Make 30 Freezer Meals and save yourself time and money! Prep, bag, freeze & slow cook your way to easy mealtimes! Don’t you just love crockpots?
So this shopping list might seem overwhelming, but I promise it’s manageable. And REMEMBER, you will have 30 dinners (plus maybe some leftovers?) so it’s SO SO SO worth it. Plus, make sure to check your pantry — you might have a lot of ingredients in there already!!!
KEEP IT SIMPLE — you can do this!
KEEP IT CHEAP — either wait for great sales or if a certain meat is full price this week — you can sub a cheaper meat! Yes it’s a slightly different meal but a pork chop with the bone in instead of boneless? Probably not that different 😉 Check through the recipes. I listed most chicken here (as the recipes call for) as boneless skinless chicken breasts. Some recipes will work with bone in (saving money) but some will not. See where you can save. Some recipes will work great with boneless skinless chicken thighs — if you like them, go for it since they are always cheaper.
DON’T STRESS THE SMALL STUFF — I have made freezer meals and run out of garlic — yup, it happened to me before. I simply used my sharpie and wrote on the bag “needs 2 T garlic” and added it the day of cooking. EASY!
Non-freezer items ARE NOT ON THE LIST. Things that go in the slow cooker at the end (i.e., yogurt, sour cream) are not on the list because you may not want/need to buy them that week. So write on the bag what you need to go with that meal (i.e., rice, yogurt needed last hour, jalapenos for serving, etc.). I keep my print-outs of the recipes handy (on my fridge) so I know when I pull out a meal what I need for that day/week.
Just a couple of notes so the recipes are clear and you know what you are shopping for:
- For the Pineapple Salsa Chicken — I made the meal with 6 breasts. You could do 4 but I did 6 so the list follows that
- For the Maple Dijon Pulled Chicken — I made the meal with 4 breasts
- For the Ribs with Zesty BBQ — I used 2 pounds of boneless ribs
- For the BBQ Chicken Roll Ups — I used 3 breasts
Okay, on to the list …
MEAT:
- 52 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 8 pounds cut pork loin (into bite sized)
- 4 pounds stir fry beef
- 32 drumsticks
- 3 pounds deli roast beef sliced normal or thin
- 12 boneless pork chops
- 4 pounds boneless ribs
Pantry Staples:
- flour
- Italian seasoning
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- pepper
- white pepper
- basil
- coriander
- crushed red pepper
- chili Powder
- paprika
- tabasco sauce
- cayenne pepper
- parsley
Fresh Veggies:
- 2 sliced onions
- 8 onions, chopped
- 2 onions quartered
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 6 green peppers halved
- 4 green peppers, chopped
- 2 16-ounce bags of baby carrots
- 4 celery bunches, chopped
- 6 diced shallots
- 1 lime for zest
Cans/Sauces/Jars
- 2 bottles Hoisin Sauce
- soy sauce (10 tbsp plus 1 cup)
- 2 20-ounce cans chunk pineapple (with juice)
- 2 16-ounce jars red salsa
- 3 cups red salsa
- 2 cups salsa verde
- 2 6-ounce cans pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup plus 4 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 cup plus 4 Tbsp white wine vinegar
- 33 (give or take) tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped pepperoncini’s
- 3 ybsp minced chipolte peppers in adobe sauce
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- small jar of grated ginger (or minced)
- 2 1/2 cups buffalo sauce
- 2 cups duck sauce
- 2 cans/jars (12 ounces) beef gravy
- 2 cans of beef stock/broth (14 ounce)
- 2 cans of chicken broth (14 ounce)
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (14 ounce)
- 2 12-ounce bottles of a summery beer
- 2 12-ounce cans frozen orange juice concentrate
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- 2 cans cream of celery soup
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 10 tbsp lime juice
- 2 small jars of raspberry preserves
- 1 1/2 cups dijon mustard
- 4 tbsp hot mustard (spicy brown)
- 2 12-ounce jars of chili sauce
- 2 cups of chili sauce
- 1 cup dark corn syrup
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 4 cans of corn
Could you give me a rough estimate on how much this list would cost ? I know prices vary just trying to get an idea
I think I spent about $300 :0
What is the portion size for each meal? It would just be two of us and im curious as to wether or not I could just half everything…?
You probably could half everything – of have lunch the next day 😉
So each portion serves 4 people? I have a family of six so I am trying to figure out if I need to adjust.
