Freezer to Crock Pot

5 Ingredient Teriyaki Chicken

Having a few quick and easy dinners in your recipe collection is a must when you’re a busy parent. And it doesn’t get much easier than this 5 ingredient baked teriyaki chicken breast freezer meal!

To prepare it ahead of time, all you have to do is combine the ingredients and pop them in the freezer. Then you can cook your flavorful chicken dinner in the oven or crockpot for a family-friendly meal that’s as easy to cook as it is to prepare.

To make this a complete meal, serve over rice or cauliflower rice with a side of a simple vegetable such as carrots, broccoli, or peas.

Chicken marinades are so fast to assemble especially if you make more than one of each meal at a time. Literally five minutes or less goes into assembling this meal. And then it’s into the freezer for the day you want to cook it.

Teriyaki Chicken Freezer Meal Recipe

Ingredients:

3-5 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1/3 cup honey, melted
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced

Assembly Instructions:

Dump the chicken breasts, honey, soy sauce, fresh ginger, and garlic in a large (gallon sized) resealable freezer bag.
Squish the bag to combine the ingredients. Remove excess air from the inside of the bag, seal the top, and freeze.

Cooking instructions:

Transfer the frozen teriyaki chicken ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the ingredients from the bag into the dish and bake for one hour, until the chicken is cooked through.
To cook the teriyaki chicken in the crockpot, pour the contents of the bag into the bowl of the slow cooker. Place the lid on top and cook on low for four to six hours.
If desired, shred before serving. Serve over rice. Top with sesame seeds or sliced green onions if desired.

How Long Should I Cook Teriyaki Chicken in the Oven?

To get tender, flavorful chicken breasts while baking in the oven, it’s best to cook them at a low temperature for an extended time. After adding the chicken and sauce to the pan, bake your boneless chicken breasts at 350° for around one hour.

To ensure your chicken is cooked all the way through, it’s always a good idea to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of each chicken breast. Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165° to make it safe to eat.

Does Teriyaki Sauce Burn in the Oven?

Since this homemade teriyaki sauce is made with real honey, there is the possibility that it may burn in the oven. To keep your sauce from burning, make sure to keep the oven temperature low. Cooking the chicken in the sauce at 350° is a great way to ensure your chicken is cooked through without burning your sauce.

If you notice the sauce is beginning to burn around the edges of the pan or the top of your chicken breasts, simply cover the pan lightly with a piece of foil and continue cooking until the chicken is safely cooked.

Can you freeze cooked teriyaki chicken?

Since the original chicken in marinade was raw when it went into the freezer, it is safe to freeze the leftovers of the teriyaki chicken after it is cooked. It can even be divided into individual portions and frozen.

Do not however refreeze raw chicken after it’s been thawed.

More Easy Chicken Marinade Recipes:

Teriyaki Chicken

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Course: Main Course

Keyword: chicken

Servings: 4

Ingredients

3-5 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
1/3 cup honey melted
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp fresh ginger grated
2 cloves garlic minced

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

Place the chicken breasts, honey, soy sauce, fresh ginger, and garlic in a large resealable freezer bag.
Squish the bag to combine. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

Oven Cooking instructions:

Thaw.
Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the ingredients from the bag into the dish and bake for one hour, until the chicken is cooked through.

Crock Pot Cooking Instructions:

Thaw.
Pour the contents of the bag into the slow cooker. Cook on low for four to six hours.
If desired, shred before serving.

Pesto Minestrone

By Sharla

What better way to warm up after a cold day than with a hot bowl of soup? But prepping and cooking a batch of soup can be a time consuming process! With the help of this easy make ahead minestrone soup recipe, you can prep all the ingredients for your Italian soup ahead of time and freeze everything until you’re ready to start cooking. That means you can enjoy a delicious bowl of soup in a fraction of the time!

I love having soups in the freezer especially in winter. Being able to pull out a cozy soup on a dreary day is such a nice treat. We also love the Hearty Sausage Zucchini Soup, Curried Butternut Squash Soup, and our amazingly delicious Lasagna Soup.

