Can You Freeze American Cheese? Here’s How to Do This
Updated on March 2, 2023
When it comes to cheese, we love pretty much any style, including American cheese. However, we do sometimes end up buying more than we can eat because sales are entirely too good to pass up on. So, can we freeze American cheese?
We know just how important it is to save money, so let’s make sure we’re not letting cheese go to waste by freezing it.
Can You Freeze American Cheese?
One of our readers sent us a message about freezing American cheese, so let’s see what they have to say:
I bought a package of American cheese to make some grilled cheese sandwiches, and now I have more than half a package left over. I don’t really like to eat American cheese any other way, and I certainly don’t make grilled cheese sandwiches on a regular basis.
I have a while before the cheese slices expire, but I still don’t want them just sitting in my fridge, slowly expiring. Is there any way to preserve American cheese slices? Can you freeze American cheese?
Excellent questions! The truth is, many people buy American cheese for exactly the same purpose, and end up facing a similar dilemma. What to do with all that extra cheese?
The truth is, sliced American cheese has a longer shelf life than many kinds of cheese and resists mold growth because it is a processed cheese product.As a result, it doesn’t break down as easily as other more natural cheeses do. Having the slices individually wrapped also helps keep the cheese fresher for longer.
Still, not everyone can eat all that cheese by the best before date, and most American cheese manufacturers do not recommend freezing their products. The concern is that the texture of the cheese product will change upon thawing, becoming crumbly and “mealy” in texture. Not the most appetizing thought.
Still, freezing American cheese is possible, and many people have been able to freeze cheese slices with great success. Since you’re probably going to eat the cheese melted in a recipe anyway, a little change in texture shouldn’t be a big deal once the cheese is melted.
How to Freeze American Cheese?
American cheese slices come individually wrapped already, making your job of freezing the cheese really, really easy. Here’s what you must do:
- Simply remove the wrapped slices from the package and place them in a freezer bag.
- Remove the excess air from the bag, then seal and label it.
- If you are concerned that the wrap will stick to the cheese and not open properly, you can unwrap the cheese slices before freezing, and then layer them with a piece of parchment paper in between each slice.
- Then, wrap the pile of cheese slices in a double layer of plastic wrap before sliding the pile into a freezer bag. Remove the excess air, then seal and label the bag.
How to Keep American Cheese Longer?
If you want to make sure that your American cheese will last for longer in the freezer, you can use a vacuum sealer. These appliances take out all the air in the bags or containers and create a perfect seal.
We have a long list of vacuum sealers you can check out in our article, but you should go for the FoodSaver V4840 2-in-1 Vacuum Sealer Machine if you don’t feel like reading more on the topic. This one works with freezer bags and containers of various sizes so you can save lots of dishes, in all sizes, either single portions or whole dishes.
How to Thaw American Cheese?
When ready to use the cheese, simply remove the desired number of slices from the bag.
The cheese slices can then be thawed in the refrigeratoror added directly to a recipe after removing the protective plastic wrap.