Freezing & Storing Food

Trying this ASAP.

The best method for storing mushrooms not only kept them free of slime and mold, it actually made the mushrooms taste better too.

Because sandwiches are the ultimate make-ahead meal.

I'm not crying, you're crying.

It's one of the best meal-prep tips I picked up from my mom.

Do this as soon as you get home from the grocery store and your berries will stay fresh.

One of the smartest strategies for serving homemade meals all week long is already in your kitchen: It’s using your freezer.

Because you don't want to ruin a wedge or block with a lack of parenting skills!

Once you have garlic butter in the your freezer, you'll never have a dull dinner again.

Think big this Thanksgiving, even if your holiday table is small. Your future self will thank you.

Not everyone's freezer is 100 percent consistent. Make sure you know what to look for.

Creating a stockpile of healthy, homemade freezer meals has been on my to-do list since I started grad school, but I never had the time to get organized and make it happen. This year, however, I’ve found some major motivation for spring cleaning and organization: the arrival of my first baby in early June. So join me over the next several weeks as I take my freezer from disorganized disaster zone to fully-stocked, home-cooked dinner central (I hope!).

Over the past month I’ve been sharing the planning process behind my big spring project: stocking my freezer with healthy meals before the arrival of my first baby in early June. Checking in every week has been hugely motivating, but the even bigger benefit of letting The Kitchn readers in on the process has been the wealth of helpful advice you’ve given me in the comments. Here are the 7 best reader tips for filling your freezer before the arrival of a new baby.

I’ve always been slightly weirded out by some of the flavor combinations in commercial baby food. Pureed chicken noodle soup or beef stew just isn’t very appealing to me, so I decided to make my daughter’s first solid foods from scratch and stick to just fruits and vegetables. Along the way, I’ve now embraced carrot puree as a baby food that should be enjoyed by adults too!

Last spring I embarked on an ambitious project: filling my freezer with two months of meals to feed my husband and myself after our first baby was born. I cleared out my freezer; came up with a list of vegetable-centric, freezer-friendly recipesnecessary suppliesa cooking planlots of helpful advice Nine months later — I swear the timing wasn’t intentional — I’m here to update you on how it went and share what I learned along the way.

And it's not calling out for delivery.

You're going to treat them a little like school lunch, okay?

And it comes from one of our editor's moms.

What does it mean to really stock a freezer? From choosing recipes to shopping to organizing the freezer, this step-by-step guide shows you how it's done.

It's also one of the more expensive ingredients in your kitchen.

Please don't just throw it in the freezer, we beg of you!

You made a big pot of chili — too much to eat at one sitting. The Super Bowl’s long gone. So, what do you do with the leftovers? You could eat chili for the next four days…. …or you could stash the excess in the freezer. Chill it overnight in the refrigerator and make sure it’s packaged and labeled well. Easy, right? Well, what should you package it in? You can’t just stick a bowl in the freezer.

It's a true win-win — it saves me money and lets me reduce waste at the same time.

Stock your freezer without wasting food months later.

Trust me. We tried them all and yes, there really is a best way to freeze a banana.

Your freezer is a culinary time capsule where summer can be remembered all winter long.

It's a game-changer for weeknight dinners.

All the broccoli basics for your favorite lil tree.

It's simple but makes all the difference.

This is one smart and long-lasting vegetable!

Make a fruit-filling frisbee and reap the rewards later.

If you've ever bought Persian cucumbers, this has most likely happened to you.

While honey has an exceptionally long shelf-life, it isn't completely spoil-proof.

Pop that tofu in the freezer! Here's why.

How many mistakes are you making?

So you can bake a cake and eat it all too.

I'll never store my herbs any other way.

And how to fix them.

When frozen properly, they can last for up to a year.

We love a good shortcut.

So easy, so smart!

It's time to lean into this freezer staple.

If you ask me, frozen vegetables are the ultimate convenience food.

Freezing is the best way to hang on to bananas that are ripening faster than you can use them up.

You probably have it in your pantry.

It's done before the coffee is even ready!

This is perfect for Super Bowl Sunday.

We here at The Kitchn are firm believers that the more you can do ahead of your dinner party, the less stress you’ll have at your dinner party. Dinner rolls fall squarely in that make-ahead category. In fact, dinner rolls are such a flexible and accommodating kind of recipe that there are multiple points in the process when you can stop, put the rolls on pause, and pick them up again when you want to — whether that’s a whole month from now or just a day.

Here are smart suggestions for keeping all kinds of leftovers both safe and tasty — from extra pancakes to cooked rice.

