When my oldest is desperately hollering for homework help, my middle is bouncing on a gigantic blue ball, and my youngest is grabbing things out of the freezer and chucking them on the floor, I can’t help but wonder what it’s like to be one of those Instagram-perfect families. You know the ones—farmhouse chic decor, appropriately rowdy children, and dinner on the table without tears. Alas, that’s not us. Dinner, and dinner prep used to be total chaos until I discovered a system that works for real families like mine: category-based meal planning paired with freezer meals. It’s the ultimate, stress free meal prep solution for our Instagram-imperfect family. Full confession: I’ve never been a fan of freezer meals, but this system changed everything. Could it be the dinnertime disaster solution you’ve been looking for? Let’s dive in.
What Is a Category-Based Meal Plan?
A category-based meal plan simplifies weekly planning and eating by assigning a theme to each day of the week. For example: Pasta Night- meals featuring pasta such as spaghetti, baked ziti, pad Thai or stroganoff.
You can read my article for the 9-minute process to set up your own category based meal plan system. Go take a peak and come back here to keep making your life easier.
This meal planning approach reduces decision fatigue, lightens the mental load of meal prep, and makes planning quicker and more flexible. To up the sanity saving potential, let’s explore how you can turn this category system into a stress free meal prep solution with freezer meals.
What Is a Freezer Meal System?
A freezer meal system is a time-saving strategy where you batch-cook (or not) meals in advance, store them in the freezer, and reheat them as needed.
For example, instead of scrambling to cook meat, shred it, slice buns, prepare toppins and set the table on “DIY Night,” you can grab the pre-sliced buns and the already cooked shredded pork from the freezer. All that is left is assembling the toppings and possibly making cole-slaw so that people can make their own sandwiches for DIY night.
Getting Your Freezer Meal System Off the Ground
Now, we have our categories and know what a freezer meal system is all about, let’s combine the two and build a reusable, stress free meal prep system:
Start with Your Categories
Use the meal categories you’ve already established (e.g., Taco Tuesday, Casserole Night) as the foundation for your freezer meal system. Make sure that information is in front of you. Now, identify which categories lend themselves well to batch cooking and freezing. I compiled a list to help makes things easier.
Select Freezer-Friendly Recipes
With the freezer friendly categories in mind, we turn to the part of the system where we make the meals happen. Not all meals freeze well, so choose recipes that maintain their flavor and texture after reheating. Some examples:
- Sheet Pan Night: Cut up bell peppers and chopped sausage, diced chicken breast and snow peas in teriyaki sauce.
- Taco Tuesday: Pre-cooked taco meat, shredded cooked taco tofu, carnitas.
- Pasta Night: Lasagna, marinara sauce, baked ziti, cooked Italian sausage.
- Soup Night: Chicken noodle soup, minestrone, chili.
- Casserole Night: Chicken pot pie, shepherd’s pie, tuna-green bean casserole.
- Click on the images for the free printables.
Batch-Cook Your Meals (or Not)
Traditional freezer meal prep involves setting aside a day to cook multiple meals at once. However, if you don’t want to spend an entire day cooking, you can simply double or triple a recipe while making dinner and freeze the extra portions. This method allows you to gradually build your freezer meal system without dedicating a full day to meal prep.
Store Properly and Safely
- Correctly, and completely cool any precooked foods before freezing.
- Use freezer-safe containers or bags.
- Label each meal with the name, date, and reheating instructions.
- Lay bags flat to save space, or stack containers for easy organization.
Freezer Food Safety for Stress Free Meal Prep
Proper food handling can feel like a distant concern, but if we don’t follow a few safe, food handling practices we open up the family to illness. THANKFULLY, keeping freezer meals safe and delicious is easy with these simple guidelines:
Freeze Fast
If you are pre-cooking portions of the meals, or simply saving entire portions of a completed meal remember this. Do not freeze hot food. This causes ice crystals to form and freezer burn. Make sure you cool meals to room temperature within 2 hours and you get the food below 40 degrees F within 4 hours for optimal food safety.
Proper Packaging:
Use freezer-safe, airtight containers or heavy-duty bags to protect food quality. Remove as much air as possible for best results. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can utilize a straw and a tight seal. Bonus, it might make your kids giggle if they see you trying this method!
Label and Rotate:
Mark meals with the name, freezing date, and reheating instructions. Make sure you use older items first. A good system will make it easy to grab the correct meal which minimizes food waste.
Thaw Safely:
Always thaw in the refrigerator, microwave, or cold water—never at room temperature. This is really hard to remember, but food poisoning does happen from improper thawing so avoid that hazard with safe thawing practices.
Beware Refreezing:
Avoid refreezing thawed meals as much as possible. If you must refreeze, make sure it is cooked first, as it impacts quality and safety. For best freezing and refreezing practices, consult the USDA website.
How to Use Your Stress Free Meal Prep System in Real Life
Having a freezer stocked with meals is only part of the equation. Here’s how to make the most of your system:
Night Before Prep:
Take a meal out of the freezer the night before to thaw in the fridge.
Morning Prep:
For meals like soups or stews, you can place frozen portions directly into a slow cooker in the morning and let it cook while you go about your day.
Quick Dinners:
Many freezer meals, like pre-cooked pasta or taco fillings, can go from frozen to table in under 30 minutes by reheating on the stove or in the microwave.
Family Involvement:
This system makes it easy for anyone, including young kids, to help with meal prep. From grabbing labeled meals out of the freezer to stirring soups, to arranging the toppings for DIY (or taco night), even the youngest family members can play a helpful role in getting dinner ready.
This flexibility ensures your freezer meal system works for busy weeknights, last-minute dinners, or planned family meals.
Organizing and Tracking Your Freezer Meals
Keeping track of what’s in your freezer can feel overwhelming, but a simple system makes it manageable. Here’s how real families can stay organized:
Freezer Inventory and Organization:
There are a variety of ways to keep track of that freezer stash. You can use a printed list, magnetic whiteboard, or digital app to track meals. Your list lets you know what is available and where it find it.
The two easiest organization systems are bins and flat lay freezer bags. For the bins, I have a larger container for each of my chosen categories. Then, I put the meal, or prepped component parts in the correct bin. Come taco night, I go into the Taco Tuesday bin, and grab out rice and frozen taco meat. Yay! Dinner is half-way ready.
My second, easy organization option is freezer bags frozen flat, and then organized “filing cabinet” style. You simply freeze the entire meal, or the component part flat. Once it is frozen, place it with the other meals of that category. I suggest having simple plastic dividers to help keep things separate and easy to find.
Label Clearly:
Include the meal name, date, and reheating instructions. Use waterproof markers or freezer-safe labels.
Restock Regularly:
Pick a time each month to review your inventory and batch-cook as needed. Or, plan that week’s meals based on what you are lacking in the freezer so you can do the cook and double (or triple) it method.
What About Your Stress Free Meal Prep?
Despite my aversion to freezer meals, turning the category-based meal plan into a freezer meal system has been helpful and even fun. By spending a little extra time upfront, or doubling a meal dinner-time stress is down by half! With this stress-free meal prep approach, you can transform your evenings and enjoy more time with your family, too.
Ready to simplify your dinnertime routine? Start creating your freezer meal system today and experience the magic of stress free family dinners!