How To Freezer Meal Prep: From-Scratch Breakfasts, Dinners, and Snacks
Every freezer prep day I do starts with a lot of planning and a big grocery haul, and this one was no different. I’m walking you through exactly how I restock our freezer with from-scratch meals that make busy days so much easier.
This freezer prep session is all about building a mix of breakfasts, snacks, and fully cooked dinners so that on busy days, all I need to do is thaw, reheat, and serve. Everything is made with simple, whole ingredients and designed to work together so nothing goes to waste.
I’m sharing all the recipes I used here, including a mix of my own recipes and a few from other creators that worked really well for freezer prep.
👇🏻 Watch the Full Freezer Prep Video
What I Prepped
Here’s a list of everything I made during this 2-day freezer prep. Some of the recipes are mine, and some are from other food bloggers that I love:
Breakfasts
Dinners
Basics
- Air Fryer shredded Chicken
- Homemade chicken stock in the Instant Pot
- Fresh milled kamut & sourdough tortillas
Freezer Breakfast Burritos
These have been one of the biggest wins. I filled them with eggs, roasted sweet potatoes, chicken sausage, and cheese, then wrapped and froze them for easy grab-and-go meals.
To reheat: unwrap and microwave for about 2½ minutes.
Use these components:
- A batch of my fresh milled tortillas
- Sheet pan eggs
- Roasted sweet potatoes
- Protein of choice (sausage, ground beef, or keep it simple with egg + cheese)
My Nourishing Breakfast Cookies
These are one of my favorite make-ahead options because they feel like a treat but are packed with good ingredients. They are made with oats, flax, almond butter, coconut oil, and lightly sweetened with maple syrup and a little brown sugar.
My Chicken Pot Pie Skillet
This is one of my go-to comfort meals, but so much easier than a traditional pot pie. It has all the same flavors, just without the extra step of making a full crust. I like to double this and freeze half.
I like to serve with this the homemade milled flour biscuits from Grains in Small places. Store-bought biscuits work just fine too if you need something quick.
Butter Chicken (Freezer Friendly)
This one turned out so good and freezes really well. I used this recipe and doubled it for meal prep: If you’re concerned about freezing dairy, you can swap the heavy cream for coconut cream. I love serving this with rice or naan.
Ginger, Orange & Turmeric Shredded Beef
This turned out really flavorful and freezes beautifully. This ginger orange and turmeric shredded beef is a freezer friendly braised beef recipe made with chuck roast, fresh ginger, orange, and warming spices. Tender, flavorful, and perfect for meal prep.
From-Scratch Basics
Shredded Chicken + Bone Broth
This is one of the most useful things to prep ahead. I cooked the whole chickens in the Instant Pot, one at a time, 30 minutes each. You just need to add 1 cup of water, a little bit of salt, pepper, and maybe some garlic powder, and allow a 10 minute natural pressure release. When it’s done, carefully remove it from the pot, allow to cool down, shred the meat, and then use the bones to make broth overnight. I like to use this specifically in my Chicken pot pie skillet and it makes for a mean chicken salad. This is also great to have on hand for soups and quick meals throughout the week.
To make broth, you can use your instant pot or slow cooker overnight. The great thing about cooking the whole chicken in the instant pot is you can also reserve the liquid from cooking and it makes a super collagen rich broth for cooking. After straining out this golden liquid, I’ll then add the bones back to the pot, water, aromatics, and begin again with the bones. So you essentially get two batches of broth!
Fresh Milled Flour Tortillas
These take a little effort upfront, but they freeze so well and make a huge difference in breakfasts. Try using olive oil instead of butter to make them more freezer-friendly.
My Freezer Prep Strategy
What makes this whole system work is using overlapping ingredients so everything flows together.
- Shredded chicken gets used in multiple meals
- Veggie scraps go straight into broth
- Tortillas become breakfast burritos
- Extra ingredients get repurposed instead of wasted
I try to focus on:
- Cooking in batches
- Doubling recipes when possible
- Freezing fully cooked meals, not just ingredients
If you are just getting started with meal prepping, you definitely don’t have to do all of this at once. That can feel like a lot, and it’s not necessary to see a difference.
Start small. Try prepping just one dinner, one breakfast, and one staple like shredded chicken or broth. Even having a few things ready to go in the freezer can take so much pressure off during the week and make it easier to stick with cooking from scratch.
This kind of prep takes time upfront, but it saves so much time during the week and makes it easier to stick to cooking from scratch. Having real meals ready to go in the freezer has made busy weeknights feel less overwhelming.
Favorite Tools & Ingredients
- Grain mill
- Ankarsrum Mixer
- Souper Cubes as freezer containers
- Thrive Market pantry staples – Join today and you will receive 30% off your first order and a free gift!
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