Quick Suppers from your Freezer! ~Updated~
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We all have those days when supper seems to “sneak” up on us. You wake up, start your day, get as much work done as possible, and then look up to find it’s 5:00!
On those days it is more tempting than ever to hit up the local drive through for a bag of greasy convenience. Even in addition to the grease, the cost is stunning! For the four of us to eat fast food for supper or lunch (which we do when we are on trips from time to time) usually runs over $20! I can feed my family 3-4 good suppers for that amount.
I spoke about this as one of my 3 Backup Plans I use to make sure I can have supper on the table every night no matter how crazy life gets in my Southern Plate Radio Show this week. To hear about this and my other two backup plans, listen to the Southern Plate Radio Show online by clicking here. I also talk about how to cook these freezer meals without thawing first and several different ways to freeze them and save lots of space in the freezer, too! This show is no longer online. Sorry about that!
I keep my freezer stocked with pre-made supper options as a way of saving time, money, and last minute 911 drive through trips.
It’s easy to stock your freezer and there are two main ways to do this.
1. Set aside a mass cooking day and do it all at once. A big grocery trip would yield the ingredients to make 2-4 of each meal you choose to stock. Spend a good day in the kitchen and you’ll be pretty tired at the end of it but you’ll have convenience meals whenever you need them for months to come.
2. Build it slowly – my preferred way. Each week I make sure to make one or two of my favorite freezer friendly meals for supper and just double or triple it. I serve one fresh and freeze the others. This is a no fuss way that doesn’t really take much extra work but builds up my supply of freezer convenience meals really well. Suppers you can make now to eat later.
These are just a few of the things in my freezer right now to help inspire your thinking!
Ma’s Rice and Chicken Bake -This is also part of my Bags To Dishes backup plan, click here to read more about those.
Chicken Fried Brown Rice – This is one of my son’s favorite meals and saves so much money over buying takeout. I just make double (or triple) and freeze the other portions for future suppers. To cook, heat in the microwave or reheat in a large skillet on the stovetop by heating 2 tablespoons oil and adding rice, stirring and sautéing over medium heat until heated through again.
Country Casserole – This is my entire family’s go to casserole. You can double the veggies, leave out the meat, swap ham or ground beef for chicken, switch up the pasta, etc. I even have a simple recipe for making your own cream soup in about five minutes using ingredients you probably have on hand in my new cookbook, Come Home To Supper. Pictured holding the casserole is a Pyrex Butterfly Gold Lasagna Pan. Click here to read my Confession of A Pyrex Hoarder post. I try to always have a few of these in the freezer. I mix up the casseroles in a big dishpan and then store them in gallon size zipper seal bags with the air pressed out. I freeze them flat to save on space. To cook, thaw in the microwave or in the refrigerator overnight. Pour into casserole dish and bake as directed.
I have two of these in my freezer right now that I made using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.
Chicken Patties – I make these using leftover chicken. Sometimes I’ll make sticky chicken and cook an extra breast or two, or if we just don’t end up eating as much as I’d thought we would. I just take off the skin and shred the leftover chicken then whip up however many of these patties I have enough for and put them in the freezer. They make the most delicious chicken sandwiches! I cook these directly from frozen, no thawing needed. I actually made sticky chicken last week and ended up with a little too much since my son (who is a big eater) had supper at a friend’s house. I was able to make four chicken patties with the extra chicken he wasn’t here to eat and we’ll all have a fresh supper later instead!
Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice – This is a slow cooker recipe that you can double and freeze the extra for another meal! To reheat frozen versions, just heat in the microwave or thaw overnight in the fridge, pour into a casserole dish, cover, and bake until heated through at 350, 20-30 minutes.
A question I am often asked is “What is the difference in a slow cooker and a crock pot?” All crock pots are slow cookers, but the term “crock pot” is trademarked by Rival, so any “crock pot” is actually a slow cooker made by that brand. I always say “slow cooker” because all of my slow cookers are made by Hamilton Beach.
Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice – Same as the Wild Rice for freezing and prep.
Dirty Rice – This homemade version of a classic meal freezes like an absolute dream. I love these rice meals because they are filling and economical. To reheat, heat in microwave or thaw slightly and reheat in a large skillet in 1-2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat.
Chicken Stew – So many soups and stews freeze well that I generally always double them when cooking. Allow soup to cool completely and place in ziploc type containers or gallon sized freezer bags (I prefer the bags). Freeze flat and reheat by bringing to a simmer in a large pot on the stovetop. Make one really big batch and you can freeze in individual containers for lunches all winter long.
Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes – These are a great side dish if you need to extend your meal but they also make a wonderful light meal on their own. I often have these for lunch. I cook these directly from frozen, no thawing needed. I am down to one bag (about eight) of these in my freezer right now so I’ll be making more in a few weeks.
Green Beans – We don’t always think about freezing sides but on a busy day, it is so easy to put a dish of chicken breasts and barbecue sauce in the oven and then reheat these delicious green beans to go with them for a nice meal. I made these on Christmas day and went ahead and made a big batch so I’d have some to freeze. I have 6 quart size bags in my freezer now. Think about your favorite vegetable sides and whether or not they would freeze well. If they do, double or triple the recipe next time you make it! I just heat these from frozen in my microwave or a pot on the stovetop.
Pre Cooked Ground Beef – One of my FAVORITE and most used timesaves in the kitchen is keeping a good supply of pre-cooked ground beef in my freezer. I cook it ahead of time, drain it well, and store in quart size zipper seal bags. I put anywhere from 1 cup to 1+1/2 cups in each bag. If I find I need more (or have company), I grab two bags. Having this on hand allows me to make Deep Dish Pizza, Taco Soup, Not Your Average Joe Sloppy Joe, Good Old Spaghetti, or even Tacos in the time it takes for me to assemble the dishes. For these recipes and more, check out my post on 35 Ground Beef Recipes to Help Stretch Your Food Dollar. You can also do this with chicken by just shredding it and even pulled pork or shredded beef roast.
I have about 20 pounds of pre cooked ground beef in my freezer right now.
To see my easy peasy, hands free way to shred meat, click here.
Pre-Cooked Homemade Meatballs and sauces – If I find a good buy on Ground Beef (which is getting really difficult to do these days!) I like to make up a big batch of meatballs for my freezer. This recipe makes about 100. Then, I use one of the sauce recipes I have listed (they are at the bottom of the meatball post, click here) to make a delicious meal out of them. Salisbury, Stroganoff, Meatball Soup, or even Meatball subs. Of course, they are also delicious in spaghetti!
The beauty of this is that you don’t have to make your own meatballs, you can just buy frozen meatballs and keep them on hand to use with one of these quick sauces as well. It is often easier to find a deal on the frozen meatballs than it is to find a deal on the beef to make them yourself. I’m out of homemade meatballs right now but I do have two bags of store bought frozen ones that I found on sale!
Peanut Butter Balls – This is not a meal but my husband likes to make one out of them! He said I needed to include this recipe 🙂 A great high protein rich and nutritious snack that my family absolutely loves, especially when made with honey! I don’t actually have these in my freezer right now but Katy and I are going to mix some up as soon as I’m done with this post. We always work together on these and we each have our own cookie dough scoop to be able to make up a whole bunch in a flash!
There are over 800 recipes on SouthernPlate.com right now and a good many of them are freezer friendly, but I just thought I’d give ya something to think about and go over what I have in my freezer right now for inspiration.
Do you have any make ahead meals in your freezer or do you plan on putting some up soon?
Talk to me in the comments section below!
