Monday, August 4, 2014

20 Ground Beef Meals for the Freezer are as easy as 1-2-3-4


Having a stockpile of freezer meals is invaluable especially when you get sick for a few days, are having surgery, had a baby, or don’t feel like cooking. 

Freezer meals are also a great strategy for saving money (when foods are bought or grown in bulk,) saving you prep time, and feeding our families nutritious home-cooked food.

I can cook up to 5 pounds of ground beef at time in my large cast iron skillet.  A little less if I have veggies to add to the beef.   

I cook it in these types of combos:


1 -- Ground Beef with Onions 
(2/3 cup diced onions per pound of ground beef)

2 -- Ground Beef with Onions Celery and Carrots
 (3/4 cup diced of each veggie per pound of ground beef)

3 -- Ground Beef with Onions and Green Peppers
(2/3 cup each diced veggie per pound of ground beef)


4 -- Ground Beef, Plain

The veggie amounts don't always line up exactly with the recipes I have below but they are close enough that it doesn't matter.

OK, so now you've got your ground beef mixes cooked.  Now what?

You can either freeze them just as meat and veggies.   If you cook 5 pounds, divide it 5 ways, 4 pounds in 4 bags, etc. You can make some of the dishes they belong to and then freeze them.  It all depends on how much time you have now or will have later.   I tend to do a little of both.  

If you freeze, the best way is a vacuum sealer system.  It keeps away the ice crystals and funky flavor you can get from the freezer.  You can use plain freezer bags but but sure to push out as much air as you can. 

Ready to cook your meals now? Maybe you've just pulled one out of the freezer to thaw for supper.

What can you make with ground beef and onions?





What can you make with ground beef and onions, celery, and carrots?



What can you make with ground beef with onions and green peppers?









What can you make with just ground beef?

(you can also use ground beef with green peppers and/or onions)






There you have it!  20 easy ways to use ground beef and put away some meals for the freezer.

15 comments:

  1. All of these dishes are family favorites and comforting. Blessings, Catherine

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  2. All sound so good and totally pinned to try a few of use soon. Thanks :)

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  3. My word, what a collection! Shared globally, and can't wait to make a bunch of these myself. Carrie, A Mother's Shadow

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  4. I love this great collection Jenny. Anytime I can put food away in the freezer for a quick meal in the future is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Shari

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  5. Jenny,

    I too love cooking up my ground beef and freezing it. It truly saves time! Thanks for sharing!
    Blessings,
    Diane Roark

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  6. Yum x 5 million! I LOVE GROUND BEEF and all it's fatty glory! :)

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  7. We try to cook for a lot of the week on Sunday night and stockpile extras in the freezer for those weekends when we don't get it done, so this is perfect! Thank you! Pinned!

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  8. Hello! Visiting from blogging it forward on FB! Love these recipes! Going to try a few out, and I love the idea of cooking all the meat at once to save time on dishes and prep work! I despise doing dishes! Take a look at my blog let me know what you think THX :) http://mamachantilly.blogspot.com/

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  9. Thanks for sharing a great post especially now that school will be starting soon. Mom's are so busy, this is a wonderful way to save time and cook delicious healthy meals. Pinning/sharing.

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  10. This is perfect, just what I've been looking for! I can't wait to cook some of these beef recipes for my family.

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  11. That chili mac n cheese looks so good! I recently made hot cheetos mac n cheese, I can never get enough mac n cheese!

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  12. I keep telling myself that I'll cook beef in bulk for quick meals, but I never do. Your list is good motivation to do it and have quick meals on hand. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday.

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  13. Jenny these recipes all look good. My head is going to explode! Thanks for sharing your ground beef recipes at #theWeekendSocial. You're always welcome Thursdays 9:00 PM EST. theKitchenChopper.com Pinned!

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  14. You have brought up very fantastic points, thank you for the post.

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