Foods That Freeze Well and How to Freeze Them—The Complete Idiot’s Quick Guide

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Foods That Freeze Well and How to Freeze Them

In This Quick Guide:: Foods That Freeze Well; Foods That Don’t Freeze Well; Freezing Timetable

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Some foods can go directly into the freezer with no special preparation other than wrapping and come out as good as new. How many of these foods are already in your freezer?

Foods That Freeze Well

Baked Goods

Most baked goods freeze well. Generally speaking, the lower the moisture content in the baked good, the longer it keeps. You can freeze:

baked breads
muffins
cookies
cakes—plain or frosted with a buttercream icing. (Other types of icings may or may not successfully survive the ordeal, so experiment with your favorites.)
cheesecakes

Avoid pastries with a custard or jelly filling because these turn into a watery mess after freezing and thawing.

Doughs:

Many unbaked baked goods also do well in the freezer. Freeze yeast doughs for breads, pizzas, or pastries. Thaw in the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature before continuing with the recipe. Freeze unbaked logs of cookie dough and then slice off the portions you need and bake.

Baker’s yeast stays fresh and potent for years when frozen.

Pies:

Unbaked pie shells also freeze well, and pies that require a prebaked crust before filling should go directly from the freezer to the oven without thawing in between.

Although you can freeze whole unbaked fruit pies, the crust often becomes too soggy after baking. It is better to freeze the crust and filling separately, remove the filling from the freezer, thaw, fill the frozen unbaked pie shell, and bake. It takes only a little more time, and the results are far superior.

Nuts

Some nuts work well frozen. For example, buy pecans and walnuts at harvest time, and keep them fresh all year long by storing them in the freezer.

Eggs

Cooked eggs or uncooked scrambled eggs freeze well. So do egg whites, a handy thing to keep in mind when making recipes that call for only yolks.

Soups and Stews

Most soups and stews freeze exceptionally well. Those with a heavy dairy or cheese content may separate, but you can usually fix this with a whirl in a blender or food processor after heating.

Dairy Products

The higher the fat content in dairy products, the better they freeze. Milk products under 40 percent separate (although you can mix to restore smoothness), but heavy cream freezes well (although its volume upon whipping will be less than nonfrozen cream). The same goes for well-wrapped butter, flavored or compound butter, and cream cheese.

Most mayonnaise-based sauces and the prepared foods and casseroles that use them generally freeze well.

Cheese

Firmer cheeses freeze well, but their texture changes upon thawing. This presents no problem for cheese destined for cooked recipes or melting. Cheese intended for snacking out of hand, however, should not be frozen. Its grainy, crumbly texture would make it unappetizing.

tofu

Freezing also creates a texture change in tofu, making it chewier and more absorbent—qualities that can be helpful in many vegetarian recipes. Freeze tofu in its water and package, and thaw in the refrigerator. Squeeze out all the water, like a sponge, before using in recipes. When frozen, thawed, and then cooked, firm grated tofu takes on the texture of shredded meat.

Meat

Wrap uncooked meats well in foil or heavy freezer paper before freezing to prevent freezer burn. Freeze well-wrapped uncooked poultry whole or in pieces. If whole, it’s best to remove giblets before freezing. Scale and clean fresh uncooked fish before double wrapping in foil and then either paper or plastic and freezing.

Fruits and Vegetables

Preserve the flavor of fruits and vegetables at the peak of harvest by freezing them when they’re at their best. Be sure to blanch produce first.

Foods That Don’t Freeze Well

Technically, you can safely freeze most any food, with the exception of food in cans and eggs still in their shells. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Some foods—thankfully not many—simply do not emerge unscathed from a stint in the freezer. Their ingredients may separate or turn watery, or they may come out so soggy and lacking texture they’re no longer appetizing.

Avoid putting these in the freezer:

Mayonnaise on its own (mixed in sauces is okay)
Egg yolks
Gelatin-based dishes
Delicate, high-moisture–content vegetables like lettuce and cucumbers
Cooked meats, unless covered and protected with a sauce or gravy (Freezing tends to dry and toughen cooked meats.)

Freezing Timetable

When it comes to predicting how long you can keep foods in the freezer, the answer is: it depends. Be diligent about cooling foods before freezing, wrapping them well, and keeping your freezer running optimally, and your freezer cooking creations should emerge from reheating as good as fresh.

Most of the recommendations in the following table come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In practice, you can usually keep food far longer than the recommended times with no quality sacrificed. Experiment to see what works for you. If you’re able to keep your freezer’s temperature consistent, you can get away with keeping foods for much longer.

Note: freezer storage times are for quality only. Frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.

Food	Recommended Storage Time
Baked goods	2 or 3 months
Butter	3 or 4 months
Casseroles	2 or 3 months
Eggs (whites, scrambled, substitute)	12 months
Fish:
Cooked	2 or 3 months
Raw pieces	6 months
Frozen dinners and entrées	3 or 4 months
Meat:
Cooked	2 or 3 months
Ham, bacon, sausage, cured meats	1 or 2 months
Hot dogs, lunchmeats, processed meat	1 or 2 months
Uncooked ground	3 or 4 months
Uncooked roasts	4 to 12 months
Uncooked steaks and chops	4 to 12 months
Poultry:
Cooked	4 months
Uncooked giblets	3 or 4 months
Uncooked parts	9 months
Uncooked whole	12 months
Soups and stews	3 or 4 months
Vegetables:
Delicate	3 months
Hearty	12 months
Wild game, uncooked	8 to 12 months
Yeast dough, unbaked	3 months