A tasty meal that is easy to double, triple or quadruple, so you have plenty of freezer meals when you need one! And it has bacon! 
Hi there! If you’re looking for freezer meals/cooking, or weeknight wonders – you’re in the right place!
With the arrival of our second son coming up FAST (he’ll be here March 7th! – EDIT, he messed those plans up – arrived Feb 21!), I’m having a quiet little panic about what the heck we’ll be eating as I recover from the birth.
With abdominal surgery (yep), a newborn, and a toddler, I’m fairly certain we’ll need some freezer meals to save us from resorting to takeout 7 nights a week and save the Husband from creating dinner from his imagination. The thought, frankly, is scary.
In any case, new parenthood is an adjustment for everyone. I’m trying to make it easier on all of us 🙂
Stocking up with quality freezer meals can be a little daunting
If you haven’t done it before, and see all the “all day” cooking sessions, with 40 meals at a time etc – it can be somewhat overwhelming! It doesn’t actually have to be that way. It has to work for YOU and what time and resources you have.
I like to cook once, eat twice (eat tonight, repurpose leftovers for tomorrow), as well as make one for now, one for the freezer. Doesn’t require a big time commitment, and fills your freezer as you go.
Check out this post I did a while ago – for sides (such as plain rice, mashed potatoes) I threw this together on a Sunday afternoon. One to eat, 4 small ones to freeze. 
It gets bonus points for being appealing to the toddler as well as husband, and me!
If you love freezer friendly food – check these out!!
Want more chicken? Got you covered!
Freezer Cooking: Chicken, Broccoli, Bacon & Potato Bake
A tasty meal that is easy to double, triple or quadruple, so you have plenty of freezer meals when you need one! And it has bacon!
Ingredients
- 4½ cups diced red potatoes
- 2½ cups diced boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup cooked crumbled bacon
- 1/4 cup sliced onion
- 2 cups cheddar cheese grated
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated (for top)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup heavy cream (can sub half & half)
- 2 Tbs butter chopped
Directions
- Grease 2 8×8 foil baking pans.
Divide ingredients in half - you are making 2 pans, so half of the ingredients goes in each pan.
In both pans, layer ingredients in this order: potatoes, chicken, broccoli, bacon, onion and cheese.
Season salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Repeat the layers and seasoning.
Pour heavy cream over ingredients and sprinkle butter pieces over the dish.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350 for one hour or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake uncovered for 5-10 more minutes until cheese is bubbly.
Freezing Directions:
Assemble as directed above but do not bake. Make sure the potatoes are covered by other ingredients if possible (so they don't blacken). Cover tightly with foil, label, and freeze. Freeze 1/2 cup cheddar with each dish.
TO SERVE
- Thaw. Remove bag of cheese and recover with foil. Bake covered for one hour or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake uncovered for 5-10 more minutes until cheese is bubbly.
We lived off freezer meals for the first month after my guy was born.
This is going to be tonight’s dinner. yummmmm
What a wonderful idea for a freezer meal! I wish I would have had a stash before my daughter was born.
This looks so good and Easy Peasy. Thanks Melissa
This looks yummy! Did you cook the chicken before assembling?
Nope, Hillary – diced and raw chicken!
Is the broccoli fresh or frozen? If fresh do you blanch before freezing the extra meals?
I used raw, unblanched broccoli. Frozen would work just fine though
Have you used a crock pot to cook this instead of the oven, after freezing raw ingredients?
I haven’t, but I bet it could easily be adapted. I’d probably leave the broccoli out until the last 15 minutes of cooking though – so it doesn’t go mushy and gross.
Very nice, lovely flavour. Might add a packet of chicken noodle soup with it next time, although it really didn’t need anything extra for flavour. Also added capsicum, diced pumpkin and half broccoli and half cauliflower. Easy prep all in one pan!! Fantastic! Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
my 14 year old daughter loved it so much she went back for seconds and she is quite the picky eater 🙂 so thank you!
family loved it including my picky 14 year old!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Did your potatoes turn black in the freezer?
Nope. I found if I mixed them well enough, and there weren’t too many on the surface, they did just fine!
