I am excited to share with you my 20 Healthy Freezer Meals For Your Slow Cooker In 3 Hours Plan. This plan will allow you to have dinner planned for a month (Monday – Friday) or more depending on your family size and if they like to eat leftovers. As you know I have been on the Whole30 journey. As a result I decided to create 20 Healthy Freezer Meals that can all be cooked in the slow cooker. All of these recipes are Paleo and Whole30 compliant. They are all also naturally gluten free!
With that being said – they are all healthy and created from whole foods. If you are adjusting to a Whole30 or Paleo lifestyle understand that they are simplistic. You are welcome to add more spices if you desire after they are cooked and salt and pepper in my opinion is key to use after they have cooked. Salt brings out the natural flavors. My choice is Himalayan pink salt. I also enjoy using skinless boneless chicken thighs because we find them to be moist and tender. They also cost less 🙂
I love to freezer cook and use my slow cooker because it saves me time in the kitchen. This plan comes in so helpful during the summer. I love to spend time with Peyton on the go and by freezer cooking using this plan I am able to toss a meal into the slow cooker each morning and come home to a dinner that is prepared and ready.
By using this plan I was able to stay on track eating healthy, eliminate the questions “what is for time” and save time and money!
I spent 2 hours shopping for my ingredients and then I spent 3 hours total preparing all 20 meals! At the end of the three hours I had 20 different meals ready for my my freezer that I would cook in my slow cooker when I was ready. I simply froze all 20 meals and pull them out and thaw them in my refrigerator when I am ready to prepare. However don’t worry, if you forget to thaw them just simply run the bag under some hot water to loosen the liquid and place into the slow cooker frozen. Trust me, I did that several times and there was no additional cooking time and they turned out great.
First of all invest in a good quality slow cooker. Our favorite is this programmable cook and carry 6qt oval slow cooker. To start simply make a shopping list and then mark off any items that you already have in your pantry or refrigerator. Head to the grocery store and purchase the items on the list. I choose to do that on Day 1. On Day 2 you will prep all 20 meals and then immediately freeze them. I spent $176 total for all 20 meals (except spices which I already had in my pantry).
On Day 1 label all your ziploc bags with cooking times and if you need to add anything to the recipe when you place it in or out of the slow cooker. I did not cook ANY of my meat prior to prep day. All meat was placed into the freezer safe bags raw. On prep day chop, slice and dice all of your produce and place them in bowls to make it easy when you measure them. I also purchased all of my produce chopped when possible. All of my butternut squash and sweet potatoes were purchased pre-chopped.
As you can see I had very little clean up because all of these recipes are dump and freeze. You simply dump the ingredients into the bag, mix in the bag and then freeze. To save freezer room it is best to freeze your bags flat.
Here is the the shopping list to keep it easy for you! 20 Healthy Freezer Meals Shopping List
Check out this slow cooker conversion chart as it helps to figure out if you are adjusting the time.
20 Healthy Freezer Meals For Your Slow Cooker
Slow Cooker Paleo Chicken Piccata
Slow Cooker Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans
Slow Cooker Paleo Hawaiian BBQ Chicken
Slow Cooker Paleo Pork Chops with Apples
Crockpot Italian Beef – my husbands favorite
Slow Cooker Honey Lime Chicken with Butternut Squash
Slow Cooker Garlic Drumsticks – my favorite
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken with Butternut Squash
Slow Cooker Ginger Lime Chicken
Crockpot Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Easy Freeze Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce – family favorite
Slow Cooker Honey Dijon Pork Chops with Red Potatoes – family favorite
Slow Cooker Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
Crockpot Freezer Citrus Chicken
Slow Cooker Unstuffed Pepper Soup
Slow Cooker Winter Squash and Apples – Vegetarian
Whole30 Posts:
Tips for Staying Whole30 While Dining Out
We also have 8 Crockpot Freezer Meals in 2 hours plan too!
We have a 10 Crockpot Freezer Meals in 2 Hours Plan too!
We have our original 20 Freezer Meals in 4 Hours Plan (not all slow cooker meals).
