Five tasty chicken freezer meals you can make ahead! These healthy chicken meal prep ideas make busy weeknights a breeze, help you eat healthy and reduce the amount of dishes that need cleaning!
Chicken fajitas, sriracha chicken, spicy pineapple ginger coconut lime chicken, honey lemon chicken, and balsamic mushroom chicken... oh my! I am such a fan of meal prep salads in a jar, and these meal prep chicken freezer meals are just as easy. These delicious entrees are prepared in advance then frozen and ready to thaw and throw in the slow cooker when you need a healthy meal without the fuss! These easy meals help reduce the hassle of dinners and make life simpler!
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 30 minutes for all five bags
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 2-4 hours on low in the slow cooker
- 🍽️ Serving: 2 per bag (2 chicken breasts each), 5 meals total
- ⚡ Calories: 359kcal (calculated for the chicken fajitas)
- 🧊 Storage: flat in the freezer, thaw before cooking
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Five directions in one prep session: taco-spiced, balsamic and herbs, honey lemon, sweet-hot sriracha, and spicy tropical pineapple ginger
- ✋ Difficulty: Chop, bag, label, freeze. Thaw and dump in the crockpot.
Quick Answer
Label five freezer bags with the recipe name and date, then divide the prepared ingredients for each meal into its bag with 2 chicken breasts: fajitas (peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, taco seasoning, olive oil), balsamic chicken (balsamic vinegar, shallot, mushrooms, spinach, grape tomatoes, broth, basil, parsley), honey lemon chicken (honey, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, dry mustard, thyme, turmeric), sriracha chicken (olive oil, white vinegar, sriracha seasoning, honey, garlic, arrowroot), and spicy pineapple ginger coconut lime chicken (pineapple chunks with juice, coconut cream, lime juice, red pepper, ginger, coriander, red pepper flakes, cilantro). Seal each bag tight, press out the air and freeze flat. To cook, thaw the bag, transfer everything to the slow cooker and cook on low for 2-4 hours until cooked through.
Jump to:
A couple of months ago, I was busy baking away writing my Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Cookbook and the last thing I wanted to do at the end of the day was make dinner. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. Cooking and baking are my job, but I was so swamped with creating foods that were not all dinner recipes, sometimes twelve recipes in one day, that there was no way I had it in me to make one more meal. That is when these chicken freezer meals come in handy!
The weeks I was working on my cookbook, I put together five chicken freezer meals to freeze and seal in a freezer bag and store in the freezer for later use. That way after a long day, we have dinners prepared in the crockpot within minutes and the clean-up is minimal! These freezer meal prep ideas will save your life, time and the number of dishes you are doing!
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- One prep session, five dinners. You shop once, chop once, and fill five labeled bags in about 30 minutes.
- The bag is the marinade. The chicken sits in its sauce while it freezes and thaws, so every meal goes into the slow cooker already seasoned through.
- No flash freezing needed. Just put it in a bag, seal tight, press the air out and pop it in the freezer flat.
- Dump and leave. Thaw, transfer to the crockpot, cook on low 2-4 hours while you are off accomplishing other tasks.
- Shredding adds flavor. Shredding the cooked chicken lets the juices sink back in for even more flavor.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- A good dinner without having to think about what I am going to make. Ya with me there? Even better, everything is ready to dump and leave to cook in the crock pot.
- Wonderful for meal prepping lunch or dinner to satisfy a busy life. Each one is packed full of robust flavors and lean protein to keep you satisfied and fueled!
- Healthy and versatile. Gluten-free, and every meal works over rice, quinoa, or a salad.
- Minimal clean-up: one bag, one slow cooker.
- Same trick, more dinners: my chicken tortilla soup and crockpot chicken taco chili reheat from the freezer just as well.
Key Ingredients
- 10 chicken breasts, 2 per bag. When consuming meats, I highly suggest eating organic or without any hormones. We always get our chicken from Costco (bulk organic chicken) or from Butcher Box for the best prices; you can read my Butcher Box review.
