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Save time and money when you cook from these Freezer Meal Prep cookbooks! Freezer cooking is not just casseroles and these books provide recipes from breakfast to dinner to appetizers and everything in between.
Several years ago when I used to put on meal planning workshops, one of the most commonly asked questions was about make ahead freezer meals. If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know that I’m a BIG fan of freezer meal prep.
Why Choose Make Ahead Freezer Meals?
Prepping meals ahead saves you time and money and helps you provide healthier and tasty meals for your family. I’ve shared a few of my favorite tips in this blog post Six Tips For Freezer Meal Success.
Whether your stocking the freezer for the holidays, to have meals on hand for friends in need or just to help you out on busy weeknights, having a few (or more) meals stashed away in the freezer are like gold!
Also, as I update the many recipes here on my website, I’ve been going back and adding make ahead and freezer prep tips for each recipe. Eventually, I’ll get to them all!
When I first started freezer meal cooking, I relied on a few of these cookbooks to get me started. I’ve since added some additional titles to my cookbook library and I’m sharing my favorites with you here!
30 Day Gourmet’s BIG Book of Freezer Cooking
You can read my full review HERE but I love, love The 30 Day Gourmet’s BIG Book of Freezer Cooking (affiliate link). The original edition of this book was one of my very first freezer cookbooks and when the BIG book came out, I loved it even more. Not only does it have recipes (almost all of which we have tried we’ve loved), but it also has worksheets and more to help you plan your freezer session.
Another bonus is inside the book is a code for book owners that will let you access even MORE recipes from the authors’ website (you can get tons of free recipe too by clicking here). The photos are pretty simple but the recipes totally taste great!
Don’t Panic! Dinner’s In the Freezer
Don’t Panic! Dinner’s in the Freezer: Great Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead (affiliate link)
AND
Don’t Panic! More Dinner’s in the Freezer – A Second Helping of Tasty Meals You Can Make Ahead (affiliate link)
I love these books partly because what you won’t find in them: a bunch of casserole recipes! Been there, done that. Don’t get me wrong, we like casseroles but are always looking for some variety!
What you WILL find are a huge selection of recipes that will leave you saying “I didn’t know I could freeze that!” Some of my favorites are the Buttermilk Herb Chicken Breasts, North Woods Wild Rice Soup, Lemony Flank Steak or Pecan Stuffed Chicken Breasts.
Don’t forget the breads and muffins that you can bake and freeze too…there are lots of options here! They authors have also included some side dish and dessert options to make the day of when you pull out your freezer meal.
Fix, Freeze, Feast: The Delicious, Money-Saving Way to Feed Your Family
One thing I like about Fix, Freeze, Feast: The Delicious, Money-Saving Way to Feed Your Family (affiliate link) is the simplicity of the recipes. So many of them have just a handful of ingredients and that makes a freezer cooking session even that much more rewarding. Who doesn’t like knowing that you’ve filled your freezer for so many busy nights with minimal effort on the front end? Some of our favorites are the Tequila Lime Chicken, Pecan Crusted Chicken Strips, Mozzarella Meatballs and Seafood Creole.
What’s extra great about this easy freezer meals cookbook is that in the back of the book, there is a whole section of freezer labels that you can copy and print to include with your froze food packages. The freezer labels have all the cooking instructions for each meal so that anyone can help make the dinner after it’s thawed. Love it!
Cook & Freeze: 150 Delicious Dishes to Serve Now and Later: A Cookbook
I like the Cook & Freeze: 150 Delicious Dishes to Serve Now and Later: A Cookbook (affiliate link) because it not only includes instructions for cooking for the freezer but if you want to make something to serve now, it includes those instructions too. Each recipe shares a “For Serving Now”, “To Freeze” and “To Defrost and Serve” section so you have lots of options!
Some of our favorites are the Creamy Mushroom Sauce (yep, homemade cream of mushroom sauce that you can FREEZE!), Southern Pork Chop Casserole, California Meatloaf Burgers and Pizza Noodle Casserole. What I especially like about this book is the variety of freezable side dishes the author includes like the Maple Baked Beans and Frozen Coleslaw (yep, you can freeze it!) and Upside-Down Pineapple Sweet Potatoes. There are a lot of desserts and breakfasts included also which is great for having on hand when company stops by.
Seriously Good Freezer Meals: 150 Easy Recipes to Save Your Time, Money and Sanity
What I love about Seriously Good Freezer Meals: 150 Easy Recipes to Save Your Time, Money and Sanity (affiliate link) is the variety of family friendly recipes that are included. Every category is included but what’s even better is that the author has included a batch cooking chart for each recipe so that if you want to make two, three or up to five batches of one recipe, she has done all the math for you to help you grocery shop and prep them all.
The cookbook also includes beginner, intermediate and advanced meal plan programs to help you fill your freezer with 7 to 50 meals in one day (yes, 50 meals prepped in one day!)
Ready to Get Started With Freezer Meal Prep?
I hope these books will inspire you to get going with freezer cooking if you’re just getting started or maybe to expand your repertoire if you’ve already got a few recipes that are family favorites.
I’d love to know any other freezer cooking cookbooks that you like too–feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments below.
This post was originally published in December 2015 but updated in November 2021 with new photos and content.
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