Freezer to Crock Pot

Soups and stews are always a popular dinner choice in our house. That’s because they’re quick and easy to prepare and to cook. With the help of this make ahead beef and barley stew, you can prepare and freeze a full meal for your family with just a few minutes of prep work. And when you’re ready to serve your stew, just thaw the ingredients and dump them in the slow cooker to get dinner started in a flash!I find that soups and stews are comforting, especially in the winter. Some of our favourites are Corn Chowder, Chicken Paprikash Stew, Hamburger Soup, and Rustic Beef Stew. 

Beef and Barley Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds round steak, cubed
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 onion
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, quartered
• 3/4 cup pearl barley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups beef broth

Freezing instructions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag.
2. Remove excess air from the bag, then seal and place in the freezer.

Serving instructions:

1. Transfer the stew ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw.
2. Pour the ingredients into the bowl of a slow cooker and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours.
3. To cook on the stovetop, pour the ingredients into a large stockpot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat for one hour. If the soup begins to boil, reduce the heat to low to simmer until the cook time is up.

Can I Make Beef Stew and Freeze It?

While precooking your meals and freezing them is a great way to speed up the cooking process of many make ahead meals, precooking beef stew before freezing it isn’t a good idea. But that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare make ahead beef stew!

In fact, the prep work for putting together freezer-friendly stew is quick and easy. That’s because you don’t need to cook any of the stew ingredients before freezing them. Simply chop the meat and veggies into bite-sized pieces and transfer everything to a freezer bag.

Store the bag flat in the freezer until you’re ready to heat up your beef stew. After that, all you have to do is allow the ingredients to thaw, then heat them in up in the slow cooker or on the stovetop.

Do I Need to Cook Pearl Barley Before Adding it to Stew?

Using barley in your stew recipe is a great way to create a thick and hearty stew. But whether or not to cook the barley before mixing it with other soup ingredients is a question many cooks have as they’re preparing classic beef and barley stew.

The answer to this question really depends on preference. If you enjoy a thick stew, add the barley at the beginning of the cook time. Using this method, there’s no need to precook the barley before mixing it into the soup. The barley will cook along with the rest of the ingredients, causing the broth in the soup to thicken as the barley cooks.

But if you would rather not have the barley thicken your stew, you can prepare the barley separate from the rest of the stew ingredients. Just boil the barley separately in a pot of water for 20 to 30 minutes. After that, rinse the barley and add it to the stew just before you’re ready to serve it.

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Beef and Barley Stew

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

 

Course: Main Course

Keyword: beef

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs. round steak cubed
• 4 carrots peeled and sliced
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 green pepper diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms quartered
• 3/4 cup pearl barley
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• ½ tsp. basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups beef broth

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag.

2. Remove excess air from the bag, seal and freeze.

Slow Cooker Instructions:

1. Thaw.

2. Pour the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours.

Stovetop Cooking Instructions:

1. Thaw.

2. To cook on the stovetop, pour the ingredients into a large stockpot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat for one hour. If the soup begins to boil, reduce the heat to low to simmer until the cook time is up.

Meatballs are always a great choice when it comes to freezer cooking. On top of being a quick dinner option for a busy weeknight, meatballs can be cooked a variety of ways. That means you can turn frozen meatballs into several different delicious dinners without much time or effort!

With this easy Swedish meatball recipe, you can whip up a classic main course, pop it in the freezer, and reheat it when you’re ready to enjoy a hearty meal for dinner.If you choose to use homemade meatballs as the base for this, you can use our Italian Meatballs recipe. 

Easy Swedish Meatball Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds frozen meatballs, pre-cooked (store bought is fine!)
• 2x 10 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Freezing instructions:

1. Transfer the frozen meatballs to a gallon size freezer bag.
2. Add the cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, soy sauce, parsley, nutmeg, and pepper to the bag with the meatballs.
3. Seal the bag and work the meatballs into the sauce to mix all the ingredients together.
4. Slightly open the bag and press out any excess air, then seal the bag again.
5. Place the freezer bag in the freezer and store until you’re ready to eat.

Serving instructions:

1. Thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator.
2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350°.
3. Transfer the thawed meatballs to a greased baking dish and cover the pan with foil.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, until the sauce is hot and bubbling.

Can You Cook Swedish Meatballs in the Crock Pot?

Reheating your frozen Swedish meatballs in the slow cooker is a quick and easy way to cook your dinner! That’s because all you have to do is dump the thawed meatballs into the slow cooker and set it t cook. To cook your meatballs, set the Crockpot to low and heat the meal for 3 to 4 hours, until the meatballs are warm and the sauce is hot. When ready to serve, stir the pot to mix the sauce and thoroughly coat your Swedish meatballs.

What is Swedish Meatball Sauce Made of?

Traditionally, the sauce served over Swedish meatballs is made by combining beef broth with heavy cream, flour, and sour cream to create a gravy-like topping. But that cooking method takes a lot of time and effort!

To make this recipe a little easier, just add some cream of mushroom soup to the sour cream! You’ll get a delicious sauce that tastes just like the traditional Swedish meatball topping. And the best part is that there’s no cooking involved! All you have to do is combine the sauce ingredients in a bag and toss the bag in the freezer until you’re ready to start cooking.

What Do You Serve with Swedish Meatballs?