We have a 20 Slow Cooker Freezer Meals in 4 Hours Plan
New to Freezer Cooking? We have a Freezer Cooking 101 Series that you may enjoy!
Melissa is a soccer mom who has been married to her best friend for 21 years. She loves sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories.
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Kris
July 17, 2016 at 5:08 pmDo you have a shopping list / guide for the ingredients for these 20 freezer meals?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
July 17, 2016 at 5:11 pmNot yet – but thinking of adding one if there is interest.
Monica
July 17, 2016 at 5:28 pmI would be interested in a grocery list and prep list!
Maria
August 22, 2018 at 3:24 pmMe too!
Dyan
September 8, 2016 at 9:25 amI would also be interested. Would make this much simpler for us. Thanks !
Dyan
September 8, 2016 at 9:34 amNever mind..I found it. 🙂
April J.
February 21, 2017 at 9:04 amWould make it so much easy to be able to copy for ones own family!!
Makyla
March 18, 2017 at 7:17 pmYes please!
Barbara
April 15, 2017 at 6:47 pmI am also interested!
Janna Robins
September 10, 2018 at 11:09 pmI’m interested too!!!
jamie
July 17, 2016 at 5:57 pmWould be interested in shopping lost…..if possible
Donna
July 17, 2016 at 6:29 pmI would also be interested in a shopping list. Thanks
Cece Otto
July 18, 2016 at 1:47 pmHey Melissa – I hope you remember me! 🙂 This post is a Godsend – our household is now paleo, and we’re always looking for ways to make mealtime easier. We will definitely be implementing this, thank you!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
July 18, 2016 at 5:43 pmI do indeed! 🙂 Glad I can help! I am Paleo now too 🙂
Eunice Rice
July 19, 2016 at 8:54 amWhat a wonderful idea! Thank you so much, solves my meal planning for an entire month! Yes on the shopping list would be a God send!
Diana Crawford
August 5, 2016 at 9:10 pmVery interested in your program but it appears I need to sign up for another email program??? I am not a spammer or anything of the kind, just a great grandma interested in the program. Can you help me?
Diana Crawford
August 5, 2016 at 9:20 pmThis program looks like a marvelous idea. I cannot wait to get started. Thank you. Is there a cookbook you publish that we can purchase?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
August 7, 2016 at 1:30 pmNot yet 😉
Lori Redder
January 3, 2018 at 9:18 ama shopping list would be great!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
August 7, 2016 at 1:30 pmNothing to purchase or sign up for. We offer ALL of our recipes and menu plans for free.
Jennifer
August 7, 2016 at 10:21 pmWould be interested in shopping list This would be great. Thanks
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
August 8, 2016 at 9:00 amhttps://www.stockpilingmoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/20-Healthy-Freezer-Meals-Shopping-List-.pdf
Janell
November 6, 2016 at 3:33 pmLove your recipes and especially the shopping list. Can you please organize this list like you did with your other crockpot recipes? So much easier to use in the grocery store. Thanks much!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
November 6, 2016 at 3:41 pmI will take that into consideration for sure.
Barbara
April 15, 2017 at 6:48 pmThank you, so much!!!
Lisa
August 8, 2016 at 3:32 pmI’m wondering about the meat used in these recipes. Does the meat need to be thawed or frozen when assembling the freezer bags? Just wondering if it matters. I appreciate you response
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
August 8, 2016 at 6:52 pmIt was all thawed (raw) when I made the recipes. Then I froze the entire bag.
