10 Tips for the Best Freezer Meals

You might have noticed I have been talking about freezer meals a lot. Here’s the thing: freezer meals make life easier! Freezer meals are an easy way for moms to win. And that’s what I am all about here – helping moms win. If you are still on the fence about whether or not to join the freezer meal frenzy, find out my top ten reasons why you should make freezer meals for your family.

Here are ten awesome tips for making the best freezer meals ever.

1. Print the instructions on the computer. Double bag your meal (in zipper seal bags), and place the final “day of” instructions between the two bags. A lot of bloggers use fancy labels on their freezer meals and hand-write the instructions. Don’t get sucked into that mayhem! Just print out as many copies as you will need and you are good to go.
2. When looking for recipes, choose meat that is marinated. Place the meat in a zipper seal bag and pour in the marinade before freezing. You can thaw your meat in the fridge the day of and it will finish marinating at that time. Then throw your meat on the grill or in the oven or insta-pot – whatever your instructions call for.
3. Use freezer bags. Freezer bags are stronger and more durable and will help prevent freezer burn.
4. Avoid freezing noodles or rice – instead, make these quickly and easily on the day of and add them to your dish.
5. Buy food for freezer meals in bulk when it is on sale. If you see an amazingly low price on chicken or pork tenderloin this week, stock up on chicken and fix up a whole bunch of freezer meals featuring that chicken. It will cost you more upfront the first few times, but save you money in the long run.
6. Soups freeze really well. Go through your favorite soup recipes and freeze up a bunch. You can thaw them in a stockpot for an almost instant and very comforting meal.
7. Do not buy frozen meats (not even a little frozen) at the grocery store and then thaw them and re-freeze them in a freezer meal. You can’t do that. Instead, buy fresh raw meat that has not been frozen OR buy frozen meat to add to your baggie but do *not* let it thaw.
8. Make sure you add a DATE to the freezer bag before you put it into the freezer, and add newly created meals to the back of the stash so that you use the oldest first.
9. Don’t forget the seasoning! Go ahead and dry rub that meat if it is not marinating, salt and pepper, and add any other seasoning so your meal is truly ready to go.
10. Breakfast is fabulous from frozen! Freeze individual portions of quick bread, muffins, and little muffin tin breakfast casseroles or burritos for quick and easy breakfasts that are much healthier than cold cereal! 10 or 15 seconds in the microwave is all you need on the morning of.

A friend of mine sent me a message today to tell me she had gotten inspired by my last post to make ahead 24 frozen breakfast burritos and something like 40 slices of frozen quick bread for breakfasts before school starts. Isn’t that fabulous? She now has a stocked freezer to get herself and her kids through the first few weeks of school without resorting to cold cereals. Yummy breakfast, and better for you too!

If you’ve been inspired to make freezer meals, please share it in the comments!

To learn an amazing amount about how to choose, prep, and package freezer meals for the best results – plus recipes – make sure you take a look at Freezer Meals 101. It will inspire you to make freezer meals happen!