How to Make 33 Easy Instant Pot Freezer Meals in 1 Day

Prepare over 30 Instant Pot Freezer Meals in one day! These are easy recipes that give you dump-and-go meals for a month. Includes printable freezer meal labels and grocery lists for healthy, make-ahead dinners.

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A few years ago, I did a little experiment. I wanted to see if I could work really hard for one day and have easy, dump-and-go meals for the rest of the month. I set out to prepare a month's worth of Instant Pot freezer meals in one day.

I'm happy to report that it was not only possible but actually relatively simple! I created kind of a system with this prep session that inspired an entire freezer meal section of my shop and several other freezer meal prep sessions that are available for free on the blog.

The secret to my success? An Instant Pot.

What is an Instant Pot?

An Instant Pot is a one-stop shop for different cooking styles in your kitchen. It packs a ton of functionality into one machine. Instant Pots function as a...

• pressure cooker
• slow cooker
• steamer
• yogurt maker
• saute pot
• rice cooker
• warmer

Basically, almost anything you can do in the kitchen can be done with this beauty.

My favorite thing about it is having the ability to cook foods from frozen (I'm talking frozen-to-table in under an hour) and how little you have to babysit it. I also love that you can prep just about any Crock Pot recipe in the Instant in a fraction of the time.

Have more questions about your Instant Pot? Check out this list of common Instant Pot questions for help!

Why is the Instant Pot good for freezer dump meals?

If you're looking for a great combination of dump-and-go and speed, this is it.

After freezing your meals, you're going to have very little effort required to get them on the table. For the most part, it's adding the freezer meal to the Instant Pot, hitting a couple of buttons, and waiting anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours for a really delicious, home-cooked meal.

I prefer these Instant Pot meals over Crock Pot meals because of the speed. No more waiting 6-8 hours for food - you can do all of your cooking after work/school and still have dinner on the table in time!

How much will Instant Pot freezer meals cost?

Including all of the mini weekly trips I had to make to replenish my fridge for the meals, the groceries for these meals cost me around $300...not too shabby for (roughly) 130 servings of food! (Keep in mind, this was originally written in 2017. Expect groceries to be a good bit more expensive now - I'd budget $400-500.)

Are the meals healthy?

While I am in no way claiming that these meals are any kind of health food, I was easily able to fit them into a healthy diet for the whole family(with a little bit of portion control). I think they have a good mix of wholesome ingredients and things that families will actually eat.

Without further ado, here's how I made 33 Instant Pot freezer meals in one day!

Step 1: Gather supplies

This is the key to making this process as easy as possible. You don't need a ton of supplies for this (besides your Instant Pot, obviously...this is a link to my model).

The main purchase I'd urge you to make is a set of storage containers that fit into your Instant Pot. (Note: These are sometimes unavailable. If needed, this is a great alternative on Amazon.) With these, you can freeze your meals in the containers, thaw them just enough to pop them out of the container and drop the frozen meal in the Instant Pot to cook without fully thawing.

If you choose to buy just one set of storage containers, you can place gallon freezer bags in the containers to kind of shape your meals to fit in the pot while freezing them.

Make sure to have your bag/container labels printed (scroll down for those printables) and cut. Be ready to label those containers as soon as you finish making the meals (before they go in the freezer).

I recommend sticking the labels on with packing tape, so make sure there's a roll handy. There's also a specialty Freezer Tape that's made for sticking labels onto freezer dishes and has incredible reviews.

One note about freezer space...you need a lot for this. This usually takes up most of the space in my standard freezer and deep freezer. It is totally possible to cut down on the amount of meals you make if you're short on space! I had a big freezer clean-out for a week or two before I made these meals to make sure I had enough room for everything.

Summary: Make sure you have...

1. Instant Pot
2. Instant Pot-shaped containers (1 or 2 sets)
3. Container labels (scroll down for printables)
4. Gallon Freezer Bags (at least 1 box if you don't purchase 2 sets of containers)
5. Packing Tape or Freezer Tape
6. Freezer space

Optional accessories (helpful, but not totally necessary)...