Amber
August 14, 2016 at 10:25 amI would be interested in a shopping list for the 20 freezer meals.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
August 15, 2016 at 2:09 pmI already have one included in the post for you 🙂
Celeste
August 23, 2016 at 8:47 amThanks so much for this awesome idea. Two questions about the 20 healthy meals….do you provide a guide that tells how to prep all of the ingredients for all of the healthy meals at one time, e.g., how much of the entire quantity of chicken has to be diced and how much should be left whole? Or…do I need to look at each individual recipe to figure that out? Also…what does it mean in the shopping list when it says x3 or x12 e.g., 4-6 chicken breasts x12? 48-72 chicken breasts?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
August 23, 2016 at 10:24 amDepending on the size of your family. I use (4) chicken breasts for each of my meals. This feeds my family of (3) with one leftover each day for lunch. All of these meals use whole chicken breasts. No dicing 🙂 Easy is my middle name! 🙂
Tanya
August 29, 2016 at 1:22 pmWhy does all the broth have to be added later and not when u freeze it?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
August 29, 2016 at 3:52 pmJust to keep the bag from expanding too much while freezing. 🙂
Tricia
September 7, 2016 at 3:48 pmI do not eat red meat or pork. Can I substitute chicken for the pork recipes and ground turkey/chicken for the ground beef recipes?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
September 12, 2016 at 2:15 pmYes, you can!
Rebecca Green
September 20, 2016 at 10:36 pmHi, I’m planning on doing this meal prep in the next 2 days, and was wondering if frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts could be used, or does it need to be from the refrigerated section?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
September 21, 2016 at 11:41 amYou can use frozen boneless but do not thaw them out and refreeze.
Hallee
September 21, 2016 at 9:57 pmIs there a way to print all the recipes at once vs clicking on each meal individually and printing? Seems like a waste of paper :/
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
September 22, 2016 at 2:09 pmNot at this time. But you can print them 2 sided to save paper.
katrina
January 2, 2017 at 4:47 pmAgreed! A way to print all the recipes at once would be very helpful! Or a master plan as suggested by another reader. Thank you so much!!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
January 2, 2017 at 6:41 pmWe are working on that.
Shana
February 12, 2018 at 11:56 amYes, I agree! Hoping to do all at once, but it’s more time-consuming / challenging to go into each recipe individually. A single plan to prep all at once would be helpful. LOVE this! 🙂
Brian
September 29, 2016 at 5:05 pmHi Melissa,
My wife and I have been loving these meals. So far the Paleo Chicken Piccata has been our favorite. Recently my slow cooker has been getting cracks so I think its time for an upgrade. I’m just curious but have you tried these recipes in a pressure cooker instead of a slow cooker? If so how did they turn out?
Thanks.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
September 29, 2016 at 6:03 pmI haven’t tried them but I own one that I just have never used. I really need to go for it and give it a try! Be on the lookout for a slow cooker near Black Friday. I bet you will be able to get one for a steal!
Jeannie Clough
October 2, 2016 at 7:03 pmWhen preparing these meals do you do one meal at a time? Can you buy butternut squash already cut up in a bag or do you have someone at the store cut it?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
October 3, 2016 at 7:09 pmAlready cut up in a bag is what I purchased.
Bethany
October 23, 2016 at 9:42 pmI would LOVE to see some more vegetarian meals!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
October 24, 2016 at 8:07 amWorking on that now! Will be posting soon!
Cristal
October 24, 2016 at 12:48 pmHello, My husband only eats chicken, turkey and seafood. Do you recommend any substitutions for the above recipes?
Thank you.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
October 24, 2016 at 4:53 pmYou can sub any of these for chicken or turkey. If you do seafood it can not cook long in the slow cooker or it will effect the consistency.
Jody
October 29, 2016 at 4:04 pmThese are great, and I’m working on my first prep, what I haven’t been able to locate is a prep list. if it’s already out there, would you point it out? The shopping list was very helpful.
Thank you for your work,
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
October 31, 2016 at 9:23 amNo prep list – just the shopping list.
Danielle
October 30, 2016 at 11:47 pmQuick question. At the top of this post it says they are #whole30 and Paleo compliant. I’ve only looked at a few recipes so far both have had honey ( not #whole30 compiant) and one has bbq sauce ( haven’t looked at the sauce but since almost all have sugar or corn syrup I am going to guess its not compliant either). Are the crock pot recipes meant to be compliant? If not no worries I was super excited as coming up with #whole30 recipes is tough. Thanks for sharing these!
