7 Fast and Easy Freezer Meals Using Chicken

March 18, 2013 - 21 Comments

I ordered a 40 lb case of chicken from Zaycon Foods and it is coming this week!

freezer meal recipes chicken

I usually package my chicken in freezer bags like you see in our youtube video below. But with so many freezer meal recipes on Fabulessly Frugal and my dire need for time saving meals in my freezer, this time I am going to take the time to prep some freezer meals with my Chicken!

My Chicken Freezer meal recipes of choice:

A 40 lb box of chicken should contain about 80 breasts of chicken so I have a lot of meat to work with for my recipes. I am going to double each one of my recipes. Once you put the effort into making one you may as well make two. You can use these ingredients to make your own grocery shopping list. Don’t forget to see what you have in your pantry from couponing!

BBQ Chicken Pizza <—-Link to the full recipe

1 pizza crust (store bought or homemade)
2 c. mozzarella cheese
½ Red onion
2 Chicken breasts cut into small slices or shredded
2-3 c. BBQ Sauce
Cilantro

Breaded Smothered Chicken <—-Link to the full recipe

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 Can Bread crumbs
6 Eggs
2 c. Shredded mozzarella cheese
Prego sauce

chicken ole crockpot freezer recipe

Chicken Ole <—-Link to the full recipe

2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup (or 1 Cream of chicken and 1 cream of mushroom)
1 7oz can green Chile salsa
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbs grated onion
4 cups boiled, shredded chicken
12 corn tortillas cut into 6 strips each (large tortillas)
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Cream Cheese Chicken <—-Link to the full recipe

4 chicken breasts
1 packet of dry zesty Italian seasoning
1 can of cream of chicken soup
8 oz of cream cheese
¼ cup of butter
½ cup of water
salt and pepper to taste

garlic ranch chicken recipe

Garlic Ranch Chicken <—-Link to the full recipe

4 Breasts of chicken
1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing packets
1 c. milk
1 c. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp dried minced garlic

pineapple pepper chicken freezer meal and crockpot reicpe

Pineapple Pepper Chicken <—-Link to the full recipe

2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup ketchup
3 Tbls soy sauce
1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
4 chicken breasts
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained
1 medium green pepper, julienned (optional)

cilantro lime chicken

Cilantro Lime Chicken <—-Link to the full recipe

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
Juice from 2 limes
1 cup or 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

What I need to know to make 14 freezer meals:

My Shopping list: I have most of the ingredients on hand to make these meals, but I will need a few things from the store. Your shopping list may have a few more items depending on how much couponing and stockpiling you have been doing. I have doubled the ingredients to make two of each meal.

2 Red onions

2 7oz can green Chile salsa

4 cups unsweetened pineapple juice

4 limes

3 bunches fresh cilantro

My Chicken Prep: I need 52 breasts of chicken to make all of the above recipes twice. So will you!

12 Chicken breasts cooked and cut into small slices or shredded

40 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts uncooked

YOU CAN DO THIS TOO! WHO IS GOING TO JOIN ME?

Here are some more Chicken Recipe Ideas:

freezer cooking http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/freezer-recipes

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By Monica

21 Comments
Filed Under: Chicken, Freezer Cooking, Freezer Meal Recipe, Pizza, Recipes, Virtual Freezer Cooking
Tagged With: Chicken, freezer cooking, freezer meal recipes, Freezer Meals, Make Ahead Meals

Freezer Meal Cooking with the FabFruGals

January 27, 2011 - 1 Comment

Freezer Meal cooking is a fabulous way to save MONEY and TIME!

The fab five get together every other month and put 15 of our favorite meals together. Assemble, bag and freeze. Then when it comes time to figure out what is for dinner we simply check out freezer cooking menu, choose something fab, pull it out of the freezer, let thaw and heat!

We wished we could have all of our readers over and show them how we do this, but we can’t. So we have put together everything you will need to do it at home with your fab friends!

Start by learning why we do freezer meal cooking!

How it works:

So now that you know how to start a freezer cooking group, and all about shopping for freezer meals, and how to assemble meals on cooking day, YOU ARE READY TO GET STARTED!

We have put together virtual freezer cooking including a menu, and a shopping list!

Amber’s Menu

AJ’ Menu

Kearna’s Menu

Monica’s Menu

The Menu
Shopping list (done for 4 families of 4)
Prep Work Assignments (also for 4 families)
Fridge List
Final Cost (coming soon)

By Monica

1 Comment
Filed Under: Virtual Freezer Cooking
Tagged With: Fab Freezer cooking, Fabulous Freezer cooking, freezer cooking, Freezer Meal cooking, Freezer Meals, Menu Planning

Freezer Cooking w/ the FabFruGALS: Getting ready for the BIG Day!