1. An extra Instant Pot inner pot insert (so you can still prep dinners even when your other pot is dirty/in the fridge storing something else).
2. An inner pot lid (helps you use your inner pot as storage after dinner)
3. An extra Instant Pot sealing ring (Food flavors can soak into the silicone sealing ring that's tucked in the lid of the Instant Pot. I have two rings; one for savory foods and one for sweet. That way, my sweet foods don't end up tasting funky!)
4. A small pot for Pot in Pot cooking (see more on that in the notes section below)...I use a cake pan that is the same size as this one and it works great!

Step 2: Buy groceries

Now, you could go through all of the recipes and make your own grocery list for this, but I've done all of that work for you!

I went through the recipes and made a full grocery list for everything you'll need for meal prep day. The grocery list is also sorted by food type for all of those organizers out there. 😉

This list is included in a full pack of labels, printable recipe cards, meal plans, and complete preparation instructions for this post...and it's all free! This set is included in the Lamberts Lately printable collection, which is only available to Lamberts Lately email subscribers. Sign up to receive the password by clicking the button below.

Once you sign up, access instructions will be in your email inbox within a few minutes.

After you make the big grocery run outlined in that list, you'll need to make a very small trip to the store for the filler/perishable/side items you'll need each week. The meal plans and shopping lists for those weeks are included in that pack in the printable collection as well. I bought my first week's worth of small trip items when I did the big grocery trip for the Instant Pot freezer meals.

Where to Shop

I am a huge fan of using Walmart's Grocery Pickup service for bigger trips like this...just order your items online using the grocery list I have in the printable collection and pick them up from your local store at no extra charge. It's incredibly convenient and a great way to organize your groceries to ensure you get everything. Click here to get a $10 off coupon for trying it out!

Step 3: Print and cut labels

I've also got you covered in this department! These label printables cover each and every meal you'll make for this boot camp. All directions for the final cooking of each meal, side item ideas, and extra ingredients needed for the meal are printed right on the label.

After the labels are printed, just cut them out (I love this paper cutter for making the process easier) and have them ready to attach to your containers with packing tape or freezer tape.

Make sure labels are attached to the meals before you freeze. I made the mistake of waiting until after they were frozen to try to attach the labels...doesn't work. The frost made the tape fall right off. (I might or might not have a couple of mystery meals now because I didn't label them first...)

Step 4: Start dinner for tonight

There's no sense in freezing the first meal you'll make...after all, you need dinner for tonight! So, tonight's dinner will be pulled pork sandwiches.

1. In your Instant Pot, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil and turn on the saute function. Rub a 3-4 pound pork butt with pork dry rub. Once the pot is hot, add the pork butt and brown on all sides.
2. Once browned, add 2 cups of BBQ sauce and 2 cups of chicken stock. Lock the lid on & set the manual setting on the Instant Pot on high for 100 minutes.
3. Once the cycle is finished, allow the pot to NPR (see notes at the bottom) for 10 minutes. Open and shred the meat into a bowl. Add about a cup of the juice from cooking to the meat.

We'll put half of this in one of your freezer containers, label it, and put it in the freezer. The other half can be dinner tonight! Just serve with buns and a prepared pack of frozen french fries.

Step 5: Prep the veggies

Once you've got dinner for tonight going, it's time to start prep work for the Instant Pot freezer meal ingredients.

I'll go on and tell you: this is the most time-consuming part. It took me a couple of hours to prep all of the veggies. Something like a vegetable chopper will make your life SO much easier.

All of this needs to be done before you start assembling meals (trust me, doing this first makes the assembly part tons easier):

1. Chop 2 bags (6 pounds) of onions.
2. Slice 1 bag (3 pounds) of onions.
3. Mince 13 cloves of garlic. (I bought pre-minced garlic cloves for this. Shhh.....)
4. Chop 8 carrots into 1" pieces.
5. Slice 11 carrots into 3-4” pieces.
6. Slice 3 bell peppers.
7. Chop 2 bell peppers.
8. Chop 2 sweet potatoes into 1” chunks
9. Slice the red onion into ¼" slices.
10. Chop 4 stalks of celery into 4” pieces.
11. Chop 4 stalks of celery into ½-1” pieces.
12. Halve all of your red potatoes. Blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes or so (just to prep them for freezing...they don't have to be cooked all the way!). Slice 8 of the halves into ½" pieces.

