Freezer to Crock Pot

BBQ Pulled Pork Freezer Meal

This simple BBQ Pulled Pork freezer to crock pot recipe packs a whole lot of flavour. The rub is really what makes this meal so delicious. Last weekend, we were invited out to my brother-in-law’s lake. It’s always such a treat to go out there. They have a boat and our kids love getting to waterski and tube on the lake.

Since my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are such great hosts, I like to bring along some freezer meals so that they don’t also have to cook for us. This past weekend, pulled pork was one of the freezer meals I brought out.

We plugged the crock pot in, plopped the roast inside, and were able to enjoy the day without worrying about supper. The kids had a blast out on the lake, we all had a rather intense but fun Ladder Ball tournament, and played some board games.

When suppertime came, everyone had worked up quite an appetite. The pulled pork sandwiches really hit the spot!

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork Recipe:

12-15 lbs. pork shoulder butt roast
1 bottle BBQ sauce
3 Tbsp. liquid smoke
buns for serving

Rub Ingredients:

3 cups brown sugar
¼ cup onion powder
¼ cup garlic powder
¼ cup paprika
¼ cup salt
3 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. ground thyme
1 Tbsp. dill

Rinse the pork roast under water to allow the rub to stick better.

In a mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, salt, thyme, and dill.

Place the rinsed meat on a cutting board and spread the dry rub all over the outside of the roast. Gently place the rubbed pork roast in a large resealable freezer bag. Take out the excess air, seal, and freeze.

You can store any leftover rub in a medium resealable freezer bag and freeze to use next time.

On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw. Once thawed, place 1/2 cup of water and 3 Tbsp. of liquid smoke in the slow cooker.

Place the seasoned roast into the crock pot. Cook on low for 7-9 hours. Once cooked, drain the extra fat and water from the crock pot.

Use a set of tongs or two forks to pull the roast apart. After it’s shredded, add 1/2 to the full bottle of BBQ sauce and mix through. Some people like their pulled pork saucier while others prefer it to be less messy. Adding more of the BBQ sauce will make this saucier and therefore, messier.

Serve the pork on buns. Hamburger buns work well. You can top your BBQ pulled pork sandwich with pickles and onions if you want. I like to add garlic mayo. to the buns before slopping the pork on top.

Other ways to serve slow cooker pulled pork:

If pulled pork sandwiches aren’t your thing or if you’re wondering what to do with the leftover pulled pork, here are some other suggestions:

pulled pork nachos
in a flour tortilla wrap
on salad
Pulled Pork Mexican Pizza
on poutine (for those not familiar with poutine, top cooked french fries with cheese, gravy, and in this case, pulled pork)
in lettuce wraps
pulled pork tacos
in a quesadilla
on pasta

You might also be interested in these recipes:

BBQ Shredded Chicken with Garlic Mayo

Instant Pot Pork Shawarma Recipe

BBQ Pulled Pork Recipe

Ingredients

12-15 lbs. pork shoulder butt roast
1 bottle BBQ sauce
3 Tbsp. liquid smoke
buns for serving

Rub

3 cups brown sugar
¼ cup onion powder
¼ cup garlic powder
¼ cup paprika
¼ cup salt
3 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. ground thyme
1 Tbsp. dill

Instructions

Rinse the pork roast under water to allow the rub to stick better.
In a mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, salt, thyme, and dill.
Spread the rub all over the outside of the rinsed roast. Gently place the rubbed pork roast in a large resealable freezer bag. Take out the excess air, seal, and freeze.
On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw. Once thawed, place 1/2 cup of water and 3 Tbsp. of liquid smoke in the slow cooker.
Place the seasoned roast into the crock pot. Cook on low for 7-9 hours. Once cooked, drain the extra fat and water from the crock pot.
Use a set of tongs or two forks to pull the roast apart. After it's shredded, add 1/2 to the full bottle of BBQ sauce and mix through.

Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Beef Taco Soup

By Sharla

This colourful beef taco soup freezer meal can be cooked in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. It is so easy to throw together. Hearty soups are great for cold winter days or drizzly summer ones.

It’s nice to have a few bags of this soup in the freezer. It’s such a simple but filling meal and I always love a meal that has multiple cooking options.

Beef Taco Soup Recipe:

1 cup ground beef, browned
1/2 cup diced onion
12 oz. can kernel corn
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
14 oz. can pinto or black beans
3 tsp. taco seasoning
salt, pepper
1 cup water or beef broth*

Assembly instructions: Place all the ingredients into a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the excess air and seal. Freeze.

Instant Pot Cooking Instructions: Add the bag contents thawed or frozen into instant pot. Add 1 cup water or beef broth. Saute for 5 minutes. Lock the cover into place and seal the steam nozzle. Choose the soup setting and set for 10 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes before releasing any remaining pressure.

Slow Cooker Cooking Instructions: Take the bag out of the freezer and thaw. Add at least one cup of water or beef broth. Cook in the crock pot on low for 4-5 hours.

*This soup is quite thick. It has more of a stew consistency especially the next day as leftovers. If you prefer more of a soupy soup, just add more water or beef broth.

You can serve this soup topped with shredded cheese, green onions, and sour cream or with buns on the side.

This recipe is included in our Instant Pot Freezer Meal Plan. It includes this and other great family friendly recipes as well as handy printable shopping lists and labels.

