10 Meals in an Hour™: Part 3
Need simple dinner solutions for busy weeknights? This awesome 10 Meals in an Hour guide will help you plan your meals quickly and stay organized!
As you all probably know by now, I am pretty much hooked on easy recipes that taste great and don’t take a lot of time, effort, or expensive ingredients to throw together. As a busy mom, I also want meals that can be made and frozen ahead of time to save time on hectic weeknights, especially as part of a Sunday Prep plan. My goal is to spend less time in the kitchen, not more, but I still want to be able to provide tasty meals that my family loves!
Over the past few months I have shared two different 10 Meals in an Hour™ plans, which have each included 5 great freezer recipes that can be prepared together in about sixty minutes. They have both been a huge hit, not only with my own family, but with many of your families as well, and I’ve loved hearing how much you all are enjoying these tasty recipes.
Today I am super excited to share this Comfort Foods Edition of 10 Freezer Meals in One Hour, which includes five delicious home-cooked meals that are perfect for fall.
As usual, in order to make the cut, each recipe must meet ALL of the following criteria:
- Deemed delicious by both my kids and husband
- No pre-cooking required (aside from browning ground beef)
- Freezer friendly
- Easy to cook
- Uses budget-friendly ingredients and pantry staples
In this one post you will find everything you need to prep 10 awesome freezer meals in about an hour of hands-on time (not including grocery shopping.) Just think, in just one quick weekend session you could have almost two weeks worth of absolutely delicious, family-friendly meals all ready to go!
Before you begin, you will need to gather your tools & supplies and also make sure that you have all your groceries on hand. I find it is easiest to go grocery shopping the day before I do my cooking. To save time unloading, only put away the items that need to be refrigerated. Finally, make sure your kitchen counters are cleared of clutter and sanitized and empty your dishwasher and sink of any dishes.
10 Meals in an Hour™: Part 3
Here are the five recipes we will be making:
- Grandma’s Sloppy Joe’s
- Herb Roasted Chicken Breast
- Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Easy Tomato Parmesan Chicken
- Slow Cooked Pork Tenderloin
Here are the supplies you will need:
- 10 gallon size zipper freezer bags
- Avery 8163 shipping labels or permanent marker
- large mixing bowl
- cutting board
- sharp knife
- garlic press
- can opener
- dry measuring cups
- liquid measuring cups
- dry measuring spoons
- liquid measuring spoons
- 12 inch frying pan
Here are the ingredients you will need:
Produce
- 14 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch Fresh parsley (optional)
- 2 large sweet onions
- 2 16oz bags baby carrots (optional; only needed for cooking day, not for prep)
- 4 pounds baby red potatoes (optional; only needed for cooking day, not for prep)
Pantry Staples
- Olive oil
- Seasoned salt
- Black pepper
- Dried minced onion
- Chili powder
- Brown sugar
- Apple cider vinegar
- Ketchup
- Worcestershire sauce
- Soy sauce
- Dried Italian seasoning
- Dried thyme
- Dried rosemary
- Dried ground sage
- Dried oregano
Canned/Dry Goods
- 1 24 oz jar tomato/pasta sauce (I like Ragu)
- 2 15 oz cans diced Italian tomatoes
- 2 boxes dry pasta, your choice (only needed for cooking day, not for prep)
- 1 can chicken gumbo soup
- 1 can tomato rice soup
- 4 envelopes dry onion soup mix
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups Red wine
- 2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 2 cans condensed cream of celery soup
Dairy
- Shredded parmesan cheese
- Shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
Meat
- 2-2-3 pound pork tenderloin roasts
- 3-4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- 8 bone-in chicken breasts with skin
- 2-3-5 pound chuck roasts
- 4 pounds ground beef
Bread
- 2 packages of hamburger buns (only needed for cooking day, not for prep)
Deli
- 1 package deli coleslaw (optional; only needed for cooking day, not for prep)
Be sure to print the following recipes:
PREP
- Prep your bags—either print labels using these ready-made printable labels or use a permanent marker to label each bag with the name of the recipe, date prepared, and cooking instructions. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! While you might think that you’ll remember what is in every bag, I promise you will forget!
- Brown ground beef and set aside
- Chop onion and set aside
- Chop parsley and set aside
- Peel garlic and set aside, (or mince if not using garlic press, then set aside.)
- Prep chicken if necessary
PREPARE
- Prep Grandma’s Sloppy Joes using instructions found here. (Use only 1 cup or about half of the already chopped onion.) Divide mixture into 2 freezer bags, press out excess air, and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Prep Easy Freezer Pot Roast using instructions found here. Place meat into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Prep Easy Slow Cooked Pork Tenderloin using instructions found here. (Use remaining chopped onion.) Place meat into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Prep Easy Herb Roasted Chicken Breasts using instructions found here. Place chicken into 2 freezer bags and cover with marinade, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Prep Tomato Parmesan Chicken using instructions found here. Place chicken into 2 freezer bags and cover with cream cheese mixture, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
- Once all prep is complete, place all bags in freezer until needed. After you’ve made your meal plan for the coming week, consider setting an alert on your phone to remind you to take your bag out to thaw the day before you plan to make it!
Want more 10 Meals in an Hour? Check out the entire series!
- 10 Meals in an Hour
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 2
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 3
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 4
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 5
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 6
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 7
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 8
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 9
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 10
- 10 Meals in an Hour Part 11
OH YOU MADE MORE RECIPES FOR US!!!! I am so thankful! I have loved your freezer meals as has my family. You are a rockstar! Thank you for helping us make meal planning easier. I know those printable take time but I truly appreciate it. These will be on my list for this coming week.