Then, I set them all out buffet-style on my counter to make it easy to put everything together.

Step 6: Prep the meat

Not all of the meat needs to be cooked before you put it in the containers, but some do. Here's the order I followed...

1. Cook 6 slices of bacon.
2. Slice the smoked sausage into small pieces and brown.
3. Brown 2 lbs of Italian sausage.
4. Brown 6 lbs ground beef.

(Note: I did all of the first four steps in the same pot, one at a time of course. I left the grease in the pan after the bacon and sausages and then just drained it after the ground beef. Not a big deal if the grease mixes together, it just adds flavor! You will need the biggest pot you have for the ground beef.)

(Another note: Some readers have reported having extra ground beef left over. It's a little hard to estimate how much ground beef everyone will need because of different fat percentages. If your beef is leaner, I'd suggest going with closer to 5 pounds.)

5. Brown 1.25 pounds of ground turkey. (Leave a little bit of grease in the pan for the next step.)
6. Cut the large chuck roast in half and brown.
7. Slice 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts.
8. Halve 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts.
9. Slice 2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs.
10. Prepare the broths (You'll need 9 cups of beef broth and 12 cups of chicken broth. I just made mine in the microwave.)

Again, put the meats out buffet-style to make for easy assembly (preferably away from the veggies to avoid any cross-contamination).

Step 7: Put everything together!

Now the fun part! It's time to start assembling your meals.

You'll see below that I converted most of the assembly process into terms of tablespoons, cups, half cups, etc. It just makes it easier to deal with the cooked meat and chopped veggies. So, have a few measuring cups ready for scooping out and measuring your ingredients before you get started.

Here's what I put in each container:

Meals 1 & 2: Pulled Pork

Use half of the cooked pork for tonight's dinner and put the other half in a container. Freeze once cooled.

Cooking directions for the day you Serve the second meal

Thaw and serve.

Extra Ingredients Needed for Serve Day

• 1 pack hamburger buns
• 1 bag frozen French fries
• 1 bottle BBQ sauce

Side item: French fries

Meal 3: Asian Meatballs

In the freezer container:

• 1.25 lbs ground turkey (not cooked)
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon sesame oil
• ⅓ cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 pack frozen veggie stir fry

Directions for freezer prep

1. Mix all ingredients (except for stir fry) in a bowl and roll into 1” balls.
2. Freeze on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and transfer to a freezer bowl/bag once frozen (about 2 hours).
3. Add stir fry bag into the container with frozen meatballs and put the whole thing in the freezer.

Cooking directions for the day you Serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Add ½ cup soy sauce.
3. Add trivet and PIP container filled with 1.5 cups brown rice, 1.75 cups water.
4. Set Instant Pot on manual, high pressure, 15 minutes, NPR.

Extra Ingredients needed for Serve Day

• ½ cup soy sauce
• 1 bag brown rice

Side item: Brown rice

Meal 4: Balsamic & Brown Sugar Pork Chops

In the freezer container:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• ½ tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 ½ lbs bone-in pork chops

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set Instant Pot to manual, high pressure, 25 minutes, NPR.
3. Once cook cycle is over and pressure is released, remove a cup of sauce and stir in cornstarch.
4. Place slurry back in the pot, set Instant Pot to saute, bring to a boil to thicken (stir well) and remove from heat.

Extra ingredients needed for serve day

• 1 bag of steam-in-bag green beans
• 1 container mashed potatoes
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch

Side item: Green beans, mashed potatoes

Meals 5 & 6: Pot Roast

In the freezer containers:

(Note: You'll make a Container 1 and Container 2 for each meal, resulting in 4 total containers for this step.)