You may also want to check out these delicious freezer meal soups:

Sausage and Zucchini Soup Italian Wedding Soup

Corn Chowder with Bacon

Apple Maple Chicken Dump Recipe

By Sharla

Dump Recipe are the fastest way to make freezer meals. It’s so easy to make many at one time. This apple maple chicken dump recipe is delicious and can be cooked in the oven or the crock pot. It has an interesting blend of flavours that go so well together.This recipe calls for a fair bit of garlic. We are big fans of garlic as you may notice from the fact that most of our recipes call for garlic and that a lot of them even have the word “garlic” in the title! If you aren’t a fan, just reduce the amount the recipe calls for or eliminate it altogether. Personally, I think it tastes best with this amount, but you be the judge!

Apple Maple Chicken Dump Recipe:

3-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 cloves of garlic, minced
12 1/2 oz. can frozen apple juice concentrate
3/4 cup dry white wine (you can use alcohol free if you prefer)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. pepper

To put together this freezer meal, place chicken pieces in a large resealable bag. Dump all the rest of the ingredients in the bag. Squish it to mix everything together. Remove the excess air, seal and freeze.

On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw. You can cook it in the oven or in the slow cooker.

Oven instructions: After thawing, place the chicken and sauce in a covered casserole dish. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for one hour, uncover during the last 10 minutes.

Crock pot instructions: Place thawed chicken and sauce into the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Serve the chicken with side dishes such as rice, potatoes, vegetables, or a salad. We ate ours with roasted root vegetables (yum!) and cabbage.

Looking for more chicken dump recipes? Check out our tried and true recipes that include printable labels and shopping lists.

Apple Maple Chicken Dump Recipe

Ingredients

3-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 cloves garlic minced
12 1/2 oz. can frozen apple juice concentrate
3/4 cup dry white wine you can use alcohol free if you prefer
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. pepper

Instructions

To put together this freezer meal, place chicken pieces in a large resealable bag. Dump all the rest of the ingredients in the bag. Squish it to mix everything together. Remove the excess air, seal and freeze.
On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw.

Oven instructions: After thawing, place the chicken and sauce in a covered casserole dish. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for one hour, uncover during the last 10 minutes.

Crock pot instructions: Place thawed chicken and sauce into the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Check out these other easy and delicious chicken freezer meals:

Lemon and Garlic Chicken Dump Recipe

Chicken and Vegetable Casserole with Crispy Onion Topping

Beefy Rice Slow Cooker Casserole

By Sharla

This Beefy Rice Slow Cooker Casserole includes everything needed for a balanced meal. This dish doesn’t have very strong flavours, so it’s a good family friendly freezer meal. Beefy Rice Casserole, a freezer to crock pot easy family meal #freezermeals101 #freezermeals #slowcooker #familyfriendly #makeaheadmeals

Beefy Rice Slow Cooker Casserole Recipe:

1 1⁄2 lbs. cooked ground beef
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 chopped onion
1⁄4 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup uncooked long grain converted rice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder

Before putting together this freezer meal, brown the ground beef and chop the onion and green pepper. Place the uncooked rice in a medium sized resealable bag and seal.

Next, add the browned ground beef, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and seasonings to a large resealable bag. Squish everything in that bag together.

Remove the excess air from the bag and seal. Staple the medium bag of uncooked rice to the large bag above the seal.

On the day of cooking, take the meal out of the freezer. Thaw. Remove the staples. Add the contents of both bags to the slow cooker. Add 1 cup of water. Stir.

Cook in the crock pot on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours until the rice is the right consistency.

This family friendly freezer meal is included in our Slow Cooker Freezer Meal Plan which has recipes, shopping lists, and printable labels.

Check out these other family friendly crock pot freezer meals:

Beef Stroganoff Freezer Meal

Freezer to Crock Pot Beef Stew

Lemon Garlic Chicken Dump Recipe

By Sharla

Supper doesn’t get easier than this Lemon Garlic Chicken Dump recipe. It’s a quick make ahead meal that can be cooked in the slow cooker.

Dump recipes are probably my favourite type of freezer meal to make. You can easily make ten meals in half an hour to an hour using the dump recipe method.

The dump recipe method is basically using only one protein or main ingredient, setting up all of your resealable bags on the counter, filling them with that main ingredients and then dumping the other ingredients called for in the recipes into each bag.

Lemon Garlic Chicken Dump Recipe:

3-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. pepper

Since this is a dump recipe, it is just as easy to make lots of these as it is to make one. Begin by opening a large resealable bag (or as many bags as the amount of meals you are going to make) and adding the chicken.

Dump the other ingredients into the bag. Remove the excess air from the bag, seal, lay flat, and freeze.

On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 45-55 minutes or in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours.

If desired, you can sprinkle some parsley on top. Serve with rice or potatoes and your choice of veggies. This meal is one of the many simple, yet delicious recipes included in my Chicken Dump Recipes cookbook.

Check out these other Dump Meal Recipes:

BBQ Shredded Chicken in the Crock Pot

Freezer to Crock Pot Beef Stew

Lemon Garlic Chicken Dump Recipe

Ingredients

3-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions

Begin by opening a large resealable bag and adding the chicken.
Dump the other ingredients into the bag.
Remove the excess air from the bag, seal, lay flat, and freeze.
On the day of cooking, take the bag out of the freezer to thaw.
Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 45-55 minutes or in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours.
Serve with rice or potatoes and your choice of veggies.