Pesto Minestrone Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups bowtie pasta
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 ribs of celery, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 cup white wine (or you can use apple juice)
14-19 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
19 ounce can mixed beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup basil pesto

For cooking day:

4 cups vegetable broth

Assembly Instructions:

Place the dry bowtie pasta in a medium freezer bag and seal.
In a separate, large freezer bag, add the diced onion, garlic, celery, carrots, white wine, diced tomatoes, mixed beans, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, black pepper, parmesan cheese, and basil pesto.
Squish the large bag to combine the ingredients. Remove excess air from the inside of the bag and seal the top. Staple the bag of pasta to the large bag above the seal. Freeze both bags together.

Cooking instructions:

Transfer the minestrone soup ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
To prepare the soup on the stovetop, pour the contents of the large bag into a stockpot and add four cups of vegetable broth. Cook over medium high heat until the liquid begins to boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the pasta to the pot and continue to simmer the soup for another 10 minutes, until the pasta is tender, stirring the soup occasionally.
To cook the soup in the crockpot, pour the contents of the large bag into the bowl of the slow cooker and add the vegetable broth. Place the lid on top and cook on low for four to six hours or high for two to three hours.
Stir the pasta into the soup 20 minutes before serving.

How Do You Thicken Minestrone Soup?

Since minestrone is made with a broth base, it has a soupy consistency. But the use of beans and pasta in this recipe help give the soup some thickness without the need to add any thickening agent to the pot.

If your minestrone is soupier than you prefer, the best way to help reduce the amount of liquid in the pot is allow the soup to simmer for longer. Increasing the cook time by around 30 minutes will give the excess liquid time to thicken and reduce, giving your minestrone a less runny consistency.

Soups are about the most comforty of the comfort foods when it comes to winter. See us make this Pesto Minestrone soup as well as some of our other most popular soup recipes in the video below.

Variations for Minestrone Soup:

Add more vegetables. If you’re looking to add more nutrition into your bowl, add cubed zucchini, frozen green beans, frozen peas, kale, spinach, or cabbage to the bag before freezing.
Change up the beans. Use cannellini beans (also known as white kidney beans) or kidney beans in place of the can of mixed beans if you prefer.
Extra protein. To add more protein, you can replace the veggie broth with chicken stock and top with Parmesan cheese.
Use different pasta. In place of the bowtie pasta, you can use any small pasta such as small shells or macaroni noodles.

Pesto Minestrone

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Course: Soup

Keyword: soup

Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups bowtie pasta
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic minced
2 ribs of celery chopped
3 carrots sliced
1 cup white wine or you can use apple juice
14-19 oz diced tomatoes with juice
19 oz mixed beans
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
1/4 cup basil pesto

For cooking day:

4 cups vegetable broth

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

Place the bowtie pasta in a medium freezer bag
In a separate large freezer bag, add the diced onion, garlic, celery, carrots, white wine, diced tomatoes, mixed beans, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, black pepper, parmesan cheese, and basil pesto.
Squish to combine the ingredients. Remove excess air from the bag and seal. Staple the bag of pasta to the large bag above the seal. Freeze.

Stovetop Cooking instructions:

Transfer the minestrone soup ingredients to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
Pour the contents of the large bag into a stockpot and add four cups of vegetable broth. Cook over medium high heat until the liquid begins to boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes
Add the pasta to the pot and continue to simmer the soup for another 10 minutes, until the pasta is tender, stirring the soup occasionally.

Crock Pot Cooking Instructions:

Pour the contents of the large bag into the bowl of the slow cooker and add the vegetable broth. Place the lid on top and cook on low for four to six hours or high for two to three hours.
Stir the pasta into the soup 20 minutes before serving.

Make Ahead Crock Pot Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken

By Sharla

When it comes to meal prepping, your freezer and your slow cooker are your best friends! That’s why this simple recipe for crock pot pineapple teriyaki chicken works so well. Combine chicken breast with sweet pineapple chunks, crispy veggies, and savoury teriyaki sauce, then pop everything in the freezer until you’re ready to eat. After that, simply dump the ingredients in your slow cooker, set it, and forget it until dinner time!

We are fans of freezer meals that can be cooked in the slow cooker like our BBQ Meatballs, That Lady’s Chicken, or the Crock Pot Chana Masala.

