I didn’t start freezing prepped ingredients until this year. Since I’ve been doing in, I have wondered “Why in the world haven’t I been doing this all along!!??”
The idea of freezer meals always appealed to me, but when it came down to it, I never really enjoyed them the same way as I do a “fresh” meal.
My happy medium… freezing cooked ingredients!
My freezer is now stocked with cooked ground beef, shredded chicken, cooked black beans, and cooked pinto beans.
Those are the four ingredients that help me to throw together a quick soup or casserole in less than 5 minutes. You may use a few different ingredients frequently… try freezing them!
Freezing Prepped Ingredients
By cooking up a large batch of ground beef or chicken and popping some in the freezer, I am doing two main things:
Saving money
Everybody knows that usually when you buy a larger package, it costs less per pound. This is the entire reason that stores like Costco and Sam’s Club exist!
The issue always comes in when you can’t use up a 10 pound package of chicken breast before they start to go bad.
So, you have two options, freeze it raw and cook it later, or cook it in a large batch and freeze it in meal portioned sizes.
I definitely do end up freezing some raw meat, but I LOVE having cooked meat on hand.
That brings us to the next point…
Saving time
If I have taco soup on the meal plan, it’s already a quick meal. The most time consuming part is cooking the chicken or beef to go into it. If I already have ground beef cooked and ready to go in the freezer, my 20 minute meal just turned into a 5 minute meal.
There is NOTHING better to me than being able to pop all of dinners ingredients into a dutch oven and going outside to play with my girls. When we come back in, dinner is COOKED! Hands off. So easy.
How I Freeze Cooked Meat
- Prepare the meat however you would normally. I love to brown ground beef with a healthy scoop of minced garlic, and some salt and pepper.
- Drain the meat (if necessary).
- Let it COOL COMPLETELY.
- Label your freezer bag with the date and the type of meat. You think you’ll remember, YOU WON’T!!
- Place a meal sized serving into each freezer zipper bag. I usually put about a pound/bag.
- Place in freezer and use on nights you don’t have a lot of time and need to get dinner on the table!
*Use prepared frozen meats within 3-4 months. I usually use mine up within 1-2 months to just be sure I don’t run into any freezer burn.
What meals do you used prepared meat in?
Basically anything!
Some of my favorites are:
- Chili
- Soups
- Casseroles
- Pasta Sauces
Seriously anything that you would normally use ground beef in, you can use the frozen prepared ground beef.
It just takes the step of browning the meat (about 10-15 minutes of your time) out of the equation!