Hey there, Lacey here with "A Sweet Pea Chef" And if you're finding that you just don't
have enough time at night to prep a healthy meal, but you still want to eat well, I've
got the solution for you.
I'm gonna show you seven make-ahead, slow cooker freezer meals that you can make one
day, store in the freezer, and then grab, and have it ready for you when you come home
ready to enjoy a tasty meal.
So, let's get started.
I use a 1 gallon size freezer safe ziplock bag to make my freezer meals, but any freezer
safe container will work.
The basic idea with the freezer meal is you want to put all the stuff that's gonna go
into the slow cooker that requires a long time to cook.
Things like proteins, harder vegetables, potatoes, things like that.
Then when it's almost ready to eat, you can add in the softer vegetables, like cooked
beans, or sliced zucchini, or even some pasta at that point.
That way you get all that work done ahead of time, and you are just ready for the end.
First, let's make my slow cooker split pea soup freezer meal.
So, in a gallon size ziploc bag we're gonna add a hambone, diced carrots, diced yellow
onion, diced celery, shallots, minced garlic, dried thyme, ground black pepper, dried split
peas, and low-sodium chicken broth.
Now we're gonna carefully press all of the air out of the bag and then we're gonna zip
it tightly.
Then we're gonna place it in the freezer so it's nice and ready for our split pea soup
later.
For any slow cooker freezer meal if you're wanting to add a little bit more flavor and
you have the time, browning the meat ahead of time does add some extra depth of flavor.
But, it's not necessary it's up to you whether you want to do it.
Now, to make my slow cooker minestrone freezer meal, we're gonna use another gallon size
ziplock bag.
We're gonna add in some diced yellow onions, diced carrots, diced celery, minced garlic,
chopped shallot, fresh green beans, that have been cut into thirds, some corn, diced tomatoes,
sea salt, ground black pepper, dried basil, dried oregano, and some vegetable broth.
We're gonna press all the air out of the bag and zip it tightly and then transfer to the
freezer.
Once the minestrone is almost ready to eat, you have about 20 minutes left you can add
in some cooked kidney beans, some cooked white beans, some fresh zucchini and then also any
pasta if you wanted it to cook then too.
Also, make sure to label your ziplock bags so that you say exactly what the recipe is
on there and I like to add how long to cook it for on low, that way I don't even have
to look up any directions I just pop it on into the slow cooker and hit start.
All right.
So now, we're gonna make some slow cooker cashew chicken that is so tasty.
So, in our ziplock bag, we're gonna add in some boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Followed by raw cashews, minced garlic, minced fresh ginger, low-sodium soy sauce, rice wine
vinegar, chili paste, raw honey, and some ground black pepper.
Press all the air out, zip it on up and then transfer this to the freezer.
I love to serve the slow cooker cashew chicken with a little bit of steamed broccoli, and
then a little bit of cooked quinoa, or steamed brown rice.
It's super good.
For these freezer meals I like to just take them right out of the freezer.
Take them out of the bag, and put them into the slow cooker.
There's no need to thaw them to cook ahead of time.
In the freezer they're gonna last up to three months.
Now to make a slow cooker chicken tortilla soup freezer meals.
In our ziplock bag, we're gonna add in some boneless skinless chicken breasts, boneless
skinless chicken thighs, diced tomatoes, diced red onion, diced yellow onion, minced garlic,
corn, chopped fresh cilantro, two corn tortillas that have been sliced into strips, 1/2 of
a jalapeno that's finely chopped, ground cumin, sea salt, ground black pepper, chili powder,
paprika, dried basil, dried oregano, lime juice, and some low-sodium chicken broth.
Press all the air out of this bag and zip it tightly, and then we're gonna place it
in the freezer to freeze.
Once the chicken is fully cooked for this chicken tortilla soup, I like to just remove
it and then shred it into pieces and then put it back in stir it up and then your meal
is ready to serve.
For these slow cooker freezer meals, you can use fresh or frozen vegetables or meat.
Any of that's gonna be fine because we're gonna be freezing it for later.
To make our cauliflower curry freezer meal, we're going to add some boneless skinless
chicken thighs to the bottom of a ziplock bag.
Followed by boneless skinless chicken breasts, one head of cauliflower that's been broken
into florets, diced yellow onion, minced garlic, minced fresh ginger, sea salt, ground black
pepper, curry powder, and low sodium vegetable broth.
Press all the air out of the bag completely, and then seal it tightly then transfer to
the freezer.
When this curry is almost ready to eat, you just want to add some coconut milk, and frozen
peas and stir them in until they're heated through.
And then, when you're serving it top it with a little bit of fresh cilantro, and you're
good to go.
So good.
To make these slow cooker meals as easy as possible to store, I like to freeze them first
on a rimmed baking sheet so, that they are flat as possible once they're frozen, you
can store them standing up next to each other, so they take up as little space as possible,
and it's all neatly in your freezer for you.
Now to make the easiest slow cooker chicken Parmesan ever, we're gonna add some skinless
boneless chicken breasts to the bottom of a ziplock bag.
Followed by crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, minced garlic, sea salt, ground
black pepper, dried basil, and dried oregano.
Then we're gonna press all of the air out of the bag zip it up tightly and then transfer
to the freezer.
When the chicken is fully cooked I like to top it with a slice of fresh mozzarella, some
grated Parmesan and then serve that over some spiralized zucchini noodles.
It's so good, and so darn easy.
Freezer meals don't taste like leftovers, so don't worry about that.
They taste like a freshly made meal because they've never been cooked.
Now, we're gonna make a slow cooker meatloaf.
So, in order to make our meatloaf in a large mixing bowl, we're gonna combine some lean
ground beef, two eggs, almond meal, finely chopped yellow onion, sea salt, ground black
pepper, and dried sage.
We're gonna combine all this either with your hands or a spoon and then we're gonna form
it into a block.
Then place our meatloaf into the ziplock bag, in addition to the meatloaf, we're also going
to add in some potatoes and green beans.
To make our potatoes, we're gonna add some baby potatoes to a mixing bowl.
Followed by a little bit of olive oil, some sea salt, ground black pepper, and garlic
powder.
And then we're gonna toss this together.
Then take those seasoned potatoes and put them into the bag with the meatloaf.
But make sure you put it to the side so it doesn't squish the meatloaf.
Finally, add some green beans into our ziplock bag on the side so that doesn't squish anything.
We're gonna seal it up tightly and then we're going to transfer it to the freezer.
Later on, when the meatloaf is fully cooked and it's time to serve we're gonna top it
with a mixture of homemade ketchup, some raw honey, and some dried mustard for that tasty,
mustardy, ketchupy topping that's so good on meatloaf.
Plus if you're concerned about raw meat touching vegetables in these freezer packs, don't worry
about that it's all gonna reach a safe temperature in the slow cooker once you put it all together,
so no need to worry.
Just taking a little bit of time to prep these meals gives you seven delicious freezer meals
ready to go in the slow cooker, any day of the week.
I hope you love these.
Let me know in the comments which one's your favorite and I will see you next time.
See ya.