Whether you have an hour, four hours, or just 20 minutes, this Step-by-Step Freezer Meal Guide will work for anyone, anywhere, in any size kitchen!
It’s a well-known fact that freezer meal planning is an incredible way to save time in the kitchen. If you’ve never cooked for the freezer before, I’m here to show you how to plan for a freezer cooking session, so you can finally take this awesome time-saving tip and put it to good use in your own kitchen!
I think this is the best way to freezer meal plan because I want to:
- Feed my family healthy food on a budget…
- Without spending a lot of time shopping
- Or cooking…
- Or being a short-order cook three times a day, seven days a week.
Step-by-Step Freezer Meal Guide
Step 1: Decide what type of food will benefit you most.
You can cook full meals, or just portions of meals. Here are some ideas:
- Breakfast: (ex: pancakes, muffins or baked oatmeal)
- Lunch: (ex: lentil pasta or homemade hot pockets)
- Dinner: 100% ready-to-go meals (ex: chicken & spinach enchiladas or creamy squash pasta bake)
- Just the meat: (ex: northern beans & ham soup and make fresh rice, or chicken for tacos with fresh homemade tortillas)
- Breads: (ex: soaked whole wheat bread or tortillas)
- Single ingredients: (ex: beans from scratch or applesauce)
Step 2: Choose meals with ingredients that are similar.
Choose foods with similar ingredients and even a similar cooking method, to make the most of your prepping & cooking time.
Example: We had a bunch of bananas that were about to go bad, so I planned my breakfast meals around them (smoothies, sourdough banana pancakes).
Also, Recipes should be similar enough where ingredients overlap so you can buy in bulk and save money.
Step 3: Think about your tools and supplies.
Before you commit to any particular meal, think of what you’ll need. This is different from your ingredients. This point talks about all the stuff… measuring cups, spoons, storage containers, lids, bag holders…
For example:
- You can’t efficiently make 4 dozen muffins if you only have one pan.
- You also can’t cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker if it’s already in use for yogurt.
- I’m limited on muffin liners, so I skipped those altogether and opted for two loaves of banana bread since I have plenty of loaf pans.
- I chose banana pancakes and smoothie packets (which don’t require any tools) for fast smoothies later on.
- I also decided to blend up all the berries and freeze in an ice cube tray so that they could be added to the smoothie packets when they were frozen.
Step 4: Use kitchen appliances and tools to help you.
One hour seems like a long time to be cooking, but when you’re looking at making 3+ meals in that time frame, you should enlist the help of any gadget you have.
- Bake bread in a slow cooker
- Bake smaller items in toaster ovens
- Boil in microwaves
- Use the cooking space of a griddle
- And use the whipping power of a blender
Since I was focusing on bananas, and making two different types of batters, I used my Blendtec to make both. I also used my griddle (because it fits more pancakes per batch).
Step 5: Choose 4 recipes and print / write them out.
It’s really not feasible to complete more than 4 recipes in an hour, so don’t bite off more than you can chew. You can’t add more time to the clock, and it’s always better to feel accomplished at the end than defeated because you didn’t make it to that one last recipe.
Step 6: Take the time to write a really good shopping list.
- Go through each recipe line by line.
- Write everything down on a piece of paper, even if you think you have it.
- Shop from the kitchen FIRST.
- Make a note next to each item what store you need to get it from. (I put “C” next to items I get from Costco, “W” for Walmart, etc.)
- If you want to save time while shopping at the store, re-write it so that all the dairy is listed together, all the produce is listed together, all the meat is listed together.
Step 7: Pull out everything you need.
Food, tools, bags, sharpie, containers, utensils… pull it all out so you can survey what you have and make the most of your hour. You only have so much time- don’t waste it digging around in your spice cabinet!
- The night before I do my freezer cooking breakfast meal plan, I pull every ingredient out, one at a time, and put them together on the counter.
- Then I do the same thing for all of my supplies. This helped me make sure that I wasn’t missing anything, but also that I had enough CLEAN cooking sheets and cooling racks and Pyrex dishes to make all the meals, at the same time.
Step 8: Write a prep sheet.
Depending on the type of cooking session you’re doing, you may need to get a few ingredients ready ahead of time. That could be:
- Soaking Beans
- Thawing meat
- Chopping vegetables
Make sure you’ve freezer meal planned for what needs to happen beforehand – and then do it – so your cooking session doesn’t get derailed before it even begins.
Step 9: Write a step-by-step cooking plan.
Create a logical method for your work. Think about what takes the longest to bake, and do that first. Ask yourself, what meals need:
- the oven temperature on higher?
- to use more burners?
- to sit and cool?
All of these things are important, so come up with a logical approach BEFORE you start.
Example: My banana bread takes about 45-50 minutes to bake, which means that I had to get done first. Here is what I did:
- I made a batch of batter in the blender, poured into a loaf pan and set the time.
- I made another batch of the same batter and froze it for a future breakfast using a method similar to this one for freezing unbaked muffin batter.
- Then I made a double batch of pancake batter in the blender.
