Welcome back to Freezer To Crockpot Cooking – Appetizers Week!
These appetizer recipes are perfect for football season or any time that you need some easy appetizers to feed some guests. My husband is famous for telling me on a Sunday morning "Oh - I invited a few people over to watch the game today!". With these in your freezer, you won't need to scramble to figure out what to serve!
See all of the other weeks in this series:
You had a few days to get everything on the freezer cooking shopping list, so now it is time to assemble everything and get it in the freezer!
Don’t forget: the shopping list for this week was designed to make 4 hearty appetizers. If you doubled or tripled the shopping list to make even more appetizers, you will need to adjust these instructions for the increased quantity of food that you are making
There really isn’t much prep work to these recipes, just slice the kielbasa! I prefer about 1” thickness so they are a bit heartier for a bunch of hungry fans. If you want to use your own recipe for homemade meatballs, go ahead and make them now and allow them to cool completely before bagging time.
Now lay out your freezer bags, you will need 4 -gallon and 1- quart sized bags, grab your sharpie, and lets label with cooking directions (as a reminder, you want to do this BEFORE you start filling your bags. Writing on a lumpy bag is just NO fun!):
Beer & Barbeque Meatballs
- Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray
- Pour entire contents of bag into crockpot
- Pour ½ - ¾ bottle of beer into crockpot
- Cook over low heat for 4-5 hours
- Additional Fresh Items: Rolls and cheese if you want to serve them as sandwiches
Sweet and Saucy Kielbasa Bites
- Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray
- Pour contents of bag into crockpot
- Pour ½ bottle beer into crockpot
- Cook on low for 3-4 hours.
Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray
- Pour contents of bag #1 into crockpot
- Cook on low for 3-4 hours
- Shred chicken fine, using 2 forks
- Add contents of bag #2, stir
- Cook for an additional 1- 1 ½ hours
- Additional Fresh Items: celery sticks and crackers for dipping
Spinach Dip
- Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray
- Pour contents of bag into crockpot
- Cook on low for 1-2 hours
- Additional Fresh Items: Crackers, Fresh Veggies or Fresh Crusty Bread for dipping
Now let’s get to filling those freezer bags, you will need 4 1-gallon size bags, and 1 1-quart sized.
The following is what you will need to put in each bag. These all make pretty good size portions but feel free to double or triple for a big crowd, and big appetites.
Beer & Barbecue Meatballs
- 3 lbs. cooked meatballs
- 1 ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups ketchup
- 2 cloves of minced garlic
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
Sweet and Saucy Kielbasa Bites
- 3 packages sliced kielbasa
- 1 ½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup spicy brown mustard
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Bag #1- Gallon Bag
- 4 large Chicken Breasts
- ½- ¾ cup buffalo flavor hot sauce
Bag #2
- 2 -8 oz. packages of cream cheese
- 8oz. bag shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup ranch dressing
Spinach Dip
- 2- 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
- 2 – 10 oz. packages of frozen spinach
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves diced garlic
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
And that's it! You now have 4 ready-to-go appetizers in the freezer! Some of these recipes I will be doubling for my freezer (especially the meatballs and kielbasa, since our friends just INHALE those things). It will be nice to not have to worry about what to serve when we suddenly have guests for the Steelers games!
Next week? We are filling the freezer with beef dishes!
Need more slow cooker recipes that are great for freezer cooking? See all of the other weeks in this series:
Mindi has been blogging since 2008 sharing her best frugal living tips, recipes and more. When she isn't writing, she spends time as an unpaid cook, maid and chauffeur to her 3 children!
Can I substitute beer for something else?
While the alcohol from the beer will "cook off" during the process, you can certainly substitute ginger ale or Sprite!