We feel like we’ve heard it all when it comes to why someone thinks they can’t freezer cook. As lovers of freezer cooking, we’re often touting the benefits of this style of cooking to our friends and families – I mean, why wouldn’t we want to share something that helps us keep our sanity and have a daily answer to the dreaded question, “what’s for dinner?”.
But often times those conversations turn into excuses about why that person can’t freezer cook – and there are a million and one excuses they’ll bring up along the way.
We’re here to help dispel these limiting beliefs and dispute the most common reasons people share with us so that you know that you, too, can reap the benefits of freezer cooking!
Here are our answers to 8 of the most common freezer cooking excuses!
1. I don’t have the time.
Probably the most common reason we hear is that they just don’t have the amount of time needed to freezer cook. And we get it – life is busy. Between work, family, social things, maybe even a hobby or two thrown in there, it doesn’t seem like there is much time for anything!
But, for the average person, freezer cooking can actually save you time in the kitchen! Let’s think about this – what are the issues you are trying to solve? Planning and making dinner every night, which is a draw on your time and energy (and brain power).
Have you ever packed up a great lunch and set out all the things you need to leave the house the night before a big day? When morning comes, everything is ready for you, and all you have to do is the simplest part – grab your stuff and get out the door. Freezing cooking is like this – you do the majority of the work ahead of time so the day of, you just do the easy part – heat and eat!
And let’s be clear – you do NOT need to cook a month’s worth of meals all at once. ANY amount of cooking ahead you do will be saving you time in the future on those busy days where the last thing on your mind is what’s for dinner. There are many ways to shorten your time in the kitchen on cooking day, but our favorite is the Mini Meal Plan (You can try one for free at the bottom of this page!) When you can pack 10 or more meals into the freezer in an afternoon, that is a WIN!
What if you don’t even have 30 minutes for something to cook in the oven when you need dinner? That’s okay! We have a wide range of recipes that you cook fully before freezing so on the day you want to eat, just thaw and reheat.
Ultimately, you will thank yourself for having dinner prepared ahead of time so you can spend that hour each night doing more of what matters most to you, since dinner is already taken care of!
You say, “Why should I freezer cook?” I say, do it because it will SAVE you time!
Want to learn more about how freezer cooking can actually save you time? Check out these articles:
How to Save 30 Hours a Month with Freezer Cooking
How to Save Time on Freezer Cooking Day
2. I try to eat healthy, but freezer meals are mostly casseroles and canned foods.
Not true at all! We have SO MANY healthy meal plans and recipes available to all of our members.
Take a look at some of our recipes. Our meal plans include Real Food, Paleo, Gluten Free Dairy Free, Diet, Keto, Vegan/Plant Based, Diabetes Friendly, and so much more. These plans focus on the regular sale cycles, but also on fresh, seasonal produce. You can read a short description of each of the categories for our recipes here.
With over 13,500 recipes to choose from (and over 1,300 meal plans ready and waiting for you), you have more variety than you’re going to know what to do with! We’re talking recipes you make on the grill or in your Instant Pot, recipes that you can take camping and cook over a fire, recipes for snacks, breakfasts, desserts, smoothies, and SO much more!
Once you start talking to more people who freezer cook, you might be surprised to find that a large percentage of them are health nuts bent on encouraging one another to eat better!
You say, “Why should I freezer cook?” I say, because it will help you to eat a wide variety of healthy foods!
At Once A Month Meals, you are in full control. Do we have recipes that are casseroles and include canned items? Yep, but that is just a small portion of what we offer.
Balsamic Steak Roll Ups – freezer meal!
Spicy Pork Loin with Pineapple Upside Down Jam – freezer meal!
Cashew and Tempeh Salad – freezer meal!
3. No really! I’m allergic to ______, so I can’t find any recipes.
We are committed to providing freezable recipes to everyone, including those with food allergies, sensitivities, or special diets.
With a Membership, you can easily search our database of over 13,500 recipes to find the ones that meet your needs. We have recipe categories like AIP, GAPS, Low FODMAP, Big 8 Allergen Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Shellfish Free, Soy Free, and more to support people who eat in certain ways.
