Can You Freeze Alfredo Sauce? Here’s What You Must Do
Updated on March 2, 2023
As we’re all trying to reduce our food waste, throwing out things, especially food we made from scratch is something that is daunting. But, the question is, can we freeze Alfredo sauce?
The sauce is great with pasta and we’re always craving more of this dish, so let’s dive in.
Can You Freeze Alfredo Sauce?
One of our readers seems to have too much Alfredo sauce on their hands and has sent us this following message:
I made some homemade Alfredo sauce for some fettuccine I was making, but overestimated just how much sauce I was going to need for the recipe. As a result, I now have enough extra sauce for a whole other package of pasta. I still have leftovers from the first batch, so I doubt I will be able to finish all the sauce before it starts to go bad.
I would really like to store the sauce for later use, but I’m not sure if I can freeze it because of the cream in it. I’ve heard that dairy products don’t freeze well, and I don’t want to ruin my sauce. Can you freeze Alfredo sauce?
Sure you can, with a few precautions. While you can freeze dairy products successfully, they do have a tendency to separate while frozen. This is due to the high water and fat content in the products, which will separate and then take on a yellowish hue in the freezer.
The good thing is that the fats can be reincorporated back into the sauce once they are thawed, and the yellow hue should disappear as well. Many people have successfully frozen Alfredo sauces in the past, and it’s a great way to save money and reduce waste.
How to Freeze Alfredo Sauce?
To freeze Alfredo sauce, it’s recommended that you freeze it as soon as possible after it has been made, to preserve its freshness. The longer it sits in the fridge, the more it breaks down, so ideally any extra should be frozen the day it’s made, once it’s cool enough to handle.
- To freeze the extra sauce, place a freezer bag in a bowl.
- Fold the edges of the freezer bag over the rim of the bowl to hold it in place. This allows you to use both hands when pouring the sauce.
- Pour the Alfredo sauce into the freezer bag, and then unfold the edges of the bag from the bowl.
- Seal the bag, then label and date it.
- Use frozen Alfredo sauce within 3 months for best results.
How to Keep Alfredo Sauce for Longer?
If you want to make sure that your alfredo sauce keeps for longer and doesn’t lose any of its flavors, you could use a vacuum sealer. These appliances take out the air from the bags and seal them completely.
Of course, since this is a sauce, vacuum sealers don’t necessarily work. However, you can put the bag in the freezer for a few hours, and then take it out and use the vacuum sealer on it, to take out the air once there’s some solidity to the sauce.
We have a long list of great vacuum sealers you can try out, but if you’re in a hurry and looking for a sure thing, you can go for the FoodSaver V4840 2-in-1 Vacuum Sealer Machine. This one works with freezer bags and containers of various sizes so you can save smaller portions or whole dishes.
How to ThawAlfredo Sauce?
To use frozen Alfredo sauce, you need to go through a few steps.
- Remove the sauce from the freezer and allow it to thaw for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
- You may notice that the sauce has separated upon thawing. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and give it a good stir using a whisk or a wooden spoon to reincorporate all the ingredients.
- If the sauce is too thin, add a bit of cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken it up.
- Warm the sauce and then use as usual.
If you’re looking for a tasty recipe for Alfredo pasta, we have this great one you should definitely try.