April 23, 2010 - 6 Comments

Are you ready to get your FAB on in the kitchen? Tomorrow is the day all of us FabFruGALS gather to do our freezer cooking! Just wanted to give you a few pointers before the big day:

1. If you are hosting, it helps to have cleared enough space for food prep, as well as a copy of each printed recipe. Also remember to thaw out any necessary foods the night before!

2. It is also helpful if the host has the totals for each of the members of the group already figured out. We have occasionally forgotten until after we had cooked for hours, and scrambling to add receipts & divide when you are dog tired is not advised!

It was a bit tricky to calculate what each member of our group owed because we used a lot of items we had in our individual stockpiles. In order to make it fair, we had each person place a value on the items they contributed to the group (ie. I threw in a couple of Ronzoni pastas I just paid tax on & valued them at $.25/2 boxes). Then we added the total from the items we purchased at the grocery store to the total we valued our stockpile items and divided by 6 (or the number of members in your group). We then gave credit based on the stockpile items contributed.

Let’s use Monica as an example. Monica contributed stockpile items from her own pantry totaling $20, so she would be given a $20 credit.

Total from grocery store receipts: $504.14
Total from valuation of stockpile items: $75.20
Grand total: $579.34
Divided by 6 members: $96.56 each
Less Monica’s credit for stockpile items: $20
Monica’s grand total for 16 freezer meals and 2 sides: $76.56!!

That is about $4 per meal!
$1 or less per serving. (Meals feed 4-6) Beats the fast food $1 menu!

Now do you get why we do this!!

3. There are a number of items all group members need to bring to the host’s house on cooking day. In addition to all of your prep work, bring LARGE mixing bowls, measuring cups, spatulas, wooden spoons, can openers, Sharpie markers, at least 1 LARGE cooler and your checkbook.

4. Four hours of hard work might leave you famished! Provide a light dinner/snack for all group members (we bought the DiGiornio pizza & breadstick combos with coupons @ Winco for $3.95!!).

5. HAVE FUN!

And there you have our last minute pointers. We still have video from our shopping trip we will post soon as promised, but it is currently being held hostage on Cathy’s phone! We are planning on taking a ton of pictures when we gather tomorrow, so you can see the process step by step!

By Amber

6 Comments
Filed Under: Coupons, Virtual Freezer Cooking
Tagged With: Freezer Meal cooking, Make Ahead Meals

Freezer Cooking w/ the FabFruGALS: Prep Work

April 21, 2010 - 3 Comments

Tomorrow is our big shopping day for our upcoming Freezer Meal Cooking day this Saturday (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, go HERE). You now have the menu and the shopping list, so the next step is to divide up the prep work in preparation for distribution after you have shopped (pictures & info on our trip coming tomorrow!).

While having all of the freezer meals in your freezer will save you a ton of money AND time, getting them there requires a bit of preparation. The actual day your freezer meal group meets to assemble all of your meals, you should set aside at least 4 hours to meet. In order to stay within that time frame, it is best to get some of the prep work out of the way before hand. Expect about 2 hours of prep work in the 2 days before you meet. Learn more about Prep Work HERE.

Tomorrow we will shop. Plan on 3-4 hours if at least 2 members from your group are shopping together (we have the host & the next host shop together). When the shopping is done & you have returned to the host’s house, separate the necessary grocery items each group member will need for their individual prep work and include a note card with their prep work instructions. Then call all of the members in your group & have them stop by to pick up their items/list. Keep in mind a majority of the food stays at the host’s house, so clear some space for it! Learn more about shopping HERE.

Based on our menu & shopping list, here is the prep work I have assigned (we usually try to keep the host’s prep work light because they do all of the organizational work!).

Prep Work:

Amber (me!): Shred 6 cups carrots. Chop 3 cups onions. Brown 6 lbs ground sausage. Add carrots & onions to sausage for last few minutes of cooking.

Monica: Make Meatloaf Minis. Seems like the easiest prep work, but it is EXTREMELY time consuming & will turn out to be the hardest (sorry Mon!)

Cathy: Cook & shred or chop 24 chicken breasts (I either slow cook my chicken in the crock-pot or boil it & then shred it using a hand mixer!). Brown 6 lbs hamburger meat with 3T minced garlic.

AJ: Cook & shred 24 chicken breasts. Brown 6 lbs hamburger meat with taco seasoning.

Kearna: Chop chicken, steak, peppers & onions into large chunks for shish-kabobs & bag separately. Julienne 6 green peppers. Chop 2 red onions. Slice 12 bunches of green onions.

