Learn how to freeze more than 50 freezable foods to save time in the kitchen, eliminate extra trips to the grocery store, and reduce wasted food.
I am passionate about freezer cooking because it’s such a simple way to save time and money in the kitchen (and save a bunch of otherwise wasted foods!)
Over the last 14+ years, I have diligently kept our deep freezer stocked with full meals and TONS of pre-cooked, pre-portioned foods like:
- shredded chicken
- ground beef
- ground sausage
- roasted veggies
- homemade refried beans
- cooked beans and lentils
- frozen fruits and veggies
- cheese
- baked goods
- and so much more!
While I don’t claim to be a “Freezable Foods Expert”, I have frozen more than my share of foods over the last decade — I’ve even taught classes on freezing, drying, and canning.
So with that said…
Here’s my LONG list of freezable foods that will save you time and money.
1. Freezable Baked Goods:
Any time I bake anything, I make a double batch and put some of it in the freezer.
Not only does it help with portion control, it also allows us to enjoy a variety of baked goods, and it means I always have some treats to bring to friends and family!
I have had raving success freezing the baked goods below.
Brownies & Cookies: Yup, I do it all the time. Just put them in resealable bags or storage containers with tight-fitting lids and they’ll last as long as you can resist them!
Cookie Dough Balls: For fresh-from-the-oven cookies any time, I freeze balls of cookie dough and store them in zip-top bags. I can simply pull out as many as I need and bake them fresh in an instant!
Yeast Breads, Buns, and Rolls: Just double-bag them to prevent freezer burn and they should be fine for several months. Even my delicious 100% whole grain bread freezes exceptionally well!
Tortillas: I’ve been making my own tortillas lately, but even before I did this, I always froze store-bought tortillas too.
Quick Breads and Muffins: These are one of my most favorite baked goods to freeze because they defrost so well. I often have several mini loaves of quick bread in the freezer to give as gifts throughout the year.
Cupcakes & Cake: Yes, I’ve frozen cupcakes and even full cakes! You can frost cakes before or after freezing them, but if you use store-bought frosting, you’ll want to wait to frost them until after they defrost…trust me, I know!
Granola: We love homemade granola but if I’m going to make it, I only make a huge batch….and then freeze it in mason jars or zip-top bags.
Pies: I don’t usually freeze pies, but if you do, just make sure to freeze them BEFORE you bake them.
2. Freezable Baking Supplies:
Along with the finished baked goods, I also freeze many of my baking supplies in their original bags, tucked inside shoeboxes in our freezer!
Shoe boxes stack well and allow for ventilation, plus they keep smaller bags of chocolate chips, nuts, candies, etc. from tipping over or getting lost in the back of the freezer for who knows how long (can anyone relate?)
Chocolate: I store all my baking chocolates in the freezer because I think they keep for much longer this way and taste “fresher”. Plus it frees up more space in my cabinets.
Nuts and Seeds: I store all our nuts and seeds in the freezer to keep their oils from going rancid. I first heard this tip from Rachel Ray and it seems to work — so it must be true!
Flour and Sugar: While it’s not necessary, I often freeze my flour and sugar — especially in the summer when our house is more humid.
Baking Soda: I often keep a container of baking soda in the freezer (opened) — not because it stays fresher, but to absorb any potential odors in our freezer!
3. Freezable Dairy:
I save SO much money by purchasing dairy products in bulk and freezing them for later.
From my experience, most dairy products should keep for at least 6 months.
Butter: No trick here, just stick the whole package in the freezer and remove when you’re ready to use.
Block Cheese: I freeze cheese ALL the time, just remember to slice or shred it before you freeze it, otherwise it will crumble.
Shredded Cheese: this is SO easy — just throw the bags in the freezer (lay flat for easier storage) and pull out whenever you need more cheese.
Feta Cheese: I made this discovery 2 years ago when I purchased a massive amount of feta cheese from Costco due to a crazy good deal. I simply divided it up into quart-size zip-top bags and froze it flat
Cream Cheese: Believe it or not, you can freeze cream cheese. It might be a bit “lumpy” after it defrosts but it still tastes the same.
