Although I do a little freezer-cooking almost every single week ALL year long, the fall and winter months definitely seem to offer more opportunities to pile our freezer full of soups, casseroles, pasta dishes, holiday treats, chopped veggies and fruits, and lots and lots of cooked meats.
If you stopped by to take a quick look in our deep freezer, I can almost guarantee you’ll find several zip-top baggies and plastic storage containers filled with 1-2 cups of cooked ground beef, ground turkey, ground sausage, shredded chicken, shredded turkey, grilled chicken strips, etc.
You’ll also almost always find bags of store-bought chicken nuggets, bags of pre-cooked meatballs, packages of pre-cooked smoked sausages, deli meats, and thick slices of ham.
Of course, I also have a good amount of uncooked chicken breasts, pork chops, brats, roasts, bacon, uncooked ground beef, uncooked sausage, etc.
However, keeping an ongoing supply of already cooked and pre-portioned meat is a huge, HUGE time and money saver for me.
Not only does it allow me to stock up on meat when it goes on sale, it also allows me to prepare weeknight meals in record time as I don’t need to cook, boil, drain, chop, and measure out my meat. I simply grab one or two bags or containers of meat for my recipe and I’m ready to go.
Sometimes, if I’m making a soup or stew or my favorite semi-homemade pasta sauce, I dump the completely frozen meat into the pot and it quickly defrosts as the veggies boil or the ingredients simmer. Other times, like if I’m making something like these creamy chicken packets, or these delicious baked sandwiches, I’ll defrost the meat the night before or in the morning so it’s easier to stir or slice.
Also, by using pre-cooked, pre-portioned meets for my meals, I eliminate so many dirty dishes that someone will eventually need to wash later that night.
Instead, I can cook up a whole bunch of meat in one afternoon, reuse pans and strainers and cutting boards and measuring cups, and only wash things once — saving even more time and energy!
.
I realize this idea isn’t rocket science… but I know SOOOOO many people who don’t take advantage of this super simple kitchen tip.
And no, you do NOT need a huge deep freezer to be able to store an array of cooked meats. A simple over-the-refrigerator freezer will work just fine — especially if you freeze your cooked meats in zip-top bags and lay them flat to freeze. They’ll take up very little space, and can be stacked like paper files in a shoe box.
Just make sure you clearly label the contents of each bag (I use masking tape and a permanent marker) as it will be almost impossible for you to tell the difference between cooked and frozen ground beef, ground turkey, and ground sausage. 🙂
Since I’m not one for massive freezer-cooking days, I usually just cook and freeze meat as it goes on sale at the store.
So one week, there might be a huge sale on ground beef and chicken breasts. So I’ll pick a day and time (usually when the kids are sleeping at night) to brown up several pounds of beef and boil a whole bunch of chicken breasts. I’ll shred the chicken and divide it up into 1 or 2-cup packages. I’ll drain the fat off the beef and put it into 3/4 pound containers (because that’s roughly 1 pound uncooked meat and that’s what most recipes call for).
Since Thanksgiving is coming up, Turkeys will be crazy on sale at my grocery store. I can usually get a huge turkey for less than $10 with the purchase of additional specified groceries — so I’ll often buy 2 (yes 2). I’ll roast one now, eat it for a regular dinner with mashed potatoes and veggies and then chop up the rest of the meat for the freezer. Then I’ll roast the other one in February or March (seriously, it tastes SO delicious to eat a roasted turkey in the middle of winter) and do the same thing. This gives me several cups of cooked meat and delicious turkey broth that I use all year long!
In the summer, we might grill up a bunch of chicken breasts, slice them up and freeze them for salads or stir-frys later in the year. Sometimes, I’ll even cook up a bunch of breakfast sausage links or patties for super quick breakfasts (Nora LOVES sausage).
And the store-bought chicken nuggets, meatballs, smoked sausages, deli meats, etc — those also come in handy when our plans change at the last minute, or when I run stuck with other options. Add a few meatballs to your pasta sauce or bake up a handful of chicken nuggets to make crispy chicken salad, and dinner is saved!
