Freezer Skillet Meals

Asian Rice Bowl Freezer Meal

Lunch doesn’t get more satisfying than an Asian Rice Bowl! This one is even better because it can be made ahead. Then it’s so quick to have it on your plate. This is so fast to make both when putting together the freezer meal and when cooking it that it just makes sense to make several at once time.

Asian Rice Bowl:

1 cup snap peas
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp. green onions, sliced
4 oz. sliced water chestnuts*
1 tsp. ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce (use gluten-free if desired)
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. honey, melted
1 tsp. Sriracha sauce
optional: can of baby corn, drained

*Cans of water chestnuts are 8 oz. which is a great excuse to double this recipe and make two bags in the same amount of time it would take you to make one!

Assembly instructions:

Add all the ingredients to a large resealable freezer bag. Take out any excess air, seal, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

Thaw. Stir fry over medium-high heat in a large skillet for 5-7 minutes.
Serve over rice.

If you like things spicy, you can add some extra Sriracha sauce when serving.

Asian Rice Bowl

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: rice, vegetarian

Servings: 4

Calories: 129 kcal

Ingredients

1 cup snap peas
2 carrots peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp. green onions sliced
4 oz. sliced water chestnuts*
1 tsp. ginger minced
4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce use gluten free if desired
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. honey melted
1 tsp. Sriracha sauce
optional: can of baby corn drained

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

Add all the ingredients to a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the excess air, seal, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

Thaw. Stir fry in a large skillet for 5-7 minutes.
Serve over rice.

Recipe Notes

*Cans of water chestnuts are 8 oz. which is a great excuse to double this recipe and make two bags in the same amount of time it would take you to make one!

Check out some of our other easy freezer meals:

Chicken in Mango Cream Sauce over Pasta

Chickpea and Vegetable Curry Shrimp Stir Fry Pack for the Freezer

Easy Chicken Marsala

By Sharla

This easy Chicken Marsala can mostly be made ahead as a freezer meal. It is then heated on the stove in a skillet. This is such a quick recipe to make.

Chicken Marsala is named for its use of Marsala wine. This wine originates in Western Sicily. This dish is a variation of the traditional Italian Scaloppine.

Its bold flavors come from the reduction of the wine as it cooks.

Easy Chicken Marsala Recipe:

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ cup flour
1 cup mushrooms, sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup shallots, diced extremely fine
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped coarsely
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
¾ cup marsala wine
⅓ -½ cup heavy cream (1/3 cup if using 2 chicken breasts, 1/2 cup if using 3)

For the cooking day:

2 Tbsp. of olive oil
optional: more rosemary and parsley for garnish

Pound the chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer. Put the flour onto a plate and place each chicken breast into the flour, flipping it over so that both sides are covered. Place the dredged chicken into a large resealable freezer bag. Seal.

In another freezer bag, add the mushrooms, finely diced shallots, 1/2 of the rosemary, wine, and the heavy cream. Take out the excess air and seal. Staple the bags together above the seal and freeze.

On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw.

Place 1 Tbsp. of oil into the skillet on medium heat and heat. Once the oil is heated up, place the floured chicken breast into the pan. Cook the chicken on each side for 5-8 minutes per side. Add the remaining oil to the skillet and add the contents of the other bag with the chicken.

Lower the heat. Cook for 7-10 minutes. Allow the wine to reduce slightly, cooking until it is nice and fragrant.

Keep a careful eye on the sauce because of the cream, making sure that it doesn’t break. If the sauce does break, add more cream.

Remove skillet from the heat. When you plate the chicken, cover it with the sauce. Garnish with leftover rosemary and parsley.

Serve over angel hair noodles or with rice and a side of vegetables. Asparagus goes beautifully with this meal.

Check out these delicious freezer meals:

Make-Ahead Apple Pork Chops Make-Ahead Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

Easy Chicken Marsala Recipe

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Chicken Marsala

Servings: 4

Calories: 409 kcal

Ingredients

2-3 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
½ cup flour
1 cup mushrooms sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup shallots diced extremely fine
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary chopped coarsely
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
¾ cup marsala wine
⅓ -½ cup heavy cream 1/3 cup if using 2 chicken breasts, 1/2 cup if using 3

For the cooking day:

2 Tbsp. olive oil
optional: more rosemary and parsley for garnish

Instructions

Pound the chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer. Put the flour onto a plate and place each chicken breast into the flour, flipping it over so that both sides are covered.
Place the dredged chicken into a large resealable freezer bag. Seal.
In another freezer bag, add the mushrooms, finely diced shallots, 1/2 of the rosemary, wine, and the heavy cream. Take out the excess air and seal. Staple the bags together above the seal and freeze.
On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw.
Place 1 Tbsp. of oil into the skillet on medium heat and heat. Once the oil is heated up, place the floured chicken breast into the pan. Cook the chicken on each side for 5-8 minutes per side. Add the remaining oil to the skillet and add the contents of the other bag with the chicken.
Lower the heat. Cook for 7-10 minutes. Allow the wine to reduce slightly, cooking until it is nice and fragrant.
Keep a careful eye on the sauce because of the cream, making sure that it doesn't break. If the sauce does break, add more cream.
Remove from the heat. When you plate the chicken, cover it with the sauce. Garnish with leftover rosemary and parsley.

