Freezer Meals 101 - Page 2 of 8 - Less time cooking, more time living

Make Ahead Chicken and Spinach Penne Alfredo

You’re going to love this make ahead chicken and spinach penne Alfredo. It is perfect for giving a friend who is moving, expecting, adopting, or going through a difficult season. It is an all in one meal that packs a flavourful punch.

I know the pictures don’t make it look like the prettiest dish ever. It’s not. But it is loaded with flavour and it is an easy meal that will soon become a family staple. The combination of the pesto and Alfredo create a unique taste. Give it a try!

Chicken and Spinach Penne Alfredo Recipe:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
410 mL jar of Alfredo sauce
2 Tbsp. pesto
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. olive oil
1 227g bag of fresh spinach
4 cups dry penne pasta

Before assembling this freezer meal, cook and cube the chicken. I prepare many freezer meals at one time, so I find that the fastest way to cook large amounts of chicken breasts is to place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and cook them in the oven. Once they are cooked, I cube them. If you’re only making the chicken for this one recipe, you can instead cube the raw chicken and cook it in a skillet in a bit of oil on medium-high heat.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add pasta. Cook for 1 minute less than the box directions call for. This is because you want the pasta slightly undercooked so that it doesn’t become mushy after freezing and reheating. Drain the pasta.

In a skillet on the stovetop, heat the olive oil. Add the spinach and saute until wilted. Mix the Alfredo sauce, pesto, and garlic into the drained pasta.

Add the cooked, cubed chicken, pasta mixture and spinach to a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the extra air and seal before freezing.

On the day of cooking, thaw the bag before placing its contents into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Bake, covered in a preheated 350° oven for 45 minutes.

The chicken and spinach penne Alfredo has everything you need for a complete meal so you can serve it on its own or pair it with a salad and some bread.

Check out these other great casserole style freezer meals:

Chicken and Vegetable Casserole with Crispy Onion Topping Tex Mex Pasta Bake

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.

Check out these other easy and delicious chicken freezer meals:

Lemon and Garlic Chicken Dump Recipe

Chicken and Vegetable Casserole with Crispy Onion Topping

Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

By Sharla

My kids love meatballs. I knew that they would think it was fun to have meatballs in soup. I also like to use alphabet pasta in this soup for the same reason. Between the meatballs and the alphabet pasta, I can make this Italian wedding soup recipe kid friendly while still being healthy.

This is an easy recipe but such a great soup. Being able to make it ahead makes it even easier. As with most freezer meals, it’s just as easy to make several of these at once.

Italian Wedding Soup Recipe:

1 lb. Italian sausage, formed into meatballs and cooked
1 carrot, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp. parsley
salt, pepper to taste
1 cup small pasta like alphabet or orzo
day of cooking: 2 cups spinach, sliced or chopped

The fastest way to make the sausage meatballs in bulk if you’re using them for several recipes (such as in the delicious Sausage and Peppers recipe), is to form the balls and place on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven. If you’re only making one recipe, you can instead fry them in a skillet.

You can use regular Italian sausage or the spicy variety depending on what your family’s spice tolerance and preferences are. We like the spicy type and the bit of kick that provides.

Place the cooked sausage meatballs, chopped carrot, seasonings, and chicken broth in a large resealable bag. Remove excess air and seal. Put 1 cup of small pasta in a medium sized resealable bag and staple the bags together. Freeze.

On the day of cooking, take the bag of soup out of the freezer and thaw it. Remove the staples and set aside the bag of pasta. In a large pot, heat just the soup on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Bring it to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low. Add in the pasta and spinach and continue cooking another 5 – 10 minutes until the pasta is fully cooked.

Ladle soup into bowls. If desired, you can sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

Check out these other kid friendly freezer meals:

Best Ever Spaghetti Sauce

Mini Pancake Muffins

Garlic Butter Shrimp Freezer Meal

By Sharla

This Garlic Butter Shrimp freezer meal is a delicious easy recipe. The flavours are dynamite! This is my daughter Eliana’s favourite lunch dish ever.

This recipe is so versatile. I love it served over pasta with some spicy red chili flakes and grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled over top, but you can also eat it in a rice bowl or on a salad if you prefer.

I got this recipe from my friend Corrine. She had found it in a magazine and discovered that it froze well. The initial recipe had a lot of steps to it and we try to keep our freezer meals as simple to put together as possible, so we experimented and adapted and came up with this recipe. It still has the same great taste as the original, but there are much fewer steps involved in getting it ready.

