Easy Chicken Freezer Meals

So I started freezing meals a couple months back now and it has been a HUGE hit in my house.

Pros:
1). We end up saving money. I always had a bad habit of food spoiling before I ever cooked it... now that is not a problem anymore. We also don't end up eating out as often, because there is delicious easily made food at home.
2). It makes dinner so easy. I am not a big fan of cooking, so I never looked forward to cooking dinner, but now I can honestly say I kind of enjoy it. Super easy to throw a freezer meal in the oven and whip up a few easy sides and wait for Adam to get home and mmmm over how delicious it is.



Tips:
For all of these recipes I split them in half to make two meals out of them. 

I like to label all of the bags first. Then open them up by rolling the lip of the bag outwards so the bags sit open on the counter (I hope that made sense). Next, I fill the bags with all the ingredients except meat. I save the meat for last because it saves on clean up time. Seal bags, pressing the air out, and then freeze laying flat.

When ready to cook I listed both the traditional crock-pot method and my method. I am not a huge fan of chicken in the crock-pot, so I cook mine in the oven. I thaw the meat out enough to pour it in a pyrex dish and then cook at 400 degrees till cooked (I use a meat thermometer to check doneness). To thaw the meat you can set it out for awhile, run it under warm water, or set it in the fridge the night before.

Here are the chicken dishes I made today:

Chicken Dishes

Teriyaki Chicken:

Ingredients:

   6-8 Bonesless, Skinless Chicken Thighs

   1 Cup Teriyaki Sauce

   1 Cup Water

   2/3 Cup Brown Sugar

   3 Cloves Garlic

   A few slices of of Ginger (I just use Ginger a la McCormick) 

Preparation Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a Freezer Gallon Ziplock Bag!  Don’t stress about trimming up the Chicken Thighs too much, it’s really not needed!  One of the reasons I love crockpotting Chicken Thighs is because the fat melts and only adds to the taste!!  Once bag is closed with all the air out use your hands to mix all the ingredients and make sure the Thighs are sitting in a good sauce!!

To cook:

Take the Freezer Meal out of the Freezer and hour before starting OR run it under some room temperature water for about 30 seconds.  Dump meal in the Crockpot and cook on Low for 4-6 hours!

OR

My preferred method is to thaw the meal enough to pour contents of the bag into the a pyrex dish and then bake at 400 till done (time varies on how thawed the chicken was … yay for meat thermometers).

Creamy Italian Chicken(Just made this one haven't tried it):

Ingredients:

   4-6 Chicken Breasts

   8 oz Cream Cheese

   1 Can of Cream of Chicken

   1 Dry Packet of Italian Seasoning

Preparation Instructions:

Take softened Cream Cheese, Cream of Chicken and Italian Seasoning and mix together in a bowl.  Take cleaned chicken and place in a Freezer Gallon Ziplock Bag and top with the mixture.  After Ziplock bag is closed, take your hands and push wet mixture to cover chicken.

To cook: Take the Freezer Meal out of the Freezer and hour before starting OR run it under some room temperature water for about 30 seconds.  Dump meal in the a Crockpot and cook on Low for 4-6 hours!

OR

My preferred method is to thaw the meal enough to pour contents of the bag into the a pyrex dish and then bake at 400 till done (time varies on how thawed the chicken was … yay for meat thermometers).

Crock-pot Honey Garlic Chicken:

Ingredients:

   Chicken (I use thighs and drumsticks, but you can use whatever)

   5 garlic cloves chopped

   1 tsp. oregano

   3/4 cup soy sauce

    1/4 cup ketchup

    1/2 cup spicy honey bbq sauce

    1/3 cup honey

    pinch of salt

    dash of pepper

Preparation Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a Freezer Gallon Ziplock Bag!   Once bag is closed with all the air out use your hands to mix all the ingredients and make sure the chicken are sitting in a good sauce!!

To cook: Take the Freezer Meal out of the Freezer and hour before starting OR run it under some room temperature water for about 30 seconds.  Dump meal in the a Crockpot and cook on Low for 4-6 hours!

OR

My preferred method is to thaw the meal enough to pour contents of the bag into the a pyrex dish and then bake at 400 till done (time varies on how thawed the chicken was … yay for meat thermometers).

Crockpot Applesauce BBQ Chicken:

Ingredients:

    4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

    1/2 t ground pepper

    2/3 cup chunky applesauce

    2/3 cup BBQ sauce (I used Brown Sugar/Hickory)

    2 T brown sugar

    1 t chili powder

Preparation Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a Freezer Gallon Ziplock Bag!   Once bag is closed with all the air out use your hands to mix all the ingredients and make sure the chicken are sitting in a good sauce!!

To cook: Take the Freezer Meal out of the Freezer and hour before starting OR run it under some room temperature water for about 30 seconds.  Dump meal in the a Crockpot and cook on Low for 4-6 hours!

OR

My preferred method is to thaw the meal enough to pour contents of the bag into the a pyrex dish and then bake at 400 till done (time varies on how thawed the chicken was … yay for meat thermometers).

  

Crockpot Balsamic Glazed Drumsticks: 

Ingredients:

8 chicken drumsticks

3 tablespoons coconut oil (olive oil would work too!)

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce if you're not GF)

1 tablespoon honey

Preparation Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a Freezer Gallon Ziplock Bag!   Once bag is closed with all the air out use your hands to mix all the ingredients and make sure the chicken are sitting in a good sauce!!

To cook: Take the Freezer Meal out of the Freezer and hour before starting OR run it under some room temperature water for about 30 seconds.  Dump meal in the a Crockpot and cook on Low for 4-6 hours!

OR

My preferred method is to thaw the meal enough to pour contents of the bag into the a pyrex dish and then bake at 400 till done (time varies on how thawed the chicken was … yay for meat thermometers).

Sweet BBQ Chicken:

Ingredients:

   4-6 Chicken Breasts

   12 oz bottle of BBQ Sauce

   1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (I like mine really sweet, so I’ll usually do a little bit more then this)

   1/4 Cup Vinegar

   1/8 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper

   1 tsp Garlic Powder

Preparation Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a Freezer Gallon Ziplock Bag!   Once bag is closed with all the air out use your hands to mix all the ingredients and make sure the chicken are sitting in a good sauce!!

To cook: Take the Freezer Meal out of the Freezer and hour before starting OR run it under some room temperature water for about 30 seconds.  Dump meal in the a Crockpot and cook on Low for 4-6 hours!

OR

My preferred method is to thaw the meal enough to pour contents of the bag into the a pyrex dish and then bake at 400 till done (time varies on how thawed the chicken was … yay for meat thermometers).

If anyone has any good recipes please share. I'll post my other recipes later. Enjoy!