Have you ever bought a huge roll of ground beef and had no idea how to handle it? Or how about a bag of chicken breasts? You could always separate and freeze them raw, but why not try cooking your meat first before freezing it? It saves you a ton of time when it comes to cooking dinner; just thaw your meat in the fridge overnight, and add it to sauce or soups for a quick meal! Here’s what I do to freeze cooked meat.
First of all, I cook ground beef/turkey in a large pot until fully browned, then drain the grease. In the picture above, I added about 2 cups of shredded carrots and zucchini to help bulk up the meat and stretch it longer. Once everything is fully cooked, I fill quart-sized freezer bags with 2 cups each of the mixture. I let it sit and cool for about an hour before sealing the bags, laying them flat on a cookie sheet, and putting them in the freezer to completely freeze.
To cook chicken breasts, I put 3-4 of them in my slow cooker with a little water and cook them on LOW for about 6 hours until they’re fully cooked. You can put them in fresh or frozen; it doesn’t matter. Frozen chicken breasts still work great! I then shred the chicken in my KitchenAid mixer (I love this hack!) and add 2 cups into each quart-sized freezer bag. Then same as the ground beef, I lay the bags flat and freeze them on a cookie sheet.
You can add seasonings to your meat if you want; when I cooked my ground beef, I added taco seasoning to half and left the other half plain. I kind of like having the plain meat though, because then you can add them to just about anything: spaghetti sauce, chili, tacos, salad… how cool is it to have most of the hard work done already? Do you freeze cooked meat to save time in the kitchen? Post in the comments and give us other ideas!
Jaime is a Nutrition Coach and professional writer. She enjoys cooking easy meals, running, and learning more about food.
Jaime specializes in helping women with ADHD learn to meal plan and cook healthier meals without getting overwhelmed.