Milk and Buttermilk: I usually do not have the need to freeze our milk, but I do it whenever we go on vacation. Just remember to pour about 1 cup of milk out before freezing. You might also consider substituting dry milk when you’re in a pinch.
Yogurt: Freeze yogurt for delicious smoothies. I let it defrost a bit before eating so it’s really creamy.
Cottage Cheese: Sometimes the texture is a little runnier after defrosting, but otherwise, the taste is just fine.
4. Freezable Fruits:
Before freezing fruit, make sure it is washed, dried, and divided up into smaller portions. This will make it easy to quickly grab what you need without defrosting the entire batch.
Fruits should keep for up to a year if properly sealed.
All Fruits: You can pretty much freeze any fruit you plan to use in smoothies because it will get mashed up anyway. However, don’t plan on freezing fruit simply for eating — it will be really soggy.
Berries: I freeze all kinds of berries for pancakes and smoothies. I also keep 2-cup containers of crushed berries to use for making jam, ice-cream toppings, or for berry shortcake.
Bananas: I put whole, unpeeled bananas in the freezer any time they start to get too brown to eat “fresh”. Then whenever a recipe calls for bananas, I just grab that number of bananas, defrost them overnight (usually on a plate as they get sort of soggy), and bake the next day. I do also freeze peeled bananas for smoothies.
Grapes and Blueberries: Frozen grapes and blueberries are an excellent summer snack. Our kids LOVE them!
Cherries: We’ve really enjoyed frozen cherries these past few years — I pit them, half them, and flash-freeze them every summer, and then we eat them all year long in our oatmeal, in yogurt, or in smoothies. SO delicious!
Avocados: I peel and seed avocados and freeze them in zip-top bags to make guacamole at a later time — this is perfect if I find a great deal on avocados but know we won’t be able to eat them all before they are too ripe.
Jams and Jellies: I usually can my jam, but my mom and mother-in-law always freeze it. Freezing jam is quicker and easier… if you have the freezer space, here are 20 delicious freezer jam recipes to get you started!
5. Freezable Herbs & Vegetables:
Herbs: I freeze fresh herbs in ice-cube trays filled with water to use for soups, stews, and casseroles later in the year. Here’s a free Herb Reference Sheet that explains how you can use and preserve different herbs.
All Veggies: To save some time — here is a link to my Vegetable Freezing Worksheet. It’s a list of 20 different vegetables and how to freeze them … and you can print it for free!
Roasted Veggies: Lately, I’ve been freezing roasted vegetables and then reheating them in my cast iron pans. They are absolutely DELICIOUS and a huge time (and mess) saver because I can roast huge amounts of vegetables at one time!
Spinach and Kale: If I’m ever worried that my spinach or kale is starting to get a little wilted, I immediately shove handfuls of it into quart-size zip-top bags and freeze it. Once frozen, just smash the bags with your hands a bit and it will pulverize the leaves into tiny bits — perfect for adding to soups, smoothies, casseroles, and so much more!
6. Freezable Protein:
Meat: Meat is, by far, the most money-saving, time-saving food I freeze. I stock up when it’s on sale, and freeze many MANY pounds of meat each year (especially now that Dave’s parents gift us with a quarter of a cow every other year)!
All meat freezes well — raw meat, cooked meat, deli meat, ground meat, shredded meat, “whole” meat, etc. I once had a whole turkey in the freezer for about 18 months and it was absolutely delicious when we cooked it!
NOTE: Here’s my post about Safely Freezing, Defrosting, and Re-Freezing Meat.
Beans: I freeze almost any type of cooked bean with fantastic results — black, navy, pinto, refried, etc. etc. This is especially handy since beans take a LONG time to soak and cook.
Lentils: I cook full bags of lentils at one time and then portion them out for the freezer. I then use lentils to “bulk up” many of our soups, stews, and casseroles — saving me money on more expensive meats.
7. Freezable Meals:
I’m always making double or triple batches of our favorite foods to store in the freezer.
I often freeze these meals in disposable tinfoil pans so I have the option to give them as food gifts for various people in my life.