And there you have your list of prep work. If you choose to buy block cheese, you will have to have a group member shred cheese as a prep item. Also, we buy Hormel bacon bits in bulk, but if you choose to cook the bacon & chop for bacon bits, that would be a prep item as well. Also keep in mind that you will need to send Ziploc bags with each member so they have something to bring their prepped items back in!

Now you are all ready to shop. Get your coupon binders ready & let’s hit the store!

By Amber

3 Comments
Filed Under: Freezer Meal Recipe, Frugal Cooking, Virtual Freezer Cooking
Tagged With: cooking from your pantry, freezer cooking, Freezer Meal cooking, Make Ahead Meals

Freezer Cooking w/ the FabFruGALS: The Shopping List

April 18, 2010 - 5 Comments

Remember how we told you about the Fab FruGAL Freezer cooking night coming up on April 24th (that is THIS Saturday!). Here is the first post where we tell you how you can get started, and what part of the process we are going to do for you! Here is the list of all the recipes we’re doing. Remember that we are doing 15 meals… and we will use these over the next 6-8 weeks. You will still do your regular cooking… these freezer meals are for those nights when life is too busy and the “old you” would have gone and picked up hamburgers. NOW you can pop one of your freezer meals out of the freezer and cook it instead! This is just another way we are cutting our grocery budget and saving money by not eating out.

The shopping list is complete! It might look a bit overwhelming, but that’s why we do it with a buddy!

Be sure to email the list to your groupies so you can coordinate what stockpile items you each already have on hand.

The excel file of the FabFruGALS shopping list is here. Here is the HTML version (If you don’t have excel). And if you really want it on pdf (although you won’t be able to edit it), you’ll find it here.

By Amber

5 Comments
Filed Under: Freezer Cooking, Freezer Meal Recipe, Frugal Cooking, Recipes, Virtual Freezer Cooking
Tagged With: cooking from your pantry, freezer cooking, Freezer Meal cooking, Make Ahead Meals, Recipes

The Final FabFruGAL Recipes

April 15, 2010 - Leave a Comment

Here are the final 6 recipes we will be using for our FabFruGAL Freezer Cooking. I will have the shopping list posted tomorrow!

Chicken Enchiladas

Cheesy spinach burgers

Meatloaf minis

Italian pork chops

Navajo tacos

Baked potato casserole

By Amber

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Freezer Cooking, Freezer Meal Recipe, Frugal Cooking, Recipes, Virtual Freezer Cooking
Tagged With: cooking from your pantry, freezer cooking, Freezer Meal cooking, Make Ahead Meals, Recipes

Freezer Cooking w/ the FabFruGALS: The Menu

April 12, 2010 - 10 Comments

Yesterday, Monica gave you the scoop on our Fabuless Cooking Group. The 24th is rapidly approaching, so we need a menu! Because we have done freezer meal groups in the past, choosing a menu was easy for us. We pulled from favorite recipes we have previously used. But if you are just starting out, it’s best to request favorite recipes from all of the members of your group (or feel free to use any of the recipes found HERE), and then everyone can give input/suggestions/vetoes!

Here is the menu we will be using. Most of the recipes can be found on the site, and the 6 that are not up yet will be added in the next 2 days.

1. Garlic ranch chicken

2. Chicken Enchiladas

3. Chicken/beef/shrimp shish kabobs

4. Cheesy spinach burgers

5. Salmon cakes

6. Southwest chicken wraps

7. Meatloaf minis

8. Taco rice salad

9. Italian pork chops

10. Pizza calzones

11. Navajo tacos

12. Sausage hash

13. Ham & cheese brunch braid

14. Pineapple Pepper Chicken

15. Pasta carbonara

16. Baked potato casserole

Next up is making your shopping list. This is one of the most time consuming parts of the freezer cooking experience. So if you are following along, we will be doing all the hard work for you! Stay tuned….

By Amber

10 Comments
Filed Under: Freezer Cooking, Freezer Meal Recipe, Frugal Cooking, Virtual Freezer Cooking
Tagged With: freezer cooking, Freezer Meal cooking, Make Ahead Meals, Recipes, Shop from your Pantry

Freezer Cooking With The FabFruGALS!

April 11, 2010 - 5 Comments

Have you seen our Freezer Meal Cooking Series?

It is really fab! We give you all the details about freezer cooking including starting a group!

We have decided to bring you along for our freezer cooking adventures. We will be having our next freezer cooking day on Saturday April 24th! If you want to get a group together this week you can join us for Fabuless Freezer Cooking! We have a group of FIVE! So get together your fab five and you will be able to follow us EXACTLY! Make sure you read the freezer cooking series above and then have your fav five read it too so you are all ready for cooking day!