35+ Freezable Meals for Toddlers That They’ll Actually Eat
- February 20, 2025
- Last Updated: April 22, 2025
- 19 Comments
- Toddler Food Ideas
Inside: Do you need some ideas for frozen meals for toddlers? These toddler-friendly freezer recipes will help you be prepared for those busy days when you need to get a meal on the table quickly, and can all be prepped in advance.
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Feeding toddlers can be challenging, especially when you throw other kids and commitments into the mix.
One day they love something and then next they hate it.
As a Registered Dietitian, I realize patience is key when serving new foods (or even foods that they once loved), because it’s such an important foundation when feeding kids.
Now that I have a toddler and a baby in the house, we rely on meal prep, which means I’m often serving freezer meals for toddlers that I’ve made previously.
I’ve realized that kid-friendly frozen meals do make my life easier. Even though freezer meals require a little bit of prep work (though it’s much less compared to cooking every night), they save lots of time in the long run.
These healthy frozen toddler meals are great for healthy toddler breakfast ideas, as well as lunches and/or dinners.
Dinners for toddlers and recipes are really what makes my life less stressful – since this is when they are overly tired and hungry, at least in my house.
There is really nothing like being able to prepare a healthy, filling, appetizing, homemade meal for your child that they will love and enjoy.
With summer right around the corner, I always like to have a few toddler meal ideas for dinner and ready-to-go meals in the freezer for extra busy nights – and if I need something quick, I’ll heat up my Factor meal to eat alongside them.
Why You Should Prep Freezable Meals for Toddlers
Once kids come into the equation, you learn about the significance of some form of meal prep and even make ahead family meals.
Many of the recipes I love, like baby led weaning meatballs, or sweet potato zucchini fritters, for example, are freezable.
If you need more reasons as to why you should make freezer meals for kids, consider these reasons:
- Cook once, eat multiple times – One of my favorite tenets of meal prep is that you spend a little more time up front (or no extra time), yet have meals for the future! Save your energy and just cook extra when you’re making that meal for your toddlers.
- Works for so many different foods – For instance, while quinoa may not be something you think to regularly serve your toddler, quinoa recipes for toddlers can be quick and freezable when you need them to be.
- Repurpose leftovers – How many times have you just thrown out the meal that your toddler didn’t touch? Save it for later! You can repurpose it in a new way in a few weeks if you save it as a freezer meal for your kids.
- Just as nutritious – Just like frozen fruits and vegetables, freezer meals for toddlers are just as nutritious as fresh, since they have the nutrition packed in. All you have to do is reheat them! We use these stasher bags and super cubes a ton for storing our frozen meals for toddlers as well as these Rubbermaid containers.
- Save you time and money – Having a variety of food recipes for toddlers and different freezer meals for kids ready to go can help alleviate a lot of stress and can save you lots of money and time! Consider a weeknight where you didn’t prep and need something quick after soccer practice. Rather than stop at the drive through, just microwave that sweetpotato mac and cheese you froze last week!
If you’re looking for some easy make ahead meals for toddlers that can serve as freezable meals for toddlers, these easy meal ideas for toddlers should give you plenty of ideas.
I wanted to specifically discuss make-ahead toddler meals because as moms, we have to take advantage of energy and time when we have it!
Make-ahead meals that I’ve made previously have been life-changing as meal ideas for a two year old because they’ve already eaten them.
But remember, these freezable toddler meal recipes don’t have to be overly time-consuming. All you’re really doing is just making extra of your healthy toddler meal recipes and then freezing them for later!
Try not to make it overwhelming and work to make healthy prep meals doable.
Equipment
The verdict is that make ahead meals and freezable snacks for toddlers are life-saving – you can even serve some of them, like easy toddler snacks or smoothies, as freezable snacks, especially if you have the right equipment to do so.
Here are some of my favorites for freezing toddler meals and snacks.
- Reusable pouches/smoothie packs
- Stasher bags or reusable freezer bags
- Freezer friendly clear containers (so you can see what’s in them)
- Freezer friendly labels – these work great, so you know when you made and frozen them. Most freezable meals should be eaten within 3 months.
- Fun sandwich cutters – sometimes making food into fun shapes increases the odds of kids eating it. Sometimes you can use these after thawing or reheating food.
