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Postpartum Freezer Meals

These postpartum freezer meals and ideas will help nourish you as you take your postpartum journey with baby (or babies). These can all be made ahead of time, frozen, and enjoyed as needed.

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If you’ve landed on this post, you’re most likely about to add a new addition to your family – congratulations!

Preparing postpartum freezer meals can be a practical and thoughtful way to make the transition to life with a newborn smoother and less stressful.

You really never give much thought to freezer meals for postpartum until you need them or add a new baby to the clan.

Believe me – postpartum meal ideas are an important and necessary part of going from 2 to 3 kids. You’re tired, your pelvic floor is shot, the house is a mess.

mom holding baby eating pizza

We’ve already shared a post about freezer meals for new moms, but wanted to focus this one exclusively on postpartum meals that you can make yourself.

So, whether you’re 3 months postpartum, 6 or even 9, these meals will make your life easier, along with diaper subscriptions. Definitely try out the Hello Bello diaper subscriptions (code SARAHS-2QC gives you 20% off!)

If you want to work on strengthening your pelvic floor during pregnancy or postpartum, I highly recommend this free course from MUTU! The free videos and information offers a great way to see where you are and what needs to be strengthened for better movement, mobility and more. I’ve personally gone through MUTU and it was life changing!

When to Make Freezer Meals for Postpartum

Meal prep for baby is so underrated and WILL make your life so much easier – seriously, doing this during pregnancy (I call it self care during pregnancy) is sooo helpful.

Start no sooner than the third trimester (since most freezer meals last for 3-6 months).

Go slow if you need to or spend a day or two making as much as you can.

As I head into my third postpartum season, I now know more than ever that how I prepare will make a huge difference in my mental and physical health.

college meal prep with notebook

Even with this third pregnancy, I’m much more aware of what my body needs. That’s why I pretty much make one of my electrolyte drinks for pregnancy every day, and I’m focusing on protein at every meal and snack.

With my first two, my breastfeeding hunger was through the roof, so I’m anticipating that this time around as well.

Making these freezer meals for postpartum and doing any sort of meal prep for postpartum will only help me!

Plus, I spent so much time preparing for a homebirth, that being efficient with meal prep was helpful, and after my successful home birth story, I could focus on nourishment and recovery.

holding a sleeping baby and looking in mirror

If I want to get back to postpartum running, nourishing myself and my recovery is first and foremost. I incorporate many of the best postpartum recovery foods.

While I can get through the sleep-deprived months, I’m more in tune with the needs of my four and two-year-olds now.

So, having a collection of easy postpartum freezer meals and postpartum meal prep ideas is so helpful and necessary for our family.

It will allow me more time to focus on myself and my mental health, our family and new cuddles and memories, all while eating delicious and nourishing postpartum meals.

Closeup of sweet potato oatmeal bake with blueberries out of oven | Bucket List Tummy

Postpartum Freezer Meals: What to Look For

  • Simple Ingredients – You obviously want to choose meals that don’t use fancy or a ton of ingredients. We want tasteful but simplistic recipes. We don’t want to have to run out to the grocery store for something we may not have, especially if we’re doing a bunch of meal prep for postpartum all at once.
  • Flexible Recipes – I also like to choose flexible recipes. For example, maybe you want to substitute shrimp for chicken, or bison for ground beef and still have a tasty, well-balanced meal that works. Ground bison meatballs are so nourishing after giving birth.
  • Nutritious and Balanced – Our needs as postpartum moms are high. We just endured the biggest workout of our lives, our nutrient stores are depleted, we’re likely dehydrated and we are in a big renourishing stage. These recipes have carbs, fat and protein (all in one), and most contain fruits/veggies too for those antioxidants for healing. Your prenatal nutrition needs are still high.
  • Low in Added Sugars – Specifically, we want to load up on nutrient-dense items, high in protein, antioxidants and micronutrients, and lower in added sugars and sodium, since they won’t provide much nutritional benefits in the postpartum period.
  • High in Fiber – While most of us know during pregnancy, fiber is extra important and can be super helpful when we experience constipation thanks to the growing baby and changing hormones. In the postpartum period, you may not be moving as much, so getting extra fiber through fruits, vegetables and whole grains is so important for digestion and micronutrients.

We have some plant based frozen meals and ideas for postpartum, too, if you are following a plant-based or vegan diet.

If you want more easy postpartum snacks, many of these are freezer friendly too!