Recipe Notes

Serve over angel hair noodles or with rice and a side of vegetables. Asparagus goes beautifully with this meal.

Make-Ahead Apple Pork Chops

By Sharla

This freezer meal is a little bit more involved in terms of the prep ahead, but it’s worth it. The apples make these Apple Pork Chops the perfect Fall recipe. If you have an apple tree, you can even harvest your own apples to use. These fall flavors are nice to bring indoors.

Apple Pork Chops Recipe:

4 pork chops
4 fresh apples (more if you are using smaller ones from your backyard)
1/2 jar of apple butter
4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. chili powder
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt*

*You can make your own seasoning salt by mixing equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder or you can purchase it from the store.

Season both sides of each pork chop with the seasoning salt blend. Place the pork chops in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the excess air and seal.

Slice and core each apple.

In a large skillet, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter. Add the apple slices and allow them to cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add in 1/2 of the jar of apple butter, brown sugar, and chili powder. Stir well to combine. Pour in the cream and continue to stir. Bring it all to a light boil. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool. Pour the cooled apple mixture into a medium-sized resealable freezer bag and then seal it. Staple the bag to the pork chop bag above the seals and freeze.

On the day of cooking, thaw.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the pork chops to the preheated skillet and cook each side for about 3-4 minutes.

Pour a spoonful of the apple topping on top while it cooks. Pour the rest of the apple mixture into the skillet on top of the pork. Serve hot. Even though this meal requires cooking the apples and sauce ahead of freezing which is more involved in the prep than most of my freezer meals, it is still quite fast to prepare. I like to do a mix of more time-consuming make-ahead meals with simpler ones. It provides more variety in my freezer.

Check out these easy freezer meals that are also great for Fall:

Apple Maple Chicken Dump Recipe

Beef Curry Freezer Meal

Apple Pork Chops Recipe

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pork chops

Servings: 4

Calories: 568 kcal

Ingredients

4 pork chops
4 fresh apples more if you are using smaller ones from your backyard
1/2 jar of apple butter
4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. brown sugar packed
2 tsp. chili powder
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt*

Instructions

Season both sides of each pork chop with the seasoning salt blend. Place the pork chops in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the excess air and seal.
Slice and core each apple.
In a large skillet, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter. Add the apple slices and allow them to cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add in 1/2 of the jar of apple butter, brown sugar, and chili powder. Stir well to combine. Pour in the cream and continue to stir. Bring it all to a light boil. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.
Pour the cooled apple mixture into a medium-sized resealable freezer bag. Seal. Staple the bag to the pork chop bag above the seals and freeze.
On the day of cooking, thaw.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the pork chops to the preheated skillet and cook each side for about 3-4 minutes.
Pour a spoonful of the apple topping on top while it cooks. Pour the rest of the apple mixture into the skillet on top of the pork. Serve hot.

Recipe Notes

*You can make your own seasoning salt by mixing equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder or you can purchase it from the store.

Tequila Lime Shrimp Freezer Meal

By Sharla

I have no idea why this recipe is called Tequila Lime Shrimp because tequila is nowhere to be found in this dish. Alcohol of any kind for that matter is not involved in the making of this meal.

I suppose you could serve it with a glass of wine or in the summer, even a margarita which has tequila in it. But regardless of how it got its unusual name, if you like shrimp, chances are, you’ll like this.

This cooks up so quickly that dinner can be on the table in less than 10 minutes! I know the pictures don’t make it look all that exciting, but it’s got nice flavours. One of my daughters loves to eat this on top of pasta.

Tequila Lime Shrimp Recipe:

1 lb. large, uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped

Place the shrimp into a large resealable freezer bag. Add the other ingredients into the bag. Squish together to combine. Remove the excess air from the bag and seal before freezing.

On the day of cooking, take the bag out to thaw. Stir fry the bag contents in a large skillet on medium-high until the shrimp are heated through and turn pink.

Serve the shrimp with rice, potatoes, or pasta and a side of vegetables. If you want, you can top the shrimp with some additional fresh cilantro and lime wedges.

