Have you been bookmarking freezer meal recipes online for a while and wondering if it’s worth it to buy a whole cookbook just of freezer meal ideas?
The authors of the popular blog, Thriving Home, have assembled their favorite freezer meal prep tips and recipes into From Freezer to Table 75+ Simple, Whole Foods Recipes for Gathering, Cooking, and Sharing. By using their methods, it’s easier to prepare healthy food to eat at home or share with family and friends.
Bottom line: This has some fan-favorites from the blog and some new recipes. While a lot of the recipes are relatively healthy, they’re for a conventional American diet and don’t take into account people who might be eating a Keto, gluten-free, dairy-free, low-calorie, or Whole30 diet.
We recommend going for a FreezerFit membership instead. For a one-time fee of $97, you get lifetime access to all the tutorials you need to start your freezer cooking lifestyle and literally hundreds of recipes that you can filter by your particular needs. That’s a lot more useful than a single cookbook.
Who Is This Freezer Meal Cookbook For?
Fans of the authors’ blog will definitely find this cookbook their style. It contains a lot of the same recipes, plus a lot of useful introductions on getting started with freezer meal prep.
This is also definitely a book for people who like comfort food. There’s a big emphasis on filling, familiar foods that will be popular for families with kids but have enough of a twist to keep the adults from feeling like they’re eating off the kids’ menu. All of the ingredients and steps are accessible, but help home cooks create some easy meals they may not have thought of before – like Homemade Fried Rice or Cilantro Lime Chicken.
This cookbook also has a good explanation of how to start freezer meal prep with a group. If you don’t like the idea of doing all your food prep alone or you want to try some different recipes, this book gives some great ideas on starting a casual freezer meal swap or even getting a group together to make a huge batch of food all at once – then everyone takes home an assortment of different meals.
Who Is This Cookbook NOT For?
If you are avoiding gluten or dairy in your diet, a lot of these freezer meal recipes probably won’t work. Though one or two ingredients can usually be substituted pretty easily to modify a meal for dietary restrictions, most of these freezer meal recipes require cheese.
If you’re already pretty familiar with the concept of freezer meal prep, the first half of the book may be a lot of repetition. The standard for most freezer meal cookbooks, you’re paying for a tutorial on freezer meal containers and freezer meal prep ideas as much as you are for the recipes.
A full two chapters are devoted to the concepts of “freezer parties” and “freezer clubs.” These are when groups get together once (a party) or regularly (a club) to either do freezer meal prep together or to swap freezer meals they’ve already prepared. If your food preferences don’t really match your friends’ and family’s (or if no one else has seen the light about freezer meal prep yet!) this might not be applicable.
From Freezer to Table in a Nutshell
This freezer meal cookbook is divided into two parts. The first part deals with “making freezer cooking a lifestyle,” and talks about how to do big-batch cooking and freeze half for later AND how to do freezer meal prep with ingredients to be cooked later.
The second half of the book is the recipes. Some have pictures, but not all. There’s a variety of breakfast, dinner, and dessert recipes. While some are suitable for the slow cooker or instant pot, most will require some hands-on cooking time after defrosting.
Probably the best thing about this freezer meal prep cookbook is the way the instructions are laid out. Each recipe tells you exactly where to stop if you are prepping for the freezer, and which step to continue on once you’ve defrosted your prepped food. This is helpful for people who are new to freezer cooking.
Overall, this is a bit like taking an intro course into freezer meal prep cooking plus some solid basics – like whole-wheat pizza crust or turkey meatballs – to get you started.
Our Verdict: From Freezer to Table Cookbook Review
Tasty, accessible comfort food: but not for those on specialty diets. There are some great recipes in here that work great for busy families, and the Part I section with freezer cooking instructions is really well done.
If you want something that can be customized for more specific food preferences, FreezerFit is going to be your best bet. It’s the best of both works for people who like reading food blogs and cookbooks – it teaches you all the basics of freezer meal prep and then lets you completely customize a wide variety of recipes for your own needs.
Not sure? Check out our complete review here.
