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Home » Recipes » Slow Cooker

Crockpot Freezer Meals

Published: Feb 28, 2021 by Ginny · This post may contain affiliate links.

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I embarked on a short freezer cooking adventure last weekend. We created four crockpot freezer meals in under an hour. I just had to do the work once and dinner was taken care of for the better part of the week. It was glorious.

four bags of freezer meals ready for the crockpot. Laid flat in Ziploc bags
Four Easy Recipes in Less Than One Hour for Crockpot Freezer Meals
Contents hide
1 🌶️ Why These Work
2 🌽 Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans
3 🍔 Crockpot Sloppy Joes
4 🍎Apple Butter Pork Chops
5 🍊 Mandarin Chicken
6 Mandarin Chicken
7 🍽️ Freezer Meals FAQs

Typically, I would’ve doubled or tripled the recipes to maximize the results for my time. But, these were all untested recipes that we’d never tried before – one of which was my own concoction.

So, I didn’t want to waste any food in case a recipe was a dud and we had 2 to 3 bags of the same recipe in the freezer.

That’s why I waited almost an entire week to write this post – I wanted to try the recipes first and make sure it was something I could wholeheartedly recommend before sending it out to you guys.

I didn’t want to just have a bunch of chicken freezer meals. I searched far and wide and finding good freezer to crockpot meals without chicken was a bit of a battle. So, I used two chicken recipes and then slightly adapted two non-chicken crockpot recipes from one of my favorite blogs, Crystal and Co.

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🌶️  Why These Work

  • Stock your freezer
  • Bulk meal prep and get yourself set up
  • Take nights off from cooking dinner
  • Great to gift to someone after surgery, new parents, etc.
  • Great way to buy meat on sale and take advantage of deals
  • Flavorful dinners

Here are the four freezer-to-crockpot recipes I made: 

  • Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ Corn and Black Beans
  • Crockpot Sloppy Joes
  • Apple Butter Pork Chops
  • Mandarin Chicken (my recipe)

And, the moment you’ve all been waiting for – Recipes!

Because not all of the recipes are mine, I will link you back to the original recipe source. Some of them weren’t intended to be freezer meals, so I will note any adjustments I made to make them freezer-friendly here.

🌽 Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans

(find the recipe here)

bag with Cilantro Lime Chicken and corn and black beans with a blue label on the bag.
You can’t go wrong with Corn and Black Beans! Delish!

Alterations made to the recipe: We used half of the recommended amount of cilantro since my husband isn’t a huge fan of it.

My thoughts on the recipe: I definitely recommend this recipe. Not only is it delicious, but the colors make for a nice presentation.

The chicken was so tender that I was able to cut it into small chunks with the back of a spoon. We served them in flour tortillas with traditional taco fixings.

🍔 Crockpot Sloppy Joes

(find the recipe here)

Ziploc bag filled with the ingredients to make sloppy joes in the crockpot.
I Loved the Sloppy Joes! It was so Easy to Make in the Crockpot

Alterations made to the recipe: I added ½ diced green pepper, ½ diced red pepper, ¼ chopped white onion. When packaging up the mixture, I placed the Sloppy Joe sauce in its own freezer bag, placed it on top of the packaged-up meat mixture and zipped the main bag closed.

I went through the extra step of separating the Sloppy Joe sauce just to be sure of preserving the intended consistency of the meal.

My thoughts on the recipe: This is going to become a staple recipe in our kitchen. It doesn’t require many ingredients, is tasty and satisfying.

🍎Apple Butter Pork Chops

(find the recipe here)

stack of Ziploc bags with all the meals inside and ready to freeze
Freezer Bags Filled with Meals Ready for the Crockpot

Alterations made to the recipe: No alterations. Just tossed the ingredients in a freezer bag and hoped for the best!

My thoughts on the recipe: This was one of our favorites. I was a bit nervous about it since I had made no alterations to make it freezer-friendly. But it worked out well and was extremely tasty! We served over rice with a side salad.

Since we’re pleased with every recipe we tried, we will definitely be doubling and tripling batches next time to fully stock our freezer.

🍊 Mandarin Chicken

Mandarin Chicken

Mandarin Chicken is a freezer friendly chicken recipe that is loaded with sweet and savory flavor. Whip this up and toss in the freezer for a quick grab and go meal later down the line.
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Course: dinner
Cuisine: Asian
Diet: Gluten Free
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 6 people
Author: Ginny

Ingredients

  • 4 to 6 chicken breasts chunky pieces like I used in this recipe
  • 1 bottle BBQ sauce
  • 1 can mandarins drained
  • ½ red bell pepper large diced
  • ½ green bell pepper large diced
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Placeall ingredients in a gallon-size freezer bag, remove all air before closing. Freeze for up to 3 months.
  • Transfer to fridge to thaw 24 hours before placing in a Crockpot.
  • Cook on low for seven hours. Serve over rice.

Notes

You can use any flavor of bbq sauce you would like. 
Feel free to skip freezing and put this right in the crockpot and begin cooking. 
The freezer meal will freeze for up to three months. 
The chicken is done when it reaches 165 degrees internally. 
Tried this recipe?Mention @savorandsavvy or tag #savorandsavvy!
Ziploc bag with Mandarin Chicken in it ready for the freezer
Delicious Mandarin Chicken Ready For the Freezer

My thoughts on the recipe: The taste was amazing, but the consistency was quite soupy. Use a slotted spoon when serving to work-around that issue.

