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Freezer Meals 101

Less time cooking, more time living

Freezer to Crock Pot

Easy Cheesy Tater Tot Chicken Casserole

By Sharla

My kids will eat pretty much anything if it involves tater tots. This cheesy tater tot chicken casserole is no exception. And I like that it is an easy make ahead crock pot recipe that is dump and go!mash of food on a white plate next to a fork with text that reads "Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole"Tater tot casseroles are a go-to around here. I’m not sure that our kids could choose a favourite between our Ground Beef and Vegetable Tater Tot Casserole, Pizza Tater Tot Casserole, and Tater Tot Casserole with Ground Sausage.

This all in one meal is family friendly and tasty. This is exactly the kind of dinner busy families need for those crazy weeknights juggling homework, soccer or piano practise, and trying to get supper on the table.

Cheesy Tater Tot Chicken Casserole Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. chicken breasts, boneless and skinless*
  • 32 oz. bag of frozen tater tots
  • 1 small bag of bacon bits or 3 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 12 oz. can evaporated milk
  • salt and pepper

*You can cube the chicken breasts or leave them whole.

Assembly Instructions:

  1. Place the chicken in a large resealable freezer bag.
  2. Add the tater tots, bacon bits or crumbled cooked bacon, shredded cheese, evaporated milk, and seasonings.
  3. Remove the excess air from the bag, seal, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

  1. Thaw.
  2. Spray your crock pot with nonstick spray or use a crock pot liner (these are a major mess saver!).
  3. Dump the bag contents into the slow cooker.
  4. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.

Variations on this recipe:

  • Use tex mex or nacho blends of shredded cheese in place of the cheddar to kick it up a notch.
  • If you want things to be even cheesier, add additional cheese to the top in the last 15 minutes of cooking.
  • Substitute turkey bacon for the bacon.
  • Use imitation bacon bits instead of bacon or omit it altogether.
Print
Cheesy Tater Tot Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. chicken breasts boneless and skinless*
  • 32 oz. bag of frozen tater tots
  • 1 small bag of bacon bits or 3 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
  • 12 oz. can evaporated milk
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
Assembly Instructions:
  1. Place the chicken in a large resealable freezer bag.
  2. Add the tater tots, bacon bits or crumbled cooked bacon, shredded cheese, evaporated milk, and seasonings.
  3. Remove the excess air from the bag, seal, and freeze.
Cooking instructions:
  1. Thaw.
  2. Spray your crock pot with nonstick spray or use a crock pot liner (these are a major mess saver!).
  3. Dump the bag contents into the slow cooker.
  4. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
Recipe Notes

*You can cube the chicken breasts or leave them whole.

 

You might also be interested in these recipes:

Tater Tot Casserole with Ground Beef and Veggies

Pizza Tater Tot Casserole

Beefy Rice Crock Pot Casserole

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Recipes, Freezer to Crock Pot

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore {freezer meal}

By Sharla

You won’t believe how easy this crock pot Chicken Cacciatore is! It has only 5 ingredients but it tastes so fresh and delicious. You can make it ahead as a freezer meal. Combining a freezer meal with the crock pot is a match made in heaven. Save time and money. Win-win!

Our family likes Italian flavours. I often make a different version of chicken cacciatore when I’m making my freezer meals, but that one is a bit more involved. It requires cubing the chicken and has more ingredients. When I’m in a hurry or wanting to make as many meals as possible as quickly as possible, I opt for this easy crock pot chicken cacciatore recipe instead.

large spoon scooping out a red sauce covered chicken breast from a slow cooker with text that reads "Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore" Chicken Cacciatore is traditionally served over pasta, but it can also be served over rice or polenta if you prefer or if you are on a keto or low carb diet.

Why is it called Chicken Cacciatore?

I have to admit that it is a unique name for a dish. The word “cacciatore” means hunter in Italian and apparently, it was hunters who first made this. It was likely made not with chicken in those early years, but with rabbit or other wild game they caught. This was back in the Renaissance so other meat would have been more commonly available.

Chicken cacciatore is sometimes mixed up with chicken parmesan. The easiest way to be able to tell the difference is that cheese is involved where chicken parmesan is referenced, whereas with cacciatore, there is no cheese.

