Theres nothing like fresh food.

There’s also nothing like a day where you ran a million errands, got a flat tire that took an hour to fix, received a phone call that you left your credit card in one fo the stores you went into on your million errand run so you have to go back to said store and sit in the random 2:00 pm traffic again, to finally get home and remember that the little people who co-inhabit your home will somehow need to be fed.

These are precisely the times having premarinated chicken in your freezer saves the day.

Is it really so hard to throw some sauce on chicken and stick it in the oven?

No. It’s not.

But, when you have so many other thing goings on, whether its a full work schedule, a busy week of holiday preparations or just a regular Wednesday (why are Wednesdays always so crazy?), it’s nice to know you can have a yummy home made meal with out getting a single dish dirty!

That’s right. You prep all these chicken when they’re fresh, freeze them in the marinade and then all you have to do is cook em up! It could not be simpler.

Well, I guess you actually could cook them first then freeze them, but really, I don’t recommend that. There something about cooked frozen chicken that just isn’t right. Maybe it’s the texture, Maybe its in the reheating process, whatever it is, it’s just not ideal. Sticking something in the oven , when everything is already chopped, mixed and cleaned is so easy that  why not cook it fresh. Also, then its fresh. And hot out of the oven chicken, is always a crowd pleaser.

So, I’ve put together 10 different recipes for you, together in one place, just to maker your life easier. I figure with ten recipes theres definitely a few out there for each of you. This way you could take 1 hour (yup, you can marinade all ten of these in less than hour)on a Sunday and be set for the next month!

A note about freezing:

I like to freeze these in ziplock bags. I squeeze out as much air as possible from the bags and somehow I think this helps the marinade really penetrate the chicken and and a whole extra burst of flavor. I also like to lay the ziplock bags flat into a 9×13 pan in the freeze sxo that during the freezer process if theres any drips I can just throw out the pan. Once all the chicken is frozen I remove the pan and stand my ziplock up vertically. This way I can always see what I have, its easy to take out and takes up way less space in the freezer to save room for things that are really important. Like ice cream.

Also, please not that you can change up the cuts of chicken I use to reflect cuts that your family likes.

Hope this helps you all this holiday season and all your long!

Happy freezer stocking!

✌&,

Danielle