Freezer Meals 101 - Page 2 of 10 - Less time cooking, more time living

One Month of Freezer Meals No Repeats

This list of one month of freezer meals provides everything you could want. It gives variety in terms of proteins, cooking methods and tastes. The recipes include meals for the crock pot, the Instant Pot, the skillet and the oven.

The reason I like to make-ahead meals with different cooking methods is that I can then choose which freezer meal to pull out in the morning based on what our day will look like. If we will be out all day, then putting something in the slow cooker may be the best option, whereas if one of the kids has a sports event that evening, we can use a skillet recipe that will be ready to eat in 20 minutes or less.

If you’re new to freezer cooking, you’ll want to read this ESSENTIAL START UP GUIDE. Once you’ve got the basics down, dig in and get started!

These easy freezer meals make meal prep simple.

Of course, I would suggest that you actually double each of these recipes so that you can get two month’s worth of meals in your freezer instead of one month.

I can’t even describe the feeling of standing back and admiring your full freezer, of knowing that you won’t have to think about supper again for at least a month! It’s one of my favourite things. After I finish a freezer meal marathon, I sneak over and open my freezer to take a peek for days. It always puts a smile on my face.

In my Freezer Meals 101 group on Facebook, one of the topics that comes up the most often is about choosing the recipes for freezer meals. People often find it overwhelming to choose recipes and make shopping lists, particularly when they are first starting.

With that in mind, I wanted to provide you with a month’s worth of freezer meals to take the guesswork out of preparing. I’ve included links to each one of the 30 recipes as well as a printable shopping list.

The shopping list includes everything you need to make one of each of the recipes. Remember to double the quantities on the shopping list if you are going to be doubling the recipes to end up with 60 meals.

Recipes for One Month of Freezer Meals with No Repeats:

Sausage and Peppers Skillet Meal

Spaghetti Sauce

Beef Fajitas

Apple Maple Chicken Dump Recipe

Seafood Curry Freezer Meal

Asian Meatballs

Tex Mex Pasta Bake

Chicken and Vegetable Casserole with Crunchy Onion Topping

BBQ Shredded Chicken with Garlic Mayo

Beefy Rice Slow Cooker Casserole

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Freezer to Crock Pot Beef Stew

Chickpea and Vegetable Curry

Make Ahead Chicken and Spinach Penne Alfredo

Pizza Casserole (a kid friendly favourite)

Tater Tot Casserole (my kids beg me to make this one often)

Ground Beef Stroganoff

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Chicken Fried Rice

Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole

Sloppy Joes

Soup Freezer Meals:

Hearty Sausage and Zucchini Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

Corn Chowder with Bacon

Vegetable Pesto Minestrone

Pinto Tortilla Soup

Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup

Instant Pot Freezer Meals:

Chicken Tikka Masala for the Instant Pot or the Crock Pot

Instant Pot Italian Chicken and Veggies

Butter Chicken for the Instant Pot

(If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can make these in the Crock Pot by adjusting the cooking times.)

Get your printable shopping list for all the ingredients for these 30 recipes.

Chicken Fried Rice Freezer Meal

By Sharla

This Chicken Fried Rice is adapted from my Tante Gisele’s recipe so that it can be made ahead as a freezer meal. Since the chicken and rice are pre-cooked, it is fast to reheat this to serve. This makes it a wonderful dish for those busy weeknights.

Growing up, Chicken Fried Rice was a staple at family gatherings. Every Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, my Tante Gisele (“Tante” is French for “aunt”) would make her famous dish. It was made with much love. I especially looked forward to the crunch of the water chestnuts!

It is hard to convey the memories that my Tante Gisele’s Chicken Fried Rice bring up for me. I think of being allowed to stay up past bedtime while listening carefully to the adults’ conversation and hoping they would forget I was there (I was younger than my next-oldest cousin on that side of the family by 9 years). I can still see the wood panelling on the walls in my aunt’s basement and hear the laughter ringing out.

While this recipe requires a bit more work at the outset to cook the rice and chicken, it pays off on the day of serving because all that’s needed is just reheating.

Chicken Fried Rice Recipe:

4 cups cooked rice
1 1⁄2 cups diced cooked chicken breast*
1⁄2 cup diced celery
1 cups diced carrots
1 small jar of sliced water chestnuts
1 cup frozen peas
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
4 Tbsp. soya sauce

Cook the rice and add into a large resealable freezer bag. Add chopped onion, celery, carrots, water chestnuts, and peas. Then add in the cooked chicken* (see note below). Pour garlic cloves, oyster sauce, and soy sauce into the bag. Squish everything together to combine. Remove excess air and seal. Lay flat and freeze.

*When I make freezer meals, I always make many at one time. I find that the easiest way to cook the chicken for this purpose is to lay the chicken breasts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes at 350° before cubing.

On the day you want to cook the Chicken Fried Rice, take it out of the freezer and thaw. Heat in a covered casserole dish in the oven until warm or fry up in a skillet or wok.

This dish is absolutely perfect for bringing to potlucks which is one of the reasons I love to always have a few bags in the freezer.

