Best 15 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Freeze

Leaving on a last minute trip? Foods that you won’t use within a few days but you don’t want to throw them out? Here are 20 things you didn’t know you can freeze!

Here are 15 things you didn’t know you can freeze for later!

I have had this idea to write a blog post about things you didn’t know you can freeze for such a long time now. And I hope it can be of some help to you.

I’m sure that some things in the list will come as a total surprise.

Things You Didn’t Know You Can Freeze for Later

Here are 15 things you didn’t know you can freeze for later!

So here’s how it goes: the hubs and I love booking last minute trips and holidays.

But we also love cooking and our fridge and pantry are always stashed with food and stuff. It is not unusual to go grocery shopping in the morning but then see a last minute offer for Barcelona or London. Packing bags and locking the door behind us is the easiest part.

But then what to do with all that lovely fresh food.

Freeze It!

Here are 15 things you didn’t know you can freeze for later!

Can just anything be frozen?

No, you are right.

But you’d be surprised by what things you didn’t know you can freeze!! Let’s take a look at my favorites, how to freeze them properly and then what to do once you want to use them afterwards.

Here are 15 things you didn’t know you can freeze for later!

15 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Freeze for Later

1. Tomato paste

Right, I prefer to buy tomato paste in a tube. Because it keeps fresh for much longer. But sometimes these are not available in my local grocery store. Happened a few times.

So pretty much the only option I got then is to buy canned tomato paste. Those are always on sale. The only problem I got is that I usually just need like a teaspoon or a tablespoon of the stuff.

And the rest of it ends up in my fridge.

Cans

Where it stays until I throw it out because it starts changing color or tastes too much like the metal can it sits in. Sure I could put it in a plastic container where it would keep for much longer.

But I honestly don’t use tomato paste that much. So is there another option to keep the tomato paste in good shape without having to use it within the next week or so?

Freeze it! Divide the tomato paste over an ice cube tray and freeze it. Next time you need some to make spaghetti sauce, ketchup or a stew… add a cube of tomato paste straight from the freezer. No need to let it thaw first.

2. Wine

Fact: you throw a lush dinner party and in the end when your guests have gone home, there’s still some wine left in one of the bottles.

And you are considering whether it would be wise to empty that wine also before going to bed (and regret it when the headache kicks in or your stomach teaches you a lesson) or keep it aside for the day after.

At least if you are not too hung over.

But there’s yet another option here that you can go for: freeze the wine.

Wine Cubes

And it is just the same method like above: pour the leftover wine in an ice cube tray and freeze it! So next time you need a few drops of red wine for a recipe like ossobuco or white wine for a pot of fragrant Belgian style mussels: there you go. Just add a cube of frozen wine to it.

No need to open an extra bottle for such a tiny amount. Or use some of the wine you were going to serve with your dinner.

White wine, rosé wine or red wine: it doesn’t matter what type it is, freezing them all works extremely well.

Try it!

3. Lemon Juice & Zest

Do you need just half of that fresh lemon or lime for a specific recipe? The other half mainly ends up in the garbage can after a while in my kitchen, because it is dried out or has gone mushy.

There certainly must be a better way to store it for later use or I will be buying whole lemons for the rest of my life knowing that I will quite certainly throw at least half of it out.

What a waste.

The good news here is that you can freeze them.

Chopped or Juiced

And it is up to you how you do it: freeze the lemon just in one piece, cut it into quarters or slice it up. I love a slice of lemon in a cup of tea from time to time. Or I add them to gin tonic! No need to thaw it in advance.

You can also juice the lemon and pour the juice in an ice cube tray! Or grate or peel the zest and freeze that as well! Make sure the lemon has been scrubbed and rinsed thoroughly before freezing it.

Hey, the same method works for limes and oranges by the way!

Another one of those things you didn’t know you can freeze.

4. Herbs in olive oil

Now here’s a classic trick.

When you read the blog title “things you didn’t know you can freeze” I’m pretty sure that this one is the first idea that you think of.

