Celebrate March National Frozen Food Month

March marks the celebration of National Frozen Food Month, a time to appreciate the innovation and convenience that frozen foods bring to our daily lives. This annual observance highlights frozen foods’ versatility, nutritional value, and longevity, from fruits and vegetables to ready-made meals, showcasing how they simplify meal preparation and enhance our culinary experiences. It’s an invitation to explore the frozen food aisles with a new perspective and discover new dishes through kitchen creativity. Here are some recipes that use frozen foods for delicious meals.

Frozen Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are often flash-frozen at the peak of freshness. This method effectively preserves the goodness of just-harvested produce, ensuring they retain much of their nutritional value, flavor, and taste. For busy individuals and families, this means having access to high-quality ingredients that require minimal preparation time. Incorporating these frozen fruits and vegetables into meals makes healthy eating convenient.

Our Berry Crumble recipe offers an effortless dessert option, as there’s no need to thaw the berries before baking. You can easily prepare this crumble ahead of time, and any leftovers can be conveniently frozen, ensuring you can enjoy a taste of sweet, fruity perfection whenever the craving strikes.

Mini chicken pot pies combine the hearty flavors of diced cooked chicken and frozen mixed vegetables with the richness of cream of chicken soup; all encased in a golden, flaky crust. This Grands!™ Mini Chicken Pot Pies recipe from Pillsbury offers a comforting individual-sized twist on the classic pot pie, perfect for lunches or busy weeknights.

Adding peas to pasta carbonara enhances the dish with a delightful burst of springtime freshness. Our Pasta Carbonara With Peas recipe will make a deliciously vibrant addition to your Easter menu.

Frozen Meats

Frozen meats and poultry come with the bulk of the prep work already completed, streamlining meal preparation significantly. Keeping a well-stocked freezer with these versatile proteins ensures you’re always ready to whip up quick, nutritious meals without the hassle of extensive prep time.

This Instant Pot BBQ Chicken recipe from Kristine’s Kitchen is savory, simple, and made using convenient ingredients, like frozen chicken breasts or thighs, canned chicken broth, store-bought barbecue sauce, and pantry seasonings. In addition to using this chicken for BBQ chicken sandwiches, you can also use the chicken for salads, wraps, tacos, nachos, quesadillas, or pizza.

Bookmark Taste of Home’s article 42 Crazy-Good Dishes That Start with Frozen Meatballs and you’ll always have a fast meal idea at your fingertips, like Meatballs with Chimichurri Sauce, Three-Cheese Meatball Mostaccioli, Meatball Pizza, and many more unique meal ideas. These recipes will inspire you to keep your freezer stocked with frozen, fully-cooked meatballs.

Frozen Seafood

From coconut-breaded butterfly shrimp to wild-caught halibut, frozen seafood makes meal prep easy and is an excellent choice for healthy eating. Many fishing companies use state-of-the-art equipment to flash-freeze fish when fishing boats are in remote areas to preserve the fish’s quality.

Cod, halibut, and tilapia are great options for super-fast and healthy suppers made with frozen seafood. You’ll find this Allrecipes article 5 Simple (but Important) Tips for Cooking Fish Straight from the Freezer helpful for nights when you realize you forgot to thaw the fish.

Pull out the instant pot for The Natural Nurturer’s Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Salmon (from frozen!). It’s a healthy, delicious meal that’s Paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free. Betty Crocker’s spicy Shrimp Gumbo recipe is another fast meal option that uses frozen seafood (and frozen okra). It’s spicylicious and ready in only 35 minutes.

If you’ve never cooked seafood, you may want to read Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely from the FDA.

Throughout March and beyond, let’s embrace the ease and innovation that frozen foods offer, making our daily meals simple and delicious.