Stashing away a few freezer meals is a great way to save time and money. And you can up your savings when you do a bulk cooking session of easy chicken freezer meals.
From Indian Chicken Tikka Masala to southwestern Chicken Street Tacos, these chicken freezer meals cover a wide range of flavor profiles and help you make good on the next sale on chicken breast that comes your way.
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Having a freezer meal stash away in reserve can really save you during stressful weeks or when illness strikes. It allows you to take a friend a freezer meal easily without any stress.
It can give you a much needed break when you weren’t expecting to need one.
Filling your freezer with an array of freezer chicken meals can really help out your future you.
Why Do This
You see, here’s the thing about freezer cooking. It is one of the few areas in life where we can get ahead.
Laundry? There will be more laundry as soon as you fold the last towel. Dishes? Some child will go get a drink of milk the very second you put the last dish away. Toys? Messes? Bills? Email? Those things just come at you just as soon as you think you’ve conquered them.
But freezer meals? Once you fill your freezer, it will take a few days for your ravenous friends and family to catch up with you. Like money in the bank, freezer meals help you have a sense of accomplishment, a cushion, frozen assets!
Why Chicken?
I’ve made the case for freezer meals, but why chicken? Chicken is the omnivore’s best bet. Almost everyone who eats animal protein, enjoys chicken. It’s affordable, widely available, is super versatile for flavor profiles, and freezes beautifully.
See a great sale on chicken? Pick up a rotisserie chicken or two? That’s a prime time to cook up a few (all?) of these chicken freezer meals and get ahead of the game.
Tips for Success
Here are some general rules of thumb to making chicken freezer meals that taste just as good after freezing as if you had served them right away.
- Make sure you have everything you need. Consult the digital grocery list below for what’s needed in these seven easy chicken freezer meals. Shop your kitchen. Then head to the store for everything else.
- Prep all your ingredients in advance. If you need cooked chicken, cook it and chop/shred before you start assembling your meals. Shred cheese, chop onions, assemble cans, etc.
- Check for packaging. You need someplace to store the meals once you prep them. Here are some of the Best Tools & Containers for Freezer Cooking.
- Clear space in the fridge. You need to chill everything prior to freezing. Cold food freezes more quickly helping you avoid large ice crystals and freezer burn. Make sure you have enough room in the fridge to cool your prepped dishes. (Read: How to Pack Items in Freezer Bags and Reduce Freezer Burn)
- Be sure to label everything. A Sharpie works well to label ziptop freezer bags and freezer labels are handy too. Cold packaging is hard to label, so add your labeling prior to filling your containers. Include the date, name of recipe, and cooking/serving instructions.
- Decide on your approach. We’ve listed seven easy chicken meals here. You can cook them all in one day or spread it out over a few days. It’s really up to you and your schedule.
FAQs
There are so many great freezer meals out there. Choose recipes that you know your family likes. If you’ve never made a recipe before or never frozen it before, do a trial run to be sure you like its taste and texture after freezing. Be sure to read Tips for Freezer Cooking so You Won’t Get Soggy Noodles and Black Potatoes.
You can freeze chicken already cooked and ready to go, sliced/chopped ready to cook, or marinated. Some of our favorites include Marinated Chicken for the Freezer and Frozen Grilled Chicken Strips. These are super simple and quick to pull together.
Chicken freezes beautifully, but potatoes are a little tricky. I recommend these Two Best Ways to Freeze Potatoes.
Chicken Freezer Meals
Digital Grocery List
If you’d like to cook these chicken freezer meals this week and tuck them away in the freezer, I’ve made it easy for you to shop and get going. Check out the digital grocery shopping list below. You can scale it to suit the number of servings you’d like to prepare for each recipe and make sure you have everything you need to get cooking.
Instructions for Using Grocery List
- Click Shopping List.
- Adjust number of servings for each recipe by hitting the +/- next to the recipe name.
- Click Generate Shopping List.
- Check off ingredients you already have.
- Click Print Shopping List. A new window will open.
- Uncheck Collection if you don’t want the list of recipes to print.
- Uncheck Show Checked Items to remove items from the list that you already have.
- Choose Email Link or Print depending on what you want to do with the shopping list.
More Freezer Cooking Plans
This post was originally published on April 3, 2016. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Cheri A
Jessica, this is very nice. I love the adjustable digital grocery list and how this is laid out. Thank you! I’m going to try a few of these recipes and bookmark the page on my computer for when I’d like to stash some in the freezer. Perfect timing as we are going to Costco tonight. Now that we are empty-nesters, meal prep and cooking has really changed a lot for us. And I don’t remember seeing this digital list before. Maybe it’s because I use my phone too much and don’t own a tablet right now.
Jessica Fisher
I have a few posts with these digital grocery lists, mostly meal plans.
pat
I like the sandwiches as well. I also have chicken enchiladas and sweet garlic chicken in my freezer
Leigh Anne Lindsey
Can’t wait to try the chicken bacon subs! Something different for the freezer besides a casserole!
Jessica Fisher
My kids LOVE them.
Stephanie
My family loves the bacon chicken subs! They are a staple in my freezer. Before little guy was born I did like 20-30 of them with different kinds of cheeses and we’d have them like twice a week with different sides. It was perfect since my little guy was stuck in the hospital a long time after he was born. It was perfect to eat on the way to the hospital or my son’s soccer practice and all i had to do was preheat the oven. Everyone needs to try this! Different cheeses and even adding some avocado or tomato (after its baked) creates many variations too! Highly recommend pepper jack cheese, or any creamy smoked cheese!
Jessica Fisher
So glad you enjoy them — and yes, your variations sound amazing!