I have an issue with crockpots… I love the idea (and love when I actually plan and use it for something) but it means I have to be thinking about dinner 4-8 hours before dinner happens. I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants cook, so freezer marinating is a great deal for me.
When we buy a bunch of chicken at once, my husband cleans off all the fat and gross parts (I hate touching raw chicken) and then we vacuum-bag-freeze them, in packages of 2 boneless skinless breasts.
Well this time, I decided to try the freezer-marinating thing. There’s been a half-used bottle of barbeque sauce in our fridge for a while and I was tired of it taking up room. So I gave it to hubs and he squeezed it into 2 bags of chicken breasts (again, 2 breasts each) before vacuum-sealing them. Then I squished it around the chicken before labeling it and throwing it in the freezer.
When I was getting ready to cook dinner, here’s how it went:
- Package of chicken went into water to thaw.
- Oven set to preheat to 350F.
- Water went in the pot to boil.
- Threw brown rice and a bit of salt into the water. Covered, lowered temp.
- 10-15 minutes later… Chicken thawed…cut open package and dump into a baking pan.
- Throw chicken in the oven.
- (Here’s where I would’ve cleaned and steamed some veggies if I had thought about it. Edamame would’ve been GOOD.)
- 30ish minutes later, chicken and rice are done.
Taste to “make sure it’s good”… yum! And then I decided to scoop out the extra barbeque sauce to top the rice.
This was so easy and fast, and I was glad I didn’t have to think about marinating the chicken an hour before dinner prep.
What are your favorite marinades for chicken? I’d love some more marinade recipes so I can expand the selection of pre-marinated chicken in my freezer!
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and brand new stay at home mom. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate on a budget, and keep a happy home. I breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
I found your blog by googling “can I freeze chicken in its marinade”. I know that you posted this 2 years ago, but if you are still interested in chicken marinades, this one is so good!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Marinade-for-Chicken/Detail.aspx
I love allrecipes.com, which is where I found this one. I am just not sure how it will freeze because there is oil in this marinade. I think it will be fine though…
Cranberry Chicken
1 can (15ish oz.) cranberry sauce (whole berry or jelly)
1 small bottle (8 oz.) catalina or russian dressing
1 packet of onion soup mix
Basically, you mix this up and pour it over a bunch of raw chicken breasts. Freeze. Obviously this amount is way too much for a couple of breasts, but if you’re freezing ahead, it’s worth a try! It sounds weird, to mix these things, I know, but it’s really good! You’re supposed to thaw the breasts, and then bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until chicken is done.
It comes from Don’t Panic: Dinner’s in the Freezer. That book also has a honey pork chop marinade recipe I used quite often to freeze chops ahead of time for easy later prep.
A great marinade for chicken is lemon pepper, but I’m not sure if they make a liquid dressing with those flavors.
Thanks for the tips
Wonderful idea, & so simple! This is my kind of cooking
What a great idea! I’m going to try it with pork tenderloin that I bought today! Thank-you!
This is one of my favorite things to do too! I make these FOR the crockpot too! my favs are italian dressing, an asian sauce, or one of my favs is a mix of soy sauce, dijon mustard and orange marmalade…
I agree-you SHOULD do a cookbook!!
Wow, I remember you from waaaay back @ live journal & happened to be looking through my flickr contacts and made my way here and I have to say, you have got my stomach rumblin’ over all of these recipes!!! I love your style & you make things I personally would LOVE!!! You have totally made my day & I cant wait to make something, the only problem is…. what! It all looks amazing! I love how you improvise and make it your own way! Totally inspiring! You also cook what I consider “real” food.. things that look like I could actually, maybe pull off!
You ought to consider a cookbook, even if it’s just one we can buy off LuLu or something! I would buy one for sure! Glad to see your doing well! I’ll def. be adding your link to my blog so I can come over often! xoxoxox