Need a simple dinner solution for busy weeknights? This awesome quick & easy meal plan shows you exactly how to whip up 10 freezer meals in one hour!
Here at Living Well Spending Less we are 100% committed to bring you easy recipes that taste great and don’t take a lot of time, effort, or expensive ingredients to throw together. As a busy mom, I also want meals that can be made and frozen ahead of time to save time on hectic weeknights, especially as part of a Sunday Prep plan. My goal is to spend less time in the kitchen, not more, but I still want to be able to provide tasty meals that my family loves!
Over the past year we have shared three different 10 Meals in an Hour™ plans, which have each included 5 great freezer recipes that can be prepared together in about sixty minutes. (You can find those plans part 1 , part 2 and part 3.) They have been a huge hit, not only with our own families, but with many of your families as well, and we’ve absolutely loved hearing how much you all are enjoying these tasty recipes!
Today I am super excited to share this Winter Classics Edition of 10 Freezer Meals in One Hour, which includes five delicious home-cooked meals that are the perfect remedy to the chill!
As usual, in order to make the cut, each recipe must meet ALL of the following criteria:
- Deemed delicious by both my kids and husband (plus additional testers!)
- No pre-cooking required (aside from browning ground beef)
- Freezer friendly
- Easy to cook
- Uses budget-friendly ingredients and pantry staples
In this one post you will find everything you need to prep 10 awesome freezer meals in about an hour of hands-on time (not including grocery shopping.) Just think, in just one quick weekend session you could have almost two weeks worth of absolutely delicious, family-friendly meals all ready to go!
Before you begin, you will need to gather your tools & supplies and also make sure that you have all your groceries on hand. I find it is easiest to go grocery shopping the day before I do my cooking. To save time unloading, only put away the items that need to be refrigerated. Finally, make sure your kitchen counters are cleared of clutter and sanitized and empty your dishwasher and sink of any dishes. (Check out this post for more tips on freezer cooking like a pro!)
10 Meals in an Hour™: Part 4
Here are the five recipes we will be making:
Here are the supplies you will need:
- 10 gallon size zipper freezer bags
- Avery 8163 shipping labels or permanent marker
- large mixing bowl
- cutting board
- sharp knife
- garlic press
- can opener
- dry measuring cups
- liquid measuring cups
- dry measuring spoons
- liquid measuring spoons
- 12 inch frying pan
- stand or hand mixer
Here are the ingredients you will need:
Produce
- 2 bunches green onions
- 4 large carrots
- 4 large celery ribs
- 3 large sweet onions
- 2 16oz bags baby carrots (optional; only needed for cooking day, not for prep)
- 4 pounds baby red potatoes (optional; only needed for cooking day, not for prep)
Pantry Staples
- Olive oil
- Brown sugar
- Soy sauce
- Apple cider vinegar
- Minced Garlic (the kind in a jar)
- Rice (optional; only needed for cooking day, not for prep)
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Chili Powder
- Bay Leaf
- Seasoned salt
- Garlic powder
- Worcestershire sauce
- Honey
- Cayenne pepper
Canned/Dry Goods
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- Chili garlic sauce
- 3 15oz cans great northern beans
- 3 15oz cans navy beans
- 12 cups chicken broth
- 4 cans condensed cream of broccoli soup
- 2 10oz packages yellow rice
- 2 cans whole cranberry sauce
- 1 8oz bottle French dressing or Raspberry Vinaigrette
- 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 cups beef broth
Dairy
- 2 cups milk
- 1 16oz container sour cream
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Meat
- 6-8 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- 2 pounds fully cooked ham (enough to make 4 cups cubed)
- 2-3-4 pound chuck roasts
Deli
Frozen
- 1 16oz bag frozen broccoli
PRINT
Be sure to print the following recipes:
PREP
- Prep your bags—either print labels using these ready-made printable labels or use a permanent marker to label each bag with the name of the recipe, date prepared, and cooking instructions. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! While you might think that you’ll remember what is in every bag, I promise you will forget!