Try it after you're all done making leftover sandwiches.

'Tis the season to start stocking up.

The last thing you want after your holiday gathering is everyone getting sick.

Whenever I make homemade stock I always take the approach of keep half for now and freeze the other half for later. Homemade stock is a truly wonderful staple to keep on hand, but it doesn’t have a very long shelf life. If you’re not using the entire batch immediately, the best way to get the most out of your stock is by freezing it in ice cube trays. Ice cube tray size can vary, but standard trays usually hold one ounce in each well (this is the same as 2 tablespoons).

Picked a bushel? Learn how to keep them fresh for months, and get some ideas for cooking with them.

The stock is easy to remove, and in amounts that recipes tend to call for.

The whole point of freezing things is to have ingredients on hand right when need them. If you haven’t heard it before, caramelized onions freeze wonderfully well and are great flavor boosters for almost any food. Read on for freezing tips and quick fix uses!Caramelizing onions sounds like more of a process than it really is. Onions practically do it on their own if left alone in a pan.

Don't let a single ounce go to waste.

Before you put that fresh fruit or veggie in the freezer, read this.

Honestly mad I didn't think of this sooner.

With the right tools anyone can learn to can food in an afternoon.

Becky Rosenthal, the blogger behind The Vintage Mixer and author of the newly published Fast to the Table Freezer Cookbook, believes your freezer is good for more than those long-forgotten bags of peas and a few half-eaten pints of ice cream. It’s actually a treasure chest for fast dinners, satisfying breakfasts, and smarter takes on the meals in between. Even more, the freezer helps you hold on to favorite ingredients and flavors as we move from season to season.

Want to learn about one of the most practical-yet-fun gatherings I’ve ever hosted? It was, wait for it, a freezer meal party! My mom and sisters came to my house to cook and assemble meals for our freezers. We built taco kits (so easy!), learned the best way to freeze eggs for breakfast, and prepped pork chops that can go straight into the slow cooker. It was a warm way to spend an afternoon: in the kitchen with people we love, cooking food to nourish us and our families.

We don’t eat like normal people around here. Oh sure, we eat recognizable food — we’re not 3D printing our meals or anything — but because of the particular needs and demands of our jobs, our schedules are a little out of whack. I work from home as a food writer, recipe developer, and photographer; he works during the evenings as an editor for a major online sports media company. There’s always a ton of food (and leftovers!

You come home from work and pull dinner out of the freezer. Is it safe to defrost it on the counter while you walk the dog or catch up with your family? In most cases, probably not. Here’s what to do instead…Although freezing food puts pathogens (disease-causing bacteria or other microorganisms) in suspended animation, it does not kill them. As soon as the food starts to become warmer at temperatures above 40°F, bacteria can begin to multiply.

Watch the video to learn how to keep berries fresh for longer after washing them.

For some people the draw might be the great price on tires. For others, the cheap prescription eyewear. For still others, it’s the excellent pricing on diapers and gift cards. But, me and Costco? I’m just there for the food. Not only does Costco serve up the infamous buck-fifty hot dog and soda combo and dish out free samples galore, but it also offers a variety of bulk buys that can help you eat well while saving a bundle.

I think we all know that the freezer can be a glorious secret weapon in the daily tussle to get healthy, delicious, and budget-friendly dinners on the table. This month we’re helping you clean out, organize, and restock the freezer in our 4-step Freezer Cure (it’s not too late to join!). But that’s just the beginning. The ultimate step is filling your freezer with meals — cleverly cooked and organized to help you pull off the last-minute magic of a meal already made.

It's not the plastic bag it came in.

Tomatoes are everywhere in a well-stocked kitchen — canned tomatoes in the pantry, ketchup in the fridge, and maybe a few fresh ones on the counter. We’re fortunate to live in a time where tomato products are commercially available in many different forms. But you don’t have to be dependent on store-bought tomato paste and ketchup. With just a few tools and a weekend afternoon, you can stock your own kitchen with homemade tomato staples.

Love to buy loads of fresh veggies at the farmers’ market but can’t always use them up in time? Look to your freezer for help! However, it’s not as simple as throwing a few tomatoes in the freezer; there are techniques that vastly improve the thawed product. Read on for tips!In general, just plopping fresh veggies in the freezer results in rather sad, limp results once thawed. Why?

Hot or sweet, red or green, we’ve been buying all the peppers we can at the farmers market while they’re in season. Some are for eating right away, but the majority of these beauties are destined for our freezer. We’ll see them later this winter!Peppers do change a little during the freezing process and tend to become limp and watery once thawed.