Freezer Meal Recipes from Scratch

Homemade freezer meals recipes from scratch, how can you go wrong with ready-made meals?

It makes me so happy just to know that if I’m tired or our friends show up unexpectedly I’m ready with homemade food already made in the freezer. Stocking up my freezer and having ready-made meals on hand saves me so much time and money, it’s a win-win for me.

We just got done filming a 21 freezer meal youtube, where I cook it all and give tips and tricks on how I put up a whole lot of freezer meals all from scratch in a day. 

Freezer Meal Recipes from Scratch

Here is a list of the freezer meal recipes from scratch that I used in my video:

Make-Ahead Lasagna with Simple Bolognese Sauce (I have this one printable on the blog) 

Enchiladas (I have this one printable on the blog) 

Pizza Dough (I have this one printable on the blog) 

 

Bechamel ( white sauce )

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

2 cups of milk

Whisk the butter and flour together and cook for a couple of minutes until smooth and blended well. Add the milk slowly until smooth and heat until thickened. 

• Add mushrooms to the butter and saute for a few minutes before adding flour if you want a mushroom soup concentrate for a substitute for canned mushroom soup in recipes.

 

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole* 

2 cups  chicken broth

4 T. Rue ( 2T butter + 2T Flour melted and cooked together)

1 onion diced

4-6 potatoes peeled, cubed, and boiled until just tender

3-4 large carrots peeled, chopped, and boiled until just tender

3-4  ribs of celery chopped

2 cups cooked chicken or turkey cut up

1 tsp sage

1 tsp oregano 

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions: Make a rue with the butter and flour, melt and cook together for a couple of minutes, slowly add one cup of broth and whisk until smooth. Sautee onion and celery until soft and golden, Add to the broth mixture and cook until thickened add cooked carrots, potatoes, and chicken. Stir in the spices and spread into a 9×13 pan pour crust topping on (recipe below) and bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

 

* Sidenote, I didn’t follow the directions to this recipe on the video. I make this variation too, but I often make it with what I have for big batches and find it easier. This is what I do: saute up a bunch of onion and celery, boil or steam potatoes and carrots, add a bag of frozen peas, chopped chicken, and a couple of cups of homemade gravy stir together and spread out in a large pan 15 x 10 and add the pot pie crust recipe which I double for each of my large pans so if I make two large pans I will 4x the crust recipe. Mostly because I love a good thick crust.

 

Pot Pie Casserole Crust Topping Recipe:

1 cup flour

1- 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 tsp.vinegar

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 tsp. pepper

Combine ingredients and spoon over chicken pot pie casserole. 

I  3x  and 4x  this crust recipe in the videos

 

Stuffed Peppers 

This is more of a method than a recipe, I cook up a bunch of beans and use them for all the recipes in the video. Take about 3-4 cups of the cooked beans (any kind of bean you like) add them to the cooked rice ( I sautee 2 cups of rice in 2T oil until brown and add 4 cups of water, or broth. I put a lid on the pan get it to a simmer and lower the heat to the lowest setting and steam for 15-20 minutes.

The next step is I add some kind of meat ( this is totally up to you) I added hamburger in the video and then I mix up 1/2 cup of broth, 8oz can of tomatoes sauce, and 2T of sriracha sauce whisk together and add to bean rice mixture.

I prebake the peppers for 10 minutes in the oven at 350. However, if you are freezing these I find you can skip this and stuff the raw peppers.

Stuff the 18 pepper halves. That’s 9 pepper halves per pan. Sprinkle chopped mushrooms and cheese on top. I drizzle oil over the peppers and salt and pepper. Wrap with tin foil and freeze.

 

Jalapeno White Sauce (I used over one of the enchiladas in the video)

I just made this up on the fly, so here goes the very simple recipe…

1/2 large onion diced

1/2 cup of pickled jalapenos

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup cornstarch 

2 cups of chicken broth 

1/4 cup of cream

2 tsp garlic powder  (you can add fresh garlic and sautee with the onion and forego the powder)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Sautee the onions in butter until soft and golden add the jalapeños add the cornstarch and stir until paste forms slowly add two cups of chicken broth whisking until smooth. Add cream and garlic powder and stir in, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over stuffed tortillas. Bake for 30mins at 375

 

 

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

2 cups  chopped up chicken

1 cup celery chopped 

2tsp dried onion

3 cups  cooked rice

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups broccoli 

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

a batch of homemade chicken sauce:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup of butter

2 cups of chicken broth

Melt the butter and flour together stirring until it makes a paste, cook for a couple of minutes to cook out the flour taste. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth until thick and smooth. (I find it easier to just pull the pan off the heat for a minute while whisking in the broth and putting back on the heat after it is all smooth and mixed).

Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir until all mixed, spread out into a 9 x13 pan add some cheese to the top, and bake at 350 for 45 min 

 

Freezer meals really can free you up later in the week or month depending on how many meals you make. For me it’s nice to have on days I want to learn something new or work on a project and knowing I have dinner ready is a game-changer for me. 

 

Tip for when you don’t have enough time to make freezer meals

This is a great tip when you don’t feel like you have the time to set aside a whole day for making freezer meals. Double or triple the dinner you are making tonight, it takes just a little more effort and a whole lot of reward! You can do that just once a week and start filling up your freezer with lots of meals.

Another thing I am doing is collecting glass casserole pans so I can stop using tinfoil pans, I had a good collection before I moved but downsized before we moved across the country. I can often find pans for a couple of bucks at local thrift stores.

Would love to hear what dishes you like to make and freeze?

 

My Favorite Items around our Cozy Kitchen:

French Press

Stainless Steel Electric Milk Steamer

AeroPress, Caddy Station

AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker

 Cozy Christmas Baking Cookbook 

Grain mill 

Kitchen Aid

12 Qt Electric Pressure Canner

Retro Portable Transistor Radio 

Silpat Premium Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat 

Loose Leaf Tea 

Cosmo Dual Fuel Range with 5 Gas Burners, Electric Convection Oven

Instant Pot Duo Plus 6 Quart

Water Bath Canner with Glass Lid

Norpro Canning Essentials Boxed Set

 

I am inviting you to come over to our youtube channel and subscribe? We would love for you to join our community where we embrace home life and the beauty of the everyday. Forgotten Way Farms YouTube Channel.

Have a lovely week my friends!

-Abby jo