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I set a new freezer cooking record last week. I made 30 meals in 3 hours! I bought all of the ingredients from Costco for only $279 (and that included all organic meat and organic canned tomatoes). Here’s what I made, including my recipes and grocery list so you can do the same.

30 Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals From Costco in 3 Hours

What’s so great about these crockpot freezer meals?

  • None of them required any cooking ahead of time so I was able to make all 30 in less than 3 hours (that’s 6 minutes per meal including clean-up!)
  • I picked recipes with complementary ingredients and bought what I needed at Costco for only $279 (that works out to only $9.30 per meal or $1.79 per serving)
  • I picked recipes with my favorite organic ingredients from Costco so we could save money and eat healthy at the same time. Woot!

Here’s what I made:

  1. Crockpot Red Pepper Chicken
  2. Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken (adapted from Damn Delicious)
  3. Crockpot Black Bean Chili
  4. Crockpot Meatball Vegetable Soup
  5. Crockpot Meatballs in Sauce
  6. Crockpot Sweet and Sour Meatballs (inspired by another Costco crockpot freezer meal prep session that I did last year)
  7. Crockpot Italian Chicken
  8. Crockpot Hamburger Veggie Soup
  9. Crockpot Taco Chicken Soup from my Crock’d Slow Cooker Freezer Meals eCookbook and shared for free below
  10. Korean Potstickers Stir Fry (Crockpot or Skillet)

I made three freezer bags of each recipe for a total of 30 meals.  That helped me save a lot of time and money.

Here’s how I made all 30 meals in less than 3 hours…

A few days before my prep day, I picked recipes that wouldn’t require a lot of chopping or measuring. I printed my Avery sticker freezer labels and my grocery list and then went shopping with my 4-year-old and 5-month-old.  (My other two children were with my husband at the time.)

PREP DAY TIMELINE:
12:00-12:18 Carry food upstairs from basement refrigerator and shelves to kitchen and set up prep stations to fill the bags in an assembly line with fresh produce at the bottom, canned goods, sauces and spices in the middle, and meat at the top. (I store the meat in the refrigerator and then add it to the bags last so it’s the first ingredient dumped into the crockpot.)

Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals From Costco - 30 Meals in 3 Hours

12:19-12:25 Stick freezer labels on all 30 bags.

12:26-12:40 Dice eight pounds of onions with my food chopper. (This was the worst task so I wanted to get it out of the way.)

12:41-1:09 Make first 3 recipes in an assembly line for a total of 9 meals.

1:10 Start second set of 3 recipes/9 meals (I only made 9 at a time because I only have 10 freezer bag stands.)

Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals From Costco - 30 Meals in 3 Hours

1:31-1:39 Break to nurse my 5-month-old baby.

1:45 Finish second set 3 recipes/9 meals for a total of 18 meals finished. (This was also when I gave my 2-year-old a bag of fruit snacks and my iPhone to keep her busy.)

1:46-2:33 Assemble final 4 recipes/12 meals and clean up kitchen. (I was mostly cleaning as I went, but I had to load the dishwasher, wipe down the counters, sweep the floor, and take out the recycling.)

2:34-2:59 Take tons of photos for this blog post and stack my meals in my basement chest freezer.

Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals From Costco - 30 Meals in 3 Hours

3:00 Collapse on the couch with my baby and ask my husband if he’ll make one of the bags of Korean Potstickers Stir Fry for dinner.

Most crockpot freezer meals will last at least three months in a standard freezer so here’s how we would eat all 10 recipes in one month:

Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals from Costco – 30 Meals in 3 Hours

My friend Kristin from Live Simply taught me about picking a “theme” for each day of the week and it makes meal planning so easy.  All you need to do is add in your favorite oven, skillet, and grill recipes or take those nights off from cooking. The great thing about freezing three bags of each recipe is that you can reuse the calendar again and again too.  Yay!

Thoughts or questions? Please leave a comment below and I’ll respond as soon as I can.  This is such an easy and healthy way to make dinner. XO, Kelly

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[…] from New Leaf Wellness made 30 Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals From Costco in 3 hours! You can go here to download the free grocery list, printable recipes, and freezer bag labels […]

Heidi
8 years ago

I buy frozen chopped onions instead of chopping them. It really really really is worth the tiny bit of added expense. Just a tip from a fellow freezer meal mama!

Jill Petrush Rogers
8 years ago
Reply to  Heidi

Thanks, Heidi!

Pam Smith
Pam Smith
8 years ago
Reply to  Heidi

Where do you find the frozen chopped onions?

Liz Leamon
Liz Leamon
6 years ago
Reply to  Kelly McNelis

I was thinking the same thing but the ones I have found it doesn’t say yellow onions, just onions so wasn’t sure if they were white onions instead of yellow or if it really mattered. Any thought’s?

