On March 13, 2024 by Once a Month Meals

There is so much to do before the baby arrives! Set up furniture, wash cute baby clothes, organize all the socks and shoes for every person in your house….ok maybe that last one isn’t strictly necessary, but it feels like it to a nesting momma! Not to mention you may have big kids to care for, a job, activities – or maybe this is your very first time and you just don’t know what to expect. Wherever you fall, prepping freezer meals before the baby arrives can calm the nerves of any expectant mom.

You may just be thinking, “Great, another thing to do! When am I going to find time for that?” But we promise this is well worth it. Nourishing yourself and taking care of your people are both super important, and pizza or the drive-thru just isn’t going to cut it in the long term. So to make life easy:

We have compiled a list of 50 EASY freezer meals to prep before the baby arrives.

We know you don’t want to be standing for a long time and you don’t have hours to spend in the grocery store. We have you covered!

Here are some of the criteria we used to create this list:

Dump and Go on Freezer Cooking Day

This means you only have to chop, measure, and dump in the bag. No cooking required! You might need to precook some meats, but when you do it in bulk, it isn’t bad. You can just throw them in the slow cooker or Instant Pot for hands-off prep!

Short Ingredient List

The shorter the better! That means less time in the grocery store, less time chopping, and ultimately less time in the kitchen! Win!

Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Preferred

Many of these recipes make use of the slow cooker on the day you serve it. But we also tried to pick as many recipes that had Instant Pot versions as well, so if you have one, you can choose that option. Because freezer cooking and the Instant Pot are a match made in heaven!

Simple, Tasty Comfort Foods

These are our family favorites! Delicious, but nothing super duper fancy. However, if your family has more specific dietary needs or you know you will need to avoid certain foods while nursing, you can create your own custom meal plan using the same criteria we used to search for recipes in our MenuBuilder database.

So without further delay….

50 Freezer Meals to Prep Before Baby Arrives

Chicken

1. Maple Mustard Chicken (Instant Pot Version)
2. Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken (Instant Pot Version)
3. Chicken, Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash (Instant Pot Version)
4. Slow Cooker White Bean Chicken Chili (Instant Pot Version)
5. Chicken and Rice Pilaf
6. Slow Cooker Pineapple Pepper Chicken Stew (Instant Pot Version)
7. Italian Grilled Chicken Breasts
8. Baked Chicken Burgers
9. Paleo Jalapeno Chicken Burgers
10. Quick and Easy Freezable Chicken Tacos
    

Beef

1. French Dip Sandwiches (Instant Pot Version)
2. Mom’s Sloppy Joes
3. Slow Cooker Thai Beef (Instant Pot Version)
4. Granny’s Italian Beef (Instant Pot Version)
5. Korean Shredded Beef Tacos
6. Vegetable Soup (Instant Pot Version)
7. Johnny Marzetti with Cheesy Noodles (Instant Pot Version)
8. OAMM’s Favorite Beef Pot Roast (Instant Pot Version)
9. Ranch Cheddar Burgers
10. Pineapple Beef Teriyaki (Instant Pot Version)

Pork

1. Rosemary Balsamic Pork Tenderloin (Instant Pot Version)
2. Raspberry Glazed Pork Chops
3. Slow Cooker Apple Cherry Pork Loin (Instant Pot Version)
4. Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Chops (Instant Pot Version)
5. Apple Pie Pork Chops (Instant Pot Version)
6. Root Beer Pulled Pork (Instant Pot Version)
7. BBQ Meatloaf (Instant Pot Version)
8. Slow Cooker Carnitas (Instant Pot Version)
9. Mexican Pork and Sweet Potato Stew (Instant Pot Version)
10. Slow Cooker Jerk Pork (Instant Pot Version)

Vegetarian

1. Aloha Vegetarian Burgers
2. Sweet Corn Pot Pie
3. Vegan Fresh Veggie Pizza
4. Super Easy Freezer Bean Burritos
5. Twice Baked Walnut Broccoli Sweet Potatoes
6. Slow Cooker Coconut Tofu Curry (Instant Pot Version)
7. Grilled Greek Kebabs
8. Slow Cooker Stuffed Acorn Squash
9. African Coconut Chickpea Soup (Instant Pot Version)
10. Sriracha Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos

Instant Pot

1. Instant Pot Citrus Herb Chicken
2. Instant Pot Mama Rita’s Meatballs
3. Instant Pot Potato Soup
4. Instant Pot Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili
5. Instant Pot Cheeseburger Meatball Sandwiches
6. Instant Pot Veggie Taco Chili with Brown Rice
7. Instant Pot Tangy Beef Stroganoff
8. Instant Pot Tomato Soup
9. Instant Pot Orange Infused Steel Cut Oats
10. Instant Pot Tender Braised Short Ribs

If you want to create a meal plan out of some of these freezer meals before the baby arrives, consider signing up for a free membership.

Create a no-credit-card-needed OAMM membership account to explore and see if OAMM is the right fit for YOU!

You’ll be able to:

• search the 13,500+ freezer recipe database with hundreds of filters available.
• build and save for later use up to 3 meal plans of 5 recipes each.
• favorite recipes you find and want to try later or have cooked and love.
• view nutritional data of each recipe.

*For more information on paid vs free membership check this out.

Simply search for the recipes you want to cook by name. Remember, each recipe is doubled, so if you choose 5 recipes, you will end up with 10 meals. For more instructions, read about Creating a Custom Freezer Meal Plan.