30 Freezer Friendly Meals for the Family

Making healthy and nutritious meals for the family every day can often become a chore, and when cooking becomes a chore we may start to turn to fast food or ready meals in a bid to save our sanity. Whilst fast food is nice as a treat or when needs absolutely must, it's not good for us to eat foods high in saturated fats and salt  on a daily basis, and don't even mention what it might be doing to our bank balance!

Ready meals from the supermarket may seem like a better option, and often they are, but many ready meals also contain high amounts of saturated fats, salt and sugar, plus preservatives to keep them looking and tasting good for longer, plus quality ready meals can set you back a pretty penny too.

What if you found some time each week to batch cook a load of meals that could feed the family for the following week (and beyond), freeing up time during the week to spend more time doing the things you enjoy, instead of slaving over a cooker night after night.

This list of meals will keep the family fed for a month, and if you freeze individual portions everyone can pick and choose what they want to eat each night, which will please even the fussiest of eaters (don't forget to label the meals or you could have a meal time roulette on your hands!).

Many meals can be cooked in a slow cooker or pressure cooker so you won't even have to stand stirring, and if you buy ready chopped vegetables you'll save even more time. Beware of becoming too efficient though, or you might end up having to buy an industrial freezer to store the sudden influx of freezer dinners. 

Pies and pasties can easily be frozen individually, before or after cooking the pastry. If freezing the pastry raw, be sure to allow it to defrost fully before cooking. Most meals can be reheated in the microwave straight from frozen, although it's usually favourable to defrost overnight in the fridge beforehand, and always make sure the food is piping hot all the way through before serving.

You can find links to all the recipes mentioned (and more) on my Family Meals Pinterest board at the bottom of this post.

Curry

Beef and Vegetable curry

Chickpea & Spinach Curry
Mild Chicken Curry
Sri Lankan Vegetable Curry
Butter Chicken

Chilli

Chilli Stuffed Peppers
Double Bean & Roasted Pepper Chilli
Slow Cooker Beef Chilli

Stews & Casseroles

Chicken & Vegetables in bbq Sauce

Beef & Shallots in Red Wine Gravy

Sausages in Onion Gravy

Staffordshire Lobby (stew)

Mediterranean Chicken Casserole

One Pot Moroccan Chicken Stew
Lemon & Herb Chicken Potato Casserole
Beef Stew
Mushroom Strogonoff

Pies & Pasties

Chicken & Sweetcorn Slices

Lamb Keema Pasties

Cheese, Onion & Potato Pasties
Cheesy Chicken & Sausage Lattice Pie

Soup

Butternut Squash & Tomato Soup
Leek & Potato Soup
Minestrone Soup
Autumn Vegetable Soup

Miscellaneous

Middle Eastern Spiced Meatloaf

Bagel Breakfast Sandwiches
Classic Lasagne
Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas
Sweet & Sour Chicken


Don't forget to stock up on foil trays, individual meal containers, large freezer bags (perfect for soup) and freezer safe plastic boxes to ensure that you're fully prepared.

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