Yes most meals were for 4-5 people. It really depends on your family’s appetite 😉 I don’t mind having left overs (in fact that is usually what my husband and I pack for lunch), so I would encourage you to add some to some of the recipes 😉
Hi:
Do you have the recipes and shopping lists for all the meals in PDF form?
BTW this is a great idea!
Margaret
Sorry I have not put them into PDF – although it’s a great idea! Stay Tuned maybe we can get it on 😉
I just looked over this quickly so please help me find what I am missing. Shopping list says 32 drumsticks, is there another recipe besides the sweet and spicy that calls for them? Thanks!!
the orange beer chicken also has chicken legs 😉
awesome, thank you!!
This is truly an amazing idea and you have put so much work into it! That’s phenomenal! I do have one silly question..how much space does this take up in your freezer? We have a top freezer/fridge. Do you think it will all fit with the 40 meals, or should I stick to the 20 meals and go from there? I’m probably answering my own question. ha! Anyhoo…what a great website this is! I have bookmarked it for future reference and am giving a shout out to all I know. 🙂
what is the serving size for these meal? I have a family of 4
Most of these meals will feed a family of 4 no problem (unless one of them is a 15 year old boy – I have heard they eat more ;))
Love all these recipes – just printed them out and once my freezer is emptied a bit (been stuffing it with summer garden produce) I will be making these! Thank you for the fabulous recipes! We had Ranch Chicken Taco’s Thursday! Fabulous!
Linda
I thank you so much for sharing this great idea!
Where do i find the recipes i have the food lists
http://whoneedsacape.com/2014/06/30-summer-freezer-meals/
Enjoy – I know I did!
What kind of chili sauce did you use or is that the same as buffalo sauce?
No Chili Sauce is actually not that spicy. It’s like (almost) an unsugared ketchup 😉 It’s in the ketchup aisle at your store – you’ll see it!
Sooooo what size is your freezer? Need to buy one and don’t know how big to go!
oh I’ll be honest – I have no idea. *I’m somewhat of a food hoarder so…* I have a side by side fridge/freezer in my kitchen. It’s a standard (from the 90’s) size – so nothing huge. I could fit all 30 meals in that – however not much else. I also have a 14 (?) foot upright freezer in my garage. I love having it – it’s big but not huge (so I don’t “lose” too much in it.) THEN I also have a smaller up and down Fridge/freezer in the garage HA I love having freezers. I freeze fruit in the summer to save for the winter (when things are SO expensive), I do applesauce…Anyways – for the meals? A regular side by side works. You just can’t have a whole lot else in the freezer at the time 😉
If I only have room for the 15 do I just cut the shopping list in half? Sorry if it’s a dumb question. I’d rather know I have the room than make too much. Thank you!
yes – just cut the list in half and do one of each recipe 🙂 Good luck!
Hello! These recipes look delicious and I am planning to try this. Can you tell me about how many pounds of chicken breast this is for 52? Thanks!
Probably around 25
Looking forward to doing this. I have rheumatoid arthritis and it is so hard to cook every night. So prepping once a month and getting it over with so my hands can rest, you may have just saved me so much pain…
Bless you and thank you for these recipes
Oh I am so glad! Let me know how you like it!!!!
Hello, I am a single Dad of three teenage daughters. We have talked about doing this for years… Well we took the plunge. I took the list and put into Microsoft Word. I then combined items like the onions sliced/cubed, etc. I price matched Walmart with local stores here in AZ and the total for everything was $211. I did not find a few things on the list so I will be going to an asian market to find hiusin sauce – LOL. Together we are preparing each meal and together. They are amazed at how cheap this is! It’s hard to get an exact cost because perishable items we will buy at the time of the meals but I must say – this is a great value and one to pass onto our children.
Oh – Maybe someone else mentioned this already – DON’T BUY PINEAPPLE JUICE!!!! Take the juice from the canned pineapple and pour it into a cup. 😉 It’s exactly the amount needed from the sweet & sour pork (12 oz) . Savings of about $2.50
YEA Marc! I’m so glad you loved these – I do too!
Hello, I don’t want to take up all my freezer space, so I was thinking that maybe we’ll just do 15 days at a time instead of 30 days. Is the shopping list for 15 days or for 30 days?
What a great idea – the list is for the full 30 – so just half it all! Good luck!
Can you send me the recipes for the Pineapple Salsa Chicken, Jambalaya and BBQ Chix Rollups? The link does not work for me.
Links are not broken we are just very busy! Hit refresh sorry!
Sorry the links work just heavy traffic!