Dump and Cook Freezer Meals for the Slow Cooker
As we head into winter our need for comfort meals increases, days feel shorter and budgeting becomes even more top of mind. Enter batch made freezer meals! They save time and money, and fulfill the craving for warm and cozy comfort foods.
Just like the name says, you mix the raw ingredients of the meal into a freezer-safe bag, and on the day you wish to cook the meal, you simply dump the contents of the bag and maybe a little liquid to your slow cooker and let it do its thing.
The best thing about most slow cooker freezer meals is that there is no pre-cooking required before or after freezing. From prep to plate all you have to do is dump, cook and enjoy. One of our favourite budget saving tips is to gather a large variety of recipes and then meal prep based on what items you can find on sale in your local flyer. Once you have a selection of meals in the freezer, you can enjoy more time doing the things you love this season while enjoying healthy meals that cost less.
Try our top three recipes to get started.
Dump, Cook & Enjoy
What You Need
- Large and medium sized resealable freezer bags (plastic or silicone)
- A black marker
- A slow cooker
- Space in the freezer
- Standard kitchen cooking utensils
Prep Instructions & Tips
- Decide which meals you are going to prep that week or month. It’s a great idea to have a large selection of recipes and use flyer sales to help you choose which ones to make for less.
- Assess which ingredients you have on-hand and which ones you need to shop for.
- Create a shopping list.
- Shop for ingredients.
- Organize ingredients. Separate meat, vegetables, grains, cans and sauce jars on your working area.
- Pre-label the freezer bags using a marker with the prep date and cooking instructions.
- Prep ingredients for the meals. Cut meat, peel and chop vegetables, and open any cans.
- Fill each freezer bag. Place veggies and canned goods at the bottom, spices in the middle and meat on the top.
- Let out as much air as possible then press flat onto the counter to spread out the ingredients and seal each bag tightly. This saves space in the freezer.
- Freeze!
