Bulk freezer meals are a great way to save money, eat better food, and relieve the stress of having to plan dinner every single night. Here are my freezer cooking tips for making crockpot freezer meals in bulk the easy way after 10 years of practice!
One of my favorite things about freezer meals is the ability to spend one afternoon prepping food and then being free for a month or more to just forget about cooking at all!
This is especially enjoyable when you have a big event coming up, like having a new baby, or even the holiday season!
Having extra meals in the freezer can mean the difference between a not-so-great fast food meal and a delicious real-food dinner. It can mean the difference between a stress filled evening and a laid-back family dinner at the table!
Below are 60 ready to use crockpot meals for the freezer!
The prepping of these meals was my gift to my Mother-in-Law for Christmas! She also received the food saver system from my mom that really helped us with the bulk prep process.
Chicken, beef, and pork were used in these recipes, and all the recipes are keto, paleo, and gluten free. We did all this in less than 3 hours, for under $4 per meal!
While we wanted to keep these keto and gluten free, you can add grains to any of them if desired and they would be delicious!
There were 100's of recipes to choose from, but here were the ones we chose for this batch:
1. Chicken Spinach Alfredo
2. Cilantro-Lime Chicken
3. Italian Sausage & Peppers
4. Lemon Chicken with Baby Spinach
5. Lemon Pepper Chicken
6. Mediterranean Shredded Pork
7. Monster Cheeseburgers
8. Red Pepper Chicken
9. Shredded Buffalo Chicken
10. Shredded Chicken Fajitas
11. Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken
12. Steak Stir-Fry and Bok Choy
13. Sweet ‘n Spicy Thai Beef
14. Thai Chicken
15. Tuscan Steak and Green Peppers
We made each meal twice and then split it into 4 bags. Since only 2 people were eating these it was best to split them out as they normally feed 6 people.
Bulk Crockpot Freezer Meals With Ease
To make things even easier, I'm going to be covering how to make crockpot freezer meals so all you have to do is prep the recipe and freeze! Then you cook it whenever you are ready.
This practice significantly cuts down on the time involved in the prep/cooking process!
Tip One:
If you can manage it, have help available for the prepping and assembly phase. While you can do bulk freezer meals on your own, and I have done so, it's much easier with even just one more set of hands!
Tip Two:
Do all your grocery shopping the day before. Grocery shopping is rough duty already, don't start off a long day of cooking with grocery shopping if you can help it.
Tip Three:
Chop everything you can in advance. Some things shouldn't be chopped in advance (like onions). However, peppers, carrots, cabbage, and so on can be chopped and bagged the day before your prep session.
Be sure to note the measurement for each item as you chop. For example: How many cups for 1 chopped bell pepper? Make a note of it so you can properly assemble the recipes.
Tip Four:
Print every recipe on a single page. This will help during the assembly process to keep everything in order as you go through the stations (we'll get to that in a minute).
Tip Five:
Write the name of the recipe and any necessary directions on each bag the day before. This will be one less thing on assembly day, and it's easier to write on the bags when they are empty.
You can use the labels that come with the recipes, or you can just use a sharpie.
Tip Six
Splurge for the baggie holders. I know it seems silly, and like it's not really going to make a difference, but when you are prepping freezer meals in bulk like this, you need to take advantage of every single thing that makes your life easier!
These baggie holders are perfect for freezer cooking and come in a set of 4!
Tip Seven:
Make an ingredients station with everything laid out you will need. You can see here that I have all the veggies in separate bowls. I also had all the spices laid out, and the meat was sliced and in bowls as well.
Having the food all in one location, such as a large table, island, or counter space, makes the assembly process a lot smoother than if you have veggies in one place and meat and spices in another.
Tip Eight:
Use slightly larger bags that you think you will need. If you aren't using a Food Saver System that allows you to make custom baggie sizes, use a 1/2 gallon bag for splitting these meals into two bags. Don't be tempted to use quart bags, they aren't big enough!
Tip Nine:
Only work with one full recipe at a time. Don't make the mistake of doing all the veggies, then all the spices, then all the meat. You'll get mixed up or it will end up taking forever to finish all the recipes.
What I normally do is all 4 baggies of one recipe at a time: 1 cup of carrots into each bag, then juice of one lemon into each bag, 1 chicken breast into each bag... and so one.
Move the recipe page along with you, especially if you have a helper, to keep things in order.
Tip Ten:
Take care with your spices and seasoning. Make sure you have all spices in wide mouth jars or bowls so that you can scoop out the amount instead of shaking.
Tip Eleven
Have two sets of measuring spoons, one for wet spices and seasonings, and one for dry. This will save you a lot of washing and drying time as you switch between recipes!
Also, make sure that all your measuring utensils (cups and spoons) are clearly labeled. You don't want to wonder if that cup is a 1/3 or a 1/4 cup measurement!
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This bulk freezer meals process is a great gift for anyone in your life, including yourself!
My mother in law said that she didn't realize how stressful making dinner was for her until she didn't have to do it anymore! Now they can pick and choose from 15 delicious meals with zero effort.
I bought her a small crockpot that is the perfect size for 2 people (or half of 1 recipe) - of course, if you are cooking for a family then you can use whatever crockpot works for you!
PIN THIS FOR LATER
Heating and Eating Your Crockpot Freezer Meals
Once you have all of your amazing crockpot freezer meals ready to go, dinner becomes a breeze!
For Lunch:
If you want to each your freezer meals for lunch, place the meal you want in the fridge the night before. Then place the food (not the baggie) in your crockpot on high.
For Dinner:
If you want to have your freezer meal for dinner, which is the most common, you will want to place it in the fridge the night before, just like with your lunch prep.
However, you can then do one of two things...
1. Place the food in your crockpot in the morning on LOW until dinner.
2. Place the food in the crockpot in the afternoon on HIGH until dinner
Side Dishes to go With The Freezer Meals
While I feel these meals stand alone, you may also want to add a side dish or starch to the meal. Just start the side dish about 30-45 minutes before you want to eat and you'll be good to go!
Here is a big list of 180 vegetable side dishes that you can choose from, if you need help deciding.
We like to have our frozen mashed potatoes on hand too. That way we have a nice side dish, without having to get a bunch of dishes dirty!
And you can't go wrong with a large green salad topped with a drizzle of homemade ranch dressing!
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Which crockpot freezer meals would you use for this bulk cooking session? Do you have any more tips I should add? Leave them in the comments!
Grainne says
Great post! That’s an unbelievable amount of prep in a day! I loved the tips, I found myself shaking my head as I read them thinking about all the mistakes I’ve made with prepping over the years. Shopping on the day I intended to prep and then having a breakdown because it was getting late and I was only halfway through what I needed to get done! Thank you so much for sharing this, it really was an excellent read.