Can You Freeze Cooked Sweet Potatoes? Here’s How You Can Do This Right
Updated on March 2, 2023
Sweet potatoes can be a delicious side to pretty much any dish you want to serve, and with them being so popular with kids and adults alike, it’s bound to have them on the menu quite often.
The question, however, is whether or not you can freeze cooked sweet potatoes when you’re left with too many of them on your hands. Throwing out food is never ideal and if you froze them off you could enjoy them for a longer time.
Can You Freeze Cooked Sweet Potatoes?
Our love for cooking sweet potatoes is not unique, obviously, and that much as evident from one of the messages we received from one of our readers.
Christmas is coming, and I’m anticipating having some leftovers from the large family dinner that I will be cooking. No matter how hard I try to scale back, I always end up making more food than I need. I have a plan for how to handle most of my leftovers, but cooked sweet potatoes always stump me, and I usually end up throwing them out.
I want to change that pattern this year, but I’m unsure about the best way to freeze them, or if they can even be frozen in the first place. Can you freeze cooked sweet potatoes?
Yes, you absolutely can freeze cooked sweet potatoes. Actually, cooked sweet potatoes freeze much better than regular potatoes, and don’t become grainy or lose their texture after being thawed. Sweet potatoes are a great candidate for freezing, provided that you protect them against freezer burn.
How to Freeze Cooked Sweet Potatoes?
When you make your next batch of sweet potatoes and want to freeze the extras, you must take a few steps to make this work:
- To freeze cooked sweet potatoes, first allow the potatoes to cool completely.
- Then, freeze them as soon as possible to maintain quality and freshness.
- If freezing leftovers, store the cooked sweet potatoes in the refrigerator until ready for freezing.
Freezing Cooked Sweet Potatoes – Whole
- Wrap each individual sweet potato in a double layer of plastic wrap, ensuring that no part of the sweet potato is exposed to the air.
- Then, place the wrapped potatoes into a freezer bag or a hard freezer-safe container.
- Seal the freezer bag or container, then label and date the package.
- Place the sweet potatoes in the coldest part of the freezer for even freezing.
Freezing Cooked Sweet Potatoes – Mashed
- Scoop the desired amount of sweet potatoes into a freezer bag or hard freezer-safe container.
- For freezer bags, squeeze out the excess air, then seal the bag.
- For hard-sided containers, place a layer of plastic wrap over the top of the sweet potatoes before sealing the container, to protect against freezer burn.
- Seal the container.
- Label and date the package, and then place in the freezer.
How to Keep Cooked Sweet Potatoes Longer?
If you want to make sure that your cooked sweet potatoes will keep for a longer time, then perhaps using a vacuum sealer will do the job for you. The appliance sucks out all the air from the freezer bag or container and creates a perfect seal so the dish is not affected by any leftover oxigen.
We have a few great vacuum sealers that we tested and enjoyed, but our favorite is the FoodSaver V4840 2-in-1 Vacuum Sealer Machine. The FoodSaver works with freezer bags and containers alike and will save you time and money in the long run.
How to Thaw Cooked Sweet Potatoes?
To thaw frozen cooked sweet potatoes, you need to move through a few steps to make it work best.
- Remove from the freezer and place in the fridge for several hours or overnight, until thawed completely.
- They can also be defrosted in the microwave.
- Reheat on the stove, in a preheated oven, or in the microwave.
- For best results, eat previously frozen cooked sweet potatoes within two to three days of thawing. It is not recommended to refreeze previously frozen cooked sweet potatoes.
Sweet Potatoes Recipe
If you want a few ideas of how to cook your sweet potatoes, we have a couple of delicious recipes you should be trying: