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Instant Pot Freezer Meal Prep [Printable]

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Instant Pot Freezer Meals with step by step instructions for prepping 7 amazing healthy dinners in just a couple of hours will make your stocking your freezer so easy!  Full grocery list and free printables included!  This post contains affiliate links for products I’m obsessed with. 

Photo of kitchen cooking supplies with black text overlay. Text says, Instant Pot Freezer Meal Bootcamp | Confessions of a Fit Foodie

 

Confession #130 –  I’ve wanted to do a post like this for a long time, but I have to be honest…the idea of prepping a million meals and then trying to write a post explaining how to do it was just a bit too daunting for a momma with little kids at home who interrupt my every thought.

But I’m so glad I finally dove in!

No, I am not going to have you prep a month’s worth freezer meals in a day or anything crazy like that.  Instead, I have seven freezer meals here…6 for the Instant Pot and 1 that you will partially prep in the IP and bake in the oven.  I feel like 7 is a good place to start…it will take you a couple of hours, but it’s totally doable for a weekend or an evening, even if your kids don’t leave you alone like mine :).

And, dare I say it?  You may even have some fun!   Throw on some music, pour a glass of wine, and invite your hubby or your BFF to join you.  Date night meal prep is totally a thing, right?

Let’s get started!

The yummy list of meals for this Healthy Instant Pot Freezer Prep:

Buffalo Chicken Chili 

Chicken and Veggie Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup 

Maple BBQ Chicken 

Asian Chicken 

Healthy Shepherd’s Pie

Balsamic Chicken 

First you will need to make sure you have these supplies:

⇒CLICK HERE FOR A PRINT FRIENDLY SUPPLY LIST

Then you need to go shopping!  I’ve made it super easy for you with my printable grocery list. 

⇒CLICK HERE FOR A PRINT FRIENDLY GROCERY LIST

GROCERY ITEMS FOR PREP DAY:

MEAT

  • 4 lb chicken breast
  • 3-4 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1.5 lbs lean ground chicken (or sub turkey)
  • 1 lb lean ground turkey

VEGETABLES

  • 1 bag of carrots
  • 1 bag of celery
  • 3 white onions
  • 1 red onion
  • 8 cloves of garlic
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 1/2 cups of fresh string beans
  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 1 lb red potatoes (you want 2 cups chopped)
  • 1 jalapeno

SPICES/HERBS

  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Chili powder
  • Basil
  • Oregano
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Cumin  

CANNED

  • 3 (32 oz) of organic, low sodium vegetable or chicken stock
  • 3 (28 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
  • 1  (10)oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 14.5 oz no salt added diced tomatoes
  • 2 cans of tomato paste
  • 1 can of no salt added black beans

FROZEN

  • 1 bag of frozen corn

DAIRY

  • butter or ghee (I use dairy-free)

PANTRY STAPLES

  • Himalayan or sea salt
  • pepper
  • olive oil cooking spray
  • coconut aminos
  • maple syrup/honey (can use interchangeably)
  • apple cider vinegar
  • thickener of your choice (arrowroot, tapioca, corn starch, rice flour, etc)
  • hot sauce/Tabasco
  • balsamic vinegar
  • coconut oil
  • brown rice

GROCERY ITEMS FOR DAY YOU EAT (optional, but recommended):

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

(toppings)

  • shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 bunch of fresh cilantro
  • corn tortillas

Chicken and Veggie Soup:

  • baby spinach
  • parmesan cheese

Buffalo Chicken Chili:

  • plain Greek yogurt (small container)
  • blue cheese crumbles
  • chives

Maple BBQ Chicken:

  • veggie side (we love a slaw)

Asian Chicken:

  • veggie side (we love green beans or broccoli)

Balsamic Chicken:

  • parmesan cheese
  • zucchini for zoodles

And now you are all set to start prepping!

