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.
Joan Raspberry Foster
The Blendtec, AKA “Sneak the veggies in machine” (sshh, don’t tell my kids) I will freeze/prepare : Pasta/Enchilada & my SMOKIN’ chili sauces.
2.) Im going to start making the smoothie “ice cubes” so my girls can serve themselves! That’s just genius!
3.) Pancakes & Waffles!! Galore!
Last, I have morning sickness, & frankly I need a housekeeper, but since that’s not happening.. I can prep smoothies, soups & Ice cream for myself in the evening. To get the essentials of my diet!
Ps.) I have already signed up for the newsletter & I’m following on Pinterest too!!!!!
Beth
I would make banana bread, smoothies, and muffins!
Jenifer
I would make smoothies, homemade nutella (which is fabulous!), tomato sauce and pesto sauce and peanut butter and berry sauce and cream of mushroom soup and ice cream and….
It wouldn’t gather dust!! LOL
Teena
I would definitely make coffee smoothies, banana pancakes, and salsa!
Ginger
I would love a Blendtec, especially for my toddler’s smoothies. I would also use it to make and freeze big batches of hummus, chocolate banana muffins, and pizza/pasta sauces.
Katie
I would use it to make some allergy free foods for my family. Smoothies, blender bread (made with nuts), and blondies (made from beans) are some recipes that come to mind!
Amanda
I would make pesto, tomato sauce, and salsa. Yum!!
Amanda
I would make cauliflower soup
Smoothies
Pancake batter
Hummus
Angie
creamy tomato soup, muffins (really in a blender?) I have a lot of learning to do!!
nicole
I would make smoothies, hummus and soups.
Karen D
I would blend up tomatoes and freeze for sauce making, make up some applesauce, blend & freeze butternut squash, and I would make some flour to keep in the freezer for when I’m in a hurry.
Tammy M
Wow! This is a great giveaway–it would speed things up for hummus, smoothies, pesto–the possibilities of what I could make with this are endless!
Nancy Bonhomme
I would use the blendtec for smoothies, canning and sauces and marinades. My old Vitamix is getting the worst for its wear. I bought it well used 25 years ago and we love that power!
Cara
I would make hummus, smoothies, soups and tomato sauce! This would do so many other things too! It was hard to pick just a few!
Judith Martinez
I would make hummus, salsa and refried beans.
Michelle H
I don’t know specific recipes right now, but I’d definitely us it for smoothies, and probably nut butters…banana pancakes sound pretty yummy now, too!
Kathy
I would love to make homemade sauces, soups, smoothies, flours, “ice creams” and more.
Kimber
I would make our favorite blender zucchinni bread, baby food, and creamy soups! Also, not for the freezer, but I would love to use the twister jar to make coconut and nut butters, because my current blender really frustrates me each time I try!!
Martha
Yum! I’d make soups (lots of soups!), hummus, and sauces. And, avocado pudding… love that!
Michelle Harrison
Not sure about three to four recipes, because I’ve never had a blender like that. I guess some kind of muffin or spaggetti sauce or tomato soup?