Instant Pot Freezer Meal Boot Camp: Part 2
Woah.
Guys - I knew that there would be a few people out there that could get some use out of the Instant Pot Freezer Meal Boot Camp, but I had no clue it would get the response it did yesterday! I had hundreds of shares, comments, likes, and every other piece of social media love you can get. It was so fun to see everyone respond to something I've worked so hard on for the past month!
So, as promised, here is the second part of the meal prep instructions. If you're following along with this, you should have already prepped most of the non-chicken recipes. In this post, we'll be tackling about 15 more meals...mostly your chicken dishes!
(Again, if you're just prepping for the freezer, just put the items from "in each container" in your freezer dishes, label them, and pop in the freezer. I put the cooking directions below each prep list just in case you wanted to go on and cook any of these, or if you wanted to make your own labels!)
#19 and #20 Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya (2 meals)
In each container:
Half of the smoked sausage
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
1 cup of chopped onion
Half of the chopped celery
Half of the chopped bell pepper
Half of a 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon hot sauce
Cooking directions for day you eat:
1. Saute for 5 minutes
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 15 minutes, QR
3. Add rice and broth. Stir lightly.
4. Set on manual, high pressure, 8 minutes, NPR
Extra items needed for meal:
1 cup white rice
1.25 cups chicken broth
Side item: n/a
#21 and #22 Taco Soup (2 meals)
In each container:
1 cup ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 can pinto beans
½ can kidney beans
½ can whole kernel corn (not drained)
1 can Rotel
½ 28oz can diced tomatoes
½ 4oz can green chiles
½ small can black olives, sliced (optional)
1 pack taco seasoning
1 pack Ranch dressing mix
Cooking directions for day you eat:
1. Saute for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of water.
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 30 minutes, NPR
3. Prepare cornbread according to package directions
4. Chop red onion
Extra items needed for meal:
Shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla Chips
1 small red onion
8 oz sour cream
1 package cornbread mix (with eggs/milk to prepare)
Side item: Soup toppings, cornbread
#23 Broccoli Cheese Soup (1 meal)
In the container:
1 bag frozen broccoli florets
1 heaping cup chopped onion
½ 10oz bag shredded carrots
3 cups chicken broth
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Cooking directions for day you eat:
1. Saute for 5 minutes
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 10 minutes, NPR
3. Puree mixture with immersion blender
4. Add cream and cheddar, stir well
Extra ingredients needed for meal:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
10-12 slices bread
1 pack sliced ham
5-6 slices cheese
Side item: Grilled ham & cheese sandwiches
#24 and #25 Chicken Stir Fry (2 meals)
In each container:
¼ of the sliced chicken thighs
A small handful of sliced bell pepper
1 cup frozen green beans
½ bag frozen broccoli florets
½ cup sliced carrots
â…” cup sliced onion
½ cup teriyaki sauce
¼ cup chicken broth
Cooking directions for day you eat:
1. Saute for 5 minutes
2. Add trivet and PIP container filled with 1.5 cups brown rice and 1.75 cups water
3. Set on manual, high pressure, 15 minutes, NPR
Extra items needed for meal:
1.5 cups brown rice
Side item: brown rice
#26 and #27 Chicken Curry (2 meals)
In each container:
¼ of the sliced chicken thighs
â…” cup chopped onion
½ cup sliced carrots
8 potato halves, chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 cups chicken broth
Cooking directions for day you eat:
1. Saute for 5 minutes
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 10 minutes, QR
2. Add trivet and PIP container filled with 1.5 cups white rice and 1.5 cups water
3. Set on manual, high pressure, 8 minutes, NPR
4. Add can of coconut milk to curry and stir well
Extra items needed for meal:
1.5 cups white rice
Side item: White rice
#28 and #29 Chicken Tacos (2 meals)
In each container:
3-4 chicken breast halves
1 cup chopped onion
½ pack Ranch Dressing Mix
½ pack Taco Seasoning Mix
½ Can rotel
Cooking directions for day you eat:
1. Saute for 5 minutes
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 20 minutes, NPR
3. Shred chicken
4. Heat beans and prepare box of rice
Extra items needed for meal:
Tortillas and/or taco shells
Cheddar Cheese
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Salsa
28oz can refried beans
1 box Spanish Rice
Side item: Spanish rice & beans
#30 and #31 Hawaiian Chicken (2 meals)
In each container:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
¼c soy sauce
¼ cup soy & ginger dressing
¼ cup ketchup
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup chicken strips
½ can Pineapple
Half of the sliced red onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ bag stir fry
Cooking directions for day you eat:
1. Saute for 5 minutes (add liquid if needed...there's not a lot in this recipe.)
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 5 minutes, QR
3. Add trivet and PIP container filled with 1.5 cups white rice and 1.5 cups water
4. Set on manual, high, 8 minutes, NPR
Extra items needed for meal (side item): White rice
#32 and #33 Chicken Fajitas (2 meals)
In each container:
Half of the remaining sliced bell pepper
Half of the remaining sliced onion
Half of the remaining sliced chicken breasts
1 pack taco seasoning
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
Cooking directions for day you eat:
1. Add 1 cup chicken broth
2. Set on manual, 13 minutes, high pressure, NPR
3. Cut lettuce and tomato to serve with fajitas
Extra items needed for meal:
Tortillas
Cheese
Salsa
Lettuce
Tomato
Side item: n/a
And guess what friend...you're done! Once everything is in the freezer, pour yourself a glass of your beverage of choice and take a load off...you've earned it. You now have about a month of freezer meals ready to go!
