Soup Tips
Freezing Soups
When looking at recipes for soup, or cooking large batches to freeze, keep in mind freezing soups can cause some ingredients to change. With a little planning, you’ll be able to modify your favorite soups for the freezer.
Vegetables soften when frozen and reheated so I recommend under-cooking them slightly for best results.
Pasta softens in the freezer and again when reheated. I recommend adding fresh-cooked pasta when it’s time to serve the soup. Pasta cooks fast and without much attention from the cook so it’s still an easy meal and you save space in the freezer.
Potatoes that are chopped or diced change texture and become more grainy. Potatoes that are pureed, however, do not have much texture change. It's your call, but I prefer not to freeze soups with chunks of potato.
Rice can soften but doesn’t become nearly as soft as pasta. Less processed rices like wild rice and brown rice don’t seem to soften as much as white rice, converted rice or instant rice. You might want to slightly under-cook rice by about 10 minutes if you're worried about it being too soft. Because rice can take 20 minutes to a hour to cook, unlike pasta that cooks in 8-15 minutes I like to have the rice already cooked, frozen and in my soup.
Milk and cream are often avoided when freezing soups. Many people think they separate or curdle. I have never had problems with curdling and if the milk or cream separates it’s easy to mix it back together. Freeze it ahead in your soup or add when reheating, the option is yours.
Let soup cool completely before freezing. Freezing soups that are still hot means the soup takes longer to freeze, has larger ice crystals that can effect the texture, especially of veggies and pastas or rice and results in lower quality.
Storing something that is still hot in the freezer can raise the temperature in the freezer or cause foods near them to start to thaw. That's not a good situation. Leaving the soup in the fridge overnight if you have to before freezing is better than putting hot soup in the freezer.
Store soups in quantities that make sense.
Freeze soups in sizes that your family can use, and when in doubt use a smaller size - great for taking to work, etc. Check out the guideline below for quantities:
1 cup = snack size for one2 cups = meal for one
1 cup + 1/2 sandwich = light lunch or dinner for one (multiply for additional people, of course)
For family size containers freeze up to 2 cups/person in one container.
Rigid containers or plastic freezer storage bags work best for freezing soup. Leave room for the liquids to expand when frozen. Half inch of space in rigid containers. A small amount of room in plastic bags. Freezing soup in plastic bags is best done flat, on a cookie sheet so the bags don’t freeze in odd shapes. They'll take up less room and stack easily.
Recommended storage time is about 2-3 months.Store up to 2-3 months according to the USDA. However, per usual, this timeline is a guideline for quality because soup does not spoil in the freezer. I freeze soup for up to six months without any problems.
Thawing and Reheating Frozen SoupIdeally pull your frozen soup from the freezer about 24 hours before you want to use it. Let the soup thaw in the fridge and then reheat in the microwave or on the stove. Run frozen soup in plastic freezer bags under hot water instead of microwaving plastic bags.
Soup can also be cooked from frozen in the microwave, stopping often to stir, or on the stovetop. I prefer to cook my soup from frozen on the stove.Soups frozen flat in plastic bags can be broken into smaller pieces by hand if they are not too thick. Put the soup, whole or in pieces, into a pan and add enough water to cover the bottom. The water prevents burning.
For 2 cups of soup cooked from frozen on the stove top, with the lid on, over medium high heat, it takes around 10 minutes for dinner to be ready.
Use a low heat for soups with dairy in them, also try not to boil soups with milk, cream, eggs or cheese or they are more likely to separate.