Freezer Mix Dinner

This is a meal-prep hack that turns a 30-minute boxed dinner into a 15-minute one. Instead of browning ground beef from scratch, you grab pre-browned, seasoned freezer mix straight from the freezer and stir it into a beef noodle or chili tomato dinner kit.

The idea is batch cooking. When you have time on a weekend, brown several pounds of ground beef with basic seasonings, portion it into freezer bags, and freeze flat. Each bag becomes a head start on a different weeknight dinner.

Swapping frozen mix for fresh ground beef is a straight substitution. The meat is already cooked and seasoned, so it just needs to thaw into the sauce and heat through.

Kitchen Tips

• Freeze the browned beef mix in flat bags so it thaws faster and stacks neatly in the freezer.
• Break the frozen mix into chunks before adding to the dinner kit. It incorporates into the sauce more evenly.
• You can thaw the mix in the microwave if you forgot to pull it out earlier. A few minutes on defrost works fine.

Variations

• Use the freezer mix with any boxed dinner that calls for browned ground beef: Hamburger Helper, taco kits, sloppy joe mix.
• Season the freezer mix differently for different meals: Italian herbs for pasta nights, taco seasoning for Mexican nights.
• Add frozen diced onion and peppers to the freezer bags with the beef for an even more complete head start.