It might not be as healthy or as economical as making everything from scratch — but I guarantee it’s healthier and less expensive than going out to eat.
.
You all know I’m big on “planning ahead” and doing something NOW so I don’t need to do it later — and I think freezing meat is a perfect example of both of those characteristics.
Every week, I’m amazed at just how much time I save on meal prep and clean up thanks to my freezer stash of pre-cooked meats. I’m at the point where I’m so used to having these pre-cooked meats on-hand that it would be extremely difficult for me to carry out my meal plan every week if I had to cook up meat every day as well as preparing the entire meal.
If you feel like you’re struggling to get dinner on the table every night or like you have “meal planning burnout”, schedule a couple times in the next 2 weeks to pre-cook and pre-portion a bunch of meat for the freezer. I think you’ll be AMAZED how much time you’ll save later on (and how much stress, energy, and money you’ll save too!)
Susann Brailey says
do you put broth in the meat when you freeze it?
Andrea says
nope, just meat in a bag or storage container. it’s usually meat that I end up putting in with stew, soup, or a casserole, so I wouldn’t need any extra sauce, broth, or liquidy matter before freezing.
Cindi says
My 18 year old grandson who is going to college wants to cook 5 chicken breasts meals with vegetables and 5 ground chuck patties with veggies and freeze the meals..I am going to help him with this but is there a best way and a safe way to freeze the meals..He wants to pop them in micro wave for dinners..Making meals about two weeks worth..What is the best and safest way?
Andrea says
good for him — such a smart guy!
I’d say to just buy individual food storage containers (the disposable ziplock sandwich type container) to store the cooked foods in. That said, he might want to transfer the items to a plate before microwaving them — sometimes those disposable food storage containers don’t hold up well in the microwave.
Debbie says
i seriously tried to do this when my husband and I got home from grocery shopping with all our ground beef and frozen chicken breasts. He was totally opposed to the idea of my cooking them ahead and putting them in the freezer. He said the chicken usually tastes funny and the beef get clumpy. One of these days I will do it without him knowing and see what happens. 🙂
Andrea says
yes Debbie, do it without tell him and just see if he notices. I use most of my cooked, chopped meats in soups, casserols, enchiladas, etc. so it would be nearly impossible to tell (in my opinon)!!
Melissa says
Andrea,
Since you make so many freezer meals do you keep fresh or uncooked meat on hand or in the freezer for when you make freezer meals? Or do you thaw and referee the meat once it’s in one of your recipes?
Andrea says
I honestly don’t have a “set system” Melissa. I just do whatever is easiest and most convenient at the time. Sometimes, I’ll cook up a bunch of meat right after I get home from the store, make a few meals, and freeze everything. Other times, I’ll dump frozen (cooked) meat into a recipe, eat half for dinner and freeze the other half.
I have heard that it’s not great to freeze meat once it’s defrosted — but I think that is mainly pertaining to raw meat. I don’t defrost raw meat and then refreeze it raw again. I would always cook it and then either eat it in our meal or make a freezer meal with the cooked meat.
Does that make sense?
Jean says
Do you ever cook bacon, cut in to pieces and freeze in small batches? I have some incurred bacon I would like yo for this with.
Andrea says
Yes Jean — I keep both cooked and uncooked bacon in the freezer. I even put store-bought bacon bit in the freezer. They all defrost perfectly!
Lee Cockrum says
I need to do more of this, it would really help with getting meals ready. One of the main things that holds me back from getting something in the crockpot before work is browning the meat. Having it done already is a huge tImesaver!
I can see from your photos that you do not vacuum pack, do you use your stuff quickly enough that you don’t have freezer burn problems?
Susan Parker says
Hi,
I too do this. Although I don’t do it weekly, maybe more bi-weekly. Having a chronically ill child, on oxygen and feeding machines, where the common cold can land her on the hospital… Anytime I have a stable week or two, I take advantage of it.