Crock Pot Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 cup teriyaki sauce
1 cup water
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
can water chestnuts, drained

Assembly Instructions:

Combine the cubed chicken breast, teriyaki sauce, water, brown sugar, garlic, carrots, pineapple chunks, red pepper, green pepper, and water chestnuts in a large bag.
Squeeze the ingredients in the bag together to mix the sauce into the chicken and vegetables.
Remove excess air from the bag, seal the top, and place it in the freezer until you’re ready to start cooking.

Cooking Instructions:

Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
To cook the chicken in the slow cooker, pour the entire bag into the bowl of your crockpot and place the lid on top. Set to cook on low for three to four hours.
To cook the chicken in the oven, transfer the entire contents of the bag to a large baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake uncovered for 50 minutes.
Serve on rice.

How Long Does Teriyaki Chicken Stay Fresh in the Fridge?

After your family finishes eating your pineapple chicken, you might have a few leftovers to pack up. Any leftover chicken and vegetables should be stored in the refrigerator until you’re ready to enjoy it again. Simply transfer the leftover ingredients to an airtight container and your dish will stay fresh for up to four days.

Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Recipe Ideas

This quick and easy one pot dinner is a great option for a quick weeknight meal. But the best part about this simple recipe is how easy it is to adjust. Try these recipe ideas as you’re preparing your freezer meal.

Serve with rice. While this one pot meal features all the meat and vegetables your family needs for a full dinner, the addition of rice is a great way to round up the meal. Your pineapple chicken can be served with white, brown, or jasmine rice.
Use chicken thighs. Boneless chicken breasts are a great option for freezer cooking, but they can sometimes get dry while cooking in the crockpot. Another great option for slow cooking is boneless chicken thighs. You can substitute chicken thighs for chicken breast in this recipe for added juiciness and flavor.
Try whole chicken breasts. Cutting the chicken into bite-sized pieces is great for easing serving. But you can also reduce your prep work by freezing and cooking whole chicken breasts. After cooking your chicken in the slow cooker, remove it from the pot and shred the meat. Then return the shredded chicken back to the slow cooker to mix it with the sauce and vegetables before serving.
Add more vegetables. Featuring pineapple, carrots, and bell pepper, this chicken dinner is already packed with healthy ingredients. But there are a variety of other veggies that would taste amazing with when combined with the rest of the ingredients in this dish. Try mixing in some broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, and mushrooms for even more texture and flavor.
Freeze after cooking. If you would prefer to reduce the amount of prep work you need to do on the day of cooking, you can also cook the teriyaki chicken before freezing it. After cooking the chicken according to the recipe instructions, allow the ingredients to cool completely. Then transfer everything to a freezer bag or container and store until you’re ready to reheat it.

Is it Safe to Freeze Chicken in Marinade?

Using teriyaki sauce as a marinade is a great way to add flavor to your chicken. But keeping the meat in the marinade for too long could cause the chicken to breakdown. That might make you wonder whether freezing your chicken in marinade is a good idea.

In fact, adding marinade to the bag with your chicken before freezing is a great option. Storing the chicken with the sauce will help infuse flavor into the meat. But since the marinating process will stop once the chicken and sauce are frozen, you don’t have to worry about damaging the chicken while it’s being stored in the freezer.

Can I Cook Chicken on High in the Crockpot?

Setting your slow cooker to high is a great way to speed up the cook time of your crockpot recipes. But when it comes to chicken, it’s best to keep your slow cooker on low. High heat can make your chicken breast tough and chewy. Luckily, chicken cooks fairly quickly in the crockpot – even on the low setting. Your teriyaki chicken will be ready to eat after cooking for around four hours on low.

Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

3 hrs

Course: Main Course

Keyword: chicken

Servings: 6

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts cubed
1 cup teriyaki sauce
1 cup water
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups carrots peeled and roughly chopped
1 can pineapple chunks drained
1 red pepper chopped
1 green pepper chopped
can water chestnuts drained

Instructions

Assembly Instructions:

Combine the cubed chicken breast, teriyaki sauce, water, brown sugar, garlic, carrots, pineapple chunks, red pepper, green pepper, and water chestnuts in a large resealable freezer bag.
Squish to combine.
Remove excess air from the bag, seal the top, and place it in the freezer until you’re ready to start cooking.

Crock Pot Cooking Instructions:

Thaw.
Pour the bag contents into crockpot. Cook on low for three to four hours.

Oven Cooking Instructions:

Thaw.
Transfer the contents of the bag to a large baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350° and bake uncovered for 50 minutes.

