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Braised Chicken for Dinner and Freezer

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As much as I love my job outside of home, very often it leaves very little time to dinner prep work. How often have I came back to a house full of hungry people with nothing to eat? Way too many! My solution – bulk cooking! I am not a huge fan of cooking for the weeks ahead, but if anything I am planning to cook is freezer friendly, I just make a double and freeze it. Besides that, buying a little more and putting it to use right away will make sure you save money and not waste food.
This busy moms maximizes her healthy cooking - a batch for a freezer and a batch for a fridge - braised chicken recipie
My favorite side is quinoa. It is very easy to cook, but you have to learn to get it done right. I use a rice cooker and put slightly less water than I do for rice. However, if you have no patience – buy pre-cooked packages of quinoa – I heard it is really good!

On my last trip to Sam’s Club, I picked a double pack of chicken for double batch cooking.chickens

Braised Chicken for Dinner and Freezerbraised chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4to 5 pound chicken, cut up (remove skin)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ¾ cup white wine
  • 1 cup gluten free chicken broth or stock
  • 6 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
  • 1 lemon, sliced thin
  • 1 large red onion, cut into wedgesFrozen-Chicken

Instructions

  1. Start by browning chopped pieces of chicken. Browned chicken will keep the shape in the slow cooker and not lose the flavor.
  2. Add oil to the skillet. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Brown chicken 4-6 minutes on each side and place it in a 4 or 5 quart slow cooker.
  3. Add wine to skillet. Heat wine to simmering and scrape the browned bits from pan. Turn off heat and add chicken stock, Italian Seasoning and garlic. Pour over chicken in slow cooker. Lay lemon slices on chicken, then top with onion. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
  4. To freeze: Brown chicken as described before. Set in refrigerator to cool. Add wine to skillet, heat it up and scrape the browned bits from pan. Turn off heat. Stir in chicken stock, seasoning and garlic. Cool it off in refrigerator. Put cooked chicken, stock mixture, lemon, and onions into a gallon sized freezer bag. Remove the air and seal. Label and freeze.
  5. To serve: Thaw, put the contents of the bag with chicken into a 4 to 5 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 4 hours.

Here is my frozen bag – a couple days after I put it in the freezer and I can’t wait for it to save my dinner one of these days.

frozen-chicken-frozenJust remember to thaw it overnight and put it in the slow cooker before you leave for work in the morning.

braised chicken-lunch-half

Braised Chicken for Dinner and Freezer
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4to 5 pound chicken, cut up (remove skin)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ¾ cup white wine
  • 1 cup gluten free chicken broth or stock
  • 6 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
  • 1 lemon, sliced thin
  • 1 large red onion, cut into wedges
Instructions
  1. Start by browning chopped pieces of chicken. Browned chicken will keep the shape in the slow cooker and not lose the flavor.
  2. Add oil to the skillet. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Brown chicken 4-6 minutes on each side and place it in a 4 or 5 quart slow cooker.
  3. Add wine to skillet. Heat wine to simmering and scrape the browned bits from pan. Turn off heat and add chicken stock, Italian Seasoning and garlic. Pour over chicken in slow cooker. Lay lemon slices on chicken, then top with onion. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
  4. To freeze: Brown chicken as described before. Set in refrigerator to cool. Add wine to skillet, heat it up and scrape the browned bits from pan. Turn off heat. Stir in chicken stock, seasoning and garlic. Cool it off in refrigerator. Put cooked chicken, stock mixture, lemon, and onions into a gallon sized freezer bag. Remove the air and seal. Label and freeze.
  5. To serve: Thaw, put the content of the bag with chicken into a 4 to 5 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 4 hours.

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Comments

  11. Scott says

    I have never cooked any type of poultry in my slow-cooker. No idea why not, just realized I always roast, fry or grill it.

  12. Jenna Wood says

    I don’t know why I don’t make more freeze ahead meals- I have no issue eating frozen meals from the store; so I know my own cooking would be just as good or ore delicious later. We always have leftovers when we cook whole chickens, I will have to give this recipe a shot.

  15. Crystal says

    My mom is recovering from surgery, so I’m cooking for 2 families these days. Although the additional people doesn’t really add much to my budget or my prep, I don’t want to serve the same things over and over again. This sounds easy enough to prepare & looks absolutely yummy!

  16. Patty says

    I’ll bet that tastes really yummy – between marinating in the freezer bag and cooking in the slow cooker it will be full of flavor. It’s also nice to have options in the freezer like you wrote

  17. Joely Smith says

    My husband always wants to throw everything on the smoker but I am going to make this before he has a chance to take over while he is outside in his shop! Looks so good – your site always makes me hungrier!