You have also seen quite a few videos of fresh herbs being drizzled with olive oil to store for later use I guess like all of us. And I think it’s still a brilliant way of preserving fresh herbs.

Classic

Before you freeze the herbs, rinse them well.

Pat them dry, then chop or tear them up and divide the leaves and stalks over an ice cube tray. Drizzle with oil and you are all set. I also like to add a little sprinkle of pepper and salt sometimes.

Do you need extra instructions?

Then I suggest you take a look at the recipe that Laurie from Simply Scratch put together!

5. Broth

I like to make broths and stocks from scratch.

But those batches can be quite large at times. Especially when I’m using a whole chicken or carcass to make chicken stock. And it’s way too much for a simple lunch soup or starter when I have guests

Freeze the stock or broth in portions, it’s no rocket science. But what I also like to do, is pour the broth or stock in the ever so popular ice cube tray.

Why?

Flavor

A small cube of frozen broth or stock can really add to the flavor of your dish.

Do you need examples that I use very often in my kitchen? In a stir fry (with or without meat), sauces like béchamel and gravies, pasta dishes etcetera. Oh yes, it is great in pasta dishes! What I do is, I drain my freshly cooked al dente pasta first. Then I add it back to the pan and add a cube of the frozen stock or broth. Give it all a good shake to coat evenly while it melts in the hot pasta. Add your favorite sauce and ingredients.

It is perfect for a cheesy pasta dish such as cacio e pepe!

6. Coffee

You might also be familiar with this one.

I’m a coffee lover big time, especially for breakfast and after lunch. However the Spanish summers here can be excruciatingly hot and having a hot drink in the afternoon is very often a no no.

But what to do if I still crave a coffee fix?

Easy.

Coffee Cubes

Freeze coffee in an ice cube tray.

Fill a glass with coffee cubes and add milk to it. Let the cubes melt a little, give your drink a good stir and enjoy!

I suggest you don’t use coffee that has been warmed through for a long time in the carafe (might be too bland and bitter once frozen), better make a fresh brew for the best flavor results!

7. Ginger

Now here’s one of my favorite ingredients to freeze: fresh ginger! Open my freezer at any time of the year and you will find frozen ginger. Why?

My local grocery store doesn’t sell tiny knobs of ginger but large pieces. Anyway, too much to use all in one or two weeks time before it starts to become soft, watery and mouldy.

Until the day that I knocked myself over the head and thought why I hadn’t just put the ginger in the freezer for so long.

Prep Ginger

So here’s how to do it, there are several options.

First off, peel the fresh ginger. Then you can choose whether you want to grate it, slice it, chop it finely or keep chunks the size of what you normally use in a recipe. Put it all in a ziploc bag or ice cube tray if you want to make smaller portions. And freeze it.

What I also do regularly is grate a frozen chunk of ginger: just don’t let frozen ginger thaw before you grate it. Thawed ginger is very mushy and watery, quite hard to grate.

Same goes for lemongrass stalks by the way! Freeze them in one piece, or chop up the softer inside and freeze it.

8. Egg white or yolks (scrambled or separated, no shell)

So you got this recipe that asks for egg whites or yolks only.

What do you to with the remaining whites and yolks? What I like to do is make an omelet with them for lunch or dinner that same day. Easy. It took we a long time to realise that I can also freeze them for later.

Whatever you do, get rid of the shells.

No Shells

Don’t freeze the egg in one piece. Then pour the whites or yolks in a ramekin. Yolks also fit perfectly in an ice cube tray. You can also freeze beaten eggs by the way to make scrambled eggs later.

Here’s another thought: can you freeze peeled hard-boiled eggs?

Yes you can. However. The egg white texture will most likely become very rubbery.

You can freeze boiled egg yolks though: smash them up and store them in a ziploc bag. Use them later to make extra deviled egg filling or egg salad.

9. Bananas

One of the ingredients I have been freezing a lot lately are fresh bananas. They are great for breakfast or as a snack. And because bananas are so cheap here I usually can’t help but buy more that we need.

