How to Freeze and Reheat Meals (What Works and What Doesn't)

A freezer full of home-cooked meals is the closest thing to a cooking superpower. On a night when you have no energy, dinner is already made. It only works if the food comes out of the freezer tasting good, so a few habits make a big difference.

Step 1: cool the food first

Never put a large, hot pot straight into the freezer. It warms everything around it, and the food itself takes too long to freeze.

• Cool the food within 2 hours of cooking.
• Divide it into shallow containers so it cools faster.
• Chill it in the fridge, then freeze it once it is cold.

See our leftovers safety guide for more on cooling.

Step 2: portion it the way you will eat it

Freeze in the amount you will actually use: single serves for lunches, family-sized portions for dinner. Small portions freeze and thaw faster, and you will not waste half a container.

Flat bags laid on a tray freeze quickly and stack neatly once solid.

Step 3: pack it well

• Use airtight containers or freezer bags. Squeeze the air out of bags.
• Leave a little room at the top of containers, because liquids expand as they freeze.
• Wrap solid food tightly (like a pie or a cake) in cling wrap and foil, to prevent freezer burn.

Step 4: label everything

Write the name, the date and the number of serves on every container. Masking tape and a marker are all you need. You will not remember what is in the grey-brown block three months from now.

What freezes well

What does not freeze well

• Salad vegetables, such as lettuce, cucumber and radish, which go limp and watery.
• Cooked potato in soups and stews, which can turn grainy.
• Cream-based sauces, which can split. Freeze the base and add the cream afterwards.
• Fried or crumbed food, which loses its crunch, though it can be crisped in the oven.
• Hard-boiled eggs and egg-white dishes, which go rubbery.
• Mayonnaise-based dishes.

Thawing safely

• In the fridge is the best method. Plan ahead: move tomorrow's dinner from the freezer to the fridge tonight.
• In the microwave using the defrost setting is fine when you will cook the food immediately afterwards.
• Not on the bench. The outside can sit in the danger zone for hours while the middle thaws.
• Do not refreeze food that has thawed on the bench. If you thawed it in the fridge, you can cook it and then freeze the cooked dish, though the quality will drop.

Reheating

• Reheat until steaming hot all the way through. The Food Safety Information Council recommends 75°C in the centre.
• Stir soups, stews and sauces as they heat, so the heat spreads evenly.
• Add a splash of water or stock if a sauce has thickened in the freezer.
• Reheat once only. Heat only what you plan to eat.
• Check the middle. The edges heat first, especially in a microwave.

A simple batch-cooking plan

1. Pick one big recipe (a curry, bolognese or soup) that serves 8 or more.
2. Cook it once. Eat dinner, then portion the rest into labelled containers.
3. Freeze the portions flat or in containers, within a couple of hours.
4. Keep a list on the freezer door of what is inside.

To scale a recipe up for batch cooking, see our guide to scaling a recipe. To plan the week around what is in the freezer, see our meal planning guide.