Effortless Instant Pot Freezer Meals for Easy Weeknights

Creamy and soul soothing, hearty butternut squash soup makes the most of a few ingredients and freezes beautifully. Reserve the crispy pancetta topping and freeze it separately, then toss it in a pan briefly while the soup is reheating to preserve the texture.

Although the chicken for this dish typically marinates in a yogurt bath before cooking, it will stay tender without it in this quicker Instant Pot version. Pull it from the freezer and serve with pillowy naan or rice and an easy cucumber salad for a complete meal.

This glossy black bean soup comes together in under an hour – thanks to the pressure cooking of the Instant Pot, there’s no pre-soaking needed for the beans. Make it ahead and freeze for an even speedier meal during the week, or portion into smaller containers for weekday lunches.

Three types of chiles makes this pork shoulder braise anything but boring. Simplify the cooking stage with the electric pressure function and enjoy these complex flavours any night of the week. Hominy adds heft and freezes like a charm.

Comforting chicken cacciatore bathes bone in, skin on chicken thighs (dark meat stands up well to both braising and freezing) with red wine and a hit of tomato paste for a simple make-ahead entrée.

Think beyond meat and put down the bottle of oil – this spicy Indian dish takes advantage of the Instant Pot’s pressure cooker to collapse the eggplant into pliant doneness without greasy frying. Discover more Indian-inspired recipes.

Searing and pressure cooking pot roast in an Instant Pot takes much less time than the traditional methods, so this warming comfort dish can be on the table in a fraction of the time. Slicing the meat and freezing it in smaller portions covered in sauce will prevent it from drying out and cut down on defrosting time.

Make macaroni and cheese even easier with a mere five ingredients and five minutes of prep time. With portions of this lightning fast dish stashed in the freezer, you’ll find it’s faster than reaching for the powdered box mix – and oh so much tastier. Find more easy 5-ingredient dinner ideas.

Savoury Sunday sauce any day of the week is a possibility with a little advance planning. Instead of spending the whole day watching a pot simmer on the stove, toss the ingredients in the Instant Pot and then freeze the results in family-size or individual portions.

Chicken and dumplings are a perennial favourite for a reason – this homey and hearty stewed dish is a complete meal in a bowl. This recipe incorporates quick creamy white wine sauce, simple frozen vegetables such as peas, and chunks of easy-to-prepare boneless chicken for a crowd-pleasing dinner.

Put lasagna on the weeknight meal rotation with this vegetarian version, chock-full of leafy green spinach and meltingly gooey ricotta and mozzarella. Preparing this easy recipe ahead of time and freezing it makes it even speedier to get onto the table after work or school.

Make this easy and spice-filled Indian inspired meal in one with virtually no clean-up and store it in the freezer for future weeknight dinners. To avoid overcooking the shrimp, store and reheat them separately and add them back to the rice before serving.

A big pot of fragrant red lentils is simple to make-ahead and freeze, and a chopped cashew, lime and coconut garnish added at the table gives it an interesting crunch. The Instant Pot allows hands-off prep and a mere 35 minutes in the pressure cooking cycle.

Freezer-friendly quinoa gets a boost with tender chicken and a crunchy pistachio and apricot topping. To fully appreciate the range of textures, add the nuts and fruit when reheating this healthy dish after the deep freeze.

Fans of this fibrous squash know that it can be a pain to prep, but this method requires just a few pokes with a fork and a toss into the pressure cooker. A fast marinara topping comes together quickly so that this freezer-friendly vegetarian meal is ready for future dinners before you know it.

Get a taste of this popular comfort food from the Philippines with an adapted take that captures the same sweet-tart flavour profile. Sturdy chicken drumsticks hold up well in the pressure cooking, freezing and reheating process.