So after a few days color has totally changed. I used to make banana milkshakes but once a week is more than enough.

And bananas would end up in the garbage can again.

Peel

Now I freeze them. Some bloggers advise to peel them before freezing, but I often leave the skin on. No worries if you do like me: your frozen bananas will turn black.

Don’t panic.

So how to use them afterwards? One thing is for sure: you can’t eat them raw anymore because the banana will be mushy and unappetizing. But they are great for cooking! I love to make banana pancakes: add the thawed banana meat to your pancake batter and blend it well.

Awesome for breakfast.

Or make banana bread!

10. Fresh Yeast

Do you cook often with yeast?

I use dry active yeast quite a lot for pizza doughs or focaccia, but for some recipes (like my oven baked doughnuts or rice pie) I prefer to use fresh yeast.

So then I buy these classic cubes of fresh yeast in the supermarket that weigh about 1½ ounces (45 g). Thing is that for my recipes I usually only need about 3 to 4 times less.

Dried out

Which means that many times before I put the leftover yeast in my fridge where it stayed until it had dried out completely.

Those days are over. Because you can freeze fresh yeast perfectly. I’m pretty sure that this is one of those things you didn’t know you can freeze!

Break the leftover yeast up into smaller bits of about ⅓ ounce (10 g) before you freeze it. That’s quite often the amount of yeast you need in a recipe.

Easy!

Another one of those things you didn’t know you can freeze.

11. Cake

Would you believe me if I said that freezing makes your cake taste even better?

I had heard that a few times before so I needed to try that. Verdict: it’s excellent. A properly wrapped cake can be frozen for weeks, even months. Once thawed I think it even tastes better than the day you made it.

Wrap well

Here’s one thing you have to keep in mind (and that goes for every ingredient here on this post): wrap the cake properly to protect it or it will freezer burn or absorb horrible freezer odors.

Cake is delicate.

There are many different methods for freezing cakes. The one I tried and highly recommend is the method from CakeBoss. I also found that 2 layers of cling film also does the trick here at home.

12. Cheese

Leftover hard cheeses like a parmesan cheese or aged cheddar cheese in your fridge?

I am a big cheese lover so leftover cheese usually ends up between my teeth as an afternoon snack or a treat after dinner. But then again, when we buy cheese at the grocery store and then decide to go on a trip, you can’t just let it go bad.

True, I regularly take cheese and bread with me on the plane when we need to take a meal with us. However if the leftover chunk is too large, you can simply grate it. Store the grated cheese in an airtight ziploc bag, tag it and freeze it.

Grated Cheese

What to do with it once thawed? Sprinkle it on top of gratins, spaghetti sauce or use it in cheese and béchamel sauces!

Mind you: soft cheeses like brie, blue cheese or camembert are not great to freeze. Their textures will change quite a bit but they are still OK to cook with. I just don’t recommend to eat them raw once thawed.

Another one of those things you didn’t know you can freeze.

13. Canned beans

I don’t now about you but I adore canned beans.

I keep a bunch of these tins in my pantry at all time because they are a great lunch option. What I also like it to make hummus. But I have to admit that one tin of chickpea is too much for just the 2 of us.

Sure I can throw the leftover chickpeas in a salad or soup later on. But why not keep them somewhere safe until I want to make another hummus?

You can rinse the leftover chickpeas and store in a plastic container in the fridge. But if you haven’t used them within 6 days, they become quite unappetizing.

Problem solved: freeze them!

Bean Mix

Of course you can do the same with any other type of canned pulses such as lentils, kidney beans, black beans and so on.

If I want to make a chili con carne for instance, I usually use a mixture of canned kidney and black beans. Well 2 tins of these beans is a humongous portion for the 2 of us. Sure I can freeze the chili con carne in batches for later.

Or you can also add half a tin of both, rinse the remaining beans and keep them in the freezer until you make another fresh chili con carne dinner for 2.

Good to know: hummus and other canned bean spreads are also perfect to freeze if you got leftovers!

