Keeping the right foods on hand is the secret to quickly whipping up tasty meals without extensive prep. If your busy life has you searching for fast and easy meal ideas, here are three essential items to keep on hand in your freezer and ideas for how you can use them to create delicious, flavorful, satisfying meals in no time at all.
Mozzarella Sticks
If you don’t already have a box or two of these in your freezer, today’s the day to buy mozzarella sticks for your family. Sure, these crispy, cheesy bites are delicious as a snack, but are they really a meal solution? Yep. Here are some great examples of ways you can use mozzarella sticks at dinnertime:
- Caprese Bites. Do you love a classic Caprese salad? Bright red juicy tomatoes, fresh green basil leaves, and creamy mozzarella cheese drizzled with balsamic vinegar are a mouthwatering combination. But here’s a twist: why not use crispy mozzarella sticks instead of plain cheese? Once you try Caprese this way, you might never want to return.
- Stuffed Chicken Breasts. This recipe takes Caprese bites – tomato, basil, and mozzarella sticks—and bakes them inside a tender chicken breast. Yum.
- Lasagna Rolls. Rolling a crispy mozzarella stick inside a lasagna noodle filled with creamy ricotta and topped with a zesty meat sauce creates a dish everyone at your table will love.
Chicken Bites
Chicken nuggets get a bad rap and have a reputation for being kids’ food. And while it’s true that that reputation is somewhat deserved, it’s also true that high-quality chicken bites made with real chicken are a convenient food to have around. You can use them to create meals folks of all ages will enjoy, such as these:
- Chicken and Waffle Sandwiches. Sandwich delicious chicken bites between two crispy waffles, add pickles, bacon, and pimento cheese, and dip the whole thing into maple syrup. It’s a southern favorite that will have your family begging for more, even the picky ones.
- Chicken Bite Tacos. Honestly, this feels like a no-brainer. Substitute frozen chicken bites for your regular ground beef or chicken, add a zippy slaw and your favorite taco fixings, and have a dinner winner.
Meatballs
Frozen meatballs might just be the most versatile frozen food on our list. You can use them in dozens and dozens of ways, including these:
- Meatball Mac and Cheese
- Meatballs Stuffed Peppers
- Meatball Ramen
- And many others!
What’s the key to fixing dinner on the fly? High-quality frozen foods. Pick some up this week.