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 3-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 24 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
  • 1 zucchini, coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 cup onion, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

Assembly instructions:

  1. Place the chicken breasts in a large, resealable freezer bag.
  2. Dump the other ingredients in the bag.
  3. Remove excess air from the bag and seal. Freeze flat.

Cooking instructions:

  1. Thaw.
  2. Dump bag contents into the slow cooker.
  3. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Ensure that chicken is cooked through before serving.
  4. Serve over your choice of pasta noodles. We usually use penne or rotini, but a long noodle is fine too.

You can throw this together so quickly that you might as well make more than one at a time. Just prop the bags open by folding the top over and setting them open on the counter. Line the bags up and then add the chicken to each one before dumping in the rest of the ingredients. This chicken dump recipe couldn’t be easier!

There is a lot of versatility with this recipe because you can use your choice of pasta sauce, swap out the chicken breasts for chicken thighs, and serve it on your favourite type of pasta.

This is such a family friendly dish. Between being able to make it ahead and just pull it out of the freezer and the fact that it cooks in the crock pot, it’s truly a stress free dinner. When we’re in a rush, we just keep this in the slow cooker and have the kids load a bit of pasta on their plate and then scoop the cacciatore right from the crock pot. You can can use whatever variety of pasta sauce you prefer. Experiment and see which you like best. We usually just go for a simple basil, but it’s also good with a pasta sauce with mushrooms or the spicy or chunky vegetables. Give a few of them a try and let me know which you liked best.

Print
Easy Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore
Prep Time
5 mins
 
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: chicken, chicken cacciatore
Ingredients
  • 3-5 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
  • 24 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
  • 1 zucchini coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 cup onion chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
Instructions
Assembly instructions:
  1. Place the chicken breasts in a large, resealable freezer bag.
  2. Dump the other ingredients in the bag.
  3. Remove excess air from the bag and seal. Freeze flat.
Cooking instructions:
  1. Thaw.
  2. Dump bag contents into the slow cooker.
  3. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Ensure that chicken is cooked through before serving.

  4. Serve over your choice of pasta noodles.

You might also like these easy freezer meals:

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Bake

Easy Chicken Marsala

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Dump Recipes, Freezer Meal Recipes, Freezer to Crock Pot Tagged With: gluten free

Chili Hash Brown Casserole Freezer Meal

By Sharla

This is an amazing chili hash brown casserole that I completely and utterly stumbled into! The reason? Well, I was missing ONE ingredient from a hash brown recipe that I really wanted to make.

I had to get creative and came up with this one. And oh my! It turned out amazing!

a chip scoops up the food out of a white bowl. The text reads "Chili Hash Brown Casserole Freezer Meal"This chili hash brown casserole is perfect for potlucks or brunches. I can quickly make it the day before in the crock pot and then put it in the fridge overnight or throw it in the oven 45 minutes before eating.

In the morning, I take it out of the freezer and let it thaw for a few hours. If I’m in a hurry, I simply put it in a sink full of water for about 20 minutes.

We have a large family, so I have developed a fair amount of easy breakfast recipes for large families or groups over the years and this one fits that perfectly.

This recipe is actually an old one that I have been making for many, many years, except for the new change with that one ingredient.

It’s one of those tried and true ones that many of my friends now make too because every time I’ve brought it with me to a potluck, I get asked for the recipe.

Now that I have discovered this renewed recipe, I can’t wait to start taking it to potlucks and get togethers so my friends can be wowed. Yes, it really is that easy and that delicious!

To save time, you can make this as a freezer meal (make several at one time) and put them in large resealable freezer bags. Take the air out before sealing and freeze flat. On the day you want to make this, thaw the bag and bake.

Chili Hash Brown Casserole Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 10.5 oz. can chili (chili alone or chili with beans, whatever you prefer)
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese*
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 kg frozen hash browns

*Note: you can also try this recipe with a variety of other cheeses. I often use a combination of cheddar and jalapeño jack cheese to give it some extra kick.

