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Looking for a quick freezer cooking plan to stock your freezer for busy nights? In this post, I’ll show you how to make 22 quick freezer meals in just 30 minutes!
Have you ever done freezer cooking? I am obsessed.
Freezer cooking is basically just cooking up some extra dinners to stick in the freezer for busy nights ahead. It’s a life saver on those crazy busy nights.
I have been freezer cooking ever since we got married. Having meals ready to go in the freezer helps me get dinner on the table every night with no stress.
Did I mention it was a life saver? I don’t really have to cook every night to serve a homemade meal. Game changer!
This quick freezer cooking plan only took me about 30 minutes and I have 11 meals ready to go for the 2 of us. 22 meals in all.
Check out the freezer cooking plan and get your freezer stocked! You’ll be so happy when you don’t have to cook dinner every night.
Quick Freezer Cooking Plan – 22 Meals in 30 Minutes
I had some random ingredients and meat I wanted to use up, so this plan was born from me using what I had on hand.
When you do your freezer cooking, look in your freezer, fridge, and pantry to see what ingredients you already have and what you need to use up. Doing that keeps freezer cooking as simple and frugal as possible. And I’m all about simple and frugal!
Feel free to tweak this plan to work best for your family!
This quick freezer cooking plan is for the 2 of us, so if want freezer meals for 2 – just follow as is! If you have a larger family, double or triple the plan to have more meals.
Related Post: Freezer Cooking for 2: 21 Meals in 1 Hour
Quick Note:
When you buy groceries, make sure to use the completely free Ibotta app to get cash back on your groceries! It’s so easy to use and you can get gift cards or money to your Paypal account when you use the free app! Get the free Ibotta app here and get $5 when you upload your first receipt!
Meals:
5 containers of spaghetti = 10 servings
1 container of taco meat = 2 servings
1 bag of fajita mix = 2 servings
2 burgers
1 bag of salsa chicken = 2 servings
1 bag of Italian chicken = 2 servings
1 bag of honey mustard chicken = 2 servings
= 22 servings total
You can get the free PDF of this quick freezer cooking plan right here!
Shopping List:
Note: This quick freezer cooking plan is for the 2 of us, so double or triple the plan if you have a larger family or want to make more meals. I just wanted to use up what I had on hand and make as many meals as I could with what I had. Get creative with the ingredients and meat you already have!
Also 2nd note: We buy large chicken breasts, and split them between the 2 of us. It’s plenty of meat and keeps our cost low. I add in sides to round out the meals and keep our meals as frugal as I can. If you have smaller chicken breasts, you may want to use 2 where I just used 1 large breast.
3rd note (Sorry!): I try to get my freezer cooking done as quick as possible, so I don’t measure a lot of things. This might drive some people crazy, but I urge you to do the same if you can to get these meals made quickly. With spices, I just sprinkle what looks good. And when I add ingredients like salsa or dressing to freezer bags, I just kind of dump a good amount. I will try to estimate what I used in the shopping list below.
Shopping List:
4 large chicken breasts (or 8 small chicken breasts)
3 lbs ground beef
1 1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup honey dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 cup Italian dressing
3 small bell peppers – red, yellow, orange mix
1/2 taco seasoning packet (all I had on hand)
2 28 oz cans tomato sauce
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
Spices:
Burger seasoning: I use Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and McCormick’s Burger Seasoning (sprinkle of each)
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (sprinkle)
Paprika (1/2 tsp)
Oregano (1 1/2 tsp for spaghetti, 1/2 tsp for fajita mix)
Ground Cumin (1/2 tsp)
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Pepper (1/2 tsp)
Chili Powder (2 tsp for spaghetti, 1/2 tsp for fajita mix)
Garlic Powder (1 1/2 tsp for spaghetti, 1/2 tsp for fajita mix)
Onion Powder (1 1/2 tsp for spaghetti, 1/2 tsp for fajita mix)
Fresh Basil Leaves (if you have them – I grabbed 4 from my garden)
You can get the free PDF of this quick freezer cooking plan right here!
Directions:
1. Brown 2 1/3 lbs ground beef in a skillet.
Add 2 1/3 lbs ground beef to a skillet to brown. This will be for the spaghetti sauce and taco meat. The remaining beef will be for 2 burger patties.
2. Start spaghetti sauce.
Add the 2 large cans of tomato sauce, the diced tomatoes, and the following spices to a large pot to start your spaghetti sauce.
Spices: 1 1/2 tsp oregano, 2 tsp chili powder, 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 1/2 tsp onion powder, 4 chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 1/2 tsp dried basil. I just sprinkle the spices in to get this done quickly.
