You won't believe how incredibly easy this delicious Hawaiian Chicken recipe is! Simply toss all of the ingredients in the crock pot and forget about it until dinner time. This yummy meal can be enjoyed today or stashed away in the freezer for another time.
Hey, y'all! Welcome to my latest series on the blog; Make Ahead Mondays! Let me tell you, meal planning and meal prepping has been a game changer for me. Recently, our family grew from a family of 2 to a family of 5 when our latest group of foster children joined us.
Before, when it was just the two of us, I'd meal plan- meaning I'd sit down on the weekends and figure out what meals I was going to prepare throughout the week. I'd jot down a grocery list and head to the store to stock up for the week. Now that we're moms to a 5-year-old and 1 1/2-year-old twin boys, I had to switch over to meal prepping. Meal prepping, for me, means planning out our menu, grocery shopping, and then spending a couple of hours 1 day a week whipping up all of our meals for the week and tossing them into the freezer until we're ready to use them. Ya'll, I have so much more time on my hands doing things this way AND there's a hell of a lot less dishes.
Throughout this series, I'm going to share with you the recipes I use to on these meal prep days. Hang on tight, your life is about to get so much easier! This week, I'm highlighting my Hawaiian Chicken recipe.
Hawaiian Chicken is a cross between a sweet and sour chicken and a brown sugar chicken. It has a sweet sticky sauce, delicious chunks of pineapple and peppers. It is often served over bed of ste white rice.
As a short cut, this recipe uses a pre-made barbecue sauce. If you are leery of using store bought sauces, you could always create your very own marinade for this recipe. It comes together very easily, uses pantry staples, and tastes great!
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons ketchup
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
I also take another step out of the prep-work by using a bag of frozen pepper stir fry. If your family isn't big on peppers, you could easily leave them out.
What I love most about this dish is that it is super easy to make- especially if you use all of the suggested short cuts. Simply toss all of the ingredients into a crock pot for 6-7 hours on low heat and forget about it until dinner time! If you use a crock pot liner, there is virtually no clean-up. I mean really, could this dish be any easier?
The end result is fork tender and absolutely delicious! Even our toddlers tore this dish up!
Tips for Making Freezer Crock Pot Meals:
- Keep an eye on your grocery stores sale flyers and stock up on meat when it's on sale.
- Print off recipes your family likes so you don't have to hunt them down or create a special Pinterest board with all of your favorite freezer meals.
- Label each Ziploc bag with the name of the meal, simple directions and cooking time.
- Make sure you have all of the essentials before you get started- bag holders, gallon size bags, quart size bags, permanent markers, bag holders, and slow cooker liners are great to have on hand.
Kitchen Essentials:
Ingredients:
1 can crushed pineapple
1 bottle BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's)
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
14.4 oz frozen pepper stir-fry
To Enjoy Now:
1. Add all the ingredients into a crock pot. Stir together. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.
2. Serve with rice.
To Enjoy Later (as a freezer meal):
1. Label a gallon size Ziploc bag with the meals name, directions and cook time.
2. Add all ingredients into a gallon size Ziploc bag. Seal and place in the freezer.
3. When ready to prepare, allow the bag to thaw in the fridge overnight. Empty the ingredients into a crock-pot. Stir together and cook on low for 6-7 hours.
4. Serve with rice.
Be sure to save this yummy pin for later! Give me a like on Facebook or follow me on Instagram and Twitter for more delicious, easy to make recipes. You can also subscribe to the blog to have the recipes delivered straight to your inbox. See you next time!
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