These chickpea butternut squash fajitas can be assembled ahead and stored in the fridge or freezer for the easiest dinner you can possibly find! An easy vegan meal prep dinner.
2017 is off to a seriously amazing start.
The Lunch Prep Challenge that I dreamed up last summer has nearly 14,000 participants. Pinch me!!
We booked our first vacation since before Kai was born. Maui, here we come!
And now I’ve discovered a seriously amazing fact: butternut squash is freezer friendly.
OK, so one of those things is not quite like the other, but still, discovering that you can assemble these butternut squash fajitas ahead of time and freeze them was pretty darn exciting.
Even though they are not pictured here, I also froze them with the chickpeas and everything tasted great. In fact you would never in a million years guess that anything had been frozen!
Friends, I’m on a mission. 2017 is going to be packed with make ahead meals. I’ve already got lots of breakfast, snack and lunch options on the site, but the dinners category is somewhat void.
Make ahead dinners are tricky. You want something nice for dinner…something freshly cooked. You want something that you can put in the oven with as little effort as possible, like these chickpea butternut squash fajitas!
These bad boys are actually suuuper healthy, which is not something you often see with freezer food. I think casseroles, lasagna, CHEESE.
Not these fajitas…they are packed full of veggies and flavor, thanks to my favorite Homemade Fajita Seasoning recipe.
And the best part is that they only take 20 minutes to prep, at which point you can stash them in the fridge or the freezer until you are ready to bake them up.
When you get home from work at 5:30 pm, you just toss them in the oven and roast them up. It’s really that simple.
I hope you’re excited for more prep ahead dinner recipes like this!
More make ahead dinners for us!
- stock your freezer with these 7 Easy Stir Fry Sauces You Can Make Ahead
- or with these Healthy Baked Turkey Meatballs 7 Ways
- and this Slow Cooker Sweet Chili Chicken freezes really well
Make Ahead Chickpea Butternut Squash Fajitas
Ingredients
- 4 cups butternut squash in 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 19 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 red onion sliced into 1/2 inch strips
- 2 bell peppers sliced
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1.5 teaspoon cumin
- 1.5 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- juice from 1 lime
To Serve
- 8-12 six inch tortillas
- Greek yogurt
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Salsa
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a heavy duty freezer bag.
- Shake until everything is evenly combined.
- Freeze for up to 1 month.
- To Bake: Thaw completely before baking.
- Heat oven to 425°F. Spread all fajita ingredients out evenly on a large baking pan.
- Bake for 25 minutes, flipping everything halfway through.
Ryan
March 3, 2019 at 6:12 pmI used 1 tbsp of sugar indicated in recipe, but in the video for the 5 vegan meals you use maple syrup. Was there a reason you switched to maple syrup? I threw sugar into my freezer bag before noticing. Wondering if there will be a taste or texture difference…
Denise
March 5, 2019 at 9:43 pmWhoops I was going to update the recipe! You can use either one and it will work fine. Sorry for the confusion!
Megan
January 12, 2019 at 9:35 amWow, what a fantastic meal! I made this to freeze ahead, and it has SAVED me both money and time. And the flavors are fantastic. I add some shredded cheddar cheese on top, and it’s just to die for. It’s so rare to find a freeze ahead meal that’s so healthy. Highly recommend this recipe.
Denise
January 15, 2019 at 5:15 pmYay! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Megan! I need to make it again soon 🙂
Jessie Stratton
November 6, 2018 at 9:35 pmDid some life changes and went vegetarian this summer, and while I definitely dont want to go back to meat, i was totally feeling grumpy about my meal choices (I’ve made a LOT of soups the past couple months) when I decided to try this. So glad I did! It’s delicious and took all the grumpiness away! Can’t wait to make it again!
Denise
November 10, 2018 at 1:58 pmYay! I’m so happy to read your comment, Jessie! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
Stacy
October 23, 2018 at 11:54 pmAmazing! My meat loving husband thought these were quite tasty, so I had to share! 😀 I kept to the recipe, with one tweak: kidney beans, which were a yummy addition, but totally unnecessary. Great job!
Denise
October 29, 2018 at 9:07 pmWoo hoo! So happy to hear this, Stacy! Thank you for your review 🙂
Deanna
September 7, 2018 at 9:52 amAnyone add black beans?
Denise
September 20, 2018 at 9:02 pmI haven’t tried but I bet they’d be great!
Lauren
April 17, 2018 at 9:15 amI gave this a try. I’d recommend dividing the batch into the portion sizes you want prior to freezing. I also recommend minimizing the amount of liquid added into the freezer bag. This could always be added later as a separate vinaigrette sauce.
I ended up putting everything into one bag with too much liquid. And it all froze together into one giant clump. When I want just a bit, I have to thaw the whole thing… and then re-freeze. Which is far from ideal and ends up being the opposite of a make-ahead meal! Good learning experience, wanted to share.
Denise
April 17, 2018 at 1:31 pmHi Lauren, with pretty much any freezer meal, you are going to need to freeze it in the portions you are going to be eating. You could also try freezing this recipe on a sheet pan first, then portioning it into a bag or container.
So are you giving this recipe a 3 star rating based on flavor, or based on the fact that you were not able to thaw it in individual portions? Because my instructions are only for a serving of 6, not for individual portions, and these star ratings have an impact on how my recipes show up in google and pinterest. Thanks and looking forward to clarification 🙂
Lexi
September 25, 2017 at 9:37 amSorry I’m new at freezing and thawing things… Do you thaw the veggies on a counter or in the fridge? How long does it take? These look so good!
Denise
September 26, 2017 at 10:12 amHi Lexi! The best way to thaw is in the fridge overnight, but you can also thaw in some cold water for a couple of hours on the counter.
Eve Greenko
August 11, 2017 at 1:41 pmThis sounds SO delicious! I was wondering, could you just cook these over a skillet if you’re camping? Thank you in advanced!
Denise
August 16, 2017 at 4:23 pmHi Eve, I’ve never tried that. You may need to steam the butternut squash separately first. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Melanie
March 22, 2017 at 6:12 pmThese are SO good! I made it once and then went to the store to get the items again to make 2 extra batches for the freezer. Yum!!
Denise
March 24, 2017 at 11:20 amYay! I’m so happy you liked them Melanie! They are so convenient to stash in the freezer 🙂
Karyn H
January 24, 2017 at 12:51 pmThese didn’t make it to the freezer. So delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Denise
January 24, 2017 at 10:30 pmHa ha! Glad you liked them Karyn!
Karyn H
January 25, 2017 at 3:55 pmI love them!
I made two batches today. One for the freezer and one for the fridge.
Denise
January 25, 2017 at 10:17 pmAwesome! I’m glad you’re enjoying them Karyn!
Sarah @Whole and Heavenly Oven
January 17, 2017 at 6:52 amOh my gosh, this is TOTALLY the easiest way to make fajitas! I could totally see myself filling up my freezer with these little fajita packets!
Denise
January 17, 2017 at 10:19 pmAren’t they handy? Thanks, Sarah!