- Chicken Fajitas: olive oil, white onion, green and red bell pepper, garlic, fresh cilantro, and a packet of mild taco seasoning.
- Balsamic Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms: balsamic vinegar, olive oil, shallot, white mushrooms, spinach, grape tomatoes, broth, fresh basil and parsley, pink salt and pepper.
- Honey Lemon Chicken: honey, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, dry mustard, thyme, turmeric, pink salt and pepper.
- Sriracha Chicken: olive oil, white vinegar, water, sriracha seasoning, honey, pink salt, garlic, and arrowroot flour or gluten-free flour.
- Spicy Pineapple Ginger Coconut Lime Chicken: a 20 ounce can of pineapple chunks with the juice, coconut cream, lime juice, red pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, ground ginger, pink salt, coriander, black pepper and cilantro.
- 5 freezer bags and a marker for labeling.
Full recipe ingredients and measurements for all five meals are in the recipe card below.
The 5 Chicken Freezer Meals
1. Chicken Fajitas
A simple and delicious way to enjoy fajitas in the slow cooker! We are big grilled shrimp fajita fans, so this one is our favorite too! You can enjoy this chicken breast by slicing it in strips after it cooks and adding it into tacos and burritos with a creamy guacamole recipe or serve it over rice, Mexican quinoa or taco salad.
2. Balsamic Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms
A dish that combines a bit of Italian with an indulgent flare that feels like you are eating at a fancy restaurant. Actually turns out it is your restaurant:-). Eat this with a side salad like tomato cucumber mozzarella salad, or over gluten-free fettuccine or spaghetti pasta noodles.
3. Sriracha Chicken
Made with the same sauce I use in sriracha chicken wings it marinates the chicken breast and is delicious. This chicken freezer meal is lovely enjoyed in tacos, over rice or quinoa, over a chicken spinach salad or served with roasted rosemary potatoes and freshly cut carrots and celery sticks.
4. Honey Lemon Chicken
This is another one of our favorite easy chicken freezer meals cooked in the slow cooker! I have made this slow cooker lemon chicken recipe with carrots and potatoes added to the slow cooker. Make it the same way or serve it with oven roasted brussels sprouts, air fryer potato wedges, and a fennel apple salad.
5. Spicy Pineapple Ginger Coconut Lime Chicken
This chicken recipe is delicious and best served with a side of rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice (for a Paleo option). Check out the full post for this pineapple chicken recipe. These chicken freezer meals are great because you are meal prepping for weeks ahead all in one moment!
How to Make Chicken Freezer Meals
To prepare and package these chicken freezer meals, shop for all of the ingredients. Come home and label 5 freezer bags with both the title of the chicken and the date it was prepared. After all, no one wants a mystery meal or a freezer burnt meal that has been stored too long!
1Label a freezer bag with the recipe and date. Chop and dice all of the ingredients as listed in the printable recipe and divide each accordingly into their labeled bags.
2In the freezer bag add the prepared ingredients. Close the bag and seal it tight, removing as much air as possible. Place in the freezer until ready to use. Repeat for each chicken recipe.
3When you are ready to eat, let the bag thaw first before cooking. Transfer the thawed ingredients from your chicken freezer bag into the crock pot or slow cooker.
4Cook on low for 2-4 hours or until cooked through (if you double or triple the recipe the cooking time changes). You can also shred the chicken, which allows the juices to sink into the chicken, providing even more flavor!
As always, be sure to check out the full recipe details in the recipe card below.
Expert Tips
- Freeze them flat. If you prepare freezer meals often, you may want to invest in a chest or upright freezer. Otherwise, these chicken recipes store nicely flat in a basic freezer.
- Label with the date. No mystery meals and nothing stored too long.
- Thaw before the slow cooker. A thawed bag cooks evenly in 2-4 hours on low.
- Doubling changes the time. Check the chicken for doneness when you scale a bag up.
- Shred at the end so the chicken soaks the sauce back up.
- More freezer cooking: you can find more tips for all your needs for freezer cooking here, and my free printable meal planner and shopping list makes the shopping trip painless.
