crock pot freezer meals: Beefy Ravioli

Beefy Ravioli is a very easy crock pot freezer meal to make as it only requires 4 ingredients and 2-3 hours to cook. It's also very versatile, so if you like your pasta dishes to be more saucy or cheesy, the skies the limit with this meal!

Assembly: First, I took a gallon freezer bag and wrote the cooking instructions on it with a black Sharpie.

Write on Bag: Cook on high 2-3 hours. 20 mins. before serving top with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Recover and let melt. Serve with garlic toast and salad (optional for the serving)

Beefy Ravioli Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
• 1 (24 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce, any variety (If you like your pasta meals saucy, use a bigger sized jar such as 32-36 oz.)
• 1 (25 oz) bag frozen beef ravioli
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (I love cheese, so I added close to 2 cups)

Step 1: Cook the ground beef until no longer pink, drain of grease if needed.

Step 2: In a large bowl, open and dump the whole bag of frozen ravioli in it, next add the browned ground beef and the whole jar of spaghetti sauce.

Step 3: Mix well.

Step 4: Put the mixed beefy ravioli mixture into a large freezer bag, zip shut and freeze.

*Note: Before cooking this crock pot freezer meal, you might want to slightly unthaw it, so it can fit in the crock pot better.

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*With this recipe, each meal will feed a family of 4.

*According to Crock-Pot.com you can cook frozen meat in a Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker, but suggested cook time may need to be increased. To ensure meat is cooked through, use a meat thermometer. Meat should be well above 165°F to be tender.

*The USDA and other food safety specialists say to not put frozen meats in your slow cooker. The inside does not defrost fast enough at the low temperature to prevent harmful bacterial growth.

*From my personal experience I have not had any issues with putting the meat into the crock pot frozen, but use your own judgement on this.

*If you want to, the night before making a crock pot freezer meal, just take it out of the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge.

*I don't defrost any of these bags prior to putting them into the crock pot. I do however run the bag under hot water until the frozen chunk is loose from the bag and then I put the frozen chunk into the crock pot and let it cook.

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