- While they were on the griddle cooking, I used another blender jar for the soft berries, poured them into the ice cube trays, chopped various fruit and veggies and portioned it all out for “just add yogurt” smoothies later.
Step 10: Don’t clean as you go.
Instead, fill your sink with hot soapy water and only wash what you MUST as you go along. Leave all the dishes for when you’re done, because whether or not you had a freezer meal cooking session, you’ll still have to do the dishes at some point in time anyway.
Step 11: Create a “finished” station.
This is so you can seal, label, and freeze when you’re done, so your cooked items are out of your way. Set items at this station as you complete them, but label everything at the end when you’re done cooking.
Natalie
I would make pesto, pancake batter, and soup!
Elena
I would make smoothies, hummus and soups
Lynn B
I would make fresh fruit & veggie juice daily, homemade spaghetti sauce, butternut squash soup and no oil hummus/bean dips!
Carol C
I would love a Blendtec for soups, smoothies and tomato sauce! I also love the idea of making batters and hummus in the blender!
Ruth
I would use the Blendtec to make smoothies for the family, squash puree to freeze, and hummus!
Amber
Oh man… I would make vegan banana oat pancake batter, roasted red pepper and tomato soup, and an almond crumb cookie (adapted from martha stewart). There are so many things you could do!
Kati
I would blend cooked, seasoned beans for bean burritos, homemade cream of chicken soup for quick casserole throw-togethers, and puree super ripe bananas to have on hand for muffins.
Rachel
Using it for baking sounds like a great idea! I would love to try banana bread and muffin recipes. Also smoothie prep and butternut squash soup.
Dottie Boyes
I would use the Blentec to make my fruit smoothies, green drinks, pudding and much more.
Smoothie
1/2 banana
1 cup of frozen strawberries
1tbps of frozen orange juice
1 tbsp walnuts
1/2 tsp of flax seeds
1 tbsp of coconut oil
2 cups of almond milk or coconut milk
INSTRUCTIONS: Blend.
Green or Veggie Drink
5 leaves of kale
1/2 small beet
1 orange
1/2 cucumber
2 celery sticks
1 tsp of ginger
2 cups of water or lemon water
INSTRUCTIONS: Blend. Freeze leftovers (@3-2cup servings)
Chocolate Avocado Pudding for Non-Avocado and Avocado Lovers
2 servings
Ingredients
1 avocado, soft and ripe
2 medium size bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup grade b maple syrup
6 tablespoons milk (coconut, cow or any type of milk you prefer)
INSTRUCTIONS: Blend, pour into serving dishes, cover with wrap, and refrigerate for a few hours.
Jennifer
For one thing, I like to roast and blend pumpkin and winter squashes (using a potato smasher right now), and put them into smoothies with your recipe for pumpkin pie spice, so I can get a pumpkin-spiced smoothie with real pumpkin.
I’ve always wanted to make hummus and spaghetti sauce using a blender instead of buying store-bought, so I’d make those with a blender too!
Paula
I can think of so many uses for the Blendtec. My favorites would be to make cream soup, batter for pancakes, smoothies, gravy, and more!
Beth
Freezer Recipes I would use the Blandtec for would start with making different flours for breads, desserts and breakfast items. Also soups, sauces and smoothie prep.
Love your blog!
Carol Dowling
I would make lots of popsicles,smoothies,puddings,slush is and muffins for my grandchildren . They enjoy healthy snacks and a Blendtec would be helpful to do this. Thanks for the giveaway.
Toni P
I subscribe to your newsletter & love your blog! I have officially tapped the market & have subscribed everywhere to try to win this Blendtec blender! 🙂
I’d absolutely do the smoothie baggies, pancakes, sauce & hummus! 🙂
Leah Jezisek
I would use a Blendtec to make smoothies, blend up extra veggies for my spaghetti sauce, hummus dip, “mashed beans” for burritos, salsa, SO many possibilities!
Sheila Blair
I would use a Blendtec to make fresh hummus, salsa, smoothies and soups. Yumm!!
Evelyn Marines
Hello! I would use the Blendtec to make
1.The banana bread and pancakes. No cleaning between recipes and breakfast ready sounds like a plan.
2. I’ll make pesto sauce and freeze it in ice cube form so that I can use when making pasta.
3. Blueberry/Rasberry/Strawberry purée and freeze in ice cube form. I use it to diffuse in water and keep it cold. Tastes great!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Angela
I would make salsa, pancakes, applesauce and soups with a blendtec. I would LOVE to have one. Plus smoothies, homemade peanut butter, and spaghetti sauce.
LCM
For the freezer: almond poppy seed muffins, berry ice cubes, my grandma’s pumpkin bread, various soups. I was drooling over a Blend Tec in a local store today…would love to win one!
Terri
I am using the Nutribullet to make myself healthy smoothies and would LOVE to graduate to a Blendtec! I could then be able to make pancake and waffle batter to freeze for breakfast (after making them first of course!) I also would try my hand at some warm and creamy soups for cold winter days. I love the Nutribullet, but am afraid to try anything to thick in it and the cup doesn’t hold very much! Thanks for all the wonderful, useful and helpful information you share!