Other times, I save them for busy days when we’ll be gone most of the afternoon or if Dave needs to get supper going for whatever reason. I can simply defrost one meal in the morning, and it’s usually ready to go in the oven by mid-afternoon.
Here’s a list of 10 of our family’s favorite freezer meals.
The vast majority of the recipes in My Recipe Box are very freezer-friendly!
Broths: I’ve been making my own bone broth for the past couple of years, and after it’s finished cooking, I divide it up into 2 cup portions and freeze for making soups, stews, and casseroles later on!
Soups and Stews: Speaking of soups and stews, they freeze AMAZINGLY well too! The only soup our family doesn’t love frozen is my cheesy mashed potato soup. Here are some of my favorite soup recipes that DO freeze well.
Casseroles: I’ve frozen everything from lasagna and fajitas, to enchiladas, chicken dishes, and more! Just make sure all the ingredients are fully cooked before you freeze it. When you’re ready to eat it, just defrost and bake as normal.
Pasta Sauce: We usually never go through an entire batch of pasta sauce in one meal so I just pop the leftovers in the freezer for the next time we eat pasta.
Sandwiches: We’ve had great luck freezing sandwiches ahead of time (meat and cheese or PB&J’s). This makes for REALLY quick lunch packing!
I’m sure there are so many other foods I could eventually add to this list, but these are the ones I have personally tried with much success.
Whenever anyone asks me about freezing a certain food, my advice is ALWAYS, “just give it a try and you’ll know for sure” — so that’s my advice for you too!
Just give it a try! What’s the worst that could happen?
Want more Freezable Foods posts, tips, and information?
Here are ALL my freezable foods posts over the history of my blog.
Here’s a post I wrote specifically to address many of the freezable foods questions I’ve gotten over the years.
Click here to access my virtual recipe box (most of which are freezable foods).
Our simple method to defrost our deep freezer.
What are your favorite freezable foods?
I’m always looking for more foods to freeze, so if you know of any foods I missed, please share your suggestions in the comments below!
Pin it for later!
Stephanie says
How long do most *fresh/newly picked* veggies last in freezer?
Brianne says
What about potatoes? Can I freeze them?
Diana Covington says
I just didn’t want to poison our make my family sick or worse! So I sill freezs soup and be glad of it. Thank you for your information.
Lena says
I cook big batches of brown rice, spread it on a cookie sheet on parchment paper and freeze. When the rice is frozen, just put in ziplocks or containers and you have brown rice in a pinch!
Gail Lundgreen says
Love your ideas !!!!! 🙂
Jennifer says
I have never had to pour milk out of the gallon before freezing. Block cheese does freeze, but is best to shred or slice it to make it easier to use.
You can prepare pizzas using your own yeast crust, putting sauce on, then your toppings. I like to do this in bulk, but personal pan pizzas are good for kids too.
I freeze diced green, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. I minced onions, then froze them in a gallon ziploc bag, then as they were freezing pressed lines into them to “score” them. Break off a chunk for a recipe.
Green onions, I sliced and froze in bags.
Orange zest, lemon, lime can be zested into baggies or containers.
Hobo/Foil dinners: Place your dinner amount into foils, then bake @ 300 for about an hour. If you use potatoes, be sure to blanch them before or use packaged hash browns.
Burritos. I make refried beans from canned black beans, but sometimes it is less work to take them out when they are pre-made. So I use a case (12-24) of black beans, rinse them all, add sauteed onions or fresh/frozen green onions, salsa, sour cream, grated cheese, and diced green bell peppers. Mix it all, then roll in tortillas. Freeze in baggies, but do not overcrowd or squish. Take out and cook as you would storebought burritos.
I have also prepared egg rolls and frozen, but I haven’t found the trick to cooking them without frying them and them not falling apart.
Mausa says
Often when making stews/pasta or Lasagne for freezing I line the base of the dish I will use with freezer paper. Add the ingredients then freeze in the dish. When frozen I remove from the dish – (easy as lined with freezer paper) re wrap the food and put back in the freezer (I have a vacuum sealing machine which is perfect) then you can wash and use the dish. When you want the item for a meal simply unwrap and place in the original dish to defrost and cook. Easy and saves room in the freezer too.