- It’s not necessary, but having a large separate chest freezer sure does make it easy to prepare and have room for lots of food.
Tips for Easy Freezable Toddler Meals
Let’s talk about how to make these toddler food recipes to freeze work for you. Because if you’re scrambling to make dinner for a 2 year old with a baby strapped to you or when you’re using your portable breastpump (I’ve been there!), things can get hectic.
As a Registered Dietitian and busy mom, here are some of the principles I live by.
- Let your food completely cool down before you start dividing it up and putting it in storage containers or storage bags. This is mainly for food safety reasons.
- I recommend choosing 3 or 4 recipes and making them at the same time. This makes it easy to grocery shop and plan your day accordingly. And according to the Division of Responsibility, which we follow for intuitive eating for kids, you plan and serve the meals and it’s up to your child to eat them. If you can get your toddler involved to help you, even better! They are more likely to try foods if they have a role in it. Or, keep them busy doing some toddler food activities while you batch cook. I love these sandwich cutter stencils for food.
- Do yourself a favor and freeze things in individual servings. Not only does it take longer to reheat an entire casserole or soup, but it’s also harder to make last longer. I really love to purchase souper cubes, small containers or reusable freezer bags that I can label with the name and date to make these freezable kid friendly meals more organized. Labeling your freezer toddler meals ensures you eat them in a timely fashion, ideally within 3 months.
- If you’re making something like chicken nuggets as your frozen food for toddlers, make sure you don’t just throw them all into a bag in the freezer. You don’t want to go through all of that hard work just to have them all stick together. Instead, right after you make them, cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay the food out in a single layer. Don’t let them touch each other. Put it in the freezer and let them get frozen enough to where you don’t have to worry about clumping. They don’t have to be frozen solid before you move them to a freezer-friendly bag or container. This usually takes a maximum of an hour or two.
- Be sure to flatten your bags before you store them in the freezer, if they are holding your frozen meals. The less air the better. This also makes defrosting faster. Having a tight seal is really the secret to good storage, which is why having bags like these is so so helpful. It’s helpful to flatten them on a sheet pan or something flat.
- Storage – Most cooked meals can be kept in the freezer for up to two or three months. When I have mine in the deep freezer, they keep for up to six months. Then, when you’re scrambling to make dinner, you can remind yourself that you have a variety of healthy frozen meals for kids in the freezer!
- Batch cook – You can always just make a double or triple batch of a recipe or toddler approved meal your child really enjoys to freeze for later. Having a stash of freezer meals doesn’t have to mean dedicating an entire day to cooking. Make it fit into your life without extra hassle. Leftovers are also great to freeze for toddler meals that you don’t have any specific plans for!
Easy Freezer Snacks for Toddlers
It’s not just freezable meals for toddlers to focus on though – snacks help too!
I have a great roundup of toddler muffin recipes that are great for breakfasts on the go, a healthy snack, or an easy addition to a meal. We love muffins because they are extremely portable, and they make a fantastic freezable snack for toddlers.
Heck, I even freeze muffins that we make if it’s been a few days. It’s worth it to me – even if it’s a couple of muffins.
That’s a no brainer, either re-heat a snack later in the week or rely on one of our easy toddler lunch ideas.
Believe me – it’s helpful to have this at all stages, especially when you add a NEW baby to the clan. If I need something quick, I resort to my favorite Factor meals.
I share all of my tips for going from 2 to 3 kids here, and you’ll want frozen toddler meals available (to re-heat quickly!) and some postpartum freezer meals on hand.
We also do a lot of greek yogurt smoothies (full of protein for those toddler bellies) and yogurt pouches for toddlers, so these smoothie pouches are essential.
Be sure you have nice Tupperware or freezer bags that you can put your prepared food in.
If you don’t want to write directly on containers, freezer labels are a great investment!
How Do I Reheat Freezer Meals for My Toddler?
There are so many different ways you can go about reheating freezer meals for your toddler. Some will depend on what the recipe was catered to!
- For things like chicken nuggets, pizza pockets, or taquitos, an air fryer truly works magic. It gives that delicious crispy outer layer for extra deliciousness. You could just as easily heat them up in the microwave or oven without any issues. If they don’t like green beans, try frozen green beans in the air fryer.