Danielle
October 31, 2016 at 12:00 amWow BBQ sauce is compliant. But still curious why honey in recipes?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
October 31, 2016 at 9:17 amHoney for those who are Paleo and not on Whole30. I love Tessamae BBQ Sauce!
candae
February 12, 2017 at 10:03 amsecond the tessamae’s bbq sauce. tried it last night for the first time with the smoked pork butt my husband made, it is divine!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
February 28, 2017 at 8:05 amI LOVE it too!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
October 31, 2016 at 9:18 amALL of these are Whole30 Compliant when you remove the honey (as stated). The BBQ Sauce is Tessamaes and that is Whole30 Compliant! Love that stuff!
Morgan
November 13, 2016 at 9:21 pmThis looks amazing! Thanks for sharing
Ruth
November 24, 2016 at 9:46 amWill these work in an 8 qt crock pot?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
November 24, 2016 at 3:14 pmYou may need to increase the amount of meat for the recipes. I wouldn’t say double but I used a 6qt.
Jen
January 2, 2017 at 4:00 pmJust purchased all the ingredients except 2 …. 🙁 any assistance with the spicehound tabil and spicehound adobo would be great. Can you buy them like this or do you need to buy the separate ingredients and mix them?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
January 2, 2017 at 6:42 pmYou can order online here – http://spicehound.com/
If you don’t want to order you could blend your own spices or modify. 🙂
JESSICA MAZZOCCA
January 5, 2017 at 1:31 pmI WAS OVER LOOKING ALL THE RECIPES AND HAPPEN TO NOTICE THAT ONE RECIPE HAD GREEN BEANS AND THEY ARE NOT ON THE LIST AND ONE HAD KALE AND IT IS NOT ON THE SHOPPING LIST.
Shelly
January 9, 2017 at 11:23 amI also just caught this as I was putting in my grocery order. There are two recipes that call for 2 cups of fresh green beans.
Julie
January 7, 2017 at 10:21 pmThank you so much for the shopping list, it was super helpful!!! I made a bunch of meals tonight! I will let you know how it goes.
No matter the outcome, my life has been simplified by this project.
Julie
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
January 8, 2017 at 3:04 pmGreat! You are welcome! You made my day.
Colleen
January 8, 2017 at 11:54 pmHow long can these meals last in the freezer? This is amazing, thank you so much for taking the time to create this! 🙂
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
January 10, 2017 at 8:39 am2-3 months.
Nanette Butler
January 10, 2017 at 8:03 pmHi ok i have read serveral of these freezer prep crock pot stories. And i am thinking trying yours. 1. my husband just found out he is diabetic. and i don’t think i can handle 20 dinners, how about 6. How can i use your shopping list. thanks Nanette
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
January 11, 2017 at 10:05 amOf course – just pick the recipes that suit you however ALL of these recipes are sugar free because I used them for Whole30. 🙂
Robin Galyon
January 14, 2017 at 10:23 pmCan you use frozen veggies?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
January 16, 2017 at 6:48 pmYes!
Carly
January 22, 2017 at 2:02 amGah! 2 hours at the grocery store and green beans, yellow pepper and Cesar dressing were not on the list. Please add! Also, thank you for sharing! – fabulous idea!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
January 22, 2017 at 12:42 pmThanks so much for letting me know. I will get that updated. So sorry!
Julie
March 30, 2017 at 8:32 pmI’m SO thankful to find this. I feel best when I’m on Whole30, but got overwhelmed with meal prep. This has made my entire month! About to go shopping and make these meals this weekend. I can’t say it enough…THANK YOU!
Heidi
July 7, 2017 at 10:44 amI have the same comment as Carly. I should have gone through the recipes first but, like she said Caesar dressing, green beans and yellow bell pepper are left off the shopping list. Instead of chicken legs I’d change the list to chicken drumsticks and maybe have a section for items you will need once it i time to cook, instead of spread out through the list. I am looking forward to trying new recipes and getting this prep done today!
Amber Sebold
December 28, 2017 at 2:09 pmI wish you had a full document with the exact prep like you do for the non “healthy” freezer meals post. Thank you for the shopping list, though I’m glad to see comments saying it’s missing some items.