The sauce is good enough to pour over almost anything – so definitely save the leftover sauce if you have any!

I have to say, freezer cooking is super convenient in itself, but when paired with crockpot cooking there is even less work involved, which is always a plus on busy nights or weekends.

I’d love to know if you try any of these crockpot freezer meals or have any recipes you’d like to share!

🍽️ Freezer Meals FAQs

What dinners can I make and freeze?

Freezer meals are so popular! Think of the recipes listed above, as well as soups that don’t contain a lot of dairy. Chili is a great one. Lasagna, tater tot casserole, enchiladas, are all great ones to prep and freeze.
You will find hundreds of freezer meals you can make and enjoy.

Are freezer meals worth it?

Freezer meals are worth it if you want to take a night off of cooking without ordering takeout. Make meals and freeze and cook in your crockpot, toss in oven, or just reheat in the microwave.

Whatever the case is, they are great to have and make and enjoy.

How do you store freezer meals?

1. Use Freezer Friendly Containers.
2. If you are doing a casserole double wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil.
3. Use a vacuum sealer for adding a long shelf life to your recipes.
4. Don’t forget to add labels or write with a permanent marker what you made. We like to use our editable freezer labels for these.

How long are meals good in freezer?

Depending on how your store your freezer meals you can expect them to last anywhere from 3-6 months.

More Freezer Meal Ideas

  • Kitchen Utensils and a text overlay with editable freezer labels
    Editable Freezer Label Printables for Free
  • several photos of different breakfasts that are great for freezing and meal prepping.
    20 Breakfast Freezer Meals
  • stack of homemade freezer pasta meals with servings of pasta sauce inside each.
    Freezer Pasta Meals: Amazing $0.24 Microwavable Pasta Lunch Packets
  • homemade lean cuisine containers with sauce, pasta and tomatoes
    Homemade Lean Cuisines Lunch Freezer Meal Recipe

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

Crockpot Freezer MealsCrockpot Freezer MealsCrockpot Freezer Meals
« Easy Frugal Crockpot Recipes + Crockpot Hacks
Mixed Berry Oatmeal Jam Bars Recipe »

About Ginny

Hi! My name is Ginny and I know how busy life can be! I am a mom working hard to prepare healthy meals for my family that is always on the go!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emilee says

    May 09, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    How much did you spend per recipe?

    Reply
  2. Crystal says

    February 28, 2015 at 9:37 am

    Do you cook the meat or just put in bag and freeze? New to this idea but am preparing for my first adventure!

    Reply
    • Jazmin Rode says

      February 28, 2015 at 2:01 pm

      I just put it in the freezer bag without cooking. 🙂 Hope you have fun with your first freezer cooking session!

      Reply
  3. Melissa says

    February 09, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    I loved this post so much that I featured it in a roundup, you can check it out here: http://thirtysomethingsupermom.com/18-easy-crock-pot-recipes/ Thank you for lending it out and sharing!

    Reply
  4. Jaime says

    December 29, 2014 at 12:09 pm

    Can you email me the Apple butter pork chops recipe, it’s no longer on the internet site you posted! Thanks!

    Reply
  5. peggy says

    September 05, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    I am extremely shocked that you would use a recipe that is 1 lb of hb and 1 can of sloppy joe sauce. that is not a recipe. Anyone that has a blog should be able to come up with a recipe made from scratch. One of your favorite blogs? Wow

    Reply
  6. carol says

    July 10, 2014 at 8:10 am

    First time trying to make freezer meals – You don’t say to cook the chicken so I’m assuming you threw in all the ingredients raw & that way they cooked in the slow cooker? Is that right?

    Reply
    • Jazmin Rode says

      July 10, 2014 at 2:08 pm

      Yep the chicken along with the other ingredients were thrown in raw. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    June 08, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    I haven’t made the recipe yet, but I think with the Mandarin Chicken, if you didn’t want a soupy consistency, when you are draining the mandarins, take the drained juice and freeze and thaw it along with the other ingredients and then mix with some cornstarch or other thickener to add toward the end of the cooking. I always use the drained juice, from pineapples or mandarins, instead of water so as not to dilute the taste.

    Reply
  8. Sarah E @ theteacherswife.com says

    February 22, 2014 at 4:06 pm

    These look yummy! I pinned this so I can add these to my menu!! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Jill of all Trades says

    January 21, 2014 at 8:43 pm

    Smart move making only one bag of new recipes. I didn’t think to do that one time and we had four trays of a yucky dish to plow through. It was not fun. I made the same mistake again and now we have a whole pile of sweet potato black bean burritos to eat and everytime I bite into one I think, “these would be so much better if I’d’ve used butternut squash instead and more spices.” I think I’ll try your method next time I want to try new freezer recipes!

    Reply
  10. Lynette Rice says

    January 20, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    I’ve been doing a little freezer cooking myself. I’ve focused more on the casseroles so I’m going to give these a try. Thanks for sharing on Follow our Thrift!

    Reply
  11. Erica Martin says

    January 18, 2014 at 2:12 am

    I always pin these and say I’m going to start doing it. Maybe this will be the week 🙂 LOL

    Erica
    http://www.fortheloveofdecorating.com

    Reply

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Family Photo Hi! I'm Ginny and for over 30 years, I've been creating simple and easy recipes without sacrificing on taste for our family on the go. I can't wait to show you how to do the same for your family. Read More...

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