You can find this recipe and others along with shopping lists, prep lists, and printable labels in our Dinner in 20 Freezer Meal Plan. You may also like these recipes:

Make Ahead Chicken and Spinach Penne Alfredo (this recipe also requires pre-cooking and cubing the chicken, so it’s a great one to make at the same time by cooking the chicken altogether)Apple Maple Chicken Dump Recipe

Keto Freezer Meals to Make Ahead

By Sharla

Adhering to a new diet or way of eating can be challenging. Whether you’re new to Keto or have chosen this way of eating long ago, these make-ahead Keto freezer meals make it easy to have meals at the ready.

It seems that everywhere I turn, people are jumping on the Keto wagon and raving about their results. For some, it’s been weight loss while for others, it’s been improvements in their health and energy. Some who suffer from health issues have seen their symptoms disappear just from changing to this way of eating. Their stories certainly have me paying closer attention!

I’ve put together a list of Keto freezer meals. By making breakfasts and dinners ahead of time, you’re more likely to be able to stick to this way of eating and maintain the lifestyle change.

Keto Freezer Meals:

Instant Pot Butter Chicken from here on Freezer Meals 101

Italian Wedding Soup from here on Freezer Meals 101

Delicious Garlic Butter Shrimp from here on Freezer Meals 101 (serve on zucchini noodles or konjac noodles instead of rice)

Sausage and Peppers from here on Freezer Meals 101 (serve on cauliflower rice – here’s a great freeze-ahead cauliflower rice recipe from The Pinning Mama)

Low Carb Mexican Shredded Chicken on Step Away from the Carbs

Slow Cooker Malaysian Beef Curry from Ditch the Carbs

Cabbage Lasagna from Low Carb Yum

Tuscan Chicken Freezer Meal from Stockpiling Moms

Easy Spiced Pork Chops from Step Away from the Carbs

Pesto Meatballs from Savory Lotus

Breakfast Keto Freezer Meals:

Cheesy Sausage Biscuits from Intoxicated on Life

Paleo Breakfast Casserole from Paleo Running Mama

Cheesy Broccoli Breakfast Muffins over on Paleo Hacks

Spinach and Goat Cheese Egg Muffins from Intoxicated on Life

Turkey Sausage Frittata from Perfect Keto

Hopefully having these easy keto recipes that can be prepped ahead of time will take the stress out of getting meals on the table and in your belly!

Hearty Sausage and Zucchini Soup

By Sharla

This hearty sausage and zucchini soup is the ultimate in warm winter comfort food. This make ahead meal is packed full of flavour.

This recipe is a spin-off of my Sausage and Spinach Soup. That soup is my son Josiah’s favourite. I loved the flavours in it as well. The problem was that the texture of the cooked spinach in it was weird. Pretty much all of my family (other than Josiah) complained about the texture.

I was left in a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, I loved the heartiness and the flavours of this soup. Josiah asked for it all the time and raved about it. On the other hand, the rest of my family wasn’t a fan because of the spinach. What’s a mom to do?!

This soup was the answer. By replacing the spinach with zucchini, I was able to please everybody. In fact, this sausage and zucchini soup is now our family’s most requested soup!

Hearty Sausage and Zucchini Soup Recipe:

1 lb. ground Italian sausage (I prefer the spicy variety to give it a bit of a kick)
24 oz. jar pasta sauce
19 oz. can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced zucchini
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup small pasta shells

Place the dry small pasta shells into a medium resealable bag.

Brown the ground sausage in a skillet. Blot it with a paper towel to get rid of some of the grease or drain it.

Once the sausage has cooled, put it in a large resealable freezer bag. Pour in the pasta sauce, the white kidney beans, diced zucchini, chopped carrots, diced onion, minced garlic, and chicken broth. Remove any excess air from the bag and seal. Staple the bags together above the seals and freeze.

On cooking day, take the bag out of the freezer and thaw. Separate the bags and add the contents of the large bag to a crock pot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Add the pasta in the last 20 minutes.

Alternatively, you can simmer the soup in a large stovetop pot for about an hour and add the pasta for the last ten or fifteen minutes.

By using different types of jarred pasta sauce, you can change up the flavours of this soup and experiment until you find the one that you like best.

Check out these other awesome freezer soup recipes:

Corn Chowder with Bacon

Italian Wedding Soup with Sausage Meatballs

Pasta Freezer Meals to Make Ahead

By Sharla

There’s something about pasta that just makes it a hit with everyone. The kids are always happy to hear we are having pasta for dinner. These make ahead pasta freezer meals make is easy to serve dinner even on the busiest days.

For me, pasta is about the ultimate in comfort food. I think there must be some Italian heritage in my background! I also find it fun to play around with the recipes and flavours so I make pasta dishes often.

By increasing the cooking time, many of these recipes can go from the freezer to the oven. This makes it easier to pull something out at the last minute and still have supper on time.

Since these meals are made ahead of time, they are great for serving to company. You’ll be left with enough time to make a salad and garlic bread since your main dish is already ready to go in the oven. These meals are also perfect for bringing to a potluck or gifting to a neighbour or friend.

While I prefer to use freezer bags to save space and be able to fit more meals in the freezer, some of these do require being put in a baking tray or casserole dish before freezing. Freezer friendly meals such as manicotti and lasagna hold their shape best in a baking tray.