Lisa says
when ever potatoe chips or pretzles go on sale, I buy a couple bags and throw them in the freezer. I love eating them right from the freezer.
tanya says
hi thanks for all the helpful tips i just wanted to add that i learnt to freeze spinich and silverbeet without blanching from some good friends stems and all just wash then cut or rip makesure its still slightly wet then put into a freezer bag sqeeze all of the air out (put on bench and squish till no air inside if u cant put enough pressure on it u can suck the rest out) tie and freeze (make sure all the air is out or it will go slightly brown on the edges) texture and taste is just as good as fresh and for some reason it doesnt take as long to cook 😉
Bret @ Green Global Travel says
This is awesome: I had no idea you could freeze some of this stuff (particularly cheese). We work from home, so we love making big meals and keeping some as leftovers, and we always buy in bulk at Costco to save $$$. Great tips!
Scraps says
I don’t bother peeling my bananas before freezing them, we just toss them into the freezer as is. When I need one or two for bread or pancakes I let it defrost a bit, snip off one end and it squeezes out like a tube of mashed banana!
Helen says
We run a bed and breakfast and as we are out of town we store a lot of breakfast items in the freezer. When the guests have chosen what they’s like we just defrost in the fridge overnight – fruit juice, my home-made bread, smoked salmon, home-baked ricotta, sausages and bacon (of course!), home-made baked beans, pizza bases – all of these in one or 2-person portions so nothing is wasted. One of my favourites for our meals is to buy fresh fish in quantity
, cut it crosswise into fish ‘fingers’, flour, eggwash and breadcrumb them and freeze laid out on a tray then store in freezer bags – so much better than anything you buy in the shops.
Lola says
Freezing homemade ricotta is a great idea! Thanks.
Patty says
When ever I cook pasta but only need half the box I go ahead and cook the whole box and freeze half for later to add to soups and casseroles later on. Same with rice.
Janny says
Love all your ideas. Did you know that blueberries can be eaten right from the freezer. They are not a choking hazard as they don’t get icy hard, they stay soft inside and very tasty.
Bobbi says
I’m not a fan of chunks of onions in recipes, but love their flavor so, when onions go on sale cheap, we buy a bunch and puree them. I scoop about half a cup into snack bags and put these bags in a larger gallon freezer bag. Lay the whole thing on a cookie sheet and freeze. When a recipe calls for onion, I grab a baggie and either thaw it in a bowl of water or just peel the baggie off and toss it in frozen.
Laurine says
You can freeze a pie (in a Ziploc bag) after you baked it 🙂 Just make sure it’s totally cool down when you put it in the freezer.
Tove says
I love making key lime bars. When I see key limes available I buy a bunch, sit on the floor and juice them with an electric orange juicer. it takes awhile so I watch tv while doing it. I pre-measure and freeze using breastmilk bags (BPA free and hold liquids very well with the double zip top)
Vicie Kramer says
I freeze Corn on the cob. I trim both ends and put it in a ziplock bag. Husk is still on as well as the silk. I remove it from the freezer and cook it in the microwave. I remove husk and silk befor serving. The steam makes the silk come off with ease. It taste like it is fresh from the garden an is very tender.
Megan says
It also does well if you shuck it before freezing it. My grandparents had a huge garden so we always had at least 3 bags of frozen corn at any given time.
Erika says
OMG im glad i came across this. Thank you for all the valuable information. i go to school, work and im a new mom so There are times where im just to tired to cook at all , this will help me avoid eating out and ill save money YAY. Thanks again
Sarah says
I will bake a lasagna, let cool and then cut like i woild be serving it. I then put each serving into a ziplock bag and freeze. I did this before giving birth to our first son and it was clutch! Just grabbed two servings and reheated in microwave! Homemade lasagna in minutes! Has become my go-to when a friend has a baby!
