food.

Freeze Appropriate Portions

It’s also important to freeze your food in appropriate meal portions. This way, you’re not pulling out an entire batch of something, only to put it back in the freezer. Repeated exposure to air will cause freezer burns too. Make smaller batches by separating them into smaller containers or bags.

Don’t Open the Freezer Door So Often

This is another tip to keep in mind. Every time you open the freezer door, you’re allowing warm air in, increasing the possibility of freezer-burned food. Do your best to keep the freezer door shut as much as possible.

Our new freezer has an alarm that sounds when the door is kept open too long or when one of our kids accidentally don’t shut it all the way. That’s been a handy feature.

Don’t Keep Food In the Freezer Too Long

While putting food in the freezer may extend the life of your favourite slab of meat, that doesn’t mean that it will last forever. Uncooked frozen meat such as steak, roasts, and pork chops should remain in your freezer for no more than a year.

Ground meat, no more than 4 months, while frozen cooked meats, only 3 months. In general, freezer meals can be stored for 3-6 months.

Put dates on the container or freezer bags to help you stay on top of how long certain food has been in your freezer. You can print off our Freezer Meal Inventory sheet and keep it in the door of your freezer to help you keep track.

I suggest that you keep it in a plastic sheet protector and use a dry erase marker to mark off which of your freezer meals you’ve used. This also helps you to be able to see at a glance what you have left.

Freezing Greens

If you’re wanting to freeze your vegetables, a great way of doing this is by boiling them for 30 seconds. Then put them directly into an ice bath before putting them into the freezer. You should be able to put them in a resealable freezer bag where they will be safe for up to 6 to 8 months.

These are a few methods you can use to keep your foods from becoming freezer burned. Have you ever had expensive meat or food products tampered with by freezer burn, costing you a lot of money? What other ways have you discovered to prevent freezer burn on your food?

These tips will also help:

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How to Freeze Rhubarb

By Sharla

Fresh rhubarb is only available for a limited time each year. Once you know how to freeze rhubarb, you’ll be able to enjoy it later in the year. You can also use it in many delicious recipes. Both my neighbour Christie and my friend Denise grow rhubarb in their gardens. Fortunately, this means that I am the lucky recipient of fresh rhubarb every year. I am super thankful for this as I’m a fan of this unusual vegetable.

If you aren’t fortunate enough to have a neighbour or friend that grows it and gifts it to you, you can find it at Farmer’s Markets and even sometimes in the produce section of the grocery store when it is in season.

If you’re a fan of this vegetable too, there’s great news. Rhubarb freezes beautifully. Freezing rhubarb is very easy as it doesn’t require blanching beforehand.

How to freeze rhubarb:

Method for if you’re wanting to be able to take out smaller amounts of rhubarb from the bag:

Cut the leaves and the tails off the rhubarb stalks.
Wash the stalks.
Dry them well using a tea towel or paper towels.
Using a sharp knife, slice into 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces.
Place the slices on a cookie sheet in a single layer and place the baking sheet in the freezer.
Once frozen, transfer the rhubarb pieces into a large resealable freezer bag.
Remove the excess air from the bag, seal, and freeze.
For best results, close the bag almost all the way and then insert a straw in the opening to suck out whatever air is left. This will prevent freezer burn. Do this whenever you take some rhubarb out and are resealing the bag.

Method for how to freeze rhubarb for use in recipes:

Cut the leaves and the tails off the rhubarb stalks.
Wash the stalks.
Dry them well using a tea towel or paper towels.
Using a sharp knife, slice into 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces.
Measure into 1 or 2 cups and transfer to a medium sized resealable freezer bag.*
Label the bag “1 cup” or “2 cups” so that you don’t need to re-measure.
Remove the excess air, seal, and freeze. For best results and to prevent freezer burn, close the bag almost all the way shut and insert a straw in the opening and use that to suck out any air that is left.
When needed, dump the contents of the bag into the recipe you need it for.

*I measure all of mine into 2 cups because if a recipe calls for one cup, I just double it as we have a large family.You don’t need to thaw the rhubarb before adding it into a recipe.

Once frozen, rhubarb keeps for up to one year as long as the air is removed from the bag.

Ideas for using your frozen rhubarb:

In case you have rhubarb sitting in your freezer and aren’t sure what to do with it, I’ve gathered some ideas and recipes for you.

Add it to smoothies. My husband loves the tartness this gives.
Rhubarb muffins
Easy Rhubarb Cake
Rhubarb crisp or any variation such as combining it with strawberry, apple, or other fruits. I’m partial to pairing it with Saskatoon berries myself!
soda
Rhubarb compote
Rhubarb Dream Bars
ice cream (homemade or as a topping)
jam
stewed rhubarb
Rhubarb Cinnamon Buns
in salads
Rhubarb pie
salsa
pickles
Rhubarb & Date Chutney
Rhubarb Platz (I had never heard of this before until my neighbour introduced me to her delicious squares)

You may also be interested in reading:

The Quick Start Guide to Freezer Meals