Once you have your meatballs read to go, you’ll need a few easy side dishes to serve along with your main course! As you’re making your meal plan, try serving your meatballs with one of these easy sides…

• Mashed potatoes
• Egg noodles
• White rice
• Roasted vegetables

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Swedish Meatballs

Course: Main Course

Keyword: meatballs

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. meatballs frozen, pre-cooked
• 2 10 oz. cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

Instructions

Freezing instructions:

1. Transfer the frozen meatballs to a gallon size freezer bag.

2. Add the cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, soy sauce, parsley, nutmeg, and pepper to the bag.

3. Seal the bag and squish to combine the ingredients.

4. Slightly open the bag and press out any excess air, then seal the bag again.

5. Freeze.

Serving instructions:

1. Thaw.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°.

3. Transfer the thawed meatballs to a greased baking dish and cover the pan with foil.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, until the sauce is hot and bubbling.

5. Serve over rice, pasta, or potatoes.

When it comes to finding quick and easy freezer meals for dinner, it doesn’t get much better than meatballs. That’s because you can easily dress up frozen meatballs with a little bit of sauce to create a variety of new dishes. This recipe for honey garlic meatballs transforms plain freezer meatballs into a sweet and salty dish that everyone in the family will love.

Meatballs are a kid friendly meal in our house. One of our favourites is our easy Asian meatballs. We also enjoy these homemade Italian meatballs.

Honey Garlic Meatballs Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups store-bought or homemade frozen meatballs
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup water

Assembly Instructions:

1. Transfer the frozen meatballs to a large resealable freezer bag.
2. Pour in the olive oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and water. Squish the bag to combine the ingredients and coat the meatballs in sauce.
3. Remove excess air from the bag and seal. Freeze until ready to eat.

Cooking Instructions:

1. Thaw or cook from frozen in stovetop pot until heated through.

Slow Cooker Cooking Instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Is It Better to Freeze Meatballs Cooked or Uncooked?

Using premade frozen meatballs is a quick and easy way to prepare this simple freezer meal. But if you plan on using homemade meatballs, it’s a good idea to cook the meatballs before freezing them. Prepare the meatball recipe as usual and bake the meatballs until they’re cooked through.  The internal temperature of cooked meatballs should be 160 degrees. After that, allow the meatballs to cool completely. You can then transfer the cooled meatballs to a freezer bag and coat them in sauce.

Cooking the meatballs before freezing them will help prevent bacteria from forming in your honey garlic sauce as the ingredients freeze. That way, all you have to do is transfer the meatballs and sauce to your slow cooker or pan and cook!

How Long Are Meatballs Good in the Freezer?

When your frozen meatballs are stored properly, you can keep them in the freezer for up to four months. When preparing your honey garlic meatballs for freezing, follow these quick tips to ensure you properly store your freezer meal:

• Remove the excess air. Allowing extra air inside your bag could cause freezer burn down the road, so it’s important to remove as much air as possible from the bag before sealing it. A vacuum sealer is a great way to help remove air from your freezer meals. But if you don’t have one at home, start by sealing the bag until there’s a one-inch opening on the end of the zipper. Squeeze the bag, pressing the air out of the opening. When it appears that the majority of the air has been removed, seal the bag the rest of the way closed.
• Store the meatballs flat. After removing the air from the bag, place it flat on the countertop. Slide your hand along the top of the bag to flatten the ingredients out as much as possible, then transfer the flattened bag to the freezer. Freezing your meatballs flat will help save space in your freezer and cut down on the amount of time your ingredients need to thaw.

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Meatballs

Cooking these simple meatballs in your Crock Pot is a great way to reheat your freezer meal. That’s because all you have to do is dump the ingredients into the pot and let it do all the hard work for you!

Start by spraying your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray to keep the sauce from sticking. After that, you can transfer your frozen honey garlic meatballs directly to the slow cooker and reheat them on low for six hours or high for four hours.

How to Thaw Frozen Meatballs

While cooking your meatballs straight from the freezer using your slow cooker is a quick and easy way to prepare them, there are a couple of other cooking methods you can use. If you plan to cook your honey garlic meatballs on the stovetop or in the oven, it might be a good idea to thaw them first.

The best way to thaw your frozen meatballs is to transfer them to the refrigerator 24 hours before you plan to cook them. This will give the meat plenty of time to safely thaw out, ensuring that the beef stays chilled as it thaws.

After the meatballs are thawed, you can heat them in a saucepan over medium heat until the meatballs and sauce are heated through. Or place them in a casserole dish and bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, until the sauce is warm and the meatballs have reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

What to Serve with Honey Garlic Meatballs?

Honey garlic meatballs are a delicious main dish that pairs well with a variety of sides! We love eating these sweet and salty meatballs over a bed of white rice, but you can also serve them with some steamed vegetables, a side salad, or with pasta.

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Honey Garlic Meatballs

Cook Time

15 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Ingredients

• 3-4 cups store-bought or homemade frozen meatballs
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/3 cup water

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

1. Transfer the frozen meatballs to a large resealable freezer bag.
2. Pour in the olive oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and water. Squish the bag to combine the ingredients and coat the meatballs in sauce.
3. Remove excess air from the bag and seal. Freeze until ready to eat.

Cooking Instructions:

1. Thaw or cook from frozen in stovetop pot until heated through.

Slow Cooker Cooking Instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.