I know many people who cook their raw hamburg meat in a frying pan… I hate that. All the grease splattering. I boil mine. It’s easy. I take a large pan, start filling with cold water, while adding the several pounds of Hamburg (one package at a time .. Even if pkg. is 3-4lbs. While the water is running to fill up above the Hamburg, I take my hands and break the Hamburg up, into fine pieces. Many times I rub the clumps, rolling them back and forth through my hands (the way you used to roll Play-Doh as a kid). The meat gets very fine. I put on stove and turn on high, stirring occasionally to make sure not sticking at bottom
Of pan. After doing this, and letting it boil and boil and boil ( go watch t.v., or do Laundry or something). After an hour or a bit more, I drain it through a colander that is placed in the sink. Then I lift the colander and let it sit on top of the pan and run a wooden spoon through Hamburg to thoroughly drain. Then portion out into ziplock bags, averaging what I need for my family per meal.
Today, I took frozen, cooked, boiled Hamburg out of freezer, thawed it out, added to sauce, and made lasagna .
The funny thing is my daughter had taken her dog to vet for checkup, then went to groomers, and had to bring her dog back to vet because she noticed he was bleeding from rectum after doing his business. The veterinarian said to feed him white rice and boiled Hamburg. Of course my daughter didn’t have either – but her mother did. She came and got it and went Home to cook the rice and defrost Hamburg.
You never know when something pops up and you need the cooked prepared food.
Great article – keep cooking and freezing!
Susan
Susan says
My time saver isn’t for meat but liquids. I freeze leftover cream, sauces, etc in ice cube blocks so that i can defrost only what i need and quickly.
Sandy says
I do batches of shredded chicken breast about every other month. I put a large pack in my slow cooker and add Mexican seasonings and canned tomatoes. Cook until done. Shred and pack into bags for tacos, enchiladas and quesadillas etc. The broth from slow cooking is much more flavorful than what you get when boiling. The broth is perfect for soup. Sometimes I start the slow cooker before bed and in the morning the chicken is ready to shred and package.
Nicola says
Have you ever tried shredding your chicken in the kitchenaid mixer? It only takes 30 seconds. http://www.mrsjanuary.com/easy-recipes/shred-chicken/
Andrea says
I actually don’t even have a stand mixer so I wouldn’t be able to do this — but it is a neat idea!
Missy Gail says
You can use a hand held mixer too. It just takes more time because you cant add as much in each batch.
Andrea says
yes, I used a hand mixer for everything up until about 3 months ago when I finally got a stand mixer!!
Debbie W. says
This post was good timing for me; I’ve been freezing a little extra of things lately and thinking that I want to do more of that. As always you have some great simple and realistic ideas!
Just one question: any tips on organizing the freezer? I can see where an upright would be more easily organized than a chest freezer, but with our space an upright was impossible. So we just have the over-the-refrigerator freezer plus a small 5 cubic foot chest freezer and between them both I’m forgetting about and losing my food that I’ve made the effort to save!
Julie says
I have a list on my fridge of what is in the fridge freezer and deep freeze. It was time consuming to make the first time, but has saved my bacon, pun intended 😉
Liane says
Debbie,
I created a system for all food inventory using excel – I have three categories. Frozen, Fresh and Pantry. We have a motorhome which has a fully stocked kitchen so I added a couple more sheets for the two pantries in our coach. You could always make separate sheets for separate freezers. My mom is on my system and it works for her.
I have a ginormous word doc on my inventory system which I would be happy to share — it’s from my now defunct Catch Up On The Kitchen Yahoo group. I could put on dropbox for you.
I used to print the sheets but now I just use Numbers on my iPad. When I load in my meat I swipe the butcher paper with colored marker. Red is beef. Blue is seafood etc.
But back to the two freezers. I generally advise to put long term stored meats in the big freezer and fruits and veggies in the fridge freezer. Think of the fridge freezer as a place to put your groceries. And the chest freezer as an adjunct to the grocery store. My mom organizes her freezer just like a grocery store. Andrea has a similar system also.
The secret is deciding what goes where and sticking to it. For example you may want all raw meat poultry and seafood in the chest. In the fridge you would put frozen precooked casseroles, enchiladas, lasagna etc. plus any thing that is open. Think “shop at home first”. and let that chest freezer be your store. Move the week meal needs to the main freezer when you do your main grocery shopping and replace the inventory with sales bargains.