OR you can cook up the marinated tequila lime shrimp to use inside shrimp tacos. Serve them in a soft tortilla with guacamole. The taste of summer in a simple dish.

And here’s where that tequila could come in. Imagine sitting on your patio with a margarita in a frosted glass while a plate of shrimp tacos is perched on your lap. Yum!

Tequila Lime Shrimp

Course: Main Course

Keyword: shrimp, tequila lime

Servings: 4

Calories: 116 kcal

Ingredients

1 lb large, uncooked shrimp peeled and deveined
3 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp cilantro chopped

Instructions

Place the shrimp into a large resealable freezer bag.
Add the other ingredients into the bag. Squish together to combine. Remove the excess air from the bag and seal before freezing.

Cooking instructions:

Take the bag out to thaw.
Stir fry the bag contents in a large skillet on medium-high until the shrimp are heated through and turn pink.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve the shrimp with rice, potatoes, or pasta and a side of vegetables. If you want, you can top the shrimp with some additional fresh cilantro and lime wedges.
Cook up the marinated tequila lime shrimp to use inside shrimp tacos. Serve them in a soft tortilla with guacamole. The taste of summer in a simple dish.

Other seafood freezer meals you might enjoy:

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Seafood Curry Pasta Freezer Meal

Make-Ahead Shrimp Stir Fry Packets

Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce

By Sharla

In the mood for hearty, rich, comfort food? This Italian sausage pasta sauce fits the bill. It has a delicious blend of flavors and you can easily adjust the spice level according to your tastes. This recipe is one that we invented after I accidentally miscalculated the amount of sausage for a freezer meal session. I bought double what I should have, so I had to come up with recipes to use the extra meat.

One of the recipes I came up with was a simple Sausage and Peppers Skillet Freezer Meal. Another was an Italian Wedding Soup. I still had sausage left after making a few bags of those, so I came up with this sauce.

It was so good that it has gone into our regular freezer meal rotation. The second time we made it, we experimented with throwing some capers into the sauce. Amazing! I only thought of it because we had extra capers leftover from another freezer meal we had made, but it was the perfect addition.

Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce Recipe:

1 lb. Italian sausage made into meatballs and cooked*
3 cups salsa
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced green pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp. capers, drained

Depending on your family’s preference, you can use mild or spicy sausage. We prefer the spicy variety! You can also adjust the spice level of this recipe by using mild, medium, or spicy salsa.

If you’re unsure about the capers, you can try making it without them and adding them to individual plates for those who like them. I was a bit nervous about how they would go over the first time I added them, but my family loved them. They give just the right amount of tang and saltiness to bring this sauce to the next level.

To put this meal together, put the cooked sausage meatballs (see instructions below) and all the other ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove all the excess air you can and seal the bag before freezing.

On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw and heat in a large skillet until heated through. Serve over your favorite type of pasta.

I also like to sprinkle with Parmesan or Asiago cheese and red pepper flakes. A simple salad and some garlic bread would round out this meal nicely.

Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce Recipe:

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: pasta sauce, sausage

Servings: 6

Calories: 322 kcal

Ingredients

1 lb Italian sausage made into meatballs and cooked
3 cups salsa
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced green pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
1-2 Tbsp capers drained

Instructions

Cooking the sausage:

Remove the sausage meat from the casing and cut into 1/2″ slices or squeeze out sausage meatballs and flatten them a bit with your fingers. The squeezing method is messier, but it is easier to remove the casing that way and I find it faster.
Place the sausage meatballs on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350° oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides. You may want to flip them once during baking. Blot the cooked sausage meatballs on a paper towel to remove some of the grease. Allow them to cool a bit before placing them in the freezer bags.

Freezer bag assembly:

put the cooked sausage meatballs and all the other ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag.
Remove all the excess air you can and seal the bag before freezing.

Cooking instructions:

On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw.
Heat in a large skillet until heated through.
Serve over your favorite type of pasta.
Sprinkle with Parmesan or Asiago cheese and red pepper flakes.

How do I make and cook the sausage meatballs?

*Remove the sausage meat from the casing and cut into 1/2″ slices or squeeze out sausage meatballs and flatten them a bit with your fingers. The squeezing method is messier, but it is easier to remove the casing that way and I find it faster.

Place the sausage meatballs on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350° oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides. You may want to flip them once during baking. Blot the cooked sausage meatballs on a paper towel to remove some of the grease. Allow it to cool a bit before placing them in the freezer bags.

You may also like these great freezer cooking recipes:

Freezer Spaghetti Sauce

Easy Ground Beef Stroganoff