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
Do you have a shopping list / guide for the ingredients for these 20 freezer meals?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
Not yet - but thinking of adding one if there is interest.
Monica
I would be interested in a grocery list and prep list!
Maria
Me too!
Dyan
I would also be interested. Would make this much simpler for us. Thanks !
Dyan
Never mind..I found it. 🙂
April J.
Would make it so much easy to be able to copy for ones own family!!
Makyla
Yes please!
Barbara
I am also interested!
Janna Robins
I'm interested too!!!
jamie
Would be interested in shopping lost.....if possible
Donna
I would also be interested in a shopping list. Thanks
Cece Otto
Hey 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
I do indeed! 🙂 Glad I can help! I am Paleo now too 🙂
Eunice Rice
What 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
Very 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
This 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
Not yet 😉
Lori Redder
a shopping list would be great!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
Nothing to purchase or sign up for. We offer ALL of our recipes and menu plans for free.
Jennifer
Would be interested in shopping list This would be great. Thanks
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
https://www.stockpilingmoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/20-Healthy-Freezer-Meals-Shopping-List-.pdf
Janell
Love 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
I will take that into consideration for sure.
Barbara
Thank you, so much!!!
Lisa
I'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
It was all thawed (raw) when I made the recipes. Then I froze the entire bag.
Amber
I would be interested in a shopping list for the 20 freezer meals.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
I already have one included in the post for you 🙂
Celeste
Thanks 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
Depending 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
Why does all the broth have to be added later and not when u freeze it?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
Just to keep the bag from expanding too much while freezing. 🙂
Tricia
I 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
Yes, you can!
Rebecca Green
Hi, 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
You can use frozen boneless but do not thaw them out and refreeze.
Hallee
Is 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
Not at this time. But you can print them 2 sided to save paper.
katrina
Agreed! 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
We are working on that.
Shana
Yes, 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
Hi 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
I 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
When 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
Already cut up in a bag is what I purchased.
Bethany
I would LOVE to see some more vegetarian meals!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
Working on that now! Will be posting soon!
Cristal
Hello, My husband only eats chicken, turkey and seafood. Do you recommend any substitutions for the above recipes?
Thank you.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
You 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
These 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
No prep list - just the shopping list.
Danielle
Quick 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
Wow BBQ sauce is compliant. But still curious why honey in recipes?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
Honey for those who are Paleo and not on Whole30. I love Tessamae BBQ Sauce!
candae
second 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
I LOVE it too!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
ALL 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
This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing
Ruth
Will these work in an 8 qt crock pot?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
You may need to increase the amount of meat for the recipes. I wouldn't say double but I used a 6qt.
Jen
Just 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
You can order online here - http://spicehound.com/
If you don't want to order you could blend your own spices or modify. 🙂
Julia Tinker
I stumbled upon your website accidentally and love it! i am very interested in a 20 Healthy Crockpot Meals grocery list. I printed the 8 Crockpot Freezer Meals and 10 Crockpot Freezer Meals grocery list and would love one for the 20 Healthy Meals too. Keep up the great information!
Melissa Jennings
https://www.stockpilingmoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/20-Healthy-Freezer-Meals-Shopping-List-.pdf
Here you go!
JESSICA MAZZOCCA
I 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
I 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
Thank 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
Great! You are welcome! You made my day.
Colleen
How long can these meals last in the freezer? This is amazing, thank you so much for taking the time to create this! 🙂
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
2-3 months.
Nanette Butler
Hi 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
Of course - just pick the recipes that suit you however ALL of these recipes are sugar free because I used them for Whole30. 🙂
Robin Galyon
Can you use frozen veggies?
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
Yes!
Carly
Gah! 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
Thanks so much for letting me know. I will get that updated. So sorry!
Ange
These items are still not added, also I think you are short a few red potatoes and pork chops should be x4 in the count.
Julie
I'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
I 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
I 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.
laura conville
These recipes are to serve how many please?
Melissa Jennings
4