- If you’re trying to warm up soups, stews, or chili, it’s best to thaw them overnight in the fridge or put the frozen food that is sealed in a sink of cold water to thaw. Then you could throw it in a pot on the stove to heat up or in the slow cooker.
- Using an Instant Pot is a great option as well. Just remember that you need to have enough liquid in the pot for it to come to pressure. The best part about pressure cookers is that you generally usually don’t have to add more cook time when you’re cooking your food from frozen.
- When it comes to casseroles, they can be defrosted in the fridge overnight or reheated in the microwave if you’re in a pinch. But I have found the easiest way to reheat a casserole is to just put it straight in the oven (as long as it isn’t in a glass container). If you choose to do this you can simply add more cooking time to get it to a safe temperature for consumption.
35 Freezable Toddler Meal Ideas
Being able to make a bunch of different freezable toddler meals is a life-saver. Not only does it save you time and money, but it also saves your sanity.
Check out these easy and delicious toddler meals that can be individually frozen and ready to pull out and heat up.
Healthy homemade foods without added ingredients are always a win as well.
Baby French Toast Sticks
Baby French Toast Sticks are a healthy, tasty way to introduce eggs to your baby. This protein french toast can be topped with fruit, peanut butter, hummus, yogurt or milk!
Sweetpotato Oatmeal Bake with Blueberries
This Sweetpotato Oatmeal Bake with Blueberries is the perfect quick and nutritious breakfast option, great for your meal prep oatmeal needs. It’s ready in 30 minutes, great for crowds, and the perfect pre- workout snack!
Toddler Pancakes
This easy baby pancakes recipe is nutrient-full and great to serve for baby led weaning at 6 months and beyond!
Gluten Free Fish Sticks with Honey Yogurt Dipping Sauce
These Gluten Free Fish Sticks use a breading with almond flour and quinoa to make a healthy baked fish stick for kids, served with a delicious honey yogurt dipping sauce.
Toddler Mac and Cheese with Pears and Broccoli
This Toddler Mac and Cheese with pears is the easiest pasta for toddlers and also works as some of the best pasta for babies. It's ready in 15 minutes, only uses one pot, and combines fruits and vegetables!
Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
Pumpkin sweet potato soup combines the hearty, nourishing flavors of autumn in an easy 30 minute vegan instant pot recipe.
Coconut Milk Chicken Pasta
Chicken pasta with coconut milk is a veggie-rich, creamy, one-pot pasta that's great for the whole family.
Easy Butternut Squash Chicken Soup
Looking for a nourishing and delicious soup recipe for meal prep? This quick butternut squash chicken soup uses pre-cooked chicken as a shortcut, and is a balanced fall recipe for lunches and dinners, and freezes beautifully.
Thai Curry Meatballs
These thai red curry meatballs are great for meal prep and delicious for the whole family! They have a few unique ingredients that help add flavor and nutrition too.
Air Fryer Tofu Nuggets
Air fryer tofu nuggets are a delicious, plant-based and kid-friendly meal option. Ready in under 20 minutes, they're high in protein, fiber, calcium and so much more.
Lemon Pepper Baked Chicken Tenders
Lemon Pepper Baked Chicken Tenders are a family favorite, and great alongside your favorite dip and grains. Ready in about 20 minutes, they're a weeknight staple, made with only a handful of ingredients!
Spinach Sweet Potato Tater Tots
These Spinach Sweet Potato Tots are a fun way to offer nutrient dense toddler vegetable recipes to your little ones. Packed with iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and carbohydrates, this veggie tots recipe is great for meal prep and the side to any meal.
Chicken Meatballs for Baby
These chicken meatballs for baby need only 5 ingredients, and are a healthy and fun way to introduce nutrients to your baby (and/or toddlers!).
One Pot Taco Tortellini
If you like tacos and pasta, this one pot taco tortellini is a brilliant blend of the two! It's ready in under 20 minutes and is a great, family-friendly meal!
One Pot Cheesy Beef Taco Pasta
Need dinner on the table quickly? This cheesy beef taco pasta is a family-favorite, combining the wonderful flavors of cheesy pasta with tacos. Best of all, it's ready in under 30 minutes and in one pot!
Beet Chocolate Muffins
Healthy Beet Chocolate Muffins are the perfect toddler snack, full of fiber and energizing carbohydrates, as well Sas being a fun way to get new veggies into your kids!