Container 1:

• Half of a 4-5 lb chuck roast, browned
• 2 cups beef broth
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 3 sprigs thyme

Container 2:

• 1 heaping cup sliced onions
• 1 cup 3-4″ sliced carrots
• 2 stalks of celery cut into 4″ pieces
• 12 potato halves

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Remove the contents of container 1 from the container (while still frozen). Turn on saute mode on your Instant Pot and saute your frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set IP on manual, high pressure, 90 minutes, NPR.
3. Once pressure is released, add the contents of container 2 and cook on high pressure for 10 more minutes, with a NPR.

(Note: This meal makes about 3 servings. If more servings are needed, cook both pot roast meals at once.)

Extra items needed for serve day: n/a

Side item: n/a (veggies included in the meal)

Meals 7 & 8: Beef Egg Roll Bowls

In each meal's container:

• 1 cup ground beef
• ⅔ cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Half of the coleslaw mix
• ¼ bag matchstick carrots
• Half of the mushrooms
• 2 tablespoon green onions
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• ¼ cup soy sauce

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute for 5 minutes.
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 6 min, QR.
3. Add about 7oz of rice noodles (half of the box) and 1 cup of water.
4. Set on manual, high pressure, 4 min, QR.
5. Stir in basil.

Extra items needed for serve day

• ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
• 14oz pack rice noodles

Side Item: Basil Rice Noodles

Meal 9: Italian Beef Sandwiches

In the freezer container:

• 3lb boneless chuck roast
• 10-12 pepperoncini peppers, plus ¼ cup juice from the jar
• 2 packs Italian dressing mix
• 2 cups beef broth

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute for 5 minutes.
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 100 minutes, NPR.
3. While meat is cooking, cut and combine fruits.
4. Shred cooked meat & serve on buns with cheese.

Extra items needed for serve day

• 1 pack hoagie buns
• 1 pack sliced provolone cheese
• 2 apples
• 2 cups grapes
• 1 pineapple

Side item: Fruit salad

Meal 10: Beef Ragu

In the freezer container:

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 lb boneless chuck roast
• 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 6oz can tomato paste

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 100 min, NPR.
3. After cooking, shred beef in sauce.
4. Cook grits according to package directions. Mix in parmesan and cheddar.
5. Serve ragu over cheese grits and top with parmesan cheese.

Extra items needed for serve day

• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• 3 slices American cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups Quick Cooking grits

Side Item: Cheese Grits

Meals 11 & 12: Veggie Beef Stew

In each meal's freezer container:

• ½ bag (12oz) frozen whole-kernel corn
• ½ bag (10oz) frozen cut green beans
• ½ 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• ½ chicken bouillon cube
• ½ tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 1 ½ cups cooked ground beef
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ½ 46 oz bottle Spicy V8 Juice

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 30 minutes, NPR.
3. Prepare cornbread according to package directions.

Extra items needed for serve day

1 pack of cornbread (with eggs/milk to prepare)

Side item: Cornbread

Meal 13: Ground Beef/Sausage Spaghetti

In the freezer container:

• 1 ½ cups cooked ground beef
• 1 ½ cups cooked Italian sausage
• 6oz can tomato paste
• 2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 cup beef broth

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Add 1 cup beef broth.
3. Set on manual, high pressure, 10 minutes, QR.
4. Add the rest of the broth and noodles and stir lightly.
5. Set for manual, high, 5 minutes, QR.
6. Toast frozen garlic bread.

Extra items needed for serve day

• 16oz spaghetti noodles
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 salad kit
• 1 box frozen garlic bread

Side Item: Garlic Bread, Salad

Meals 14 & 15: Zuppa Toscana

In each meal's freezer container:

• half of the sliced potatoes
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 ½ tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• ¾ cup cooked Italian sausage
• 1.5 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups kale

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 30 minutes, NPR.
3. Stir in 1 cup of heavy cream once cooking is completed.
4. Prepare biscuits according to package directions.