Photo with portion controlled containers, and Instant Pot, measuring spoons, and gallon storage bags. Over the photo is a small white circle with black and pink text. Text says, 21 Day Fix Instant Pot Freezer Bootcamp

⇒CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE STEP BY STEP PREP LIST

COOKING STEPS FOR INSTANT POT FREEZER PREP

STEP 1: RICE

Parchment lined baking sheet filled with cooked brown rice

  • Make brown rice:

Add 3 cups of rice to your Instant Pot with 3 cups of water.  Set for 22 minutes on manual/high pressure.  After the cook time is up, do a ten minute natural releases (aka, don’t touch it for ten minutes)

STEP 2: VEGGIES/PANTRY

Chopped veggies on a white cutting board

  • Chop:
    • 3 cups of carrots
    • 3 cups of celery
    • 3 yellow onions
    • 1 red onion
    • 2 cups of cauliflower
    • 2 cups of red potatoes
    • 1 jalapeno
    • 1 1/2 cups of string beans (cut into bite sized pieces)
    • 1 zucchini (cut in half moons)
    • 8 cloves of garlic (mince and divide into 4 piles)
  • Open cans and gather spices, oils, and salt
  • Remove rice from the Instant Pot and cool on baking sheets lined with parchment paper

STEP 3: BUFFALO CHICKEN CHILI

Overhead photo of buffalo chicken chili topped with blue cheese sauce and green onions

  • Prepare your ziplock bags with the following information:
      • Buffalo Chicken Chili/ today’s date
      • Cooktime: 20 minutes, quick release  
      • Top with blue cheese crumbles mixed with Greek yogurt and chives
    • Coat your Instant Pot with cooking spray. Set to Saute and brown ground chicken until cooked through. Add in ¼ cup of onions and cook for a few minutes to release flavors. Add in 1 cup of carrots, 1 cup of celery, 2 cloves of chopped (about 2 T or ¼ of what you chopped) garlic and stir. Set to keep warm.
    • Pour 1 (28 oz) can of  tomatoes in a blender and pulse a few times so the texture is more like a chunky tomato juice. Add 2-4 cups of the tomato (less leads to a thicker chili…I used all 4 cups and loved it) to the Instant Pot, along with chili powder and hot sauce.  Stir together, then remove from heat and let cool.  Wash pot.
    • When chili is cooled, add to prepared ziplocks

Step 4: EASY CHICKEN AND VEGGIE SOUP

Overhead photo of a bowl of chicken veggie soup topped with parmesan cheese.

 

  • Prepare TWO ziplock bags with the following information:
    • Easy Chicken and Veggie Soup/ today’s date
    • Cooktime:  20 minutes, quick release
    • After cook time, add in 1 ½ cups of spinach to wilt.  Season with salt and pepper and serve with parmesan cheese.
  • Assemble Easy Chicken and Veggie Soup by dividing the following the TWO gallon sized freezer bags (doesn’t have to be perfectly exact):
    • 1 cup of diced carrots
    • 1 cup of chopped celery
    • 1/2 diced yellow onion
    • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
    • 1 zucchini, cut in half moons
    • 1 1/2 cups of fresh string beans, cut into bite size pieces
    • 32 oz of organic chicken stock
    • 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 lb chicken breasts
    • 1 tsp Himalayan salt

STEP 5: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Close up photo of a bowl of chicken tortilla soup topped with diced avocado and homemade tortilla strips.

  • Prepare TWO ziplock bags with the following information:
    • Chicken Tortilla Soup / today’s date
    • Cooktime:  15 minutes, quick release
    • Top with avocado, cheese, lime, Greek yogurt, cilantro, homemade tortilla strips

(Note for later: To make homemade tortilla strips: Preheat your oven to 350 and cut the corn tortillas into strips. Spray with olive oil spray and sprinkle with Himalayan salt. Bake for about   10-15 minutes.)

  • Assemble Chicken Tortilla Soup by dividing the following into the TWO gallon sized freezer bags (doesn’t have to be perfectly exact):
    • 1 1/4 lb raw boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3-4 Breasts)
    • 10 oz. diced tomatoes with green chilies
    • 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes (no salt added)
    • 1 cup frozen corn
    • 1 cup black beans (no salt added), drained & rinsed
    • 1 medium onion, diced
    • 1 jalapeno, diced
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 4 cups of organic, low sodium chicken broth or stock
    • 1 tsp. ground cumin
    • 1 tsp. chili powder
    • 1 tsp. Himalayan salt
    • 1/4 tsp. black pepper

STEP 6: MAPLE BBQ CHICKEN

Maple chicken thighs in BBQ sauce on a square white plate. BBQ sauce, corn on the cob, and broccoli slaw in dishes in the background.