Savory Spinach Feta Muffins
Need a quick and easy savory breakfast muffin recipe? These spinach feta muffins are great for on the go, or getting more veggies into your day.
Garlic Turmeric Crispy Parsnip Fries
These Garlic Turmeric Crispy Parsnip Fries are the perfect "fry" shape and sprinkled with cheese and herbs. An easy parsnip recipe for the whole family and a quick side to any meal.
Air Fryer Pizza Bites
Don't discount these air fryer pizza bites! Made with pepperoni, peppers, crescent rolls and cheese, these air fryer pizza crescent rolls are a family-friendly, easy and quick meal.
Baby Waffles
Baby waffles are a great first food for babies. These spinach waffles with sweet potatoes are free of added sugars and full of healthy ingredients for your little ones.
Easy Ground Turkey and Sweet Potato Burgers
These easy ground turkey sweet potato burgers offer a delicious, flavorful twist on your original turkey burger. Sweet potato patties are chock full of antioxidants and can be made as a paleo turkey burger and gluten free turkey burger without the bun.
Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole with Sweet Potatoes
This Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole is an easy make ahead breakfast that you just pop in the oven in the morning! Enjoy this turkey sausage sweet potato egg casserole after a morning workout, for meal prep or with your favorite people!
Quinoa Pizza Bites (Easy Veggie Quinoa Bites)
These quinoa pizza bites are the perfect toddler quinoa bites or quinoa appetizer. Filled with greens, tomatoes, breadcrumbs, and cheese, these veggie quinoa bites taste like healthy mini pizza bites.
Apple Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal
Apple Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal is an easy, hearty breakfast option for on the go and great for kids. Offering both a serving of fruits and veggies, top it with peanut butter or yogurt and your toddler has a healthy freezer meal for breakfast!
Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese
Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese is the answer to your cheesy pasta dreams. A mixture of whole wheat pasta, mashed sweet potato, cheese and kale make this savory sweet potato pasta dish a real winner.
Butternut Squash Meal Prep Muffins for Baby
Butternut squash egg muffins for baby are an easy, healthy recipe that work great for breakfast, as a snack, or for on the go! Made with wholesome veggies, protein and healthy fats, baby egg muffins are great for meal prep!
Chicken Pumpkin Chili
Crockpot Chicken Pumpkin Chili is the perfect white bean pumpkin chili with your choice of meat. Full of hearty protein, vegetables, fiber and vitamins, this pumpkin chili recipe is great for warming you up and keeping you nourished.
Air Fryer Chicken Tacos
Take your taco night up a notch with these Air Fryer Chicken Tacos. Ready in less than 20 minutes, this family-friendly meal is one that everyone will love!
Cornflake Chicken Nuggets Recipe
This homemade cornflake chicken nuggets recipe is perfect for a quick and easy midweek kids dinner, using a kids favorite for chicken.
Mini Meatloaves: Vegan Meatloaf Muffins (Gluten-Free, Allergy-Free)
If you're looking for a gluten-free meatloaf recipe, then you're in the right place! These Vegan Meatloaf Muffins are gluten-free and allergy-free. They are the perfect kid-friendly dinner idea!
Vegan Pizza Pockets
These vegan pizza pockets can be personalized to your favorite toppings and add-in's, and make a great weeknight dinner.
Rainbow veggie slice
When it comes to lunchboxes, it is tricky to get enough veggies into the kids. This rainbow veggie slice is designed to help with that! It's also gluten free!
Easy Tomato Soup
This delicious easy tomato soup recipe only takes 20 minutes to make and 6 simple ingredients. It's full of flavor, creamy and is vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free. Use fresh or canned tomatoes.
This Ultimate Vegan Chili
This Ultimate Vegan Chili is perfect for filling a little toddler's tummy up. It has lots of veggies, beans, and mild spices that the entire family will surely love. This recipe is super easy to make, freezer-friendly, and perfect for potlucks because of the different toppings that can be added!
Beef, Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne
This beef, spinach and ricotta lasagne needs no white sauce, tastes delicious and is jam-packed with veggies, what's not to love about it? Creamy, hearty and so yummy, the whole family will enjoy it
Hopefully, these freezable toddler meals are helpful and make mealtime with your children a little bit easier.
Just adding a simple side like applesauce to an already prepared freezer meal has definitely made mealtime simpler.
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