Freezer Meal Prep

Hey hey everyone! I took some time off this weekend because my mom came into town and we spent an entire day working on freezer meal prep. I shared this on Instagram and immediately had tons of you asking me for the recipes and the process of making all these freezer meals, and I thought it would be easier to share everything here!

In one day, we prepped 75 meals! The key to doing all of this and having the room to store it is using a food saver like THIS ONE. I borrowed my mom’s and she taught me how to do everything, but you can find these for really cheap on Facebook marketplace too.

If you don’t have a food saver, you can also prep these in large gallon sized bags! They won’t shrink down as small and you will have to use them within a few months, but still a very effective way of meal prepping.

To preface, I despise cooking and 90% of the time will wait for my husband to get home to cook because I’m dislike it so much haha. But if I just have to warm something up or stick it in the Instant Pot then I’m game! There are a few recipes that we really like in our family, so I bulk prepped those and kept the rest of the freezer meal prep pretty basic.

Recipes:

Artichoke Chicken: found HERE. I baked this and then vacuum sealed it so all we have to do is warm it up when we are ready. (Side note, this is my husband’s FAVORITE meal!)

Taco Chili: I cooked the meat, mixed the remaining ingredients in a bowl and portioned it into serving sizes so we can just warm it up when we want to eat it.
Recipe: brown ground beef or turkey seasoned with taco seasoning. Add 1 can black beans, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can pinto beans, 1 can diced green chiles, 1/2 diced sautéed white onion.

Chili: I cooked the meat, mixed the remaining ingredients in a bowl and portioned it into serving sizes so we can just warm it up when we want to eat it.
Recipe: brown ground beef or turkey seasoned with chili powder. Add 1/2 white onion and 1 tbsp garlic and sauté. Add 1 can chili ready tomatoes, 1 can black beans, 1 can kidney beans, 1 can pinto beans.

Beef Stew: I purchased beef stew meat and added one packet of beef stew seasoning. I vacuum sealed it raw and will cook it in the Instant Pot with potatoes and celery.

Marinated Meat

Salsa Chicken: Add 1 cup salsa of choice to 2 raw chicken breasts. Vacuum seal and cook in Instant Pot.

Carne Asada: I purchased pre seasoned carne asada meat and vacuum sealed it, but you could also season it yourself!

BBQ Chicken: Add 1 cup BBQ sauce of choice to 2 raw chicken breasts. Vacuum seal and cook in Instant Pot.

Taco Chicken: I added one packet of fajita chicken seasoning to 2 raw chicken breasts. Vacuum seal and cook in Instant Pot.

Buffalo Chicken: Add 1 cup buffalo sauce to 2 raw chicken breasts. Vacuum seal and cook in Instant Pot.

Fajita Chicken: Add 1/2 cup A1 sauce and 1 cup Italian dressing to 3 raw chicken breasts. Grill or cook in Instant Pot.

Meat Prep

Shredded Chicken: I cooked 6 chicken breasts in the Instant Pot, portioned them into single serving sizes, and vacuum sealed them. I left these unseasoned so we can add them to any dish.

Ground Turkey: I cooked 1.5 pounds of ground turkey seasoned with taco seasoning and 1.5 pounds of ground turkey seasoned with chili powder. Separated into single serving sizes and vacuum sealed.

Italian Sausage: I vacuum sealed 3 pounds of uncooked hot Italian sausage in portion sizes.

Shrimp: Vacuum sealed 1 package of frozen, cooked shrimp.

Ground Turkey: Vacuum sealed 3 pounds of uncooked ground turkey in 1 pound serving sizes.

Pork Loin: I purchased a pre seasoned pork loin and vacuum sealed it. You could also take an unseasoned pork loin and add lemon slices, rosemary sprigs, salt and pepper.

Chuck Roast: I vacuum sealed 4 raw chuck roasts and will cook them in the Instant Pot.

T-Bone Steaks: Vacuum seal raw t-bone steaks. Defrost and grill when ready.

Tri-Tip: I purchased a pre seasoned tri tip and vacuum sealed it. We will bake it in the oven.

Soups

White Chicken Chili: find the recipe HERE. I combined all ingredients, separated into single serving sizes, and vacuum sealed it.

Creamy Zuppa Toscana: find the recipe HERE. I combined all ingredients minus the bacon, kale, and potatoes. I vacuum sealed in single serving sizes and will add remaining ingredients in Instant Pot.

Misc Veggies

Potatoes: Cube 6 russet potatoes, blanch, and vacuum seal in single serving sizes.

Broccoli, Onion, Celery: Chop into small pieces and blanch. Vacuum seal in portion sizes.

If you can dedicate one day to freezer meal prep, you can really make enough meals to last for months! I love that we did a mix of ready to heat, fully cooked meals, marinated meats, and cooked unseasoned meat for lots of variability. It’s awesome knowing I have enough food to feed my family for a long time, and the flexibility of making meals I know my whole family will enjoy! I highly recommend getting a food saver because the meals will literally last for years and they store so tightly, but gallon bags will work for any uncooked meals!

For more recipe inspiration, check out my Pinterest HERE.