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450°.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the chili, melted butter, onion, shredded cheese, and pepper.
  3. Once that is well combined, gently stir in the frozen hash browns.
  4. Pour the entire mixture into a greased oven safe casserole dish. I use a 9×13 one.
  5. If thawed, bake for about 30 minutes. If still frozen, bake for about 45 minutes. Or cook in a crock pot on high for 3-4 hours.
  6. Serve this chili hash brown casserole as any meal as it is so versatile. It is perfect as breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.

Note: I like to serve it with corn chips, but if you really want to go fancy, then you can bake up some cornbread muffins and serve them as a side.

Print
Chili Hash Brown Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter melted
  • 10.5 oz. can chili chili alone or chili with beans, whatever you prefer
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 1 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese*
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 kg frozen hash browns
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F).
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the chili, melted butter, onion, shredded cheese, and pepper.
  3. Once that is well combined, gently stir in the frozen hash browns.
  4. Pour the entire mixture into a greased oven safe casserole dish. I use a 9x13 one.
  5. If thawed, bake for about 30 minutes. If still frozen, bake for about 45 minutes. If you have several hours to spare and prefer to use a crockpot, then you can cook it on high for 3-4 hours.
  6. Serve this chili hash brown casserole as any meal as it is so versatile. It is perfect as breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
Recipe Notes

*Note: you can also try this recipe with a variety of other cheeses. I often use a combination of cheddar and jalapeño jack cheese to give it some extra kick.
Note: I like to serve it with corn chips, but if you really want to go fancy, then you can make some cornbread muffins and serve them as a side.

Other freezer meals you might enjoy:

Beefy Rice Slow Cooker Casserole

Tater Tot Casserole with Beef and Veggies

Taco Chili Freezer Meal

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Breakfast Recipes, Freezer Meal Recipes, Freezer to Crock Pot

Tater Tot Casserole with Beef and Veggies

By Sharla

My kids will eat pretty much anything as long as it involves tater tots. This tater tot casserole with beef and veggies is an easy all in one meal that can be made ahead and then popped in the crock pot on cooking day. This is quick and easy comfort food. a black crock pot is filled with a cheesy casserole and a spoon scooping some of it out with text that reads "Tater Tot Casserole with beef and veggies"Our original tater tot casserole is based off the Duggar recipe except that we use ground sausage instead of turkey and don’t use the chicken soup (so I guess it’s totally different!) is most of our kids’ absolute favourite thing to eat, but it’s not all that healthy. We love our tater tot pizza casserole, but I wanted more variety. I’ve been trying different ideas for a new one and this one fits the bill.

This has meat and vegetables and my kids all love it. Healthy AND something my kids will actually eat gives this recipe major points!

I make this tater tot casserole as a freezer meal, but if you prefer, you can always cook it the same day instead. Better yet, make two. Eat one and freeze the other so you’ve got an easy weeknight meal for next week!

Tater Tot Casserole with Beef and Veggies:

Tater Tot Casserole Ingredients:

  • 750 g bag frozen tater tots
  • 1 lb. lean ground beef, browned
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
  • 10.5 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 tsp. dry mustard powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups of cheddar cheese, shredded

Assembly instructions:

  1. Brown ground beef and cool slightly.
  2. Place beef in a large resealable freezer bag.
  3. Add the chopped onion and mixed vegetables.
  4. In a mixing bowl, stir together soup, evaporated milk, garlic, and seasonings. Pour into the bag over the other ingredients.
  5. Place the shredded cheese in a medium freezer bag.
  6. Remove the excess air from both bags, seal, and staple together above the fold.
  7. Freeze.

Crock pot cooking instructions:

  1. Thaw.
  2. Dump the contents of the large bag into the slow cooker.* Cook on high for 3-4 hours or 6 hours on low.
  3. Top with cheese near the end of cooking.
  4. Serve.

*This casserole tends to stick to the sides of the slow cooker making it hard to clean afterwards, so I suggest using Crock Pot liners. They are food safe and can be thrown out after use making clean-up a breeze!

Oven cooking instructions:

  1. Thaw.
  2. Place contents of the large bag in a 9×13 casserole dish. Top with cheese. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes.
  3. Serve.

