Freezer meals saved me when I was a new mom to twins.
I have a confession to make –
I’m horrible at managing my time.
I run a successful home business as a blogger and freelance writer, can meet and exceed deadlines, yet, I never know what to make for dinner.
I’ve got healthy snacks covered and even lunches (and even the best lunch bag for kindergarten).
But, dinners.
That’s a tough one.
By the end of the day, after dropping the twins off at school, cleaning up the house, working on my business and running errands, it’s already time to pick up the twins from school.
And by that time, I have no idea what to serve for supper.
It’s like I’m running around with my head cut off, shuttling twins around, picking up after everyone and making sure the house isn’t on fire.
Dinner is not on my radar.
That’s When Freezer Meals Come to the Rescue
I remember when I was nearing the delivery of my twins.
My MIL and sister came up to visit me and they made three weeks worth of crockpot freezer meals for me. I was on bedrest because I was pregnant with twins and had intra-uterine growth restriction so prepping and freezing meals wasn’t something I was even thinking about when pregnant.
Without those make ahead freezer meals, my husband and I would have just eaten muffins every day.
Now, four years later, if I can pre-make some meals, then when I’m running around at the end of the day, I can just pop a meal in the oven and have dinner ready and keep my sanity.
If you’re a new mom or a mom-to-be, having a month’s worth of freezer meals is like gold.
To get started, pick one full day and prepare all your freezer meals for the month. You can only make around 5 basic meals and create multiple meals out of this or duplicate the meals, instead of making 31 individual meals.
Here are 31 of the best and easiest freezer meals to make ahead (and that your toddler will love). And for more recipes, this recipe book for the Instant Pot and your slow cooker should be in every new mom’s household!
1. Chili Mac
My twins love Mexican food and pasta. Put em’ together and whaddaya got? Chili Mac. All She Cooks has an easy and delicious recipe that you can is excellent for leftovers.
You can substitute the ground beef for ground turkey or ground chicken. This is toddler-approved!
With this recipe you can also create:
- Spaghetti
- Chili
- Mac & Cheese
- Taco meat
2. Mini Pizzas
Who likes pizza in your home? Everyone here. Right now my twins are into miniature things so this mini pizza dinner idea from Budget Bytes will be a hit.
You can customize your toppings for every person in your family or just make them plain cheese!
With this meal you can also create breakfast sandwhiches using the English muffins.
3. Italian Wedding Soup
My twins can’t get enough of this soup. They love the little pasta and meatballs and they have no idea they are eating spinach!
New Leaf Wellness has a freezer-to-slow cooker Italian Wedding soup recipe to try out.
You can cut the time to create this meal by using ready-made meatballs and cut up spinach. This is definitely a go-to in my house.
Some more meals to create from this one recipe:
- Spaghetti and meatballs
- Veggie soup
4. Burritos
This recipe from Mama Miss takes a couple of days to create but totally worth it! You have to make the bean mixture one day ahead of prepping. On prep day, you make Spanish rice. Once you have all the ingredients, you can build your burritos and freeze your meal.
You can even create breakfast burritos and freeze them too! Yummy!!!
My twins like to deconstruct their burritos and sandwiches so they’ll have fun with this meal!
5. Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Casseroles are the easiest one-pan dinners you can have if you have a busy life or if you’re a brand new mom. You can have a new casserole every night of the week!
This one, from Gonna Want Seconds, is easy to make.
This recipe can be mixed and match to suit your family’s tastes. Here are some ideas:
- Asparagus, spinach or peas instead broccoli
- Turkey or sans meat instead of chicken
6. Stuffed Manicotti
Midwest Modern Momma has a simple yet hearty and delicious freezing meals. My twins love pasta and isn’t manicotti just a big piece of pasta?
You can make other Italian meals easily with these ingredients: spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli bake etc…
7. Chicken and Steak Fajita Kits
Here are two recipes in one! You can make chicken fajitas and steak fajitas to stretch out your meals for the week or month.
Must Have Mom has an easy and tasty recipe for these fajita kits.
8. Fried Rice
I’m a lover of friend rice. This recipe from Happy Money Saver is an easy way to sneak those veggies and eggs. My son doesn’t like eggs but I can usually get a few pieces of egg past his mouth with this dinner meal.
Rice is versatile and I always have white or brown rice in the freezer for quick meals. The trick to thawing it is to add water before you microwave it on the defrosting setting!
9. Chicken Pot Pie
I love comfort food and pies (maybe that’s why I have to avoid carbs!!). The best is this Chicken Pot pie recipe from Fabulessly Frugal.
You can easily use these ingredients to make other chicken casseroles or use the chicken for other chicken recipes!
10. Chicken Tenders
When my twins were around 1.5 years old I started batching my meals for them and freezing them. One go-to meal I made and froze was chicken tenders.
I made my own coating and my twins loved it. The Lean Green Bean has a great chicken tenders recipe. You don’t have to add the pepper or paprika if your toddler doesn’t like that flavor.
For my twins, I switched the panko for corn flakes and just lightly salted it and used egg and no flour.
11. Barbecued Meatballs
I love the Money Saving Mom website! Crystal Paine is the queen of saving! Anyways, this recipe is delicious. Pair with rice or noodles and your toddler will be eating it up. In my case, my twins will!!
12. Beef Stroganoff
Who Needs a Cape has a great recipe for beef stroganoff. My twins love rice so this will be one of the meals to try!
