Here's another round of freezer meals! I'm super excited to share these with you. It's a mix of new recipes with some oldie but goodie favorites from our house. The picture below shows the 5 meals I made from a 4 pack of pork roasts from Costco.
If you're interested in tips and tricks with freezer meals - take a look back at a previous post of mine. Tips and Tricks for Freezer Meals. My previous freezer meal set was focused on using the slow cooker. This time around I tried to find recipes that would work for either the slow cooker or the Instant Pot.
**Special Note on Cook Time Using the Slow Cooker** I cook each of my meals from frozen for 8 hours when I use the slow cooker. The reason is because it will cook on low for those 8 hours and then have at least another 2 hours of cook time on warm. This has helped us to get the best results. If we started the freezer meal thawed on the cook day then we always seem disappointed because it is exceptionally overcooked.
Here's the lineup of recipes with either a link to a previous recipe or the new details:
2 Pork BBQ Ribs (NEW to us)
1 Broccoli Beef (NEW to us)
1 Mongolian Beef (The kid's favorite!)
1 Beef Roast
1 Stew Meat
2 Ranch Pork Chops (NEW to us)
1 Pork Tacos
2 Pulled Pork Chili (New to us)
2 Zesty Chicken (Because I love it!)
1 White Chili (New to us as a frozen meal)
Here are two bag holders that I purchased from my son's fall school fundraiser. I've always used a bowl or two and put the bags inside it. I have to admit these were pretty handy to have. I don't know if it made it any faster but it seems like they took up less room than bowls.
Let's Get Crafty!
2 Pork BBQ Country-Style Ribs (NEW to us)
This recipe is from the Happy Money Saver blog. Their recipe calls for boneless country style ribs. The ones we used weren't boneless. The recipe below is for one meal - I doubled it to make two.
Mix together in one gallon size freezer bag:
2 1/2 pounds country-style pork ribs
1 onion, thinly sliced (I diced ours because that increases the chance of the kids eating them)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup barbecue sauce
Day of the meal: Cook on low 8 hours
Top with additional BBQ sauce when serving.
1 Broccoli Beef (NEW to us)
This recipe is inspired by the Creme De La Crumb blog. I followed the ingredient list pretty close but I used the amounts I thought made sense. I also used beef shoulder roast (their recipe call for flank steak) and left out the red chili flakes. I'm excited to see how my take on it turned out!
Mix together in one gallon size freezer bag:
1.5 lbs flank steak, thinly sliced
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Put 4 cups broccoli florets in another freezer bag and freeze separately. I had some fresh broccoli on hand. Otherwise, I would have made a note on the bag and did it the day of.
This is one of the recipes that I plan to defrost in advance so I can throw it in the instant pot. I plan to cook the meat by itself and then steam the broccoli. Depending on the amount of liquid in the Instant Pot - I'll use a combination of cornstarch and cold water to thicken it.
1 Mongolian Beef (The kids favorite!)
Mongolian Beef Recipe
1 Beef Roast and 1 Stew starter
Beef and Stew Starters
2 Ranch Pork Chops (NEW to us)
Many blogs have the same general idea as this post. I'm excited to give it a try because I think cooking it over the potatoes will be delicious. This is a recipe that we'll do in the slow cooker and not in the instant pot. The recipe below is for one meal - I doubled it to make two.
Mix together in a one gallon freezer bag:
2 lbs pork chops (I used a two pound pork roast and cut it up)
2 cans healthy choice cream of chicken soup
3 tablespoons ranch dressing mix (or one envelope)
I'm going to put the contents of the bag over sliced potatoes in the crock pot on cook day. It's going to end up being creamy deliciousness! Here's to hoping I've found a new hit with the kids.
Day of the meal:
Cook on low 8 hours
1 Pork Tacos
(pictured in the front bottom left)
Mix together in one gallon size freezer bag:
1 1/2 lbs pork roast, cut into large chunks
1 onion, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
3 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
Day of the meal:
Cook on low 8 hours
2 Pulled Pork Chili (New to us)
This recipe came from the Slow Cooker Gourmet blog. I doubled it to make two meals.
Mix together in one gallon size freezer bag:
1 1/2 pork roast, diced
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1-2 jalapeno peppers, diced (I left this out so it wouldn't be spicy for the kids)
2 - 15 oz cans diced tomatoes (I pureed one of the cans)
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (we didn't have this... so I did extra of regular chili powder)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 - 15 oz can low sodium chicken stock
Each meal will need to have 2 cans of chili beans added the day of the meal. (The recipe calls for one but my kids love beans!) I'm planning on making this one in the Instant Pot too. I'll defrost it by putting the freezer bag in the fridge the night before. How long I'll coke it the next day on the stew setting will depend on how much it's thawed out. I'm thinking it'll be around 45 minutes. I'm going to wait and add the beans once it's done cooking so they still hold their texture and don't turn into mush with the long cooking time.
2 Zesty Chicken (Because I love it!)
Zesty Chicken Recipe
1 White Chicken Chili (New to us as a frozen meal)
White Chicken Chili Recipe.
On the cook day we'll need to add 2 cans white beans and 2 cans mild green chile. I also will need to add 3 cans of low sodium chicken stock. The recipe calls for 4 and I added one to the bag for some moisture to help with evening mixing the spices.
Here's another bad boy that I'm excited to throw into the Instant Pot. I'm going to tackle it similar to my idea for the Pulled Pork Chili. I'll defrost it by putting the freezer bag in the fridge the night before. How long I'll coke it the next day on the stew setting will depend on how much it's thawed out. I'm thinking it'll be around 45 minutes. I'm going to wait and add the beans once it's done cooking so they still hold their texture and don't turn into mush with the long cooking time.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy the recipes. What are your favorite freezer meals? I love trying new recipes and would love trying what you've found that works well for your family too.
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