I am prepping White Chicken Chili from a crockpot recipe as a freezer meal. Freezer meals are great for a time saver on busy days. Basically you prep most or all of the recipe in freezer bags, write instructions on the front of the bag, and freeze. Then on the day of cooking, you only need to add things to the crockpot per the instructions on bag.
This is a continuation of a post on cooking dry beans, which explains how I cooked the beans for this recipe.
I’m making the recipe twice as I want a spicer version for adults and milder kid friendly version.
I’m making the recipe twice as I want a spicer version for adults and milder kid friendly version.
 | I have my beans divided from the post on cooking the beans. Right to left: par cooked 3cups, fully cooked 3 cups, and the remaining cooked beans cooling to get frozen for later. |
| First I divide the par cooked beans in 2 bags. each recipe needs 1.5cups of beans whole. |  |
 | Then I puree the fully cooked beans with my food processor and divide in half between two bags. It will be 1 -3/8 cup per bag since the puree is thicker than whole bean measurement. The recipe instructions indicate to mix the pureed beans with diced onion, minced garlic, and 1 cup of chicken broth. I will not be thawing chicken broth just to refreeze it, so I write that note on the front of the puree bean bag. |
| In addition, I don’t want my spices stuck to the inside of the other bag so I make a well in the middle of the puree and measure the spices. Here they both get cumin and oregano (not pictured) but only the spicy one gets red pepper flakes. Then gently squeezing the bag I fold the beans over to trap the spices inside. Then I add chopped onion and minced garlic to the bags. Seal those bags, removing as much air as possible. |  |
 | Now in the bags with the par cooked beans, I add diced carrots, celery, frozen corn, and to the spicy version, 4 oz of green chilis that were in my freezer. Seal up and label. |
| The recipe called for diced zucchini but I had shredded in my freezer so I broke out a small chunk for each recipe. I suspect the shredded zucchini will add thickness to the broth of the soup. |  |
 | Finally, bag each recipe’s bags into a large bag and label. Then add extra instructions. This recipe needs the chicken broth plus 8 oz of cream cheese, and 1 cup salsa verde for the start of cooking. Plus 2 cups of cooked chicken to be added 1 hr before serving. |
By adding the additional items on the bag I know what other items to defrost when getting it out of the freezer and what other items I may need to shop for prior to making the soup.
Total I spent about 40 minutes prepping all the ingredients and another 5-10 labeling. [For 2 recipes] On the day of cooking I will thaw the pureed bean baggie completely in order to mix with the chicken broth, salsa verde and cream cheese, then dump the other bag in and turn it on. Cook time 4-6 hrs. Chicken can thaw in the fridge till needed.
Do you have crockpot recipes you might want to prep as a freezer meal?
Total I spent about 40 minutes prepping all the ingredients and another 5-10 labeling. [For 2 recipes] On the day of cooking I will thaw the pureed bean baggie completely in order to mix with the chicken broth, salsa verde and cream cheese, then dump the other bag in and turn it on. Cook time 4-6 hrs. Chicken can thaw in the fridge till needed.
Do you have crockpot recipes you might want to prep as a freezer meal?
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