You forgot to plan dinner and it's snowing
Sunday afternoon you brown two pounds of ground turkey with chili powder, cumin, and a can of diced tomatoes, then let it cool flat in a quart bag. Press the air out before you seal it, because a bag that traps air splits open somewhere around week three and chili juice pools under everything else in the freezer.
Tuesday morning you drop the frozen block straight into the slow cooker, add a cup of water, and set it to low before you leave for work. By 5:30 it has thinned out and thickened back up into something that smells like it took all day, because it basically did.
Pour the leftover half into a preheated wide-mouth thermos for the kid whose game runs through dinner. It stays hot past the second half, and there is no burner involved at the field.
Ingredients
The batch makes about 8 cups (serves 6). Plan on about 40 minutes to cook, then freeze.
- 1.5 pounds ground turkey
- 1 diced onion and 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cans (15 oz each) beans (kidney, black, or pinto), drained
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, salt
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
How to Make It
- Brown the turkey with the onion and garlic.
- Stir in the chili powder and cumin and cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the beans, tomatoes, and broth; simmer 20 to 25 minutes.
- Season with salt and cool completely.
Freeze It
Chili is a near-perfect freezer meal because reheating only makes it taste better. Freeze it flat so it thaws fast.
- Freeze in flat, labeled bags or quart containers, leaving room for expansion
- Lay bags flat to freeze, then stand them up like files (best within 3 months)
- Single-serve portions thaw faster than one giant block
Thaw and reheat on practice night
Reheat from frozen on the stove or drop a pack into the slow cooker before you leave for practice.
- Stovetop from frozen: covered pot with a splash of water, medium heat, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring
- Slow cooker: frozen pack on low for 4 hours while you are at practice
- Microwave a single portion from frozen, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring
- Serve with: shredded cheese, tortilla chips or cornbread, a dollop of sour cream
Parent Tip
Spoon leftover chili over a baked potato or hot dog for a second, different dinner.
Make it fit tonight
Small changes that make this one fit your night
Chili over rice
Ladle it over a scoop of rice when the tortilla chips ran out on Sunday.
Baked potato topper
Split a potato, spoon chili into the middle, and skip the sour cream nobody asked for.
Thermos lunch for the car
Pack it hot for whoever eats between school pickup and the 4:30 whistle.
Chili dogs, no apology
Turkey chili over a hot dog beats a bowl when knives and forks aren't happening.
Frito pie in a bowl
Crushed corn chips, a scoop of chili, and shredded cheddar, done before the timer beeps.
Plan the next step
Freeze a batch
Add a chili-cooking session to the planner and portion it into single packs.