Tried this the other day. My husband and I loved it. I’m going to pre-cook the chicken next time though. I never have luck with raw chicken in freezer meals, I have to cook it a lot longer to get it to fully cook.
Hi, Annah! Thanks for stopping by. Yep, cooking the chicken would REALLY reduce cook-day time, more reheating than cooking, I suppose. Let me know how it turns out?
Do you add milk/cream if freezing not cooking right away?
Hi Danielle – I do! I know it’s not “supposed” to work, but it does 🙂
How long can it stay in the freezer?
I probably wouldn’t go more than 3 months, personally.
Hi! Looks delicious! I was wondering if you think this could be made on a BBQ?
Do you mean in a baking dish, in the BBQ, baking? I don’t see why not – but I’d assume a metal dish would be needed?
Is the recipe already quadrupled? 4.5 cups of potatoes seems like a lot for an 8×8 pan, but not enough for four servings…
Hi Suzie – thanks for catching that! It actually makes 2 8×8 dishes. One to eat today, and one for the freezer! I’ve updated the recipe to show it, I appreciate you commenting!
Looks great! Will this work freezer to oven or does it have to be thawed?
Sounds delish! Do you need to thaw first or can it go straight from the freezer to the oven? Thank you 🙂
Hi kylee, how long does it usually take to thaw
Kim, I usually just pull it out of the freezer in the morning, and cook it when I get home at night.
Made this tonight, it was AMAZING. I will be making this again.
Glad you enjoyed it, Mary!
Where do you purchase the foil baking pan with lid shown in the picture.
Hi Lester – I get them from Amazon!
I get mine from dollar tree – 3 for $1 in one package
This looks good! Gonna try it this week! I get my foil pans at the dollar tree! Three for a buck, and they come with nice covers
This is so good!!!!!!! I forgot about the bacon but it really didn’t need it. I will definitely be making 2 more for sure. Thank you so much.
Can you cook first then freeze? Just thinking easy way for when bubs arrives
Hi Carrie – you could, but I haven’t done it that way, so can’t attest to the quality of it! I wouldn’t freeze it for too long, up to a month, maybe, if you cooked it first.
Do you assemble all ingredients raw, except for the bacon?
I do!
Hi Kylee. This recipe looks absolutely delicious! I know your recipe says that it needs to be thawed first before baking, but do you think it could go straight from the freezer to the oven successfully? I’m horrible at remembering to take things from the freezer in advance. Thanks.
It doesn’t HAVE to be, but you’d need to add a significant amount to your cooking time. I haven’t tried it, let me know how it goes!
This recipe looks tasty, Using the amounts given , are they divided by 4….ie…2 layers in each pan. Seems like a very small amount of cream, onion etc.
Actually, the recipe as written makes 2 pans 8×8 size. I usually double or triple my recipe, though.
Do you divide the 1/2 cup of cream among the 2 pans, or do 1/2 cup of heavy cream over each pan?
Would this be good with a different type of meat? I have friends coming over and the don’t like chicken. 🙁
I think maybe diced pork tenderloin would be nice?
Made this and it was incredible. I will add more bacon next time.
I love having meals in the freezer. I call them homemade convenience food LOL. With my kids back to school, guess what’s coming next? Oh yea, every germ carried in the halls of the school, and that usually results in me falling ill at least once or twice. And when mom is sick, mom doesn’t cook. I like this one particularly because it’s a bit different than most freezer meals I see. I see a lot of pasta ones, but not too many like this. I very much appreciate this post. Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Kylee. This sounds delicious and I’m excited to try it. I’m not quite sure if I understand the recipe. It makes 2 pans that are layered, so each ingredient needs to be divided into 4, (for each layer) correct? The cream just in half, 1/2 C into each pan?
Hi! That is what I did. I got all of the ingredients – not realizing it was for 2 pans. When it was time to construct the dish I saw that it was meant for 2 pans and used only 1/2 cup of cream for each. I did not divide into 4. I just layered the potatoes, chicken, bacon then cheese!
I made this and it was delish! Husband liked it too. I had some yellow squash I chopped small and added to it. Vegetables were tender and cheesy, chicken was done but not dry. When I make the next batch I might try a little Cajun seasoning but it is very good just as it is.