Recipe Notes

Serve over rice.

That Lady’s Chicken

By Sharla

Chicken is one of our favourite main courses. But it can be difficult to find quick and easy chicken recipes for meal prepping. With the help of this four ingredient Russian chicken recipe, you can whip up a delicious chicken dinner for your family with just a few minutes of prep work! This recipe has long been a family favourite of ours. In fact, all I need to do to ensure all my teen and young adult kids will come home is tell them that this is what’s for dinner.

Some of our other easy chicken dump recipes include:

That Lady’s Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

3-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 bottle of Russian dressing
1 1/4 cups apricot jam
3 tablespoons dry onion soup mix

Freezing instructions:

Place the chicken and other ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag. Add the Russian dressing, apricot jam, and dry onion soup mix.
Seal the bag and squish the ingredients together to combine and coat the chicken in sauce.
Open the corner of the bag to remove excess air, then reseal and freeze.

Cooking Instructions:

Transfer the frozen Russian chicken to the refrigerator to thaw.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the contents of the freezer bag to a large baking dish. Cover the dish and bake for one hour
To cook the chicken in the crockpot, pour the contents of the bag into the pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

You can find this recipe as well as other easy recipes in our Chicken Dump Recipes cookbook.

What is Russian Dressing?

With so many different salad dressings to choose from, you might not be sure which dressing is considered Russian dressing. Traditional Russian dressing is a tangy sauce typically made with tomatoes, vinegar, and a mix of spices. That’s why Russian dressing is usually red in color.

If you can’t find red Russian dressing in your store, the sauce can be replaced with other tomato-based dressings like Catalina.

What Does That Lady’s Chicken Taste Like?

The unique combination of Russian dressing, apricot jam, and onion soup seasoning give this delicious chicken recipe a sweet and sour taste. The sweetness comes from the addition of the jam. And the chicken gets its sour flavors from the vinegar and tomatoes found in the Russian dressing.

That Lady’s Chicken Recipe Tips

This four ingredient chicken recipe couldn’t be easier to prep and freeze! And with these preparation and cooking tips, you’ll be well on your way to a delicious chicken dinner for your family.

Avoid creamy Russian dressing. The key to getting the best flavor in your Russian chicken is to pick the right dressing. Avoid using creamy Russian dressing to make this dish. If you can’t find traditional dressing, you can use Catalina dressing as a substitute.
Use peach jam instead of apricot. If you don’t have any apricot jam on hand or can’t find any at your store, peach jam can be used as a substitute. This forgiving recipe can also be made with apricot or peach preserves.
Serve over rice. Once your Russian chicken is baked, you’re going to need some sides to go with it! Add some white, brown, or jasmine rice to the plate to go with your sweet and sour chicken.
Finish the chicken under the broiler. To get a nice glaze on the outside of your chicken, try placing it under the broiler for around two minutes. The heat from the broiler will help thicken the sauce, turning it into a delicious glaze over the top of each chicken breast.

Can You Freeze Russian Chicken?

Prepping the ingredients for your Russian chicken ahead of time is a simple way to get dinner ready fast. That’s because you can easily add all the ingredients you need for your Russian chicken to a freezer bag and store it until you’re ready to start cooking.

But even after thawing your chicken in the fridge, you’ll still need at least an hour to cook the Russian chicken before it’s ready to eat. If you want to speed up the prep time on dinner night, you can also cook the Russian chicken before freezing it.

To freeze your cooked Russian chicken, start by cooking the chicken as outlined in the recipe. The chicken can be prepared in either the oven or slow cooker. Once the chicken is cooked, allow it to cool completely.

Transfer the cooled chicken to a freezer-safe dish or freezer bag. Label the bag with the name of the recipe, date of freezing, and expected expiration date. Cooked chicken will stay good in the freezer for up to four months.

When you’re ready to reheat your Russian chicken, transfer it to the refrigerator to thaw. The chicken can be reheated in the oven at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes, until the meat and sauce are heated through. You can also reheat the chicken in a skillet over medium heat.

How Long is this Chicken Good For?

You can store your Russian chicken ingredients in the freezer for up to nine months before they need to be cooked. If you cook the chicken before freezing it, it will be safe to eat up to four months after freezing.