Lee Andra White
Lee Andra White
1 year ago
Reply to  Liz Leamon

Any onion works. I tend to buy sweet onions or Visalia, but the frozen from any grocery store works great, too.

Paula O'Byrne
Paula O'Byrne
4 years ago
Reply to  Pam Smith

I have found them at Kroger.

JoAnne
JoAnne
9 months ago
Reply to  Pam Smith

I find them with other frozen veggies in my supermarket. I also buy frozen mixed peppers for when I make sausage and peppers.

Angela Nieto
Angela Nieto
8 years ago

Love the recipes, I cooked my first one tonight. I had a problem with The Korean potstickers though. They came out in one sticky mass of dough instead of individual potstickers. What did I do wrong?

Ilse
Ilse
7 years ago
Reply to  Angela Nieto

I had this problem too. Did you do them in the skillet? The bag of potstickers says to not move them when cooking them and to cook them frozen so I’m wondering if that’s the issue. Mine stuck together because they were thawed and the dough was sticky. I bet doing them in the crockpot will work better.

Christine
Christine
8 years ago

Is it ok to leave these recipes on low all day while at work? It would be 10+ hours!

Jill Petrush Rogers
8 years ago
Reply to  Christine

Christine, keeping them on low all day may dry them out. Do you have a “keep warm” function? If so, use that. If not, you could use a house timer to set your crockpot and then go off after cooking. You may just need to quickly heat up your food before eating.

Lynette Forrest
Lynette Forrest
7 years ago

I followed your plan for my single parent son as a Christmas gift. i included his three children (ages 9, 11, and 14) in the assembly phase. They were excited and very helpful; we were finished in three hours! Your plan is well presented and “doable”. Our biggest challenge was freezer space!
I gave my son a three ring binder with the recipes and photos of the kids in the kitchen wearing their Christmas aprons and hats! This was a huge success!!
Thank you, thank you, for your ideas and your excellent presentation!!

Jill Petrush Rogers
7 years ago

Lynette, I LOVE this!! Thank you so much for sharing and Merry Christmas to your family. Time to invest in a large freezer. 😉

Stanley
Stanley
7 years ago

I need to know what size crock pot to buy to make these recipes. Thanks Stanley

ANNA
ANNA
7 years ago

Where can I get the recipe, grocery list?

Miriya
Miriya
6 years ago

Hi there, so if I wanted to do just each recipe one time, I could divide the ingredients on the shopping list by 3 right??

trackback

[…] from New Leaf Wellness made 30 Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals From Costco in 3 hours! You can go here to download the free grocery list, printable recipes, and freezer bag labels […]

Judi
Judi
8 years ago

I cannot download the grocery list and recipes! Have tried and tried! Would love to try this out!!

Kim
Kim
8 years ago

Link is not working.

BETSY
BETSY
8 years ago

HI I’m trying to download the recipes and I am unable to do so. Maholo.

Kim
Kim
8 years ago

Link is not working.

Tara B
Tara B
8 years ago

This is awesome. I found your post through MoneySavingMom.com. I am a stay at home mom of two littles and am trying to get my home based business going, so I’m looking for ways to make my meal routine more efficient. My children and I don’t tolerate nightshades, including tomatoes, and peppers besides black pepper. When we eat them, the children get raw, bleeding yeast rashes, eczema, diarrhea, nightmares, and night terrors. I find complete elimination is the only way of avoiding these symptoms. I see these recipes are nightshade heavy. Happily, this isn’t a problem for many people, but… Read more »

Catrina
Catrina
8 years ago
Reply to  Tara B

I have that issue with tomatoes. When recipes call for that I make this recipe using beets and carrots. Gives the same tomato flavor but won’t make me sick. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/201097/no-tomato-pasta-sauce/ I leave “chunkier” when it calls for diced. But kids may not like knowing what is in there, so you may need to blend better. There is another one using pumpkin that is just as good!! Good luck. This recipe has made my life so much easier.

Angela
Angela
8 years ago

Hi! How many servings are in each bag?

Thank you!

Sandra
8 years ago

I found your blog via The Humbled Homemaker and really like your focus on healthy crock pot meals, especially that you package everything upfront! My crock pot has been waiting patiently to be taken out of the pantry and out to good use. Now it gets to come out and makes your wonderful recipes!
Sandra
http://www.lowcountryfelicitylife.com

Robin
Robin
8 years ago

Hi Kelly,

I am planning to make these meals for my sister that has recently fallen victim to the rising Texas rivers. I’ve done all the shopping – which you made so easy – and I am now prepping my bags. It seems that the freezer label for the Taco Chicken Soup is not in the PDF. Did I overlook it?

Thanks so much,
Robin