14. Flour

How often do you use flour in your kitchen?

I am not a huge dessert maker so because of that a bag of flour will last quite long in my cupboard. And often I have found out that once I open the paper bag up again, bugs have found a way in. Which means that I can throw the whole lot away.

But here’s a trick to make flour last longer. When you buy a large bag of flour, transfer it to a glass jar to keep in your kitchen cupboard.

Now here’s the funny thing: you can also perfectly freeze flour in separate ziploc bags for later use.

Types of Flour

Not only all-purpose flour can be used to freeze: also cake flour, self raising flour and bread flour. Same goes for whole grain flour which don’t last very long once opened and stored in a cupboard.

Who would have thought that you could freeze flour? Definitely one of those things you didn’t know you can freeze, and I didn’t know either.

So good to know!

Another one of those things you didn’t know you can freeze.

15. Potato Chips, Crackers & Pretzels

The biggest surprise to me however was this one: potato chips or crisps!

Who would have thought?

Not that we have lots of leftover crisps here, but again when you throw a party and you put nibbles on a plate for appetizers, leftover crackers, crisps and pretzels lose their crunch and go soft fast if you don’t wrap them up properly afterwards.

TV Snacks

No need to worry again because you can easily freeze them! How awesome is this? We sometimes have cheese and crackers after dinner while watching TV but half of it goes back into the kitchen cupboard. Now I don’t have to remind myself to eat those within a day or 2 before their texture changes. I simply put them in a ziploc bag and freeze them!

You would be amazed how fast crackers thaw.

Some even say that crisps actually taste better and are much crispier and flavorful after having been frozen! I wouldn’t go that far but it’s just another way to keep food at its best for later.

Another one of those things you didn’t know you can freeze!

And more…

Because yes, I can go on and on like this.

You’d be surprised to know how many things you didn’t know you can freeze! Just to give you some extra inspiration, here are some extra ingredients fit for freezing: olives, butter, mashed potatoes, cooked pasta and rice, cream, milk and coconut milk, chopped onions, bacon rashers…

All of these ingredients often end up in my freezer. Oh and fresh tomatoes! Freeze them in one piece, then let them thaw and add them to a stew.

See a pattern here?

Most frozen and thawed foods are better if you heat them up and add them to a cooked meal. Crisps and crackers are an exception though.

Things that are not fit to freeze

Now don’t throw just anything in your freezer for later!

Some things are better if they’re eaten fresh. My first thought goes to raw potatoes, because of their high water content. And that’s also the same for fresh cucumber, lettuce, celery and zucchini. Leafy ‘wet’ herbs like parsley, cilantro and basil will go soggy. That’s why it’s better to freeze them in some olive oil like I showed you earlier on.

‘Dry’ herbs like sage, thyme and rosemary are fine though.

Another thing I mentioned before: never freeze eggs in their shells. It might attract more bacteria.

Rinse, bag & tag

Make sure you treat food properly before freezing it to avoid health problem later on.

The food has to be clean: vegetables and fruits are easier to rinse of course. Then put the food in a brand new and clean ziploc bag. Try to remove all the air from inside the bag before closing it.

And here’s a thing most people forget: write on the bag what it is exactly and when you put it in the freezer. Believe me: you can clearly see the difference between foods now, but in a few weeks or even months time it will be much harder.

I sometimes have a hard time seeing the difference between frozen meatballs and falafels immediately. Problem solved, just read what’s on the bag!

Freezer burn

Remove all the air from inside the bag and close it properly.

Why?

To avoid freezer burn later on. That’s what happens if frozen food has been damaged by dehydration and oxidation, because of the freezer air reaching the food. This happens when food is not securely wrapped and stored in and air-tight bag.

This happens very often with meat. You can often see a change in color. Food that has been freezer burnt is safe to eat though, but it is possible that the texture and flavor is not what it is supposed to be.

You would be surprised how many things you didn’t know you can freeze!

Another one of those things you didn’t know you can freeze.

things you didn’t know you can freeze

things you didn’t know you can freeze