Easy Summer Freezer Meals

Freezer meals are the way to go any time of year, but particularly in the summertime. I mean, who wants to stand around in the kitchen cooking over a hot stove when you could be reading a book or splashing at the pool?

Not I, says the woman on the lounger with a cool drink in her hand.

Better yet, don’t you want to come home from the pool or beach and not worry about getting food on the table? With your favorite summer freezer meals stashed in reserve, you can easily feed family and friends without breaking a sweat.

Filling the freezer is, of course, another matter. It’s easy to say, “I want easy meals this summer.” It’s another thing to make it happen. Lucky for you, it’s not so hard! In fact, these tips and recipes will make your summer freezer meals quick and easy

The Best Recipes for Summer Freezer Meals

Summer meal plans should not be complicated. Think about things you can throw on the  grill, dump in the crockpot, or reheat in the microwave. Avoid heating the oven or standing over the cookstove for any length of time.

Check out these recipes for great summer freezer meals:

Salad proteins

Cook up a bunch of chicken to use to top salads throughout the coming weeks. Meal prep salads are perfect for topping with precooked proteins!

Just cook and cool the chicken, steak, bacon, or beans, and package in meal-sized portions, and freeze. Thaw overnight before assembling the rest of the salad recipe.

If you’re really pressed for time, carve up a couple rotisserie chickens and stash the meat in 2-cup portions in the freezer.

Grilling

Assemble several bags of each recipe. It goes quickly when you do many at once. When needed, thaw a bag overnight in the fridge on a rimmed tray to catch the drips.

Crockpot

Either cook and cool and store in the freezer or prepare a bag of the meats and seasonings to dump into the Crockpot on the day of serving.

Follow these tips for How to Prepare Freezer Crockpot Meals.

Sandwiches or Sandwich Fillings

My family loves meaty sandwiches; they are perfect for summer! The beauty is that I can make the fillings or even the sandwiches themselves and reheat quickly, even in the slow cooker.

Burritos, Tamales, or Taco Fillings

Make the filling to freeze and then serve with fresh tortillas or taco shells, or go ahead and wrap the yummy meat mixture in a tortilla or tamale to freeze all prepared.

Freezer burritos are so handy to slide into the air fryer!

Tips for Summer Freezer Meals

1. Be sure to make a freezer cooking plan before you dive in. Choose a few recipes that share some common ingredients to create your own freezer cooking plan. Check out our freezer meal prep plans to make it easy.

2. Limit yourself to three recipes so you don’t spend a whole day cooking. It’s better to do many batches of one protein rather than many different recipes. See here for more on power cooking sessions.

3. Do your cooking in the cool of the day. Do meal prep early in the morning or after it’s cooled off so that it’s not too hot in your kitchen.

4. Consider building a freezer pantry of meal components. Having a stash of sauces and prepped veggies or proteins makes meal assembly so much easier in the summertime. Can you freeze goat cheese? Yes! As well as cooked bacon, spaghetti sauce, and so much more!