And on another note, don’t stop taking your prenatal vitamin just because you’re postpartum. Your nutrition needs are still really high!

postpartum freezer meals in freezer

You’ll never regret any meal prep for postpartum that you are able to do. Every little bit counts.

Have a friend, neighbor or family member over to make a bunch of these at once! Or, do it little by little.

Supplies for Postpartum Freezer Meal Prep

To make these easy freezer meals for postpartum, it helps if you have some special equipment on hand:

  • Chest Freezer – or something similar; a place to store your postpartum freezer meals.
  • Sturdy storage containers – I recommend pyrex or something like this. You want a high quality that won’t be susceptible to freezer burn, tearing, or the food rotting.
  • Stasher Bags – These work great for muffins, energy or oatmeal bites, or even cooked meats to add to a stew. Environmentally friendly and reusable!
  • Instant Pot or Crockpot – These aren’t essential but they do help speed up your postpartum freezer prep and allow you to cook more on a quicker timeframe.
  • Baking sheets – We love these non-stick baking sheets when doing sheet pan meals or anything in the oven. Plus, this bundle gives you everything you need for oven prep.
  • Freezer baskets – These are great for organization if you have a large freezer or can never find anything.
cropped-Freezer-Meals-in-Ziplock-Bags.jpg

Storage & Tips For Post Partum Meal Prep

When doing post partum meal prep and storage, you do want to keep a few things in mind from a food safety perspective.

  1. According to the FDA, when preparing food, make sure to always separate raw from cooked meats and foods. This means using separate cutting boards.
  2. Food safety is especially important for pregnancy and postpartum when our immune systems may be more vulnerable. Make sure to cook foods to proper temperatures (here’s a guide).
  3. Make sure to label and date anything you place in the freezer. Ideally, newer things should be on the bottom or in the back, and older things in an easier-to-spot place so you use them first!
  4. When defrosting food, avoid doing so on the countertop at room temperature. Instead, defrost in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave. Food thawed in cold water or in the microwave should be cooked immediately.
  5. Speaking of thawing, if you thaw something and don’t end up eating it, do NOT refreeze.
  6. It may be a good idea to try to incorporate some recipes that are allergen-free or friendly. You never know if your breastfeeding baby will react to dairy or something in your diet.
  7. Try to use within 2-5 months. Believe me – these meals wiill taste better and have a stronger nutrition profile if you do. Make sure you have freezer friendly containers, such as Stasher bags or pyrex containers.

Quick Postpartum Meal Prep Ideas

Depending on whether you want breakfast, lunch or dinner, here are some other quick postpartum meal prep ideas and recipes for you.

Breakfast

Fall overnight oats in mason jar with cover on top and apples in background

Lunches

  • Grain salads are easy to make quickly and will last you a few meals! Some ideas include our vegan couscous salad, quinoa and sweet potato salad (add your choice of protein or try several throughout the week), mango quinoa salad (can use any fruit) are great starters.
  • Pasta salad – Once you cook your pasta, let it cool, and make a pasta salad. So easy! You can even buy the pasta salad flavor kit at the grocery store and save time. We love coating ours in hummus in this gluten free pasta salad.
  • Sandwiches – Buy your favorite deli meat or rotisserie chicken, and throw on with your favorite toppings on a bun, roll or hearty sandwich bread for a no-cook, easy lunch option.

Dinners

  • Sheet pan meals are our favorite quick meal. Just throw whatever you have on a sheet pan and bake. You can pick any protein, a potato or sweet potato, and a bag of frozen veggies. This 20 minute honey garlic shrimp sheet pan is a staple.
  • Sheet pan nachos – These sweet potato nachos take a little longer, but it’s mostly oven time and hands off for you. Just pick your veggie and protein toppings, and bake. A healthier form of nachos!
  • Canned soups and chilis – We love shopping at Thrive Market for this reason because you can get a healthy bagged or canned chili delivered right to your house!
  • Air Fryer recipes – Utilize that piece of equipment that cooks things so quickly. When you haven’t planned, you can mix this air fryer tempeh with a bag of frozen veggies and microwave rice!
  • Utilize an instant pot for easy one pot meals. Sausage tortellini soup in the instant pot is full of veggies, as are meatball and kale soup and pumpkin sweetpotato soup.

From soups and chilis, to hearty pasta dishes, these are some of the best postpartum freezer meals.

Postpartum Freezer Meals

These postpartum freezer meals and ideas will help nourish you as you take your postpartum journey with baby (or babies). Enjoy as needed, as these are easily frozen and reheated.

We hope you find these freezer meals for postpartum helpful, nourishing and delicious.

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