  • Prepare ONE gallon sized ziplock bag with the following information:
    • Maple BBQ Chicken Thighs / today’s date
    • Cooktime ten minutes, quick release, remove chicken
    • To thicken sauce, set IP to saute, stir in thickener, one tsp at a time until desired thickness.
    • Serve with rice (prepped) and a veggie
  • Assemble Maple BBQ Sauce by mixing the following:
    • 1/2 cup tomato paste
    • ⅓ cup water
    • ¼ cup coconut aminos
    • 3 T pure maple syrup
    • 2 T apple cider vinegar
    • ¼ tsp garlic powder
    • ¼ tsp onion powder
    • Sprinkle of salt
  • For Maple BBQ Chicken, place BBQ sauce and 1.5 pounds of chicken thighs in the ONE prepared gallon freezer bag

STEP 7: ASIAN CHICKEN

Overhead photo of chicken thighs in sauce with brown rice and green beans on a white plate.

 

  • Prepare ONE gallon sized ziplock bag with the following information:
    • Asian Chicken Thighs /today’s date
    • Cooktime 15 minutes, quick release, remove chicken
    • To thicken sauce, set IP to saute, stir in thickener, one tsp at a time until desired thickness.
    • Serve with rice (prepped) and a veggie
  • Assemble Asian Chicken by mixing the following:
    • 1/4 cup of honey
    • 1/3 cup of coconut aminos
    • 1 T tomato paste
    • 2 tsp coconut oil
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt
    • a dash of crushed red pepper
  • Add all of the above and 1.5 pounds of chicken thighs to the ONE prepared gallon freezer bag.

STEP 8: HEALTHY SHEPHERD’S PIE (Part ONE)

Healthy Shepherd's Pie on a white plate with a circular metal dish in the background

 

  • Put 2 cups of cauliflower florets and 2 cups of diced potatoes in the Instant Pot with 1 cup of broth.  Sprinkle with salt.  Set to manual for 5 minutes.  When cook time finishes, do a quick release.

While this is cooking, start working on the Balsamic Chicken

STEP 9: BALSAMIC CHICKEN

  • Prepare ONE gallon sized Ziplock bag with the following information:
    • Balsamic Chicken /today’s date
    • Cooktime 10 minutes, quick release, remove chicken
    • Serve with zoodles
  • Spray a non stick pan with olive oil cooking spray and saute ½ red onion and 2 cloves of minced garlic together over medium low heat.  until onions are translucent.  Remove from heat and let cool.   Reserve pan for Shepherd’s Pie, 
  • Assemble Balsamic Chicken by adding the following to the ONE prepared gallon bag:
    • 1-2lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
    • 1 28oz can of diced
    • Sauteed onions and garlic
    • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
    • 1/2 tsp each of basil, oregano, and garlic powder
    • salt
    • pepper

STEP 10: HEALTHY SHEPHERD’S PIE (Part 2)

  • Remove potatoes and cauliflower from Instant Pot when cook time is finished and drain them well, then place in a food processor or mixer. Add in 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 T of olive oil, ghee or vegan butter and mix. If necessary, add in a tablespoon or two of chicken broth.  Let potato mixture cool.
  • Add inner pot back to Instant Pot and brown 1 pound of ground turkey using saute function.  Add in 1 cup of diced carrots, 1 cup of diced celery, ½ onion, ⅓ cup of chicken broth, 2 T of water, 3 T of tomato paste and ½ tsp of salt.  Stir and place lid on IP.  Set for manual, 5 minutes.
  • Prepare a foil tin or other freezer and oven safe casserole pan with olive oil spray When cooktime is through for turkey and veggies, do a quick release and remove from Instant Pot.  If mixture has a lot of excess liquid, cook on saute to thicken or carefully drain.  
  • Add turkey mixture to prepared foil pan and top with potato/cauliflower mixture.  
  • Label with the following information:
    • Healthy Shepherd’s Pie and date
    • Thaw in refrigerator, then cook on 350 for 30 minutes.

STEP 11: RICE, cont…

  • Prepare TWO gallon freezer bags with the following information
    • Brown Rice and date
    • Remove from bag and heat in microwave with 2 T of water for 2-3 minutes or until hot.
  • Divide rice into two bags and lay flat to freeze.  You don’t want the rice to clump together.

You are done!!  Pour yourself a glass of wine get someone else to clean up – you’ve done enough work for today!

