How to Batch Cook Meat for Quick Dinner Prep
Fall is a busy, beautiful season. Full of back-to-school activities, holiday planning & getting back into the routine of weeknight dinners after summer shenanigans. Here’s a strategy that can make this seamless for you: batch cook meat & freeze it for dinners later on. You’ll be able to throw together a variety of meals without the hassle of remembering to defrost meat first then cooking it.
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Why Batch Cooking Meat is So Useful
Batch cooking meat just makes food accessible. Like all batch cooking, it of course saves time in the future when you haven’t got a clue what you’ll make. It avoids the panic of realizing you didn’t defrost any meat ahead of time. And best of all, it keeps us from having to eat out.
Now whether you meal plan or just go with the flow day-by-day, starting to batch cook meat makes things easier. And, there’s less food waste this way too. Especially if you prefer to batch cook meat by pressure canning it (which I highly recommend learning how to do, btw).
So if you buy your meat in bulk (or are exploring that as an option), batch cooking meat is perfect. Take the ideas here & start setting aside some bases for several dishes in your future.
Related Blog Post: The Ultimate Guide to Batch Cooking at Home
Ideas for Batch Cooking Meat to Freeze
From soups & stews to tacos & pasta dishes, frozen meat can be used in a variety of ways to create delicious, home-cooked meals. Here’s a few options I think work really well:
- Chicken Breasts & Thighs (tho any cut really): Versatile & easy to prep, chicken can be used everywhere am I right? And with the plethora of marinades & rubs out there, you’re sure to find a few winner, winner chicken dinners you can make.
- Ground Beef & Turkey: I love batching this specifically for tacos, chili, my fam-famous burgers & pasta dishes. Now while I pre-cook the majority of this & store away, I don’t pre-cook my burgers.
- Pork Shoulder: This is a slow-cooker favorite that freezes really well & can be used in sandwiches, tacos & more. So if you like pulled pork, this is for you!
- Beef Roasts or Stew Meat: These are the hearty & flavorful bits. And having them already done up ahead of time makes the comforting dish that much more likely to end up on the dinner table. (Or in a lunch box!)
How to Batch Cook Meat
There are several methods for batch cooking large quantities of meat, including using a slow cooker, Instant Pot, oven or electric roaster. Each method allows you to cook multiple servings of meat at once with minimal effort.
To season, or not to season…
Now the question “Should I season while cooking or not?” is completely up to your preference. I like doing it both ways to double dip on convenience & flexibility. If you pre-season a batch of ground beef with your own homemade taco seasoning for instance, you can reheat & have some bomb tacos on the table in a flash. But if you batch cook ground beef with just a simple seasoning blend of garlic, onion, salt & pep, you can use it anywhere for anything. Life-savers is what this whole tactic is about.
Fully cooked or partially cooked?
Fully cook any meat you want at the ready for a quick meal like Taco Tuesday.
Partially cook (or par-cook) any meats that you will be using for something like a baked casserole or soup later. The meat will finish off cooking during this extended time later.
And if in doubt, just fully cook it because then at least food is safe to consume should you not actually finish cooking it when you need it.
After cooking tips
Once your meat is cooked, let it cool completely before transferring it to freezer-safe bags or containers. Be sure to remove as much air as possible from the bags to prevent freezer burn. And come on girl, you already know I’ma hit you with that Food Saver vacuum sealer because I love mine. Alternatively, if you’re freezing individual portions like a soup-in-a-jar thing for lunch, you can pack your jar & vacuum seal that with the attachments before freezing.
If you’re not familiar with Souper Cubes, you might like trying these out too, especially for single-serving portions. Portion storing just makes it easy to grab just the amount you need when it’s time to cook dinner.
Storing & Labeling Frozen Meat
Storage is always your first-defense for maintaining the quality of your frozen meat. Freezer-safe bags, containers, or vacuum-sealed bags are the best options for storing cooked meat. Label each package with the type of meat & the date it was cooked & frozen. You should also be clear whether it’s seasoned or not too!
Most cooked meat can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, so labeling helps you keep track of what needs to be used first. Plus, as I encourage every woman, your family should be chipping in here. This means, you might not always be the one pulling food out to eat or cook. So think of it as making it easy on whoever else will be cooking.
Quick Dinner Ideas Using Frozen Meat
Once you have a stash of cooked & frozen meat in your freezer, you can easily throw together quick & delicious dinners. Here’s a few ideas to start:
- Tacos or Enchiladas: Use shredded chicken or ground beef to make tacos or enchiladas in minutes.
- Sandwiches: No quicker lunch box was ever made. Take some pre-cooked, (maybe even pre-seasoned too!) meat & create any number of great sandwiches, like pulled pork. Yum, yum, yum!
- Stir-Fries: Add pre-cooked meat to a stir-fry with fresh vegetables & sauce for a quick, healthy meal. I think a premade teriyaki chicken or shrimp would work well here, but a decent beef & broccoli would be delicious too.
- Soups & Stews: Frozen meat is perfect for adding to soups & stews for a hearty, fall dinner. Especially frozen turkey or chicken breasts which I find to be pretty dry yet perfect for soups.
- Pasta Dishes: Mix cooked meat with your favorite pasta & sauce for a simple, satisfying meal. And if you’re looking for the absolute best meat mix you’ve ever tasted, I got you!
- Casseroles: Use cooked meat as the base for a casserole, combining it with vegetables, sauce & cheese. Easy peasy.
When reheating frozen meat, make sure to use a gentle method to prevent it from drying out. Nothing worse there. You can thaw it in the refrigerator overnight or use the microwave or stovetop to reheat it directly from frozen, but giving it time to defrost on it’s own always results in better texture IMO.
Key Take-Aways
Girl, if you aren’t batch cooking meat & freezing it, you’re missing out on a miracle time saver in the kitchen. Whether you do it by hand or use a small appliance like the Crock-pot, you’ll be glad to fall back on this in the coming fall evenings.
Quick, easy dinners that taste like they were slow-made are ready to go whenever you need it when you pre-season your meat first. Skip the seasoning if you need versatility (but I mean, do add at least salt/pep to taste). Cool completely before freezing in properly labeled, airtight freezer containers. Here’s to home cooking!