Julie has the right idea. The time you put in makes it worth it in the end. It took me a full day to do my three areas!
Brenda says
I freeze ground beef all the time. I buy the family pack size of burger (usually 3-4lbs) and then cook it for whatever I bought it for ( spaghetti, tacos, hamburger helper) then I take out what I need for the dinner and freeze the rest in bags of about 1 pound. This way I don’t have to do any special cooking. It only take about 5 extra minutes to cook 4 lbs of burger over 1 lb.
Cheryl says
In addition to cooking meat ahead of time to freeze, I cook extra rice (white or brown), beans (in the crock pot, they are a cinch to cook!), pasta, chili and soups in big batches and freeze. Some things, like soup or chili, I freeze in individual portions (easier to take to work for lunches) and other things I freeze in an amount that will work for dinner for the family (like rice). One tip is to add a splash of water in your zip-top bag with pasta to freeze.
Cathy says
Ok, here is probably a “duh” question, but how do you reheat the meat. For instance if you freeze the ground beef and want to use it for tacos do you then just heat it up in the microwave or heat it one the stove… I know I’m probably making it harder than it needs to be!
Audra says
I reheat in the microwave. I know some people don’t like using the microwave so reheating on the stove is fine. When I have a shredded roast in the freezer to make BBQ, I just put it frozen a sauce pan with a little water and my BBQ sauce, it unthaws while it heats and gets full of the BBQ flavor. Probably would work the save with tacos.
Audra says
Ugh….typing too fast today. Probably would work the SAME with tacos. Just unthaw and heat it with the taco seasoning and water.
Andrea says
haha — yes, you’re making this WAY too hard 🙂
you can re-heat however you like. I usually just let my meat defrost in the fridge overnight and then just dump it directly into the casserole, soup, stew, or pasta dish as I’m making it. It reheats that way.
Also, I often will add the taco seasonings before I freeze the meat so I can just defrost, add toppings and and eat!
Audra says
I love preparing meat ahead of time. I do not like to have my ground beef already browned though. It tastes different to me in some way. I freeze the 1 pound packages really flat so they brown up fast. I do like to cook chicken and turkey ahead of time….have you ever baked your chicken instead of boiling it? It tastes a lot better that way! It takes about the same amount of time. I line my baking sheets with tin foil and then the clean up is super easy. When you roast a turkey….where is the broth? Might be a silly question. I’ve never done broth before but would like to for soups. Another thing that I do is throw a couple pounds of ground beef in my Kitchenaid with all the meatloaf ingredients, mix it up and then divide in two, shape each into loafs and freeze in gallon size bags individually. So easy! We buy our ground beef from Costco (so much better tasting than other places) which means we usually buy 12-15 pounds at a time. We use a couple pounds for meatloaf, then make “quarter pounders” with 3-4 pounds, and freeze the rest in 1 pound bags.
Andrea says
I’d love to know how you get your burger patties to stick together. I’ve tried freezing them but they ALWAYS fall apart when we go to grill them. Do you have a secret recipe??
Audra says
Dave always makes them in the patties so he must have a special way of pounding the meat together. Haha! We store them in between parchment paper or freezer paper. We also cook them from frozen. Maybe not thawing them out helps them to stay together.
Andrea says
I forgot to answer your broth question — you get the broth by boiling the bones of the roasted bird. SOOOOO good!
Audra says
Oh, that’s easy enough. I’ll have to try it this year. Is there a certain amount of time that you have to boil them?
Shannon says
Your picture with the meat and cheese ready for “breakfast Saturday” is genius! I’ve always done just the precooked meat – never even thought of putting the other ingredients in there so it’s ready to go. Will def try this – thanks for the inspiration!
One thing I’ve learned is to use my slow cooker with chicken. I **HATE** shredding the chicken after I had baked it. I just put it in my slow cooker now with a bit of broth and 8 hours later, it literally shreds itself. Saves me a ton of time and aggravation!
Audra says
Ooo….I like your shredded chicken idea! That would be good for shredding. I would think for cubed chicken it would still be good to bake.