Freezer cooking is the perfect way to remove the panic of cooking allergen free meals 3 times a day, 365 days a year. You can even package allergy friendly freezer meals in single servings to take with you when you eat away from home.
4. It is really just too much food. I’m afraid it will all go to waste.
Let’s be real. Freezer meals aren’t going to spoil anytime in the next 3-6 months!
Can you really tell me there won’t be a time – ever – in the next 3 months when you need a quick meal, or need to feed extra people, or take a dish to a potluck, or a meal to give to a new mom or someone else who is in need?
Do you ever buy something intending to cook it, and then end up throwing it away because life got so busy that you never got around to it? Maybe something was on sale, so you stocked up. But then you couldn’t use it all before it went bad so it ended up in the trash.
Freezer cooking actually helps you plan ahead and utilize everything you bring home from the store, so you waste less. Shopping with an organized grocery list also helps you save money.
You say, “Why should I freezer cook?” I say, because it will help you stop eating out! And we all know THAT will save you money.
Also keep in mind, you don’t have to cook for an army! When cooking our recipes, you choose how many servings, even if it is only one or two. No multiplying, dividing or converting necessary. Simply choose a number and our software updates all of your documents with one click. Only need a few meals each week? Cook a Mini Meal Plan or create a custom meal plan.
5. I’m not a good cook. I’m helpless in the kitchen.
None of us are pros either! We write our recipes and meal plans for the average cook.
Before you even start cooking, you will work through our prep list so that every ingredient is chopped and ready to go when you cook. Each meal plan comes with detailed recipe cards for each meal, including how to portion, freeze, and thaw. We even give you cooking day instructions that give you a step by step process to maximize your efficiency and finish your freezer cooking meal plan.
If you are still stuck, don’t worry! You can check the blog for Helpful Hints and Kitchen Tips. Or click the orange icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the page to send a message with the Once A Month Meals staff. You just might learn something!
6. Freezer cooking is so complicated. I’m really confused.
We designed Once A Month Meals to simplify freezer cooking. And freezer cooking simplifies your everyday routine by completing the biggest daily chore all in one day. We love simple. And if you are feeling a little lost, please let us know so we can help!
If all of the choices and variety are too complicated, then start with a Mini Meal Plan. Start with a Traditional Meal Plan. You don’t have to create complicated custom meal plans unless you want to. We have hundreds of meal plans ready to go. Just print your documents (you don’t even have to make a grocery list, we do that for you!), prep, cook, freeze, and then enjoy!
7. I like to meal plan and shop weekly.
If that works for you, great! You can still freezer cook weekly!
If a short term meal plan works better for your schedule or budget, keep in mind that you don’t always have to cook a whole month’s worth of food at once! Mini Meal Plans are perfect for short term meal planning. You will prep 10 meals total, so you can stick 5 meals in the refrigerator for the first week, and put the other 5 into the freezer for the following week. Once you have cooked your meals you don’t have to think about it again!
You say, Why should I freezer cook?” I say, because planning ahead always helps you stay sane in this crazy life!
8. I like the idea of freezer cooking, but I just can’t make it work. I don’t know where to start! I’m overwhelmed!
Take a breath. And then just try it!
New things are always a little bit scary, but it gets easier the more you do it.
Set aside a day on your calendar. Peruse our Get Started Series. Sign up for a Once A Month Meals membership and choose a meal plan that looks yummy.
Better yet, sign up for a FREE Membership so you can get an idea of what our recipes look like. Try the whole thing before you buy (just keep in mind that you cannot customize serving sizes or recipes on the free plans, but members can! The free meal plans are just a sample to get you started.)
Yes, freezer cooking is a commitment, but one with a huge payoff. We have done all of the hard work of creating the meal plans, the documents, and even expert advice. All you have to do is give it a solid try. Just know we’re here to help you as you need it!
We will hold your hand. You can do this!
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.
