Keeping a handful of freezer meal kits in your freezer is a GREAT way to always know you’ve got a backup plan, no matter the dinner, no matter the day.
I love having being able to reach in my freezer when I’ve run out of ideas or time and pull a simple meal to thaw and assemble, right there from my own hands.
Read below to see how you can prep my favorite Salsa Verde Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas as a freezer meal kit!
Tell me more about what a freezer meal kit is
Think of it as though a freezer meal and a delivery meal kit had a baby. In your kitchen.
It’s way more awesome than it even sounds, trust me.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of delivery meal kits, like Blue Apron or Hello Fresh, here’s how they work:
- Once a week, a box arrives on your front step containing a recipe and all the ingredients you need to cook a few simple meals.
- Many of the ingredients are already broken down or at least have been packaged in a way that preparing them for cooking is a snap.
- Each box comes with easy-to-follow recipes, usually including images of each cooking step so that recreating the dish is a breeze.
- But the pictures only elp so much- the real ease comes in the prepared ingredients.
- You might have to chop some veggies, but everything is in its own cute little package and easy to access.
Cooking dinner from a meal kit may not look like less work from the outside – after all, you still have to cook, right?- but the energy it saves is huge!
This is energy saved not only in the physical labor of grocery shopping and much of the ingredient prep, but mental energy as well.
Energy including: needing to decide what to make, find a recipe, gather the ingredients, figure out what to do with leftover ingredients and leftovers from the meal, etc.
Related: Easiest Dinner Hack Ever; Naan Pizza Freezer “Kits”
Meal kits lessen the mental load. It’s “plug and play” dinner prep.
The downsides are definitely there, though.
First, they’re expensive.
Also, you don’t get to choose the individual recipes.
And sometimes, you don’t get a chance to make the recipe, and you wind up with those cute little individual ingredients slowly going bad in the back of your fridg.
Here’s where the “DIY Blue Apron” comes in handy
You choose the price point that works for you. You choose the individual recipes. And you choose when to make the dish, so you’re not on anyone’s time clock but your own.
Read: Make-Ahead Smoothie Bags for the Freezer
Let’s take the example of these Salsa Verde Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas, which is one of my favorite meals to make into a freezer meal kit.
Step One: Look at the recipe and see what happens right before it gets put in the oven.
You’re looking for what components, if any, are prepared in a separate way before everything gets combined and cooked.
So, with Chicken Enchiladas, the components are shredded chicken, cooked and seasoned black beans, salsa verde, and cheese. Each component gets individually wrapped and stored.
Step Two: Divide those components into separate, freezer-safe containers or ziplock bags.
Step Three: Then, place each wrapped component in the final baking dish (a casserole dish, either reusable or disposable) and wrap tightly.
You can also pack everything together in a big gallon ziplock bag, if it’s big enough to hold everything. Clearly write the name of the recipe and the date on top with a Sharpie, and place it in the freezer
Step Three: Thaw and Cook.
If you need one, here’s a primer for thawing.
Then just assemble and cook as directed!
A’s to common Q’s when you’re making a freezer meal kit
Why wouldn’t you just throw everything in the freezer and find it later?
The organization helps your brain on busy nights. You’re not looking in the freezer and trying to think, “ok, I see ricotta, what can I do with that?” You’re expending less mental energy on the long days by seeing that bag of prepped, frozen items all grouped together and thinking, “oh, lasagna! I can make that tonight!”
Won’t this take the same amount of time as just, like, cooking?
Individually frozen items thaw faster than when they’ve already been assembled with everything else.
What kind of difference does freezing things individually make?
Wholly cooked, frozen meals usually taste…. not as good as they were when they were freshly made.
But if you freeze these items separately, then assemble them, it takes just about the same amount of time as reheating from frozen, and it tastes way better. Cooked-from-fresh better. With the same amount of work!
Why would I bother having these kits instead of just cooking dinner from scratch?
Because you’re in charge of what you’ve got on hand.
It’s like having Blue Apron at the ready for whenever you want, not when they tell you their delivery times are.
Plus, freezer meal kits make great options for the nights when you haven’t gotten to the grocery store and you have a hungry family waiting, or you’ve got a friend who just had a baby and you want to drop off some food but you don’t have time to cook much.
It’s a great backup plan to keep for times when you need it.
Try the Chicken Enchilada recipe below as a DIY Freezer Meal Kit, and let me know how it turns out for you!
Salsa Verde Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Freezer Meal Kit
Equipment
Ingredients
for the salsa verde:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8-10 large tomatillos papery shells discarded and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro this is optional if you're a cilantro hater
for the enchiladas:
- 2 cups shredded chicken about 16 ounces cooked chicken breast
- 13.5 ounces canned black beans cooked and drained
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 8-10 flour tortilla
- 12 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
Prep Ahead:
- Make the salsa verde: Halve the tomatillos. Heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering, then add the tomatillos and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have started to brown and soften. Add the lime juice and cilantro and stir to combine. Transfer to a food processor or blender and process until smooth, then set aside.
- If needed, cook and shred the chicken.
- If needed, cook and drain the black beans.
Prepare From Prepped:
- Thaw any ingredients as needed, and then proceed with the instructions from making the meal from fresh.
Make From Fresh:
- Make the salsa verde: Halve the tomatillos. Heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering, then add the tomatillos and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have started to brown and soften. Add the lime juice and cilantro and stir to combine. Transfer to a food processor or blender and process until smooth, then set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400*F.
- Roll the enchiladas: In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, black beans, salt, and cumin. Stir to mix.
- Place 1/2 cup of chicken and black bean mixture in the center of a flour tortilla and roll the tortilla around the mixture in a long cylinder. Transfer the tortilla cylinders to a 9″x13″ baking dish, nestling them next to each other in one long row.
- Once all the tortillas have been rolled and placed in the dish, pour the salsa verde over the tortillas, using a spoon to smooth the salsa verde into any cracks and crevices.
- Sprinkle the enchiladas evenly with cheese and place the dish in the oven.
- Bake until the cheese has melted and is bubbly, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.
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