Andrea says
haha — yup, that’s an awesome time-saver! I’ll mix up all the meat, cheese, peppers, onions, and seasonings in gallon-size ziptop bags and put them in the freezer. Then when it’s time to make the breakfast casserole or slow-cooker meal, I just add the eggs and milk!
Mary says
Sounds good if I could get hubby on board. He’s an eat fresh kind of guy. The roasted broth idea in the comments is one I’ve used for a long time. When we butcher a beef I always roast my bones to get a better flavored broth. Canning meat is another huge time saver. It is so versatile! I’ll have to try freezing rice!
Audra says
Yum! Canned beef is my favorite. Such an “old time” thing to do. I learned how to do it from my grandma. I usually can about 10 pounds of ground chuck at a time.
Liane says
Mary,
We don’t do our own butchering since we are in a city but we do purchase either a quarter or a half steer and have it done by a professional packer. Last time, I had a ton of trimmings, as usual and I asked my packer to make a coarse grind with some of it. It was fantastic for home make chili (Texas style no beans) which I froze. I don’t have a pressure canner so I prefer to freeze.
You might try to do a coarse grind. It is fantastic for chile and it makes the juiciest patties since they are all loose and fluffy — not all compressed like that weird stuff in the tubes or preformed bags.
As for the bones — I discovered that frozen bones sold for pet food are organic and grassfed clean with juicy pink marrow. Grocery store bones have grayish yellow old marrow.
Andrea says
Can he really taste the difference between fresh and frozen meat in a casserole or soup?? I would be amazed if he could! I’ve never canned meat as I don’t have a pressure cooker, but my grandma still does it all the time and it IS delicious!
Audra says
I’m sure this will raise controversy, but I don’t use a pressure cooker to can meat…I bake it in my oven! I pack quart jars with big chunks of chuck roast (leave some space at the top), put a couple pieces of fat on top and a teaspoon of salt in each jar. Then I bake it at 250 degress for 4 hours. Delicious! I’ve done it this way for years and so has my grandma without any problems getting sick, etc. When we go to eat it, I dump it all in a sauce pan and heat it up. Mix up a little flour and water and add it to the juice to make gravy.
Andrea says
actually, I think I’ve heard of other people doing it this way too… but you’re right, it’s probably not up to “Ball Canning Standards” 🙂
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says
Yes, yes, yes! I just pulled frozen meatballs out of the freezer for meatball subs tonight. Pre-cooking meat – especially diced and shredded chicken – saves so much time in meal prep! I also like to keep baked cookies (and a chocolate chip pie or two) in the freezer for surprise company. And when I bake a batch of rolls, I serve some of those for the meal and freeze the others. In fact, I’m baking my homemade crescent rolls tonight for Thanksgiving dinner!
Andrea says
Yum… meatball subs!!!
Trudy says
Sometimes, if your go to the grocery store later in the evening (7-8pm), they will discount the rotisserie chickens that didn’t sell (not Costco, they reuse theirs) to $3-4 a chicken. I will buy a good amount, take them home, pull the wings and drumsticks to eat as is…..but I then pull everything else and freeze. If I’m in the mood….I save the carcass and boil it for soup that week. Do the same with the turkey carcass after Thanksgiving, but that one I freeze and make soup later. Know it’s awkward, but before packing it, we kinda crush it so it fits in the freezer better.
Kim says
i love to cook brown rice in large batches in my rice cooker, then divide leftovers into portions (either individual servings or family size containers) cover while still warm and then freeze. The moisture that is generated keeps the rice fluffy when microwaved 1-3 minutes based on the portion size. This method, along with freezing meats can put a meal together in minutes! It has worked with any kind of rice I have tried so far!
Dana says
I love to do that too. It is amazing what you can do with frozen green beans or broccoli, rice and some cooked meat. Thanks for the tip about storing it hot. I usually have to add a bit of water to the dish when reheating it in the microwave.
Jamie says
I no longer boil my chicken. It is way faster and tastes way better to put chicken on cookie sheets and bake it in the oven. I can cook about 25 pounds at one time. I shred the chicken put it back on the cookie sheet to soak up the juices so it doesn’t dry out as much in the freezer. This is my huge time saver in the kitchen.
