Tips for Hosting a Seasonal Meal Prep

I shared when I talked about my Winter List that I was trying to find ways to savor the winter season rather than desiring to skip it completely. One of the ideas on my list was to host a Winter meal prep day with friends. The intention of the day is to make a few freezable meals that you can either quickly pop in the oven or crockpot on a busier day or week, make meals to give to others, or just have something in the freezer you know you like that you can look forward to.

A few weekends ago I hosted friends at my house and we got to work prepping meals for the winter. Our foods included recipes for protein balls, pumpkin chili, baked spaghetti, chicken marinades, and more! We budgeted some time in the afternoon on a Saturday (and planned the date about a month in advance) so we could all get together. Everyone picked 2-4 recipes they wanted to make and then we had supplies on hand. In all it only took about 4 hours for everyone to make their foods and walk away with containers to pop right in the freezer. If you want to gather friends for you own winter meal prep, here are some tips.

Determine who’s coming over! Is it friends or family or both? You probably want to consider the size of the kitchen you’ll be prepping in to determine how many people you can easily fit.
Pick a date and time. The sooner you can get this on the calendar, the easier it is. December books up quickly, so maybe a January date would be a good idea. Or a weekday evening. If you want, send a cute little invite from Canva for the group.
Pick your recipes. Each person should pick 1-4 recipes they’d like to prep. The best are those you can assemble and then pop right into the freezer. A variety of those that use a crockpot, no bake, oven, stovetop, or just assembly is good so not everyone’s trying to use the oven or stove at the same time.
Choose who is bringing what supplies. I recommend having quart containers, gallon ziploc bags, black sharpies, and aluminum pans on hand. For the pans, try to determine if you need pie pans, loaf pans, 1/3, 1/2 or full size plans depending on people’s recipes.
Bring the recipes along in a book or screen shot on your phone so you don’t have to try to look it up later. Also write down the heating instructions and when to use the item by so you can write it directly on the pan or the container to easy reference.
Prepare your kitchen. I cleared off my island, countertops, and a buffet I have so that everyone could have a space to assemble and prep. I also created space in the dining room for items to cool after they were made.
Put out some snacks the day of, put on an upbeat playlist, and have a great time!

If you’re interested in recipes for some of the things made at our meal prep, I’ve included similar recipes below.

We had a great time prepping and chatting and catching up. It was so enjoyable for everyone to leave with some foods they enjoyed and were able to prep to easily share with family and friends. We thought this would be fun to do each season so we plan to revisit in late winter/early spring and pick another date and prepare for the season ahead!