What Groceries Can I Freeze?

What Groceries Can I Freeze?

One question I do get asked a lot when I am teaching classes is “What Groceries Can I Freeze?“.

The best way to make great use of your coupon shopping is to stockpile. When you decide to begin stockpiling, questions begin to arise – like “What about the sale by date and expiration date” or “Is it a good idea to freeze this?”. All of those questions are important things to think about when stockpiling.

Today I want to cover freezing. I have mentioned before that I would freeze extra milk when I buy it at a good price, and some of you said you didn’t know you could freeze milk. You can also freeze many other dairy products.

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So, here are some things I have frozen with no issues:

Milk – Just remove some before you freeze it, it will leak out the top as it expands while freezing. Sometimes you may have to shake it after thawing if it separates. Freezing milk is a great way to prevent food waste.

Tub Margarine/Butter – I freeze these all the time.  Depending on the brand and kind, I may have to re-whip it when it thaws or reaches room temperature because it is separated from the freezing process, but that takes just a few minutes, and it tastes great!

Cheese – Good news! Cheese freezes, too. You can freeze blocks of cheese or shredded. No problems. Next time it’s on sale, you can stock up.

Bread– Freezing bread is always great, especially if you make homemade bread in bulk. Freezing will make the bread last a long time. My all-time favorite is banana bread.

Chocolate– There are lots of great ideas for freezing chocolate, especially if you love making baked goods, plus this way, you can make a double batch. It’s best to store them in an airtight container or airtight bag to keep the chocolate at its peak of freshness.

Nuts– You can always find a great deal around holidays.

Flour– To keep your flour at top quality, freezing is the best option. A plastic bag is one way to get the best results to reduce the amount of air that gets in.

Pastry Dough– Dough is one of my favorite food items to freeze.

Sugar – Sound Crazy? It’s the perfect place to get it out of the pantry so you don’t have more than one open at a time, and to keep bugs out, too.

Cream Cheese

Sour Cream

Whole Berries & Fresh Fruit

Raw Meat

Cakes – I used to do some decorating and I will tell you there is nothing more moist than a cake iced while frozen (which is easier by the way) and then allowed to thaw under the icing!  try it!

Stick Margarine/Butter

Cookie Dough

Yogurt

Tortillas

Rice

Pasta

Coffee– To keep your coffee fresh and help keeps it at its best quality, you should freeze it. Check out 12 Uses For Leftover Coffee Grounds, too.

Canned biscuits – Depending on the brand sometimes they don’t rise as high as they do before they are frozen.

Wholly Guacamole – It thaws out easy and tastes great.

Lunchmeat – A lot of times I find a canned ham that is cheaper, once sliced, than lunchmeat.  I usually find a canned ham around 5 lbs and take it to the deli or butcher and ask them to slice it for me (they will do it FREE of charge) and then I take it home and re-package it in smaller packages and freeze the individual packages.  Didn’t know grocery stores offered FREE services? Check out these 10 more FREE Little Known Grocery Store Services!

Eggs are a little more work – never freeze them in the shell – but you can break them open and whip them together and then you can freeze them. I have heard people who pour them in to ice cube trays and cover them with plastic wrap. You can do this for egg yolks, and egg whites.

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Of course, you know you can freeze leftovers or even “freezer cook”. I cook large amounts of  Spaghetti, Mini Meatloaves, Chili, Hamburgers, Chicken, Casseroles, Taco Meat pretty much anything.  I then take them and separate them in a family serving size and freeze them. Then on nights when we don’t feel like cooking or don’t have a lot of time, we just pick something out of the freezer and we’re set in minutes! It really helps with Meal Planning!

I usually keep my open chips in the fridge which is a helpful tool to keep them crisp longer – but I have heard that you can freeze them with great success!

Hope this helps!

Make sure to check out my “Fruits & Veggies You Can Freeze” post to learn more about freezing veggies and fruits!

What have you had success freezing?