Individuals already lose roughly $1,500 a 12 months to spoiled groceries, in accordance with a 2025 CNET survey, however the freezer is not all the time the rescue it seems to be.
The freezer looks like a protected haven for something you are not prepared to make use of or that bulk haul of produce you acquire on sale. The issue? Not all the things comes again from the chilly in a single piece. Some meals want particular dealing with earlier than they’re frozen, whereas others merely cannot be saved — rising mealy, mushy or fully inedible.
Earlier than you seal one thing in a bag and name it “saved,” listed here are 11 widespread meals that don’t have any enterprise in your freezer.
11 meals you need to by no means freeze
1. Milk and cream
Maintain your dairy out of the freezer or it’ll separate and curdle.
Most dairy merchandise cannot be frozen and can grow to be inedible if they’re. Milk, cream, yogurt and bitter cream are likely to separate when frozen. As soon as they do, there is no returning them to their former state, and the thawed end result will probably be grainy, watery and even curdled. Nut milk, alternatively, may be frozen extra efficiently.
Ice cream is a identified exception to the dairy rule as a result of its excessive sugar content material lowers the freezing level and retains the product gentle and palatable.
2. Potatoes
Potatoes should not even be refrigerated, by no means thoughts frozen.
America’s favourite carb turns mushy and grainy when thawed, a bodily state that’s no bueno to be used in something from mashed potatoes to french fries. It is because the water separates from the tuber’s starch, leading to a gag-inducing texture that not even trash-foraging critters like raccoons can abdomen.
Freezing cooked or partially cooked potatoes (usually parboiled) is OK, as a lot of the water is extracted throughout cooking. Bagged potato merchandise from the freezer part of your native grocery retailer are handled with chemical substances, preservatives or different specialised preparation strategies to make sure taste and texture are preserved when frozen.
3. Cheese
There are methods to retailer all sorts of cheese that can preserve them contemporary for longer, however the freezer is not one in all them.
Pesky ice crystals kind in frozen cheese, which fully adjustments its taste and texture profile. This primarily applies to gentle and moldy cheeses, although some laborious varieties reminiscent of cheddar and jack can face up to the constant blast of chilly air if grated first and laid flat in a plastic storage bag.
Learn extra: Retailer Cheese Correctly and You may Prolong Its Life by Days, Even Weeks. Here is How
4. Fried meals
Unfortunetly, that leftover pal rooster cannot be frozen for later.
The very best a part of fried meals is, in fact, its crunchy breading. When positioned in a freezer, this batter or crumb absorbs moisture from the equipment, making the meals soggy. Moreover, fried meals is chock-full of — you guessed it — oil, which does not freeze fully and may spoil earlier than the meat or vegetable it has been cooked with. This could result in foul-tasting meals and a probably harmful bout of meals poisoning.
5. Eggs
Eggs have a fairly lengthy shelf life within the fridge so that you should not must freeze them.
If you need rubbery scrambled eggs, go forward and stick them within the freezer earlier than you put together them. This is because of a course of known as “gelation,” wherein the yolk’s protein molecules clump, making the liquid thicker. Egg contents additionally develop when frozen, inflicting entire eggs to crack and leak. Avoiding eggs within the freezer means stopping egg-based condiments, reminiscent of mayonnaise, which will get lumpy and unspreadable.
6. Delicate salad greens
The lighter in coloration the salad inexperienced, the much less doubtless it’s to outlive being frozen.
Whereas some greens, together with kale, spinach, and collard greens, deal with the freezer wonderful, extra delicate and water-dense varieties will collapse. Maintain combined and mesclun greens, romaine, and iceberg within the vegetable crisper and away from the freezer.
7. Water-dense greens
Tomatoes, cucumbers and different water-dense greens do not make good candidates for freezing.
If it is a fruit or vegetable that may go right into a typical salad, it will not maintain up within the freezer. This consists of produce with excessive water content material reminiscent of tomatoes, cucumbers and celery.
8. Avocado
Frozen avocado cannot be revived to make use of in salads or for guacamole, although it may be dropped right into a wholesome smoothie or shake.
The beloved avocado may even not fare properly in extraordinarily low temperatures. Because it thaws, it’ll instantly start to brown. No person desires to dip their means by means of brown guacamole. Whilst you cannot revive frozen avocado to unfold over toast or make a dip for taco evening, you need to use it as an ingredient in smoothies.
9. Entire citrus
Your only option with an extra of citrus is to juice the fruit and freeze the juice for recipes and cocktails later.
Some dense fruits, reminiscent of berries and mangoes, do properly within the freezer, however citrus will not maintain its integrity as properly and most entire citrus fruit will grow to be mealy after thawing. You probably have an abundance of lemons, limes or oranges, your finest wager is to juice them and freeze the juice for later.
10. Cooked pasta and rice
Leftover cooked rice and pasta may be frozen safely however will lose a lot of its construction and toothsomeness upon reheating.
You’ll be able to freeze cooked pasta and rice, however that does not imply you need to. The water content material causes the cells in noodles and grains to burst, leading to pasty, gloopy leftovers that may’t be salvaged with even probably the most scrumptious sauces.
Pasta is nearly definitely going to emerge from the freezer in tough form. Rice is a bit more sturdy however take into account vacuum-sealing it to maintain moisture out earlier than popping it within the freezer for preservation.
11. Bottled or canned drinks
We have all tried to quick-chill a beer or soda within the freezer.
Who hasn’t tried to cheat time by chilling a lukewarm beer can or bottle within the freezer, solely to overlook about it and return to discover a frozen, effervescent catastrophe? When you use the freezer to relax canned or bottled drinks, you would be sensible to set a timer for 10 minutes so they do not freeze strong and explode.
