Last week, I tried to make a lasagna for dinner with no-bake lasagna noodles. In the time it took me to layer the sauce, cheese filling, and noodles, all hell broke loose. My baby cried. My 3-year-old ate two cookies. My crying baby stopped crying long enough to stuff a cookie in her mouth. What was my 5-year-old doing? Who knows!
“This is why I don’t cook!” I screamed out loud (or at least in my head).
I love to cook, but truth is that I’ve done very little of it since my third daughter was born last year. I’ve settled into a routine of prepping simple meals on the weekend and freezing them for the week ahead.
My freezer cooking system works like this: I chop the vegetables and add them to a gallon-sized plastic freezer bag with sauces, spices, and meat. Freezer meals last up to three months in a standard freezer, so if I assemble 5-7 per week my freezer stays stocked and I don’t have to cook at all!
If you’re brand-new to the concept of “no cook” freezer cooking, here’s why you’ll love it:
- Since the meals are frozen without any cooking ahead of time, they’re very easy to prep. (It only takes me 40-50 minutes to assemble six freezer meals – including clean-up!)
- Your homemade freezer meals will cook for the first time out of the freezer and won’t taste like leftovers at all. Wahoo!
- You can take advantage of sales and bulk purchases and stock your freezer.
- You’ll have healthy, homemade meals ready for busy weeknights.
To get you started today, here’s a recipe for freezer crockpot beef stew that I adapted from Kristin’s recipe. It’s so delicious that I’ve already made it several times for my family and friends. You won’t believe how easy it is to prepare this healthy meal.
Ditch the no-bake lasagna noodles and make this freezer crockpot beef stew for your family instead!
Freezer Crockpot Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef chuck roast grass-fed, fat-trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3 carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 celery ribs chopped
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup pearled barley
- 7 cups beef broth *not needed until day-of cooking
- 1 gallon-sized plastic freezer bag I find Hefty freezer bags work great
Instructions
- Label your freezer bag with the name of the recipe, cooking instructions, and "use-by" date.
- Combine all ingredients (except beef broth) in a gallon-sized plastic freezer bag, adding the beef to the bag last so it's the first ingredient poured into the crockpot.
- Remove as much air as possible, seal, and freeze for up to three months.
- When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator or in a bowl of cold water.
- Add to crockpot with beef broth and cook on "low" setting for 8 hours or until carrots are soft.
- Remove the bay leaf and enjoy!
Nutrition
A note from Kristin: I highly recommend stopping by Kelly’s blog where you’ll find many more freezer meals, plus her freezer cookbook.
This was delicious! My husband loved it too! I was worried 7 cups of broth was gonna make this way too much like a soup but it really was perfect. Awesome flavor, the meat could be cut with a spoon. Nice warm filling dinner for a cold December night. Loved being able to freeze this ahead of time and just pull out the day before to defrost and then let the crockpot do all the work. Put a bag together for my sister and her husband too since they just had a baby.
That’s so great to hear, Toots! I love that you made a bag for your sister, too. Congrats on her new bundle of joy.
Kristin, here is a complicated question I’m sure you have a simple answer for.
I am a 74 years old widower. I live well alone, so I do all my household including
personal meal prep. About 6 months ago, I got a slow cooker (HB 6 qt. programmable).
I have been eating well from this. Here is the plan that is working for me to this
point. I prep the meal (such as your freezer meal). Skipping the freeze I cook the
meal basics along with stock, which produces about 9 servings. When it is finished
the cook, I weigh out the servings (16 oz) into 3 cup Pyrex glass bowls with tight fitting
plastic lids. I eat the first from the pot. The rest goes into 8 bowls which I put
in the fridge. Preptime: 25 minutes Cooktime:7 hours. For the next four days, I eat
2 of the bowls (lunch, dinner).
OK- enter the concept of freeze. Obviously I would like to have some variety, which
would entail keeping completely cooked meals in freezer. I could prep three meals
and refrigerate until I could finish the cook, then transer them to freezer packaging
whereby I would have 24 meals from 3 crocks. Now comes the logistics of managing
these frozen single servings, so I could just grab one, thaw overnight, empty into one Pyrex bowl, microwave and eat.
Please let me know if you have a system that would manage the individual cooked, then frozen meal packaging.
Hi Andy, I love that you’re using your slow-cooker to prepare freezer meals. It sounds like you have a great system in place. I just recently discovered the Meal Prep Haven Containers: https://www.amazon.com/Meal-Prep-Haven-Stackable-Containers/dp/B0111AMA46z. I haven’t personally used them, yet, but they look like a great way to freeze and reheat meals. I hope that answers your question!
That link is dead, but here is the link to the main product page for that meal prep
category of products:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_4?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=meal+prep+containers&sprefix=meal%2Caps%2C143
I will do some research on these to check out the service capabilities and per use cost. On completion I will send you a report that may help others in handling this problem. Preparing meals for a single person is a bigger challenge than family dinners. This type of storage may eliminate the necessity to produce only broth based dinners. If I can prepare a meal for 4-6 people and break it down into multiple containers, I can put up regular meals. Thank you for the reference.