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I also make burritos to freeze. I do a huge batch at a time, at least 24, sometimes more. I wrap them individually, then put them into a freezer bag. They can either be heated and eaten as a burrito or if I’ve got the time, I’ll thaw several out in the fridge overnight and put them in a baking dish with enchilada sauce and cheese on top for quick and easy enchiladas. I also cook family packs of chicken breasts in the slow cooker, and pick the meat off the bones and shred it, and freeze the meat in 2c portions, which is perfect for almost any recipe. I use the skin and bones to cook down with aromatics for broth, leaving the fat in it. I do 3 batches of broth from one bunch of bones, mix it all together in a big pot & chill it. I then scrape the fat off the top carefully, and I end up with yummy chicken schmaltz for baking and bone broth to use in recipes. I’m cheap, but we eat very well on a very small budget.
I cook up large batches of pinto beans to freeze. We can have them with cornbread, as refried beans, or as a Jiffy pinto bean casserole. Easy and economical!
What a great idea Faith!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
I make lasagna, the local dollar store has small foil pans with foiled cardboard lids, I just make a huge batch of sauce, boil up my noodles, layer my sauce (meat) and cheeses with the noodles and finish with cheese. These are baked, cooled, placed in bags, and frozen with the directions for heating, the date etc printed on the cardboard top. You could bake up almost any casserole, and do the same thing. These are about 1-2 quart pans, which will serve 2 meals for DH and I, or a serving each for 4. Add a salad and you have a nice meal quickly, and it adds warmpth to the house in winter. I use dry curd cottage cheese in the lasagna, and top it with mozzarella or a shredded Italian cheese mix. Cheaper and easy.
What a great idea!!!! I am going to have to look for those pans at my dollar store!
Katy Rose’s quote so precious
Christy, I buy those 10 lb. chub packs of ground beef from Wal-Mart or when someone has a good buy on them, and I sauté onions, garlic and the ground beef and freeze just like you do but in 12 oz. bags using a food sealer. I find that I put garlic and onions in virtually every single thing I make with ground beef and after you allow for one pound of ground beef to cook down (I tried it the first time with just one pound) it shrinks down to 12 oz. I date them after sealing in my food sealer. That way you can grab any bag, pop it in the microwave one minute on each side, and you’re ready to rock and roll. I do the same thing if I get a good buy on bulk Italian sausage. DD wants a share of those too. She’s definitely NOT a cook, but does make spaghetti, hamburger helper, etc. and since her tastes are so limited to stuff like salami sandwiches, spaghetti, etc. she makes big batches. I can’t tell you the hours AND money I’ve saved buying those things on sale and cooking them ahead of time. I’m not working much anymore so I don’t have to do this, but it sure makes throwing supper together a breeze these days. I’m 66, hubby is 81, we don’t eat much, so 1 lb. of ground beef or ground Italian sausage is half the battle throwing something together. One of my favorites is Taco Soup. I also make chicken noodle soup from scratch from buying the 10 lb. bag of chicken leg quarters when they go on sale, stew them up with celery, onions, carrots, garlic, and voila, I have chicken ready to go AND home-made chicken broth. I pick the chicken off the bones, and likewise freeze that in those food sealer bags. Easy Peasy!!!!!!!!!
How do you organize the freezer meals so that you eat them in a reasonable time? When I defrost my chest freezer I always find something delicious has been lost down deep and now it’s way too old to eat.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I usually try to keep similar things somewhat together and when I make something new I put it on the bottom of the stack (for casseroles, etc…) or in the back of the bin if it is something frozen in a freezer bag. That way we always use what has been in there the longest :).
Since we are talking about freezer meals I thought I would share a couple of freezer organization ideas that have helped me. For pasta sauce, stock, etc… I freeze them flat in qt. size freezer bags then stand them up like file folders in a plastic shoe bin (minus the lid). It makes it easy to pull out, flip through and find what I am looking for. Also, for my deep freeze I put smaller, like items in a plastic crate (i.e. hamburger meat packages, etc…). It is a lot easier if you don’t have to move whole turkeys and hams out of the way to find what you need :). Of course, many of you may already do those types of things :). Have a great day!
Love this idea!