Extra items needed for serve day

• 1 pack cheddar garlic biscuit mix
• 1 8oz container heavy cream

Side item: Cheddar garlic biscuits

Meal 16: Beef & Bean Burritos

In the freezer container:

• 1.5 cups cooked ground beef
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup salsa
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• 2 cups dry pinto beans
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 55 minutes, NPR. (Note: this time cooks the beans, but doesn't make them very soft. If you want softer beans, add 5 minutes to this cook time.)
3. Add ⅓ cup filling to each burrito-sized tortilla. Top with cheese and roll.
4. Serve with chips and guacamole.

Extra items needed for serve day

• 1 pack burrito-sized tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 bag tortilla chips
• 1 container guacamole

Side item: Chips & guacamole

Meals 17 & 18: Turkey & Sweet Potato Chili

In each meal's freezer container:

• half of the cooked ground turkey
• half of the diced sweet potatoes
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ½ can chickpeas
• ½ can chili beans
• 10oz can Rotel
• 14 oz of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 pack of chili seasoning

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set Instant Pot on manual, high pressure, 30 minutes, NPR.
3. Prepare cornbread according to package directions.
4. Top soup with cheese, sour cream, and green onions.

Extra items needed for serve day

• shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4-5 green onions, chopped
• 1 package cornbread mix (with eggs/milk to prepare)

Side item: Soup toppings, cornbread

(Here, I suggest taking a break! I was exhausted by this point in the process...it probably took 3-4 hours to do everything so far, so if you're like me and powered through all of this, you deserve a few minutes off of your feet.)

Meals 19 & 20: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

In each meal's freezer container:

• half of the cooked 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 of diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set Instant Pot to manual, high pressure, 15 minutes, QR.
3. Add rice and chicken broth. Stir lightly.
4. Set on manual, high pressure, 8 minutes, NPR.

Extra items needed for serve day

• 1 cup white rice
• 1.25 cups chicken broth

Side item: n/a

Meals 21 & 22: Taco Soup

In each meal's freezer container:

• 1 cup cooked 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 the day you serve

1. Add 2 cups of water and frozen meal to the Instant Pot.
2. Set Instant Pot to manual, high pressure, 30 minutes, NPR.
3. Prepare cornbread according to package directions.
4. Chop red onion.
5. Serve soup topped with cheese, onion, sour cream, chips, and/or cornbread.

Extra items needed for serve day

• 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

Meal 23: Broccoli Cheese Soup

In the freezer 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 the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set Instant Pot to manual, high pressure, 10 minutes, NPR.
3. After cooking, puree the mixture with an immersion blender.
4. Add cream and cheddar. Stir well.
5. Serve with ham and cheese sandwiches made from other serve day ingredients.

Extra items needed for serve day

• 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

Meals 24 & 25: Chicken Stir Fry

In each meal's freezer container:

• ¼ of the sliced chicken thighs
• small handful of sliced bell pepper
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• ½ bag frozen broccoli florets
• ½ cup sliced carrots
• ⅔ cup sliced onion
• ½ cup teriyaki sauce
• ¼ cup chicken broth

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Add trivet and PIP container filled with 1.5 cups brown rice and 1.75 cups water.
3. Set Instant Pot to manual, high pressure, 15 minutes, NPR.

Extra item needed for serve day

1.5 cups brown rice

Side item: brown rice

Meals 26 & 27: Chicken Curry

In each meal's freezer container:

• ¼ of the sliced chicken thighs
• ⅔ cup chopped onion
• ½ cup sliced carrots
• 8 potato halves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 cup chicken broth

Cooking directions for the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set on manual, high pressure, 10 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 pressure, 8 minutes, NPR.
5. Add can of coconut milk to curry and stir well.

Extra item needed for serve day

1.5 cups white rice

Side item: White rice

Meals 28 & 29: Chicken Tacos

In each meal's freezer 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 the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes.
2. Set Instant Pot to manual, high pressure, 20 minutes, NPR.
3. Once the cook cycle is over and pressure is released, shred the chicken with forks.
4. Heat beans and prepare the box of rice.