Once the chicken has been prepared, leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Make sure to eat your chicken within four days to enjoy it before it goes bad!

What to serve with Russian Chicken:

That Lady's Chicken

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Course: Main Course

Keyword: chicken, chicken dump

Servings: 4

Ingredients

3-5 chicken breasts boneless, skinless or 8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 bottle Russian dressing
1 1/4 cups apricot jam
3 Tbsp. dry onion soup mix

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

Place the chicken and other ingredients in a large resealable freezer bag. Add the Russian dressing, apricot jam, and dry onion soup mix.
Seal the bag and squish to combine.
Open the corner of the bag to remove excess air, then reseal and freeze.

Oven Cooking Instructions:

Thaw.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Pour the contents of the freezer bag to a large baking dish. Cover and bake for one hour.

Crock Pot Cooking Instructions:

Thaw.
Pour the contents of the bag into the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Freezer Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings

By Sharla

There’s no reason to head to your favourite restaurant to enjoy delicious chicken wings when you can easily make them at home yourself! And your family is going to love the flavourful combination of ingredients in these sweet and sour chicken wings. But the best part about this easy recipe is that it’s freezer friendly. Just combine the ingredients, pop them in the freezer, and cook them when you’re ready to enjoy a quick and easy chicken dinner.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings Recipe

Ingredients:

3 pounds chicken wings
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup

Freezing instructions:

Transfer the chicken wings to a large, resealable freezer bag.
Stir together the flour and water in a medium bowl. Add the brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and ketchup to the bowl and mix until well combined.
Pour the sauce mix over the top of the chicken wings.
Seal the bag and squeeze the contents together to coat the wings in the sauce.
Open the bag slightly to remove the excess air, then reseal the bag and place in the freezer until you’re ready to cook the wings.

Serving instructions:

When you’re ready to prepare the chicken wings, remove them from the freezer and allow the wings to thaw in the refrigerator.
To cook the wings in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the wings in an even layer in a baking dish and cover the pan with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, then remove the cover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
To cook the wings in the slow cooker, transfer the contents of the bag to the pot of the slow cooker and set to cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 5 to 6 hours.
To cook in the Air Fryer, preheat the air fryer to 400° for 2 minutes. Add wings in a single layer. Cook for 10 minutes. Flip over and cook for another 8 minutes.

Can I Cook Chicken Wings from Frozen?

While it may be tempting to reheat your chicken wings directly from the freezer, cooking chicken from frozen isn’t recommended. It can be difficult to evenly cook frozen chicken, which means you may end up with rubbery chicken that isn’t fully cooked in the middle.

Instead of trying to cook your chicken directly from the freezer, it’s important that you allow the chicken wings to safely thaw first. The night before you plan to cook your chicken wings, transfer the bag from the freezer to the refrigerator. This will allow the chicken to thaw while still staying cold enough to prevent bacteria from forming on the raw meat.

How to Quickly Thaw Chicken

If you forgot to take the chicken wings out of the freezer for dinner tonight, you might be wondering if there’s a safe way to quickly thaw chicken. Luckily, there is a faster way to thaw your frozen chicken than letting it defrost in the fridge overnight.

Start by placing your chicken wings (in the bag) in a large bowl or sink. After that, pour room temperature water over the top of the bag. Allow the chicken to sit in the bag for 30 minutes.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

55 mins

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Keyword: chicken, chicken wings

Ingredients

3 lbs. chicken wings
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. ketchup

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

Transfer the chicken wings to a large, resealable freezer bag.
Stir together the flour and water in a medium bowl. Add the brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and ketchup to the bowl and mix until well combined.
Pour the sauce mix over the top of the chicken wings.
Seal the bag and squeeze the contents together to coat the wings in the sauce.
Open the bag slightly to remove the excess air, then reseal the bag and place in the freezer until you’re ready to cook the wings.

Crock Pot Cooking instructions:

Thaw..
Transfer the contents of the bag to the slow cooker and set to cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 5 to 6 hours.

Oven Cooking Instructions:

Thaw.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the wings in an even layer in a baking dish and cover the pan with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, then remove the cover and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Air Fryer instructions:

Thaw.
Preheat air fryer to 400° for 2 minutes. Add wings in a single layer. Cook for 10 minutes. Flip over and cook for another 8 minutes.