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When it comes to enjoying quick, easy and effortless meals, your freezer is one of your best allies.
Considering how busy our everyday lives can get, the last thing you want to do is to get home and begin to stress about what to prepare for dinner.
Prepping your meals ahead saves you the extra time and strength, while still letting you enjoy delicious and satisfying recipes.
If you’re looking for the best freezer meals to enjoy, then you’re in the right place.
In this post, you’ll discover what types of foods to freeze, how best to go about it, and over 30 incredible freezer-friendly recipes to enjoy.
These freezer meals are easy to make, healthy, nutritious, and packed with good flavor. And with over 30 options to choose from, you don’t have to worry about things getting boring either.
So without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Freezer Meals 101
Like I said, your freezer is one of your best allies when it comes to enjoying delicious, and healthy meals without stress.
If you run a busy schedule, and don’t want to waste a ton of money eating out almost every day, then meal planning is definitely something you need to implement.
In addition to that, freezer meals can also help you combat food waste, since you can easily re-purpose your leftovers. Plus, if you freeze your meals according to portion sizes, you only consume what you immediately need, which further minimizes waste.
Before you get started with freezer meals, it’s important to know what kind of foods freeze best, and the different ways to go about it. Let’s explore the latter first.
Freezer Meal Prep Methods
When it comes to freezer meal prepping, there are 2 common methods used, depending on the recipe, as well as your preference.
1) Pre-prepped ingredients – So for this, you basically prep the ingredients for the recipe ahead of time, and freeze them. And when you want to eat, you simply grab the pre-prepped ingredients, toss in your cooker for a bit, and voila.
2) Full recipe – As the name implies, this method requires you to prepare the recipe to completion, and simply freeze, and reheat when you’re ready to chow down.
Whichever method you choose depends on the recipe. But also your preference. If you prefer cook your meals fresh, without going through the stress of prepping the ingredients beforehand, then the first method works fine.
If you want to skip the stress, and the waiting time altogether, and simply reheat and enjoy, then the second method is for you.
What Foods Can You Freeze?
The good news is that you can successfully freeze almost about anything. Although it’s important to note that some food items will freeze better than others.
For example, soups, stews, pies, casseroles, and so on may be easier to refrigerate. Alternatively, some foods, especially the ones with a high water content, may not be the best for freezing.
This is because the moisture in them can eventually lead to them getting soggy and mushy upon reheating. Although there are steps that can be taken to avoid this.
This comprehensive guide from The Spruce Eats, tells you all you need to know, about how to freeze different food types for optimal results.
Now, before we jump into the yummy freezer-friendly recipes, let’s take a look at some useful tips to note when freezing your foods.
Useful Food-freezing Tips
1) The Less Air, The Better
When storing your foods, you want to make sure you do so with as little air in the container/bag as possible. This is mainly to prevent a condition known as “freezer burn”
Freezer burn, as ironical as it may sound, occurs when moisture is lost from the food, as a result of its exposure to air when freezing. This in turn decreases the quality and texture of the food.
Foods with freezer burn are still safe to eat, although they may not taste as good. One thing you can do to prevent this unwanted situation, is to ensure your foods are kept in air-tight containers/bags.
2) Split Things Into Respective Portions
The last thing you want to do, is to have to freeze a recipe, only to heat up the entire thing when you’re ready, eat a portion, and freeze the rest. This constant freezing and heating is bound to reduce the taste and quality of the food.
A good solution to this, is to split your meal into adequate portions. That way, you only heat up the quantity you need for that particular day/moment, while the rest of the recipe remains frozen for when they’re needed.
3) Chill Before Freezing
I’m guessing you already know this by now, but tossing hot foods directly into the freezer is probably not a good idea. This is because your freezer is supposed to be at a low temperature to be able to do its job.
Tossing hot food in there can raise the temperature, and that may affect some of the other foods previously chilling out in there. It’s usually better to let the food cool to at least room temperature, before tossing them in the freezer.
4) Use Good Containers
5) Don’t Forget Labels
Labeling and good organization go hand in hand. Apart from making it easier to know exactly what is what in the freezer, proper labels help you keep good track of how long something has been, and should be in the freezer.
So ensure to label your foods with the names, as well as the dates. If you’re following a meal plan or timetable, you can also indicate the day you intend to eat them. It makes sorting through the different meals way easier.
35 Healthy Freezer Meals
1) Instant Pot Lentil Soup
2) Vegetarian Black Bean Enchiladas
Get the recipe at – Love And Lemons
3) Super Easy Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Get the recipe at – The Girl On Bloor
4) Easy Freezer Meatballs
Get the recipe at – Happy Money Saver
5) Crockpot BBQ Chicken
Get the recipe at – Well Plated
Also See: 25 Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes That’ll Leave You Drooling
6) White Bean Chicken Chili
Get the recipe at – Eating Bird Food
7) Taco Casserole
Get the recipe at – The Recipe Rebel
8) Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs
Get the recipe at – Sweet Peas And Saffron
9) Easy Cabbage Rolls
Get the recipe at – Spend With Pennies
10) Quick Pork Carnitas Tacos
Also See: 35 Healthy Instant Pot Dinners You Need In Your Life
11) Freezer Meal Stuffed Quinoa Peppers
Get the recipe at – Pinch Of Yum
12) Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry
Get the recipe at – The Flavors Of Kitchen
13) Paleo Beef Stew Freezer Meal
Get the recipe at – The Bettered Blondie
14) Roasted Vegetable Stuffed Shells
Get the recipe at – Two Peas And Their Pod
15) Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups
Get the recipe at – Skinny Taste
Also See: 30 Incredible Dinners To Make With 5 Ingredients Or Less
16) Freezer Friendly Baked Ziti
Get the recipe at – I Wash You Dry
17) Turkey Black Bean Quinoa Bake
Get the recipe at – Simply Recipes
18) King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Get the recipe at – The Cookie Rookie
19) Easy Crockpot Korean BBQ Beef
Get the recipe at – Eating On A Dime
20) Easy Chicken Tikka Masala
Get the recipe at – Damn Delicious
Also See: 25 Healthy Chicken Dinners You Really Need To Try
21) Mini Mozzarella Meatloaf “Muffins”
Get the recipe at – Make Ahead Meal Mom
22) Spicy Shredded Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
Get the recipe at – Unsophisticook
23) Easy Creamy Tuscan Shrimp
Get the recipe at – Salt And Lavender
24) Easy Thai Peanut Chicken
Get the recipe at – Family Fresh Meals
25) Asian-Style Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps
Get the recipe at – Our Salty Kitchen
Also See: 30 Budget Friendly Dinner Recipes You Need In Your Life
26) 20-Minute Healthy Chicken Fried Rice
Get the recipe at – Homemade Mastery
27) Chicken Spaghetti
Get the recipe at – Thriving Home
28) Freezer Chicken Fajitas
Get the recipe at – The Modern Proper
29) Spaghetti Bolongese
Get the recipe at – Carlsbad Cravings
30) Chicken Tuscan Pasta Bake
Get the recipe at – Rachel Cooks
Also See: 30 Healthy Casserole Recipes To Satisfy Your Cravings
31) Greek Turkey Burgers
Get the recipe at – Sweet Peas And Saffron
32) Hamburger Soup
Get the recipe at – Dinner At The Zoo
33) Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
Get the recipe at – The Cozy Cook
34) Easy Keto Eggplant Lasagna
Get the recipe at – Wholesome Yum
35) Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff
