Freezer meal tips
Tips about Freezer Meals! What are they? How do you make and freeze meals?
If you haven’t tried doing freezer meals then you are seriously missing out. Missing out on life, missing out on savings, and missing out on time spent doing the things you love because freezer meals do just that.
Doing Freezer meals or Freezer meal workshops as I like to call it saves you so much time. Especially those days when you don’t feel like doing anything much less cook a great meal because you don’t want to spend the money on take out or just don’t like to do take out unless it is absolutely necessary.
[disclosure]
If you already meal plan why not take it a step further and freezer meal plan? If you haven’t started meal planning and are too afraid to start, head on over to my page that is all about meal planning TIPS. I give you really simple steps so you can start meal planning today. Click here to access the information.
Some questions I see often is
Do you cook freezer meals first? Yes and No..It all depends on the recipe you are making. If you are making things like meatloaf or a stir fry dish you leave the ingredients raw/not cooked.
If you are making things like spaghetti or chili then yes go ahead and cook them first then separate into bags and freeze.
Another question I see quite often is How do you make frozen dinners taste better?
Some people say that when they make freezer meals the taste becomes more bland. I haven’t had this experience but if you are worried then just put a little more spices than the recipe calls for.
The last question I get asked is Can you put freezer meals in the fridge? Yes, but they won’t last as long in the fridge. Meals in the fridge typically last 3 days max vs 3-6 months in the freezer. I mean they’re called freezer meals for a reason right?
Here are some Tips about freezer meals for you to have the best freezer meal experience.
- Only do one meat or meatless meals at one time
- Be sure to label everything and make sure to label with cook temps/times/and any ingredients needed after or before cooking. (ex. Bake 350 for 30 mins Add 2 Cups cheese on top then bake for another 10 mins) or Place sour cream in before cooking or after etc. you get the idea
- Make sure to have all of your freezer meal supplies out and ready
- If you’re just starting out make sure to not overwhelm yourself and try to do 30 meals at once. Start out small by making 3-5.
- Always make more of what your family usually eats (ours is spaghetti meat sauce and taco meat) and freeze the leftovers to make a whole nother meal or meals.
- Try and cut your veggies all at once
- Incorporate at least one freezer meal into your weekly meal plan!
One thing I always Freeze is Spaghetti meat sauce, taco meat, and shredded chicken. This is one of my most used tips about freezer meals when I am talking to people. When I cook Spaghetti meat sauce and taco meat for dinner I cook a lot that way I can freeze the rest. We always eat spaghetti and tacos lol they are our go to meals when we forget to pull out something or want to save some money. You can cook these from frozen so win win here!
We have been using our Instant Pot to cook our frozen meals and it comes in sooo handy because it takes no time at all to go from frozen to in my belly! HERE Is the Instant Pot I’ve used for over 2 years now and we love it so much, it’s seriously the best kitchen gadget we’ve ever bought.
I’ve talked about shredded chicken before again and again lol. I am an avid user of shredded rotisserie chicken. Buy yourself a rotisserie chicken, let it cool so you don’t burn your fingers and start shredding! One chicken makes usually 5 meals for our family of 5. You can read all about that here in my other post if you like.
Another tips about freezer meals I used to do all the time when we were in the states is casseroles and lasagna. We don’t do these right now because we live in Japan and don’t have the freezer capacity to hold a lot. Japan has very tiny living spaces, I’m fortunate to have our regular freezer and a small freezer.
These take the most time because of the layering but are so great because you can cook straight from frozen and it is a whole meal! I used to use those aluminum pans for these types of freezer meals but since we’ve started to go green and try to eliminate waste in our household I started using my glass containers for my layered recipes.
I still use Ziploc bags for my other things I just use a sticky note and tape for my ingredients and labels right now. Soon, I will buy a label maker and see how good that stays on but for now we are winging that part LOL
Let me know if you have any tips about freezer meals that your family enjoy by leaving me a comment below and don’t forget to Grab your FREE MEAL PLAN here! Follow me on social media for more tips about freezer meals, saving money, and recipes. I look forward to hearing from you!
This is such a helpful post. When we buy stuff in bulk, it’s great to freeze them properly for easy meals.
Thanks for all these useful tips. I’m getting really busy at the moment so I could use all these!
I also often make extra and freeze things like pasta sauce, as well as curries, chili, casseroles etc. It’s definitely a godsend on days you have no time or inclination to cook! I agree labeling is important. I’ve had a few occasions I forgot to label, pulled out what I thought was one thing and it turned out to be another!
It’s very convenient sometimes when we are in a hurry, I do it many times for my daughters’ lunch. she warms it has it for lunch so no hurrying at that nick of time.
Thanks for this nice informative post on meal planning and freezing them too. Will try them
These are very important tips for freezing my meals. I tend to make mistake about that but your content helps me understand the concept of freezing meals. Thank you
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Great advice and tips. They are all very useful.
Thanks for the great advice! I am especially fond of point #2 – I have learned from experience that not labeling the freezer meal with cooking instructions has gotten me into trouble – I simply can’t remember it all, so this really helps. Freezer meals are a favorite thing for me. Even though I love to cook, sometimes I just like pulling something out that is already prepared and ‘taking the night off’.
Great tips! I don’t have a lot of space in my freezer so I don’t have meals, but more just ingredients. Mainly meats and frozen berries and sometimes cookie dough haha.
Freezer meals are such a lifesaver. I have been helping my brother in law sending him food as he is sick and he loves the freezer meals convenience. I love to have freezer meals as makes it so easy for me to feed my family too.
Long time supporter, and thought I’d drop a comment.
Your wordpress site is very sleek – hope you don’t mind me
asking what theme you’re using? (and don’t mind if I steal it?
:P)
I just launched my site –also built in wordpress like yours– but the theme slows (!) the site down quite
a bit.
In case you have a minute, you can find it by searching for “royal cbd” on Google (would appreciate any feedback) –
it’s still in the works.
Keep up the good work– and hope you all take care of yourself during the coronavirus scare!
Hi Justin,
I am using blogberg theme right now I was actually thinking about changing it up here in a few months but I may hold off on it. Thank you for the kind words they are very much appreciated. We are staying safe during this crisis, I hope you are as well. I will check out your search words and get back to you. Stay safe!
Sometimes the leftover food is more delicious as it soaks in all the flavors. Unfortunately I have very fussy eaters at home so freezing doesn’t work for me. But I can imagine how easy and simple my life would have been if I did this.
Freezer meals are just your own meals frozen. They don’t change flavor or anything.
I’m following these steps nowadays since my maid has gone for a month. I cook the sauce/ gravy and freeze it so that when I’ve to cook something fast I just have to put chicken/ cottage cheese/ potato etc in the frozen sauce and curry is ready.
I’ll label them with date from now on coz I tend to forget that part.
these are great tips you have mentioned. I like making casseroles and lasagnas too. nd we always have leftovers with which I make something else. I liked some other posts on your site too.
i never thought of this freezer meal plan. I must be really helpful for working women. I wonder how much time we can save using this. Its really a helpful article.
Hi Felicia. I love these tips. I think it’s important to know what’s going on in one’s freezer. I especially like the labelling oart because then you know when things have expired or which ones to use first 🙂
I have recently been stocking up on freezer meals, just in case. This is very helpful! Thank you for sharing! xx Manon | Bondi to Basic