We finally settled into a good fall routine. My oldest daughter is thriving at school, my middle two are loving homeschool (and so am I!), and my baby is a happy little guy. I’m even cooking dinner six nights a week with the help of my crockpot.
I like to set aside an hour on Sunday to make 5-10 crockpot freezer meals at a time. The meals don’t require any cooking before freezing, so they’re very easy and quick to prep. Simply combine the meat, veggies, sauces in spices in freezer bags and freeze for later. Then all I have to do is dump a bag and go about my business until my house smells amazing.
Since this is such a busy time of year, I decided to make a list of our favorite crockpot recipes that are super easy to make. Things like chicken breasts plus a bottle of BBQ sauce and a jar of peach jam, but way healthier. And more delicious.
Here are our 31 easy and healthy favorites. Friends, most of them are made with 10 ingredients or less. Dig in!
31 Easy and Healthy Freezer Meals for the Crockpot
- Red Pepper Chicken
- Italian Pork Roast (FRESH TOMATOES!)
- Korean Shredded Beef Lettuce Wraps
- Thai Pineapple Curry
- Cool Ranch Shredded Chicken Tacos (YUM)
- Stuffed Peppers
- Vegetarian Curried Lentils
- Shredded Beef and Carrots (OUR FAVE)
- Turkey Black Bean Chili
- Beef Barley Stew from Live Simply
- Seafood Boil
- Lemon Pepper Chicken from this post
- Salsa Verde Chicken
- Ginger Peach Chicken from this blog post
- Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Greens & Beans
- Beef Fajitas
- Sausage-Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers
- Cabbage Casserole
- Meatball Vegetable Soup (OUR OTHER FAVE)
- Honey Bourbon Chicken from Once a Month Meals
- Lime Shredded Pork
- Banana Pepper Shredded Beef
- Hot Pepper Pork Sirloins and Butternut Squash
- Chicken Cacciatore
- Homemade Mississippi Pot Roast
- Chicken Soup with Mexican Seasonings
- Turkey White Bean & Kale Soup
- Chicken Teriyaki from this blog post
- Easy Pesto Salmon
- Chicken Curry (SO GOOD)
I linked to the original recipes above, but since I’ve made hundreds of crockpot freezer meals myself (maybe even thousands!), I typed up exactly how I would freeze and cook each one in this printable pdf:
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE RECIPES AND A FULL GROCERY LIST
Oh, and I’ve been getting a lot of questions about chicken drying out in the crockpot. I only cook chicken breasts for 3-4 hours in my favorite 6-quart crockpot. It has a programmable timer so I set it in the morning and let it switch to warm when it’s done cooking. It sits on warm for hours, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference. Works perfectly.
Questions or comments? Leave a comment below and I’ll respond ASAP. I’d love to hear from you.
[…] from New Leaf Wellness has a great list of 31 Easy and Healthy Freezer Meals for the Crockpot. Her free download includes grocery lists and recipes for all of the […]
WOW.
I don’t know you, but I love you!
Thank you SO MUCH for this compilation and the PDF. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for- easy meals that I can make ahead and fit into our real food lifestyle. I’m looking forward to exploring the rest of your site!
Candice, I’m so glad that you found us! Please let us know what meals you try and how much you love them 😉
I’ve been following your site and loving your recipes for over a year now. I originally found you on Pinterest. It seems like this is the only site that has truly easy whole food freezer meals. <3
Lamora, thank you!
I bought this cookbook but I can’t find it on my iPad. Where do I find it?
Hi Kathleen! All of the eCookbooks are delivered via email for instant download. I went ahead and sent you new copies. Thank you for your purchase and I apologize for any confusion!
I just found this today and I must say…THANK YOU. Thank you for making this list of recipes WITH the shopping list to go with it. You have made this so super easy. I can’t wait to explore more of your site and see all the helpful suggestions and links you share. Looking forward to so much more. Thank you.
Tonya, I’m so glad that you found us!
I’m expecting baby #2 & want to tackle some freezer meals to prep. How long do you think it would take to make all 31 meals? I’m going to set aside an entire day/afternoon this coming Sunday…with one helper (my mom). Am I biting off more than I can chew? I just thought it would be easier shopping from the pre-prepped list you shared rather than writing separate grocery shopping lists for ala carte recipes. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!
I would definitely use a pre-made grocery list and shop the day before. Here are some tips from the time my mom and I made 28 meals: https://thefamilyfreezer.com/2015/06/12/28-slow-cooker-freezer-meals-in-3-hours-and-my-7-best-tips-for-a-freezer-prep-day/
This post about the 40 meals I made when pregnant with my 4th might be helpful as well because the recipes are my faves:
https://thefamilyfreezer.com/2016/01/31/40-pre-baby-freezer-meals/
Thanks Kelly! I did it last weekend! Yay!!! It took me about 2.5 hours to grocery shop (I spent $368 at Cub Foods). Between my mom & I it took about 9 hours to prep all the meals (with some breaks for water/sitting/lunch). So, about 11.5 hours total. We did 22 the first day & the rest the next morning. We found it helpful to split up the recipes, each working on a separate recipe. When we started a new recipe, we gathered all of our supplies on the ingredient list first and then just measured/poured into our bags. 🙂… Read more »
Wow, that’s amazing. Congrats!