Can You Freeze Potato Soup? Here’s How You Can Do This Right
Potato soup is an impossibly creamy and delicious meal, especially when served with a little bit of bacon and garlic. Yummy! Now, if you want to make more of this, we should all look into freezing potato soup.
In this way, not only will you save time the next time you crave the dish, but you can also save money if you buy the ingredients on sale and make a bigger batch.
Can You Freeze Potato Soup?
One of our readers is considering making some freezer meals and craving potato soup. Here’s what they had to write:
I want to make some freezer meals, and love the thought of cooking potato soup and freezing it to eat over the next few months. I’ve heard that potatoes don’t freeze well, though, and don’t want to end up with a huge batch of soup that I can’t eat. Can you freeze potato soup?
While it’s true that sometimes it can be tough to freeze potatoes, by following a few simple tips, freezing potato soup is simple and the results will be delicious.
How to Freeze Potato Soup?
If you haven’t made the soup yet, you’re in luck, because with some small changes to your recipe you can freeze your potato soup successfully!
Tips for cooking your potato soup for freezing:
- Pureed potatoes freeze better than potato pieces, so pureeing your soup will make it freeze better.
- When cooking potato soup, if the recipe calls for milk or cream, you may want to omit them from the recipe while cooking, and then add them to the soup when reheating after thawing. The reason for this is that milk and cream can separate and become grainy when frozen, and it can be easier just to add them in fresh than try to whip them back to their original texture.
- Another tip to good freezing is to omit any ingredients that are typically added in the last few minutes of cooking, such as fresh herbs. These can be damaged by freezing and will add a bright, fresh flavor if added after the soup has been thawed.
Freezing your potato soup:
- To freeze potato soup, allow the cooked soup to cool first.
- Then, place it in a freezer-safe container or a freezer bag.
- If making a large quantity of soup, consider freezing it in smaller packages so that it can be enjoyed all season long.
- Once the freezer bag is sealed, label and date it for reference, and then lay it flat so it can be stacked neatly in the freezer.
How to Keep Potato Soup For Longer?
If you want to be sure to enjoy your potato soup for a longer time, you should take into consideration using a vacuum sealer. This appliance sucks out the air from the bag or container, which means that no oxygen touches the food, thus preserving the flavor and making it last longer.
When it comes to soup, even one as thick as potato soup, you may want to take a few precautions before using the vacuum sealer. First of all, you should put the soup in the bag or container and place it in the freezer for a couple of hours so it goes solid. Then, you can come in with the vacuum sealer to take out the air and create the perfect seal.
We have a great list of vacuum sealers we tested out, but we are partial to the FoodSaver V4840 2-in-1 Vacuum Sealer Machine which works with freezer bags and containers of different sizes. Plus, if you get extra tools, it has even more uses.
How to Thaw Potato Soup?
To thaw potato soup, there are a few steps you have to follow.
- First, remove the package from the freezer and place it in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
- Alternatively, it can be thawed by placing the freezer bag under running water.
- Pour soup into a pot and stir to recombine ingredients, as some separation may occur.
- Heat gently, adding milk or cream and any herbs the recipe calls for.
Potato soup that has been previously frozen should not be frozen a second time. The thawed soup should be consumed within 2-3 days for best results.