8 Healthy(ish) Freezer Dump/No Pre-Cook FULL Meals for Maternity Leave
I already know one of the biggest woes of being a new mom is having the time to cook and prepare healthy meals.
So one of my biggest third trimester goals was to get some meals stocked in our freezer.
Freezer Meals vs. Freezer Dump Meals
It turns out a lot of “freezer meals” are actually pre-cooked, then frozen.
But that’s not what I was looking for.
I wanted to prep a ton of food by throwing raw ingredients into a freezer bag, then into the freezer. Boom, done.
That way, the day we’re ready to make it, I can thaw (if necessary), dump in the Crockpot or Instant Pot, and VOILA!
Turns out, if you’re Pinteresting or Googling, you want to look for “freezer dump” or “no pre-cook freezer meals” instead of just plain “freezer meals.”
Finding a complete frozen meal
I was also looking for full meals, rather than one part of a meal. In other words, I wanted to be able to cook an entire meal in my Instant Pot (or Crockpot) and not have to worry about having the protein done, but still have to cook some veggies in the oven.
This is also a big ask, apparently. (That seemed to be less of a keyword issue and more of a searching through tons of recipes issue!)
Get organized, shop, and assemble
So when I finalized the list of recipes I wanted to make, I found there was a lot of overlap in ingredients, which was great! That meant I could buy ingredients in bulk. (Note: almost all meals below use chicken or turkey – as I don’t eat red meat.)
The best part about these freezer dump meals? Once I got home from grocery shopping, it took about an hour and a half to write the final cook details on the freezer bags and assemble them! (WOOHOO!)
Now let’s get to the recipes, shall we?
BONUS: Freeze your leftovers
Today we’re starting with the bonus content! Woot woot!
I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out, but during my nesting phase(s), I cooked a whole bunch of food. We ate most of it, but ended up wasting some because I made so much.
I realized after a while that it would benefit us if I froze some. (Duh!)
So after a few days, I would assess how much would be left and then freeze a solid portion of our leftovers. Now we have meals that I have precooked, we’ll just need to defrost and then heat up!
If you’re earlier on in your pregnancy (I’m not planning on cooking in bulk this close to my due date!), I highly recommend making this a habit. That way, you’re getting meal(s), a frozen meal(s), and not wasting food!
Breakfast
1. Freezer smoothie packs (makes 7 smoothies!)
- Made for: Blender
- Recipes
Lunch & Dinner
2. Honey Lime Chicken
- Made for: Crockpot
- Recipe
3. Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Made for: Crockpot
- Recipe
4. Slow Cooker Turkey Black Bean Chili
- Made for: Crockpot
- Recipe
5. Black Bean Chili
- Made for: Crockpot
- Recipe (Bonus: there are 9 other great meals on here too!)
6. Instant Pot Stir Fry
- Made for: Instant Pot
- Recipe
7. Honey Mustard Chicken
- Made for: Instant Pot
- Recipe
8. Hawaiian Chicken
- Made for: Instant Pot
- Recipe
Do you have any go-to freezer dump meals? I want to hear about them! Share them below.