You can substitute ingredients in this recipe to customize it for your family. I know for my twins, I would limit the onion and use a can of mushroom soup instead of french onion soup.
13. Chicken Enchiladas
I love this recipe from 100 Days of Real Food. There’s enough for one meal to eat that day and freeze the other.
On a big prep day, don’t forget to prep something to eat that day! This is perfect.
14. Pineapple Chicken
My twins love fruit. They’ll be pleasantly surprised by this meal! Crystal & Co. has a yummy Pineapple Chicken recipe that’s for the slow cooker and freezes great!
15. Beef Tortilla Taco Casserole
This recipe from Pillsbury is perfect for the cold winter days. My family is into Mexican food so any way I can present it is good for me!
16. Pancakes
Breakfast for dinner is a classic in my house! This is an easy way to stock up on quick breakfast meals, especially if you have school-aged children like I do.
A Cultivated Nest has an incredibly easy recipe to make pancakes and freeze them for an as-needed basis!
17. Spaghetti
What a fabulous recipe from Kitchen Sanctuary! This is a classic spaghetti recipe, but you can add whatever you like – peas, sausage, chicken. Make sure to check out her site for some freezing meals.
18. Lemon Garlic Dump Chicken
Don’t you love dump chicken? You use chicken and dump whatever ingredients you want and boom! You have a meal for the week!
Here’s a yummy lemon garlic dump chicken recipe from One Good Thing.
19. Sweet and Sour Chicken
This actually has two recipes you use with Chicken. Little B’s Healthy Habits shares a great “mock” sweat and sour chicken recipe that you freeze easily.
20. Chicken Nuggets
What toddler doesn’t like chicken nuggets? It’s just a transport for some awesome dips like ketchup, honey, ranch or bbq sauce! Amiright???
This is perfect for a dinner recipe or even a healthy snack for your toddlers!
Check out this recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen.
21. Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers
Having a vegetarian meal once a week is healthy for you and your family – especially if you’re a new mom!
This veggie burger recipe from Inquiring Chef is easy to prepare and stock up in the freezer.
22. French Toast Casserole
OMG! A breakfast casserole? Sign me up moms! Anything to make my twins EAT!! Eating on a Dime has a beautiful and delicious french toast recipe that you can serve on Christmas breakfast or Friday night dinner!
23. Baked Eggrolls
Eggrolls are one my favorite Chinese foods to have around. My twins also love Chinese food – as long as it goes with rice! – and this recipe is perfect for making ahead and freezing.
Happy Money Saver has a simple recipe for eggrolls and it’s even baked, making it super healthy for your toddler!
24. Beef and Corn Casserole
This recipe from The Chaos and the Clutter is a gluten-free freezer ready meal! My twins won’t even know they are eating healthy with this meal!
25. Orange Chicken Freezer Meal
Happy Money Saver has done it again! I love Orange Chicken! It’s one of my favorite recipes. And this one is perfect for a freezer meal for a new mom or a busy mom with a toddler!
26. Sloppy Joes
A meal for your husband! Sloopy Joes is one sloppy meal from Crystal and Co., but I bet your little one will love eating the mess. This is perfect to freeze and to double or triple to make it last multiple dinners.
27. Brown Sugar Garlic Pork
You can prepare this meal ahead of time from Dinner Then Dessert, and when it’s time to cook you can add the carrots and potatoes and cook it in the crockpot.
28. Paleo Beef and Broccoli
Since I’m limiting my carb intake, this Paleo beef and broccoli meal from Happy Money Saver is amazing! There are so many awesome and yummy Paleo meals that the whole family will love.
You can serve these with noodles for your family and still not feel like you’re missing out!
29. French Dip Sandwiches
Toddlers love dunking and dipping and this meal from Good Cheap Eats will delight your little ones.
French Dip sandwiches are something I used to order at restaurants, so having this as a go-to meal is perfect.
30. One Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Whether someone in your family is sick or you’re looking for some comfort food, chicken soup is one meal that everyone will enjoy.
Created By Diane has a very simple, yet hearty and healthy chicken noodle soup recipe that is perfect for freezing ahead. When you’re ready to make it just dump it into a pot and add water.
I love to make bread when I have soup. I can never go wrong using this bread machine.
31. Mexican Tater Tot Casserole
While this isn’t the healthiest of dinner recipes on this list, it sure is a crowd pleaser! It looks great and tastes better. Dear Crissy’s recipe is freezer ready for whenever you need it!
More Freezer Meals and Dinner Ideas for You
If you need more dinner ideas for those busy nights, make sure to check out these dump and go, freezer meals, slow cooker meals and more.
- 18 Dump and Go Instant Pot Recipes
- 20 Crock Pot Freezer Meals
- 25 Low Meat Instant Pot Recipes
- 13 Easy Slow Cooker Meal Ideas
The Best Freezing Meals for New Moms
Those make ahead dinners my MIL and sister made were so delicious. Both my husband and I were running on no sleep, no showers, and very little eating during the day.
We had limited time to eat dinner every night and I’m so thankful that those meals nourished us and kept us healthy and sane!
Now, as a mom to almost 5-year old twins, I can see how this is going to save our nights when it becomes more hectic with skating lessons, swimming lessons, and dance lessons.
If you tried any of these recipes out, please let me know! And please remember to pin me!
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