The instructions for cooking each meal, the side items, and the extra ingredients needed for each recipe are included in my printable labels as well. You can click here to download/view those. (Or you can subscribe to my newsletter to access the printable collection, which has a full set of matching labels, recipe cards, and lists for grocery shopping for this and other boot camps. Click here to sign up!)
A couple of people have asked about the serving sizes of each of these meals. There isn't a cut-and-dry number for each one (it really just depends on your family and how big your servings are), but I have found a good rule of thumb: if you only make one container of a certain recipe, go on and expect that it's going to have more servings. So, the recipes that you're making 2 containers of will typically have 3-5 servings in each meal, while the ones that you're only making one container of usually have 4-6. Again though, that's going to vary depending on how much you eat in a serving! I will say that, for most of these, we had enough for the three of us to eat one night and leftovers for at least 2 of us the next day.
If you haven't checked out yesterday's post, I strongly recommend it before you start tackling anything in this post! You can click here to check that out.
Enjoy your next month of easy dinners, friends!
And don't forget to check out my Freezer Meal Boot Camp packs! The first two packs are now available. You can grab all of the printables and info you need to prep your own freezer meal sessions, including recipe cards, labels, and grocery lists! Click here to check them out.
Check out my other freezer meal boot camps posts here or check out my Instant Pot post archive here.
Images from a previous version of this post:
Question: When I get to the Hawaiian Chicken and Fajitas the amounts are a little strange, specifically the chicken. The Hawaiian Chicken recipe says 1/2 cup of chicken strips per container? That doesn't seem right. Then the Fajitas just says "the remaining chicken". So I'm guessing since you call for 4 chicken breasts, sliced, maybe we do one sliced breast per container for each of those 4 meals? Thanks so much for all this great info! I will be doing your Boot Camp right after July 4th! Just got my chopper and containers ordered!
Some people have been adding chicken to the Hawaiian Chicken...if you have big meat eaters in your family, I would recommend that! But yes, you could definitely just put 1 sliced chicken breast in each meal too if you're family can do without so much meat in their meals.
For #10, is the cooking time a typo? 100 minutes seems like a long time! Thank you for clarifying.
It's not...that time is correct! It does seem long, but 100 minutes is kind of my "magic time" for any roast or bigger cut of meat. It makes it super tender! If you don't want any veggies to be soft, you can always add them in for the last 10 minutes...I would just let the pressure naturally release for 5-10 minutes before releasing it and adding them.
Do the storage containers hold up well? Have you reused them or do you consider them to be disposable?
They have help up amazingly well! I'm currently on my fifth round of boot camps and you can barely tell they've been used. Maybe 2 or 3 out of the 20 I bought have broken. Highly recommend them, even after months of use!
They have held up amazingly well! I'm currently on my fifth round of boot camps and you can barely tell they've been used. Maybe 2 or 3 out of the 20 I bought have broken. Highly recommend them, even after months of use!
I'm not one to comment unless I strongly feel something must be mentioned. I have been doing various freezer meal programs for the past couple of years and this is by far the BEST; very few process ingredients, fabulous flavors (not too spicy...not too bland). Hats off to you, I will be remaking most of these recipes many times over. If your goal is to help make others lives easier...SUCCESS!!! Thank you!
Oh my goodness...you just made my whole day Angela! 🙂 I love hearing good reviews from the boot camps. Thank you so much for sharing!
If I don't want to freeze some of these meals, how much would I reduce cook time?
You won't reduce the time you set on the pot at all, but your overall time to cook will be lower because it should take your pot less time to come to pressure!
Leslie,
Thank you for answering my email so quick! I wish I knew how to do this when my kids were little, they're both grown now with kids of their own and I'm gently "nudging" them to try this!! What a time and stress saver! Keep up the good work, it is greatly appreciated!
Oh you are so welcome!
I was planning on doing this 30 meal boot camp this weekend. But I'm confused by the printables. It looks like you have labels for 20 meals (Pulled Pork Sandwiches through Chicken Fajitas). But there's 30 meals listed in this boot camp. Where do I find the printable for the missing 10 meals....or maybe I'm just misunderstanding something here. Thanks!
OK so I think I understand now. Actually 12 of the meals are two of the same. So for instance, I would have two batches of Pot Roast, Egg Roll Bowls, Veggie Beef Stew, etc. So it's not actually 30 different meals, some repeat.
I have the ingredients on the grocery list for 33 different meals...some recipes are duplicated, but I have it noted if you're making more than one of a particular recipe. Yes, it's 12 that repeat!
This seems like a dumb question but I am new to my insta pot. So with the chicken stir fry do I put all of the ingredients in with the rice as well? Or do I need to cook them separate?
With this one, I recommend the Pot-In-Pot method. You can read more about that in the first post!
Hi..
Some of your cooking instructions for the day you eat say to saute for 5 minutes first - is this while the ingredients are still frozen?
Thanks
Yes it is!
I prepared all the meals today and I am curious about the lack of liquid for the Chicken Tacos. Will they be ok in the IP on the day I cook them for dinner? They won't give me a burn notice? Thank you!
The liquid in the Rotel (and what the onions will give off) should take care of it! If you get to the end of the saute period and still don't see a ton of liquid, you can always add a half cup of water.
They turned out delicious. I did add 1/4 cup of water. I have an 8-quart pot and was a little worried about the liquid level. But I don't think the 1/4 cup was necessary.