For this recipe, you really want to use real butter and fresh garlic. You can save time by using jarred minced garlic, but trust me, it is worth the few extra minutes to use the fresh ingredients for this one!

Garlic Butter Shrimp Recipe:

1 lb. medium shrimp, deveined and tails removed
6-8 garlic cloves, minced
1⁄4 cup butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
Dash of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Using a fork or an electric beater, blend the butter, garlic, olive oil, and spices until they are thoroughly mixed. Add with shrimp into a large resealable freezer bag. Seal, lay flat and freeze.

*Note – If you use frozen uncooked shrimp, it often has the tail on. Prepare your butter mixture first, then you can remove the tails of the shrimp without them thawing by de-tailing them under cool running water and doing it quickly so that you can get it back in the freezer right away. This also helps clean the shrimp for cooking.

On the cooking day, take the bag out of the freezer and thaw. Sauté shrimp and butter sauce for 6-7 minutes over medium heat just until they turn pink. If you want to turn this into garlic butter shrimp pasta, cook 8-12 oz. of the pasta of your choice and drain, saving 1 cup of the starchy pasta water. Add the shrimp with butter sauce to the pasta. Add some or all of the reserved pasta water. Toss the ingredients together and serve.

You can throw on a bit of parsley if you like. Personally, I like to add red chili flakes and grated Parmesan or asiago cheese on mine.

You can find this garlic butter shrimp recipe along with other quick and easy meals in our Dinner in 20 Freezer Meal Plan. It includes recipes, prep lists, shopping lists, and printable labels making it easy to get dinner on the table on those busy weeknights. Here are some other fast weeknight recipes for you to try:

Best Ever Freezer Spaghetti Sauce

Lemon Garlic Chicken Dump Recipe

The Big List of Instant Pot Freezer Meals

By Sharla

I was late to the Instant Pot craze. I was resistant at first, but so many of my friends were raving about theirs, especially the ones with large families, so I broke down and bought one. Actually, I wasn’t even the first one to use it after it arrived. My neighbour used it to make roasts in just 17 minutes and I was sold!

Freezer meals are my secret to easily feeding my family, but combining that time saver with this time saving appliance takes things to a whole new level. Instant Pot freezer meals are quickly becoming my new go-to for weekday dinners.

One of the biggest “a-ha” moments for me when it came to wanting to make my freezer meals in the Instant Pot is that you can cook meat from frozen. This means that if you forget to take a freezer meal out in the morning or the night before, you can still just pop it into the Instant Pot*. FROM FROZEN. Yes, freezer meals and the Instant Pot really are a match made in kitchen heaven.

*Be sure to adjust cooking times for this.

Instant Pot Freezer Meals:

Chicken Tikka Masala Instant Pot Freezer Meal from here on Freezer Meals 101

Instant Pot Butter Chicken Freezer Meal here on Freezer Meals 101

Our easy Instant Pot Italian Chicken and Veggies

Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches from Awe Filled Homemaker

Instant Pot Pulled Pork Recipe from Encouraging Moms at Home

Freezer Meal Thai Peanut Chicken for the Instant Pot from Smart Nutrition – This looks so incredibly delicious! I’m a huge fan of Thai food, so this one is going on the must-try list.

Pressure Cooker Kalbi Korean Short Ribs from This Old Gal – Place the marinating meat bag in the freezer for up to 3 months before thawing and cooking in the Instant Pot. If cooking from frozen, adjust the cooking time.

Instant Pot White Chicken Lasagna Soup Recipe over at Super Healthy Kids

Incredible Instant Pot Beef Ragu from Instant Pot Eats

Paleo Chili in the Crock Pot or Instant Pot at Wholesome Yum

Instant Pot Shredded Beef Fajitas Freezer Meal from Happy Money Saver

Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce from Amy & Jacky – Pressure Cook Recipes

Turkey and Pumpkin White Chili on Instant Pot Eats

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken from Leelalicious

Pressure Cooker Balsamic Ginger Chicken from This Old Gal

Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma from Jo Cooks (make the chicken and marinade ahead in a freezer bag)

Check out our Instant Pot Freezer Meals Plan which takes all the guesswork out of preparing Instant Pot meals ahead of time. It includes the recipes, prep lists, shopping lists, and printable labels.

Freezer to Instant Pot Side Dishes:

Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes from Make-Ahead Meal Mom

Pressure Cooker Maple Mustard Glazed Carrots at Major Hoff Takes a Wife

Taking a bit of time to fill your freezer with Instant Pot friendly recipes will be a decision you will thank yourself for again and again!