What Is Meal Prepping?
Meal prepping is when you prepare foods and meals in advance to enjoy for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner. Meal prep is helpful for eating a healthy diet since meals and portions are planned out and binge eating unhealthy foods is less likely to occur. Prepping meals in advance also saves valuable time during the week, as usually one day is dedicated to preparing meals, and makes preparing the meal during the week take less time.
Dinners that can be meal prepped are frozen chicken dinners, mason jar salads, and pretty much any of these healthy soup recipes to bag, freeze and cook then eat throughout the week, like my slow cooker curry rice, corn chowder and purple cabbage soup. Serve any of the five over roasted rainbow carrots for a full plate.
Chicken Freezer Meals FAQs
Label each bag with the date so nothing gets stored too long. Sealed tight with the air pressed out and frozen flat, they keep well for a few months in a basic freezer.
Yes. Let the bag thaw first, then transfer the thawed ingredients to the crock pot or slow cooker and cook on low for 2-4 hours or until cooked through.
No flash freezing needed. Just put the prepared ingredients in a bag, seal it tight, remove as much air as possible and pop it in the freezer.
Yes, but doubling or tripling a bag changes the slow cooker time, so check that the chicken is cooked through before serving.
Yes. The sriracha chicken uses arrowroot flour or gluten-free flour to thicken, and the rest are naturally gluten-free. Check that your taco seasoning packet is labeled gluten-free.
Rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice, tacos and burritos for the fajitas and sriracha chicken, gluten-free pasta for the balsamic chicken, or roasted vegetables like Brussels sprouts and potato wedges for the honey lemon chicken.
Chicken Freezer Meals for Easy Meal Prep
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Ingredients
Chicken Fajitas
- 2 chicken breasts
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 white onion peeled and cut into slices
- 1 green bell pepper cut into slices
- 1 red bell pepper cut into slices
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 packet mild taco seasoning
Balsamic Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms
- 2 chicken breasts
- ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 shallot diced
- 2 cups white mushrooms sliced
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 cup grape tomatoes
- 1 cup broth chicken or vegetable
- ¼ cup basil fresh, chopped
- 2 tablespoons parsley fresh, chopped
- ½ teaspoon pink salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Honey Lemon Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon thyme dry
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric dry
- ½ teaspoon pink salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Sriracha Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup sriracha seasoning
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon pink salt
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot flour or gluten-free flour
Spicy Pineapple Ginger Coconut Lime Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 20 ounce can pineapple chunks + liquid (in 100% juice)
- ¼ cup canned coconut cream or coconut milk
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1 red pepper cut into slices and seeds removed
- 1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon pink salt
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ¼ teaspoon fresh black pepper
- 1 small handful cilantro chopped, plus more for garnish
Instructions
For each of the above chicken freezer meals:
- Label a freezer bag with the recipe and date. In the freezer bag add the prepared ingredients. Close the bag and seal it tight, removing as much air as possible. Place in the freezer until ready to use. (Repeat for each chicken recipe above)
- When you are ready to eat, let the bag thaw first before cooking. Transfer the thawed ingredients from your chicken freezer bag into the crock pot or slow cooker. Cook on low for 2-4 hours or until cooked through (depending if you double or triple the recipe changes cooking times). You can also shred the chicken which allows the juices to sink into the chicken, providing even more flavor!
Meghan says
Hi, I am confused. It says to put all the ingredients in the bag and freeze. But then it says to thaw the chicken then add the frozen vegetables to the crockpot. So if you thaw the chicken wouldn’t it that the entire bag and the vegetables would be thawed as well? Or am I supposed to pull out the chicken to thaw separately while keeping the other ingredients frozen?
Danielle Fahrenkrug says
Hi Meghan, I just adjusted the instructions. Just thaw everything in the bag then transfer from the freezer bag to the crockpot. Hope that is more clear. Thank you!
Stephanie says
Thanks for all the great recipes. I wanted to ask, do you find when you use the the rubber cup cake holders for muffins instead of paper that the muffin sinks in the middle-if not, any tricks!