P.S. I bought a chest freezer as I was running out of room. My husband has been wanting one for awhile and I was holding off. Now I needed it!
Thanks Emily for this
This is SOOOOO AWESOME!!!!! We have already done the other 2 plans and LOVE them!! SO EXCITED to see another one!!!!!! Thank you!!!!! Such a lifesaver!!!!!!!
I’m trying to get my boyfriend back on track and off the fast food. So these would be great to keep at his house. Thanks for sharing!
What can I substitute for the red wine? I am not a wine person.
Thanks,
You could substitute beef or chicken broth, but it won’t have quite the same flavor. If you are worried about any alcohol it does cook out of the food! 🙂
I have been wanting to do this AND blog about it, but I just haven’t found the time. Maybe I can do it while watching football with the family on a Sunday.
Thank you so much for sharing!
That’s a great idea! The hardest part is just deciding to do it, but once you’ve tried it you’ll be hooked! 🙂
You are definitely my favorite facebook page!! You are so helpful and crafty when it comes to saving time and money. Thank you for tsking the time to share ☺
Your facebook page is definitely my favorite!! You are so smart and crafty with time and money management !! Thank you for sharing ☺
I know food costs vary region to region, but do you know how much you spent for these 10 meals? I’m trying to get a handle on what I spend each week at the grocery store. I know freezer cooking can save money in that the food is already prepared and it would stop me from ordering pizza at 5pm. But do you find it saves more money than just buying the ingredients and putting together fresh? Thanks for the help! Love your website!
I spent around $100 in a special trip to the store, and the bulk of that cost was for meat and produce. We had many of the pantry staples already on hand because we try to stock up on things when they are on sale. Hope that helps! 🙂
Why is the can of chicken gumbo soup and tomato rice soup on the shopping list?
Kellie, because they were used in the Sloppy Joe recipe. I got all mine in the freezer this evening, and that Sloppy Joe tasted pretty good when I licked the spoon! Anxious to see how we like all of these.
I have never seen chicken gumbo or tomato rice soup at my grocery store. I’m going to check again just to make sure I didn’t overlook them but in case they don’t carry them, what would you suggest I use instead?
I love this post. It’s so important to freeze meals for future nights, but I don’t do it nearly enough. I needed this reminder!! And these recipes look delish! thanks so much 🙂
Do you have any lists like this but for freezer to crock pot. I’d really like to find some simple recipes I could just take out of the freezer before work then through them in the crock pot and when I walk in the door it smells so yummy!
Brandy, at lease some of these ARE crockpot – just thaw overnight, then put on to cook in the morning.
This is a life saver for me!!! Thank you so much putting in the time an effort for these. 🙂
Please please create more of these plans — they are amazing! Thank you.
Great post. I really need to do this. Those printables rock too!
We LOVE your freezer meals plans. I spent $55 on 26# of meat, plus limes & root beer for the entire 10 entrees. I could only find one large pork shoulder so I cooked that all at once. The first meal was traditional BBQ on rolls. The second meal was BBQ nachos suggested to me by one of the employees at Trader Joes. Both meals got two thumbs up from the fam. My husband and I did all the prep together; he butterflied the gigantic chicken breasts and ran the vacuum sealer. We actually enjoyed our “kitchen date” and plan to do it again on next week’s Sunday Prep. I just love your blog. Thank you for providing such terrific ideas for restoring our sanity and for saving us time and money!
I love these meals! Thank you so much! I’m signed up for Once A Month Meals but your delivery of instructions and recipes and such is much more appealing to me. I appreciate all of the hard work you do to make these. Can’t wait for more!
I just made these and am so grateful for this post! I did notice a few things that may be errors or I may have missed something. (1) I didn’t see where a stand/hand mixer was used. (2) It wasn’t very clear that the coleslaw was for the sloppy joes. (3) The mozzarella cheese doesn’t say “for cooking day” (4) For the chicken parmesan it says 15 oz can Italian tomatoes on the shopping list, but on the recipe it calls for 2 cans diced tomatoes (5) The recipes call for 6 cups chicken broth, not 8, (6) I could not find where cayenne pepper is used. I just thought I would mention these things to see if they might need to be fixed. Thanks again!
I made these recipes today and noticed the exact same things. It’s fine to have the extra cayenne pepper, cheese, and broth. But I was in a small pinch not having enough tomatoes.
Thanks Emily! We will get those corrected ASAP!
Hi! Have been sharing these with a friend and we’ve enjoyed them. Does anyone else have trouble printing the labels? The page prints shifted up and so the label break is in the wrong place. I’d love to fix the printing issue as the friend I make them for doesn’t always realize what she has defrosted! (The name from the label below appears on the label above – very confusing!)
any guidance would be appreciated!
I use avery 15265, which are full size label sheets (8 1/2 x 10) and they work perfectly. You will have to cut them to separate but its quick and easy. Eliminates being frustrated and wasting labels trying to get it to work correctly. 🙂
*sorry- i meant 8 1/2 x 11
Just waned to tell you how awesome your blog is!! You are an inspiration. I’ve also read your book and keep it handy for quick reference. I can’t thank you enough for sharing your knowledge and talent with the world. Kate
very good
very very goood tnx dear admin
I made #1 a couple weeks ago, but my husband thought #3 sounded better for our second round. My daughter and I threw these together in an hour last night, and they all look amazing. This has been a game changer for our Sunday preps! Thank you so much for the ideas!
What is the pasta for? I made everything on here but haven’t found the pasta part
Which recipe calls for the sage?
The Herb Roasted Chicken. 🙂
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your website by accident, and I’m shocked why this twist of fate did not took place in advance! I bookmarked it.
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your website by accident, and I’m shocked why this twist of fate did not took place in advance! I bookmarked it.