Andrea says
interesting — I always feel like my chicken is much more “dry” if I bake it versus boil. I might have to try your method — however, then I’d miss out on ALLLLL that chicken broth I get when I boil it 🙂
julie says
After you are done baking your chicken, save the carcases. Put a few in a stock pot,fill with water a few inches above the bones, add a splash of apple cider vinegar and a couple of onion cut in quarters and the ends and leaves of celery and let it simmer for several hours. We find the flavor to be better since the bones were “roasted”. When done let cool, strain and put into containers to freeze.
Heart and Haven says
I love this tip! I’m gonna have to try this. I periodically find whole chickens on a great sale, but am limited on quantities I can purchase since I don’t have a deep freezer for storage.
I love the idea of baking multiple at a time, shredding it, and storing it in family-sized portions. Storing the shredded chicken in freezer bags laid flat will take up much less room.
lydia @ Five4FiveMeals says
Yes! I love having meat cooked and waiting in the freezer. I can get supper on the table in 15 minutes that way.
Have you ever cooked a big batch of ground beef in the slow cooker? It’s perfect for chili and tacos.
Andrea says
hmmm… I’ve never tried browning meat in the slow cooker before. However, it’s now on my list for the next time I buy a bulk batch of ground beef! Thanks!
Liane says
Andrea,
Please please please never do this. NO meat should be put into a slow cooker raw. The worst two to do this with are whole chicken and ground beef.
Regarding the chicken: It is nearly impossible to remove every single last trace of e-coli, salmonella, campylobacter and their friends from a chicken’s interior cavity. Once you put the bird into an incubator aka a slow cooker, it takes several HOURS to reach a temperature inside that cavity high enough to kill pathogens. Chicken insides are really really dirty When I took microbiology in college one thing in my house I cultured as part of an assignment was the inside of a chicken. Yuck! I now flash roast them in my convection oven for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature.
Regarding ground beef: Unless you grind your own or have your meat counter grind it for you, any package of ground beef is a mixture of many many steers. Ground beef is notorious for causing potentially fatal food poisoning – something that moved the fast food industry to insist their beef patties are cooked to a very high temperature. In California where I live, you cannot order (not that I would) a rare hamburger patty. The best you can hope for is medium well.
So you ask me what does that have to do with my crockpot? Well if the USDA recommendation for food safety says you need to heat ground meats to a temp of 180 degrees, they have good cause for doing so. Putting a chunk of ground beef in an incubator will have the same result of bacterial rapid replication.
Okay, now you say, well doesn’t it eventually get killed? Sure, eventually. But ingesting live bacterial is not the only peril — bacteria release toxins when they die. They also express self-preservation substances that are toxic and are not killed by heat. The idea of rapid heating is to prevent a large die-off — since the more that die, the more toxins, and the longer they are allowed to replicate, the more self-defense substances are released.
Brown it first if it’s ground beef. It will get that fabulous fond taste and not be a grey gross substance. Then rapidly freeze it, lest any of the little buggers survice. Don’t want them starting up their business as it cools. They are not in it to make us sick as their primary goal in life, they are in to repllicate!
For the chicken, I personally do not care for any fowl that was not exposed to the high heat of a grill or oven, unless it was cooked specifically with shredding in mind. I often buy up large packages of bone in skin on chicken, and roast them, with the intention of shredding the muscle meat and using the bones for bone broth. I freeze my shredded chicken to use in salads, Mexican dishes and the like. Roasting anything in an oven is not time consumptive. Three whole chickens plus a dozen breasts done at one time takes just as long as a single one. Its the shredding that takes me forever!
I know this reads like a microbiology lecture and for that I apologize. I happen to have first hand experience as an RNc in critcal care where I have seen children sicken and die from poorly handled meat.
Last week I was at a Trader Joe’s and a worker who was stocking the meat refrigerator from plastic crates sitting on the floor in front of the meat area was called away by a customer. Twenty minutes passed before someone put that meat into refrigeration. I say this because you have no idea the degree of bacterial growth in meat you buy because you cannot see behind the scenes.
Be healthy in your food preparation!
— Liane