Stock Your Freezer: Freezer to Crock Pot Kits

Oh, how I love the crock pot! Now that we are busy with various church activities, it's so nice to make a meal where I can "set it and forget it."
I don't know about you, but my "Dinner Ideas" board on Pinterest is full of crock pot meals, and some of the most intriguing are the freezer-to-crock pot kits. It's such a great concept - you dump ingredients in a bag, freeze it, and dump the contents into the crock pot when you want to make the meal.* You can't go wrong with an easy, no-fuss dinner!

It's also a great way to take advantage of sales. If you are like me and buy extra meat to freeze when it's a good price, it only takes a little extra effort to add ingredients to your meat before freezing it.
Since I generally avoid processed ingredients like cream soups and seasoning packets, I haven't found too many freezer kits that I absolutely love. However, I have found many crock pot recipes can easily be turned into freezer kits.  Below are a few of my favorite crock pot recipes that work well as kits, as well as a few recommended by friends. Unless otherwise noted, just place all the ingredients in a gallon freezer bag and freeze until you are ready to cook the meal.

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken from Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

(Add all ingredients except the cornstarch and water to the bag.)

This is an absolute favorite at our house. I always make this with bone-in
thighs whenever they're on sale. I just cut the skin off before putting them
in the bag and remove the chicken from the bones before serving. 

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas from Stacy Makes Cents

Taco Chicken Chili from The Comfort of Cooking

Slow Cooker Balsamic Shredded Beef from Shugary Sweets

Balsamic Chicken from Dishing with Leslie

Slow Cooker Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs from Who Needs A Cape.

Garlic Honey Chicken from Saving You Dinero  

Note: when you go to the link, Garlic Honey Chicken is the third recipe.

Recommended by my friend, Dawn.

 Balsamic Glazed Chicken Thighs from Who Needs A Cape

Recommended by my friend, Daniella.

  Hearty Beef Stew from Paleo Diet Lifestyle
Daniella adapted this recipe for a crock pot here.

Angel Chicken  from A Bunch of Crock 

Sorry, no picture!

Based on Daniella's rave reviews, I may whip this up soon! I don't keep cream of chicken soup or Italian dressing mix in my pantry, so if I were to make this recipe, I would use this cream soup recipe and this Italian dressing mix recipe.

There are so many more crock pot kits out there. Just do a Pinterest (or Google) search for "freezer to crock pot" and you will find a multitude of kits to try.

I don't make these kits as often as I could, mostly because the boneless skinless chicken breasts I usually buy are already vacuum-sealed for easy freezing.  Perhaps in the future, I'll make a "prep kit" by freezing the rest of the ingredients and adding the meat when I'm ready to cook it. I can definitely see myself doing this with the Taco Chicken Chili or Chicken Fajitas.


Have you ever tried making Freezer-to-Crock Pot Kits before? What's your favorite recipe?

Photo Source

*Disclaimer: There is some debate over whether it is safe to cook frozen meat in the crock pot. There is a fear that the meat does not get hot quickly enough to prevent food poisoning. I know several people who dump the entire frozen kit into their crock pot (cutting it out of the bag first!) and their meals turn out just fine. However, I like to err on the side of caution and always let my kits thaw in the refrigerator overnight before cooking.