Extra item needed for serve day

• tortillas and/or taco shells
• cheddar cheese
• lettuce
• tomatoes
• salsa
• 28oz can of refried beans
• 1 box Spanish rice

Side item: Spanish rice & beans

Meals 30 & 31: Hawaiian Chicken

In each meal's freezer 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 the day you serve

1. Saute frozen meal for 5 minutes (add liquid if needed...there's not a lot in this recipe).
2. Set Instant Pot to 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 Instant Pot to manual, high, 8 minutes, NPR.

Extra items needed for meal (side item): 1.5 cups white rice

Meals 32 & 33: Chicken Fajitas

In each meal's freezer 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 the day you serve

1. Add 1 cup chicken broth and frozen meal to the Instant Pot.
2. Set Instant Pot to manual, 13 minutes, high pressure, NPR.
3. Cut lettuce and tomato to serve with fajitas.

Extra item needed for serve day

• tortillas
• cheese
• salsa
• lettuce
• tomato

Side item: n/a

You're officially done! Enjoy over a month you have of easy, stress-free dinners. 🎉

Tips & Tricks (PLEASE READ!)

VERY IMPORTANT: The reason I have the instructions to sauté the frozen meal for 5 minutes at the beginning of most of these recipes is because you have to have liquid in the pot for it to come to pressure.

If you sauté the recipe for 5 minutes and still don't see about a cup of liquid at the bottom of the pot, add enough water to make at least a cup of liquid. If you'd rather just skip the sauté step and add the cup of water/broth instead, go ahead...just know your meal might be a little more watery!

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. 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.

You will need broth while preparing your Instant Pot freezer meals and while cooking them. I have a pack of beef bullion and chicken bullion cubes included in the grocery list for this reason.

I also love Better Than Bullion bases. In my other freezer meals, I simply add some of this to the meal before freezing and add water when I'm ready to cook, letting me skip the saute step I discussed above.

NPR stands for natural pressure release. That means, instead of immediately releasing the pressure from your Instant Pot after the cooking time is up, give it about 10 minutes to release on its own. Then, flip the nozzle and release the pressure (careful though...that's pressurized steam coming out!)

QR stands for quick release.  That means you release the pressure and open the pot as soon as the cooking time is over.

If you're reading my cooking labels, you'll often see that the directions look like this: "manual, high pressure, 100 minutes, NPR." That means you'll use the manual setting on your Instant Pot to put in 100 minutes yourself, then let the pot have a natural pressure release (for about 10 minutes) after the pot beeps when that 100-minute cycle is over.

PIP stands for Pot in Pot cooking. That means you're cooking two dishes at the same time by stacking a separate pot on top of a trivet in the inner pot.

It's a great way to cook rice, veggies, or several other different types of side dishes!

Here's how I do it: insert the trivet that comes with your instant pot, putting the legs on either side of whatever you're cooking in the bottom of the pot. Then, put your pot-in-pot dish (I use a cake pan similar to this one and it works great for the recipes I've listed) on top of the trivet and add whatever you're cooking. Seal the lid and cook away! The cook times for the PIP cooking are all included in my meal labels above.

You will set the same time on your Instant Pot for frozen and non-frozen meals.  So, let's say there's a meal or two you decide not to freeze and just store in the fridge for a day or two. Don't adjust your cooking time!

I know that seems kind of weird, but the pressurizing process thaws your frozen meal. The time that it takes your pot to come to pressure will be much longer for frozen meals (I found it to be around 20-25 minutes for a frozen meal, depending on the size of what's frozen, as opposed to 5-10 minutes usually for a non-frozen dish).

These recipes will make the veggies in your meal fairly soft. If you like your veggies a little more on the firm side, there's one easy revision to the process above.

Instead of putting everything in 1 big container, place your veggies in a separate smaller zip bag inside of your freezer meal container. Add them to the pot when there are 10-15 minutes left on the cooking time. I skipped that step because my family doesn't mind the veggies being soft and it's one less thing to do. 😉

Make sure to stir the ingredients in the freezer container before freezing.  If meats or other dense ingredients are frozen together, they tend to be more difficult to thaw in the pressurizing process, making that process longer and potentially leading to undercooked meat. Nobody wants that!

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