More family favourite freezer meals:

  • Pizza Tater Tot Casserole
  • Beefy Rice Slow Cooker Casserole
  • Chicken and Vegetable Casserole with Crispy Onion Topping
  • Instant Pot Pizza Casserole
  • Make Ahead Mac and Cheese
Print
Tater Tot Casserole with Beef and Veggies
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: tater tot casserole
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
  • 750 g bag frozen tater tots
  • 1 lb. lean ground beef browned
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
  • 10.5 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1/4 tsp. dry mustard powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
Assembly instructions:
  1. Brown ground beef and cool slightly.
  2. Place beef in a large resealable freezer bag.
  3. Add the chopped onion and mixed vegetables.
  4. In a mixing bowl, stir together soup, evaporated milk, garlic, and seasonings. Pour into the bag over the other ingredients.
  5. Place the shredded cheese in a medium freezer bag.
  6. Remove the excess air from both bags, seal, and staple together above the fold.
  7. Freeze.
Crock pot cooking instructions:
  1. Thaw.
  2. Dump the contents of the large bag into the slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or 6 hours on low.
  3. Top with cheese near the end of cooking.
  4. Serve.
Oven cooking instructions:
  1. Thaw.
  2. Place contents of the large bag in a 9x13 casserole dish. Top with cheese. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes.
  3. Serve.

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Recipes, Freezer to Crock Pot

Beef and Bacon Goulash (Freezer Meal)

By Sharla

My husband started doing Keto this year. It’s made freezer meals more of a challenge as I’ve had to find make ahead recipes that are keto friendly. This Beef and Bacon Goulash is one I made last time we did meal prep and he was very happy with the results. chunks of beef, bacon, mushrooms, and thin slices of onion in a brown sauce are in a white bowl with multicoloured polka dots. The text read "Bacon Beef Goulash freezer meal crock pot"This is an easy freezer to crock pot recipe with just 5 ingredients. And it’s healthy, using real food. So whether you’re on a low carb diet or not, this recipe can be one you add into your dinner arsenal.

It’s not the prettiest looking thing, but the taste is there!

Apparently, a goulash is supposed to be seasoned with paprika and this one isn’t, so technically, I guess I should be calling this a stew, but we named it Bacon and Beef Goulash. Once your bag is labelled that, that’s what you and your family will call it for all of time!

Beef and Bacon Goulash Recipe:

  • 2 lbs. beef stew meat, cubed
  • 1 1/4 cups mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 5 slices bacon, sliced into bite sized pieces*
  • 1 onion, sliced

Optional for day of serving:

  • 2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Note: *If you want crunchier bacon, you can fry it before adding it to the freezer bag.

Assembly instructions:

  1. Cube the beef. Slice the onion, mushrooms, and bacon.
  2. Add the beef, bacon slices, mushrooms, onion slices, and beef broth to a large resealable freezer bag.
  3. Remove the excess air, seal, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

  1. Remove from freezer to thaw.
  2. Add the bag contents to the Crock Pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
  3. If you want to thicken up the gravy, mix together 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and stir into the beef mixture in the slow cooker 20 minutes before serving.

You can serve this on mashed potatoes, rice, or cauliflower rice. Or if you’d rather, you can serve this beside vegetables or with buns. My husband likes to eat his with cauliflower rice fried up with lots of garlic. It’s actually pretty delicious.

Check out these other keto friendly freezer meals:

Instant Pot Keto Bone Brothketo bone broth made in the Instant Pot in a bowl

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Instant Pot Pork or Chicken Shawarma

Print
Beef and Bacon Goulash
Course: Main Course
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. beef stew meat cubed
  • 1 1/4 cups mushrooms sliced
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 5 slices bacon sliced into bite sized pieces*
  • 1 onion sliced
Optional for day of serving:
  • 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Instructions
Assembly instructions:
  1. Cube the beef. Slice the onion, mushrooms, and bacon.
  2. Add the beef, bacon slices, mushrooms, onion slices, and beef broth to a large resealable freezer bag.
  3. Remove the excess air, seal, and freeze.
Cooking instructions:
  1. Remove from freezer to thaw.
  2. Add the bag contents to the Crock Pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
  3. If you want to thicken up the gravy, mix together 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and stir into the beef mixture in the slow cooker 20 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes

*If you want crunchier bacon, you can fry it before adding it to the freezer bag.

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Recipes, Freezer to Crock Pot

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