As for future cooking, I always recommend thawing your food first, but all of these meals should cook well from frozen with the same cooktimes…that is the magic of the Instant Pot for ya!

If you liked this 21 Day Fix Instant Pot Meal Plan, let me know!  I’ll start working on another one! (I just might need someone to babysit, lol)

Easy Freezer Meals Printables

21 Day Fix Instant Pot Freezer Meal Prep – Supplies

21 Day Fix Instant Pot Freezer Meal Prep – Grocery List Printable

21 Day Fix Instant Pot Freezer Meal Prep – Step-by-Step Prep Instructions

Close up of Instant Pot with kitchen tools on a wooden surface. Black and pink text on a gray rectangle; text says, Healthy Instant Pot Freezer Prep Challenge | 21 Day Fix | 2B Mindset | WW | Gluten Free | Prep 7 healthy dinners in 2-3 hours time! | Confessions of a Fit Foodie

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Debbie B says

    Awesome!!!! YES, keep doing these. It is an excellent teaching tool–gets me started without feeling overwhelmed, then I can branch out slowly on my own!!

    Reply

  3. Meghan Murman says

    I just finished this meal prep and it took me exactly 3 hours from beginning to end, including cleaning my kitchen! The recipes smell delicious and are going to make the next week (at least) a breeze at dinner time! Thank you for making this post!

    Reply

  4. Stephanie says

    just printed everything !!!! Can’t wait to have these to just grab and make for a quick meal! Thanks for doing ALL
    this to help make something I’m not a huge fan of so much easier with the bonus of it being healthy!!!!

    Reply

  5. Ri says

    Thank you so much for posting this!!! Truly appreciate the time and effort you put into this for all of us working our hardest to healthier lifestyle! Love your recipes and your story!

    Reply

  7. Jennie says

    Thank you so much for this! We recently got the 8qt IP, and have already tried several of your recipes and loved them! This may be a silly question, but when it is time to cook/eat these freezer meals, do we cook them from frozen, or do they need to thaw first?

    Reply

    • Nancylynn says

      The cook times are for thawed food, but you can simply add 3-5 minutes to each recipe if you have frozen food! 🙂

      Reply

  10. JoannJ says

    I am a little confused. When you split the ingredients into two bags, is that 1 dinner? you cook both bags?
    where are the counts for red, green, etc etc.? sorry to be so dumb

    Reply

  14. Stephanie Ahmed says

    I want to make the shepherds pie with my instant pot. Would I still need to bake it in the end and if so, how long?

    Reply

    • Nancylynn says

      Hi! You can put it under the broiler if you want at the end, but you don’t have to! It just browns the potatoes a little 🙂

      Reply

  15. Natalie Lindquist says

    Did the meal prep last night. If all the recipes are as good as the Chicken Tortilla Soup, this plan will become a staple in our house. It will be so nice to incorporate a few nights where we really don’t need to prep anything.

    Reply

  16. Nicole says

    Oh my gosh. I made these back in December and am just now finishing up eating them all (no family, so just feeding one makes these last a while).

    All the recipes are AMAZING! I will definitely be making them again. And so convenient to grab and go. I’m a music teacher, so winter (aka concert season) is crazy busy and I loved not having to worry about my meal prep. Thank you so much!!!

    Reply

    • Nancylynn says

      That’s SO great, Nicole!! Good for you – teachers are awesome and I am happy the meals helped make your nights a little easier! <3 <3

      Reply

  17. Carrie Kraft says

    This will be my first attempt at meal planning. I got my IP for Christmas and have been playing around with it. For the Chili recipe- how many ziplocks do you need? There’s no count listed as with the other recipes.

    Reply

  18. Irene says

    Thank you for these! Assembled everything tonight but have a question and a typo. The first recipe says prepare your bags, this means 2? the other recipes specify how many bags.

    Step 9 the balsamic recipe is missing the word tomatoes.

    Reply

  19. Michele Astone says

    When you say “1 diced yellow onion”.. what does that equate to in terms of the already chopped onion done during the chopping phase? thank you! And this is awesome! thank you thank you thank you !

    Reply

  20. Natalie Lindquist says

    The meals were a hit. I’m actually getting ready to do a second round with this plan. Last time we ate most of the meals in a single week and it was a lot of chicken. This time around I think the plan is that these will be used a couple of times a week when days are a little crazier and just dumping something in the Instant Pot is just what we need.