Meridith says
I keep a jar of lemon juice in my freezer and zap it in the microwave when I need it. I was skeptical at first but it works perfectly. I also zest the lemons first and keep that in the freezer. Right next to my fresh ginger. Easy to grate using a micro-plane grater when frozen and it lasts forever. Okay, probably not forever but long enough for me to use it.
Lisa Culver says
I squeeze lemons and limes into ice cube trays, then pop them out after they have frozen, and Voila, I have “fresh” lemon juice and lime juice whenever I need them. And I never have to kick myself that I let another bag of lemons from Costco go to waste!
Lola says
That is fabulous! Thanks for the great idea! I hate it when a recipe calls for fresh lemon juice and I have none.
judy says
loved all your ideas, but why can’t you freeze pies after they are baked? we have baked apple pie and pumpkin pies. After they cool, we cut them in slices and freeze them in zip lock bags. when we want a piece of pie, just let it sit out or microwave and enjoy.
Danielle says
Same with my mom, she makes TONES of apple pies in the fall and freezes them for special dinners, warm in oven during dinner time.
Barb says
My mom and I make several apple pies in the fall to enjoy throughout the year. We bake them and freeze them in ziploc bags wrapped in freezer paper then when we want to have pie, take out of freezer, remove wrapping and place in oven for 2 hours at 200 degrees. That way you will have a delicious warm pie that isn’t soggy.
Sara says
You can also freeze raw egg whites! Just put the whites in an ice-cube tray and freeze them individually. After they’re frozen you can store them in a zip-top bag until you’re ready to use them! Unfortunately Egg Yolks go rubbery and weird in the freezer, unless they’re cooked. And Cooked egg whites get all flaky after freezing.
Jennifer says
Homemade pancakes and waffles freeze well, I find that if you make up a few batches over the weekend, they make very quick “defrost and go” breakfasts for the kids or hubbies who don’t have time to wait for a normal breakfast to be cooked…. Also great for bachelors…….Breakfast casseroles ( I have a few amazing french toast casseroles I’ve come across)…. These are great, again, for those days when you want a sit down breakfast, but have no time to slave over the oven for more than a few minutes. Defrost the night before, throw it in the oven for 20-30 minutes, and poof, a great family breakfast in a pinch!
I live by myself, so I do homemade tv dinners, using leftovers from meals I cook (I’ve got partitoned freezer plate thingies, throw something like a stuffed pepper, some mashed potatoes, and veggies from tonight’s dinner, and I’ve got a quick meal that I just have to throw in the microwave straight from the freezer, on nights I don’t have time to cook!)
Andrea says
I love your “homemade TV dinner” idea Jennifer! Thanks for sharing!
Barbara says
Love all your suggestions and have used most of them over the 40 years of being a mom. I found that if I let the cheese come to room temperature then put it back into the fridge to firm up the crumbling was very much minimized.
Adi says
Cooked rice! I put it in individual portions in ziplock bags and reheat in the microwave. I hated cleaning the rice cooker so often so i did this. haha
Sarah says
I love doing this. I make a HUGE-NORMOUS vat of rice (the long grain basmati that takes an hour to cook). And making rice as a last minute meal addition NEVER works out well. I started doing this at my mothers’ suggestion about two years back. At first my husband thought I’d gone crazy, but now that he sees the ease of pulling out just 1 portion of rice for his lunch… Well, I’ll never stop doing this.
Jeanne Peterson says
I’m a freezer queen, I think why not try and if it doesn’t work you at least tried befroe you throw it out. I freeze whipped cream and it comes out great. vegetables can be frozen if you’re going to use them in soups and casseroles. Give it a try
Ann says
About bananas. I used to peel, bag, and freeze as well. Now I just throw the bananas into the freezer. I pull out however many I need, microwave for a few seconds, cut off the top and squeeze the inside into my bowl. So Easy!
Anna says
Maybe it saves more space to freeze the bananas in containers, but did you know that you don’t have to peel them? The peel turns black as it thaws, but the banana inside is perfect for banana bread.
Leanne says
Since there are just 2 of us ….I cook the whole pound of pasta and freeze what’s left. I’ve not had any complaints from hubby….and, it’s just like the day I cooked it…….great having it on hand!