Foods you Can Freeze

One thing that I use every day is my extra freezer…there is so much food you can freeze.  The freezer is a frugal person’s best friend. It allows me to stock up on items at their rock bottom prices and keep them good until we are ready to use them.

Foods you Can Freeze:

1.) Meat

If you find a great deal on meat, stick it in the freezer. We buy of a half of a cow every year and have a deep freezer where we store it. It helps us get really low prices and not have to depend on sale prices in order to stick to our recommended price per lb.

I like to marinate my meat before I freeze it. That way dinner is all ready, I just have to pull it out of the freezer in the morning to defrost and throw it in the oven to cook at dinnertime.  We use this method a lot in our freezer meals in our ALDI freezer cooking meal plans.

Another tip is to separate your meats into individual serving sizes to freeze, I put them into Ziploc freezer bags.  This way when I am planning dinner I just have to take out one bag and I am all set.

2.) Cheese

Keep in mind that cheese is not the same once thawed, it is harder to shred and crumbles easily.  I would recommend shredding the cheese before you freeze it, it will thaw better and you won’t have a big mess on your hands.

3.) Bread

We freeze it right inside the package we buy it in. To thaw, just place it on the counter for a couple of hours. As long as there’s no freezer burn (which could happen if it’s frozen for longer than 3 months), then it’s like you just bought it from the store! If you’re just going to toast it, you can toast a slice from frozen without any problems.

4.) Hot Dogs

We love freezing hot dogs! We just pull them out one at a time and put them in our toaster oven and voila, a quick and easy lunch for the kids.

5.) Milk

Every year before we go on our beach vacation we freeze our milk.  The frozen milk then goes into the cooler and acts as ice for the other foods on our long drive, and by the time we get there, it is defrosted.  I haven’t noticed a big difference in taste after it thaws, and it saves money and space by doing it this way

6.) Hummus

Here is another great food to freeze if you are able to make it in bulk. The key to freezing hummus is that before you freeze it, you need to drizzle olive oil over the top of it so it doesn’t dry out.

7.) Vegetables (Green and Red Peppers, etc)

Only freeze veggies that you are going to cook, the freezing process ruptures the cell structure that gives them their crispiness.

8.) Fruit (Grapes, Berries, etc)

My favorite summer treat is frozen grapes.  I also flash-freeze blueberries, bananas, and strawberries and use them for smoothies throughout the week.

9.) Butter

We often freeze butter if we find a great deal on it and haven’t noticed a big difference in quality or consistency.

10.) Cream Cheese

I was once given a huge batch of cream cheese for free and didn’t know what else to do with it. I stuck it in the freezer and it worked like a charm!

11.) Sauce – Both Pizza and Spaghetti Sauce

We often make big pots of homemade spaghetti or pizza sauce, then freeze the leftovers for the next time.  This freezes great in ziplock bags. Just lay it flat in your freezer and when you are ready to defrost stick it in a pot of warm water for an hour and it will defrost.

Also, Check out – my slow cooker spaghetti and meatballs recipe. This recipe is GREAT for freezing – I freeze the raw meatballs in the sauce! And it still turns out fantastic when I cook it!

12.) Pitas and Tortillas

These freeze great for about a month, but you need to make sure they don’t dry out much. If they do dry out, wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds.

13.) Homemade bread and muffins

I like to cook dozens of muffins at one time, then stick a few dozen in the freezer. I love to take the frozen muffins and put the in the kid’s lunches and by the time it is lunch time they are defrosted.

We find that the freezer can be such a great way to keep our grocery bill low.  We like to fill our freezer up with freezer-cooking meals and sale items that we found throughout the week.

If you’re new to the world of freezer cooking, check out these tips and tricks that will make ALL the difference!

What is some other food you can freeze or things that you found work well for you?