My current system is great, but the storage medium I have been using limits creativity and produces an ultimately boring daily choice.
Hey Andy, Thank you for updating the link–I’ll be sure to do this in the comment. I apologize for the dead link. Yes, let me know how they work, or if you find something else. I know a couple of single food blogger friends who use the meal prep containers and rave about them. They are reusable, so hopefully that cuts down on the cost.
I have used these for my freezer meals and they work great in the freezer (up to 3 months.) Thanks for your encouragement to make these meals, it has made my life so much calmer!
LIFT Certified BPA-Free Reusable Microwavable Meal Prep Containers with Lids, 28-Ounce, 7 Pack (Includes Ebook) from Amazon – $10.97.
Whoops, forgot to show what I used. LOL!
Can you cook the dish then freeze it?
Hey Dee, Definitely!
Looks great! I’m doing some pretty precise meal planning and didn’t notice a “number of servings”? How many servings is this?
Hey Lauren, I believe this will serve 4-6 servings. Sorry, I don’t have an exact serving size on this particular recipe.
Also looking for a new link for the recipe labels!
Hey Amy, Here’s the link from New Leaf Wellness: http://newleafwellness.biz/2015/08/24/free-freezer-labels-that-you-can-edit-save-and-print/.
the link for the recipe labels doesn’t work. Can you add those back on the site?
You say you assemble 5-7 freezer meals on the weekend, this is one of them..what are the other? Can you please give examples, as I do not seem to find more freezer meals on your blog, but I am new here. Thanks.
Hey Patricia, This recipe was shared by Kelly from New Leaf Wellness. She’s the queen of freezer cooking. You’ll find lots of recipes on her site: http://newleafwellness.biz/.
Kristin,
Barley does some “weird things” to my stomach and my husband has asked me (politely) to not eat it anymore – 🙂 Do you think brown rice added later in the cooking process would still accomplish the flavors for this dish?
Hey Jennifer, Rice is a great idea! Your method (adding it later in the cooking process) is the way to go.
Hi is it ok to freeze vegies like carrots, onion and celery for three months without blanching them first.Great blog thankyou
Hey Gwen, They freeze very well! I also freeze these veggies for making broth without any issue.
Looks like a great recipe! Question – 7 cups of beef broth seems like so much liquid. Is the stew quite liquidy like a soup? Could you put less? Also do you need to add flour or something to thicken? Thanks! Great blog 🙂
Hey Lauren, Yes, this soup is “brothy.” You could reduce the broth by 1-2 cups and it should still be okay.
I don’t know why, but this recipe was very bland tasting to everyone in my family. I couldn’t get my 7 year old daughter to eat more than one bite. I wanted to love this one so much, but even with the seasonings and the meat stewing in there all day, it tasted very bland.
Hey Bianca, Oh no, I’m sorry to hear your stew was so bland. The fresh herbs and beef broth should have added a really good flavor and aroma.
Agreed, very bland. I won’t make this again.
Hey Alison, Thank you for the feedback. Do you feel the stew needed more herbs or salt?
Garlic (a lot!)
1/2 c red wine (can be frozen in the bag)
definitely more salt
Yum, that sounds amazing, Nancy!
can you cook it on high? ABout how long?
Hey Rebecca, I believe so. I would try 6 hours.
Can you freeze cut up potatoes with this.
Hey Stephanie, I’m not sure about potatoes. I wonder if they would change color (turn brown), but since they will be cooked in a stew, that’s probably okay. It’s worth a try!
Hi! How many does this serve? Thanks in advance!
Hey Jaclyn, It will serve 4 people, comfortably. Possibly six when served with a side (bread or salad, for example).
I’m looking forward to trying this one!
Hey Joann, It’s one of my favorite recipes on the blog! Enjoy!!
Question… What kind of label are you using. I’ve tried using regular Avery- type labels but find once I put the bags in the freezer, the labels come off. Anyone have that issue? Btw, I’ve been doing freezer meals for years! Love, love, love the recipes that do not require cooking anything first! Thanks for your recipe:-)
Will other barleys work or just pearled?
Hey Kate, I believe other barleys will work since they are slow cooked. Did you have a specific one in mind?
Do you rinse the barley? I’ve heard barley can be very dirty and should be rinsed till clean.
No, but I buy it in a box at the grocery store. It’s always very clean.
Thank you for the kind words, Kristin!
Wow so easy! And it’s awesome that these recipes keep in the freezer for so long. Lots of yum 🙂
Thanks, Medha!
Looks great! So the vegetables don’t thaw into a mushy mess?
Hey Kim, Thankfully they don’t :). Some veggies are more suited for freezing than others.
Sorry but this recipe lacks flavour and is a soup, not a stew. It had too much liquid.
Since the meat is on top, take it out and dredge it in flour, use the same spices but increase the salt and pepper. That will give you the thickness and added flavor.. And you can always use less broth:-)
Nope! Fresh freezer meals are amazing, and this is a great recipe from Kristin!