    Reply

  22. Mel says

    We did all the prep 2 days ago, today we cooked the balsamic chicken. It turned out like a soup, disappointing. :o(

    Reply

      • Mel says

        The chicken was not frozen when we did the meal prep but then we froze everything in the ziplock bag for 2 days. Then Yes, we then cooked it while everything was frozen and followed the instructions (10mins in manual etc). Were we supposed to defrost the bag first? I assumed the purpose of this was to throw everything frozen in the pot. Should I adjust the time you listed when frozen then? Thanks! We also ate the Sheppard’s pie. It was good!

        Reply

        • Nancylynn says

          I am just trying to troubleshoot why it came out like soup…I haven’t heard that before! Did you add additional liquid to the pan?

          Reply

          • IRENE D GARVIN says

            Mine came out like soup too. I used 2lbs of chicken and I know from salsa chicken, the breasts released enough of their own liquid. Probably should have trained the tomato

  23. Natasha Youngson says

    I’d like to substitute chicken Breast in the chicken thigh recipes…. do I dice them and put them in the bags raw? Thanks

    Reply

  25. april harper says

    So you happen to have a freezer meal plan from raw ingredients, put together, then instant pot from frozen to done??

    Reply

    • Nancylynn says

      I’m not sure I totally understand your question, but yes – you are prepping these so you can easily grab one and cook in your IP!

      Reply

  26. Carol Esteves says

    I am going grocery shopping tomorrow and want to be sure about some things. When I put chicken in ziplock is it raw in all recipes except the chili? Also, when I put the sauces do I have to pack separate inside the galĺon ziplock or do I just dump everything like a marinade? Thank you!

    Reply

  27. Jennifer says

    This is wonderful, thank you so much for all the hard work you put into preparing this. I have an ancient (early ’90s) Chicken cooking day set of recipes, etc to prepare a month of dinners. That took me 8 hours from starting prep to clean up! I loved not having to cook everyday, but hubby got tired of chicken. We had microwaves, but everything (except the sides) was pre-cooked then defrosted from zip lock bags and heated in the microwave. They were good meals, but yours are healthier and MUCH easier. I live alone now, so this would be at least a month of meals for me! I prefer freshly cooked from my Instant Pot. I have to get my freezer emptied before I can do this. And of course I will need more Quart Freezer bags. WILL I HAVE TO CHANGE THE COOKING TIME FOR MUCH SMALLER AMOUNTS?
    Thanks again, can hardly wait to try this!

    Reply

    • Nancylynn says

      Hi! I am SO glad to hear it! And, no – you should be just fine for using the same cook times! YAY for a month of meals! <3

      Reply

  28. Amber says

    Is there a way to find out the Calorie Count for these meals? My husband and I don’t do the 21Day Fix, but I love the recipes! Seems as though they would be pretty balanced, but it would help to know the counts. Thanks!

    Reply

  29. Anna Weinberg says

    Hi, Thank you for this awesome post! I am wondering how long you recommend keeping these meals in the freezer. I am trying to plan ahead for having a baby at the end of September. Is it too early to make freezer meals to store for October/November, or 3-5 months ahead of time?

    Reply

  30. Jean Hikida says

    Hi! I’m excited to try this since I’m a busy mom of 4 and a teacher. I just bought a 6QT IP and was wondering if I double the recipes, will two ziploc bags of prepared food fit in my 6QT IP or will I just cook one ziploc bag at a time in the IP?

    Reply

  31. Jamie Wangler says

    Hi! I want to do these, but have the smallest IP – so its 3qt. Can I just half all the recipes and prep them the same?

    Thanks!
    -Jamie

    Reply

  33. Cori says

    I cannot thank you enough for publishing this and making it so easy! My husband and I are about to start the 21 Day Fix and it is a little overwhelming, but you have simplified it for me quite a bit. No excuses now! Thank you so much!!!

    Reply

  34. Robin says

    I’m just finishing up making all of these, which is no small task when living in an RV! We are having the Shepherds Pie tonight because I’ve run out of freezer space.

    Reply

  35. Natalie says

    When I make the soup recipes am I cooking the chicken in there whole and then shredding it? Or do I chop it up before cooking?

    Reply

  38. Kara says

    Yea!!! I have made these before and am making these to start the school year off! Thanks and looking forwRd to new ones

    Reply

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