- Chop ham and set aside
- Chop rotisserie chicken and set aside
- Chop onion and set aside
- Chop 4 whole carrots and set aside
- Chop 4 celery ribs and set aside
- Prep raw chicken if necessary
PREPARE
- Prep Chicken & Rice Casserole using instructions found here. Divide mixture into 2 freezer bags, press out excess air, and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Prep Ham & Bean Soup using instructions found here. Divide mixture into 2 freezer bags, press out excess air, and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Prep Balsamic Roast Beef using instructions found here. Place meat into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Prep Simple Cranberry Chicken using instructions found here. Place chicken into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Prep Sweet & Spicy Chinese Chicken using instructions found here. Place chicken into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Once all prep is complete, place all bags in freezer until needed. After you’ve made your meal plan for the coming week, consider setting an alert on your phone to remind you to take your bag out to thaw the day before you plan to make it!
Want more 10 Meals in an Hour? Check out the entire series!
- 10 Meals in an Hour
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 2
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 3
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 4
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 5
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 6
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 7
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 8
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 9
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 10
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 11
Have you tried making 10 meals in an hour yet? What tricks or tips can you share?
PIN FOR LATER:
View Comments
I have used your recipes a lot in the past and love the cooking instrution labels. I can't seem to get the link to work for part 4. All I am getting when I scroll over it is the pinterest link. the black bold area that says print these isn't a link. I feel like it is something easy I am missing.
Hi Ruth! Thanks for sharing all this wonderful information. I'm looking forward to trying all this. I'm really working on trying to cook for just two and not Cox's army. Do you know approximately how many serving each of these provide? ThankUmuchly!
You are wonderful! We are saving so much money using this freezer meal system. Thank you so much for sharing. Now...any weight loss tips??
I cam across your freezer meals on a google search, I am prepping some meals to have ready when our baby comes (due in 9 days!). I've made Part 1 & now this one, Part 4 of your Freezer Series. I looked at a lot of different freezer series and yours was by far the best (the printables make a world of difference - thank you for all the effort you put into them!). I also like how you break down what to chop/prep before you dig into each recipe so you can be ready to go. With this series, I noticed what someone else in the comments did - your printable shopping list is missing the 4 c. Shredded Cheddar Cheese -I had to run back to the store for that too. ;) I would also say it does take me much more than 1 hour for these. After doing 2 series, the average prep to freezer time is more like 3 hours. I feel like only a wizard could finish in 1 hour -props to you if you can! My fiancé and I love the meals and are so grateful for all the hard work you put into them to make our lives easier once our little girl arrives. Looking forward to trying more - keep up the great work!!
The family loved all of these meals. I loved that they could be made gluten free. Working two jobs leaves little time for cooking. Thank you so much for sharing your meal plans!
Thank you for sharing these! I'm sharing some meals with my parents & keeping some to help when soccer season gets here this Spring.
The printable shopping list is missing 4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese - hubby had to make an extra emergency trip to the store! I made all 10 meals this weekend, and we had the first meal tonight (the ham & bean soup) - delicious! It definitely took me longer than an hour to prep all of the meals. I'm an experienced cook, so that surprised me. I do have a 2 year old running around, so maybe that's what slowed me down. All in all, I'm excited to taste the rest of the meals, and I'm VERY thrilled to have so many meals prepped and waiting in the fridge. Thanks for going to all the trouble - I love the labels especially!
I came to this page specifically to post about the missing cheese, but I see you've already mentioned it here. Not sure how long ago this was, so hopefully my comment will bring this to the surface again because I printed the list yesterday and went shopping and then realized afterwards that cheese was NOT on the printable. Fortunately, I had a big bag of cheese already in the house. I'm planning to do my prep later this evening and looking forward to trying the meals from Plan 4.
Ruth, thanks so much for all this information.
Hello!
Do you have suggestions for what to serve with these to make for a complete "meal"?
Thanks so much