15 Comments
Join the discussionGreat suggestions but my reason for not freezer cooking is because most freezer meals are created for 4-6 hours in a crock pot. I am gone from my house for closer to 10. The food is dried out. Any suggestions?
Oh, interesting! Does your slow cooker not have a “keep warm” setting once the meal is done cooking? I have left my pot on for 8-10 hours easily. You might also like an Instant Pot – you can cook from frozen once you get home! It also has a slow cooker function and will keep food warm once done cooking!!
Do you mean your crockpot automatically switches to the Keep Warm setting after a certain amount of time? i have 2. rock pots (1 older and 1 newer). both units have a Keep Warm setting but i need to manually change it to that setting.
i have the same problem as Mary. i am routinely gone for up to 12 hours.
Hi Debbie, some crockpots switch to keep warm after they have completed their programmed amount of cooking time. If you don’t have one- they are well worth investing in one! They aren’t terribly expensive – maybe $30.
My reason for not doing more freezer cooking is because I am feeding a family of 10! Most recipes adjusted to serve 8 are the correct amount, but seriously, that is a lot of food! When I tried it before, it was very difficult to cook such large amounts at one time. 10 or 12 meals, times 16 servings (enough to serve each meal twice). My pots and pans were not big enough to accommodate the 16 servings for some dishes and it just became overwhelming. I tried dividing the menus up and just cooking a few dishes each day over the course of several days/ That worked a little better, but still, there were plenty of kinks to work out because of the amount of servings I am dealing with.
My suggestion is to start with a recipe or two for the craziest meal of your day. If it is breakfast, then try making breakfast burritos or muffins and see if it works for you. Then move to another meal and try doubling a recipe or throwing some extra meat on the grill. Freezer cooking is really a mindset. If you see something yummy on clearance, grab it separate it into the portion sizes you need it and freeze.
Great suggestions!
I haven’t tried freezer cooking yet because of my picky eater. My oldest is on the spectrum and textures really bother him. He is a creature of habit so new foods are difficult to introduce without making dinner time a stressful endeavor. However, with a new stand alone freezer coming in 30 minutes (yay!), I’m thinking I will try some meals every few days, find the ones he likes, and freeze them in individual servings for nights I make other freezer meals he won’t eat. Gotta start somewhere, right? Having four kids with picky palates, a hubby on bypass restrictions, and myself daring to try the Whole30, I’m going to need all the help I can get!
Good luck and feel free to hop into chat when you have questions!
This method of cooking is great if you actually have at least 30 mins a day to cook on days that you work….which is what I need. If you work 12 hour shifts, eat dinner at 3 pm or 3 am and you don’t have a schedule that actually allows you to eat at home, much less prepare it, this will not work. I need ALL of my meals precooked and ready to throw in the microwave at work so I can wolf it down in the scant 15 mins I end up with to actually eat!
Hi Lori, We still think freezer cooking could work for you. What we would suggest is prepping what we call ready to eat meals. These meals only require thaw/reheat on serving day so you don’t actually have to cook them. These would be pre-cooked meals as you mentioned is what what you need/are looking for. You can check out all of our ready to eat meal recipes below. Hope this helps!
https://onceamonthmeals.com/recipes/?serving_day=Easy+Assembly%2FReady+to+Eat
I haven’t freezer cooked yet, because my freezer is tiny and I don’t have the space to store the food.
Kristin, you might find this blog post helpful! https://onceamonthmeals.com/blog/series/get-started/get-started-using-an-apartment-refrigerator-freezer-for-once-a-month-cooking/
Even one of our OAMM staffers freezer cooks in a tiny apartment with a small freezer. Feel free to hop into live chat to ask for tips and tricks. 😉
I have a lot of meat (beef, chicken and por that is already frozen….that I would like to make freezer meals with…not sure if thawing and refreezing is the way to go?
Hi Christine! We wouldn’t recommend thawing and then refreezing unless you are incorporating the meat in a different way – i.e.cooking it and then adding to a freezer meal. The good news is that you can take the already frozen meat and simply package it with the freezer meal you wish to create!