Let sauce simmer on medium low while you make the chicken freezer meals.
3. Make salsa chicken.
Add 1 1/2 cups of salsa to a freezer bag with 1 large (or 2 small) chicken breasts. Label the bag.
4. Make Italian chicken.
Slice 1 large (or 2 small) chicken breasts into tenders.
Add to a freezer bag with 1 cup Italian dressing. Label the bag.
(Check on your ground beef and turn.)
5. Make honey mustard chicken.
Cut 1 large chicken breast horizontally to make 2 thinner breasts. Then, slice those in 2 to make 4 small, thin chicken pieces.
Mix 1/4 cup honey dijon mustard with 1/4 cup honey and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes to make honey mustard mix.
Use a basting brush to coat both sides of each chicken piece.
Place chicken in bag and label.
6. Make chicken fajita mix.
Thinly slice and remove seeds from 3 small bell peppers.
Dice 1 large chicken breasts.
Add bell pepper slices and chicken pieces to freezer bag.
Make fajita mix by mixing 1/2 tsp of each of these spices: paprika, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Add fajita seasoning to freezer bag with peppers and chicken. Shake to coat and label bag.
7. Drain grease from ground beef.
The ground beef should now be browned. Drain the grease on a paper towel.
8. Add ground beef to spaghetti sauce.
After you drain the grease, add 1 1/4 lb ground beef to the spaghetti sauce mix and stir. Let the sauce continue to simmer.
9. Add taco seasoning to remaining ground beef.
Mix 1/2 taco seasoning packet with 1/3 cup of water. Add the remaining ground beef (about 3/4 lb) back to the skillet. Mix the taco seasoning with the beef and let simmer.
10. Make burger patties.
With the 2/3 lb uncooked ground beef, add a sprinkle of burger seasoning. Mix and make 2 burger patties. Add to a freezer bag and label.
11. Put taco meat and spaghetti sauce in containers.
Add your taco meat to a freezer safe container and label.
Divide the spaghetti sauce into 5 (or whatever portions work for your family size) freezer safe containers and label.
12. Put freezer bags in freezer bin.
I love using a Dollar Tree plastic bin to keep my bagged freezer meals in one spot. Go ahead and place everything in the freezer – and you are done!
You can get the free PDF of this quick freezer cooking plan right here!
I got all of these meals made in just 30 minutes! Once you get these meals made, go ahead and make your menu plan to use them.
Related Post: No Cook Freezer Meals – 28 Meals in 20 Minutes
You may want to save a few back for crazy busy nights ahead. I just planned mine for this week, so I don’t have to do much more cooking!
You will have to finish a few of the meals, but it’s so easy once everything is all in one bag ready to go!
Here’s how to finish the meals:
Spaghetti sauce: Thaw sauce overnight in fridge. Add to saucepan to heat. Boil noodles. Serve with salad or garlic bread
Taco meat: Thaw overnight in fridge. Heat in skillet or microwave. Serve on tortillas with your favorite toppings or as nachos. (This is my go to when my husband needs to get our dinner ready! It’s a “can’t mess up meal”!)
Chicken Fajita mix: Thaw overnight in fridge. Dump in skillet with small amount of olive oil. Cook until chicken done. Serve on tortillas with chips and salsa on the side (duh!) ;).
Salsa Chicken: Thaw overnight in fridge. Dump in small crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken. Serve on tortillas or tortilla chips with shredded cheese and taco type toppings.
Italian Chicken: Thaw overnight in fridge. Grill in skillet until done. Serve with potatoes and vegetables.
Honey Mustard Chicken: Thaw overnight in fridge. Grill in skillet with small amount of olive oil until done. Add small piece of cheese and let melt on top. Serve on slider buns with fries.
Burgers: Thaw overnight in fridge. Grill until desired doneness. Serve with all your favorite burger toppings and sides.
Even though there is still a small amount of work to do with a few of the meals, most of the work is already done. And it’s so much easier to stick to your meal plan when the meal is more than halfway done. You’ll be much more inclined to cook the meal instead of heading to Chick Fil A.
Related Post: Monthly Freezer Cooking – 111 Meals in 3 Hours
I love freezer cooking so much (if you couldn’t tell!) and love how much time and money it saves me. When we have busy nights, I know I can just grab a meal from the freezer to get dinner done with no fuss.
Try this quick freezer cooking plan and see how much time and money you save!
You can get the free PDF of this quick freezer cooking plan right here!
Enjoy!
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