Can You Freeze Broccoli Cheese Soup?

Broccoli cheese soup is great to enjoy on a chilly evening.

Making a big batch of broccoli cheese soup is perfect to ensure that you have some leftovers to enjoy for a later stage when you don’t feel like going through the whole process of cooking it from scratch.

Unlike broth-based soups, broccoli cheese soup is creamy and has a delightful richness to it. The dairy from the cheese and cream give it a boost of creaminess that makes the soup such a favorite. However, the creaminess can get in the way of the soup freezing well.

Can you freeze broccoli cheese soup? Broccoli cheese soup can be frozen for up to 2 months. It is one of the more difficult soups to freeze, so let it cool first and freeze it in an airtight container in the back of the freezer, with room for the soup to expand.

It is difficult to freeze broccoli cheese soup mainly because of the cream base, and the other dairy products the soup contains, such as a large amount of cheese.

When frozen, dairy-based products can separate into different watery layers, and it can be difficult to fix this with reheating.

However, there are ways around this to ensure your broccoli cheese soup is frozen and reheated to taste almost as great as it did when fresh!

How To Freeze Broccoli Cheese Soup

Understanding how to properly freeze broccoli cheese soup is important in ensuring that it holds up against the freezing process and that the dairy content does not separate too much during freezing, thawing, and reheating.

Here is how to freeze broccoli soup for the best results:

Step 1: Prepare the soup

The first step would be to prepare your broccoli cheese soup. Follow your favorite recipe and cook the soup as you would normally.

Step 2: Leave to cool

Separate the soup you are wanting to freeze. You need to leave the soup to cool down to room temperature before preparing and packing it for freezing. 

You cannot place warm soup into the freezer, as it will cause condensation in the container, which can degrade the quality of the soup, and it will increase the internal temperature of the freezer and pose a risk to the other frozen items.

Condensation build-up in the container due to a warm soup can also cause the soup to freeze unevenly, and cause ice crystals which degrade the soup quality and taste faster.

If you want the soup to cool down quicker, you can portion it into smaller batches, or place the pot of soup into a basin of cold, iced water.

Step 3: Place into a container

Once the soup has cooled down to room temperature, you will need to pour it into the freezer container. Remember that you must only freeze the amount of soup you will be eating in one sitting, as you cannot separate the soup once it is frozen.

If you are freezing the soup for a family meal, you can place it in one large container. If you are freezing portions for you to enjoy on your own, you should freeze separate single servings.

This way you can defrost just the right amount, without any going to waste.

Freezer Container Options

There are two options of freezer containers to choose from, each with their own pros and cons. 

Plastic freezer containers – Plastic freezer containers are a good choice if you are freezing a large portion of soup. Make sure that the container is freezer safe and that it can be shut airtight.

Plastic freezer containers are reusable and do offer great protection in the freezer. However, they do take up quite a bit of space and are not great if you are using more than a few in the freezer.

Plastic freezer bag – You should consider using plastic freezer bags if you are freezing quite a few smaller portions. The plastic freezer bags can be laid down flat and stacked one on top of each other to save some space.

The problem is that these freezer bags aren’t often reusable and can cost quite a bit over time!

When pouring the soup into the containers, whether it is plastic freezer containers or plastic freezer bags, you need to only fill it up until there is about ½ inch space left at the top of the container. 

The liquid in the soup will expand when frozen, and if the container is filled to the top, it might explode all over the freezer and cause a huge mess.

Step 4: Label and Freeze

You need to label the plastic freezer containers or plastic freezer bags before placing them in the freezer.

You should label the containers with the name of the soup and the date of freezing so that you can easily identify the soup and know when to consume it.

Place the broccoli soup into the freezer. You should place the soup near the back of the freezer so that there isn’t too much temperature fluctuation when the door is opened and closed.

It is also easier to stack the plastic freezer bags on top of each other on the back shelf of the freezer.

How Long Does Broccoli Cheese Soup Last In The Freezer?

Broccoli cheese soup can be left in the freezer for up to two months before it needs to be consumed.

As the soup has a high dairy content, it cannot be left in the freezer for too much longer than this. It will still technically be fine to eat after two months, but the quality will deteriorate quickly.

Labeling the freezer container with the date of freezing helps you to keep track of when you should eat it by, to ensure that it retains its best quality possible.

You might also get lost with all the meals frozen in your freezer, so having the name labeled does tend to help a lot as well!

Reheating Broccoli Cheese Soup Properly

With freezing broccoli soup, you have to be so careful to reheat it properly due to its high dairy content. Other soups can be thawed and reheated normally, but a little more care has to be taken with a creamy soup such as broccoli cheese soup.

When you are ready to enjoy the broccoli soup, you need to remove it from the freezer and leave it to thaw completely.

The best way to thaw the broccoli cheese soup is to leave it in the fridge overnight.

This is the safest way to thaw the soup without it reaching temperatures that might cause the soup to spoil. If you don’t want to wait this long, you can leave it out at room temperature to thaw.

Once it has thawed completely, you can pour the thawed soup into a saucepan on the stove. Set the stove on medium heat.

As the soup heats up, you need to whisk it often. Whisking it helps to reincorporate the dairy and water content which has separated during freezing.

How long the soup needs to heat up for will depend on the amount of soup, but it should take around 20 minutes in total if you are feeding the whole family. Make sure to whisk it enough to get all the ingredients properly mixed together again.

When the broccoli soup has been heated up, stir in some fresh cheese and salt and pepper to give it some of its taste back, and serve!

Related Questions

How Long Can You Keep Broccoli Cheese Soup In the Refrigerator?

Broccoli cheese soup can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.

However, it is important to note that this is for broccoli cheese soup which has been kept in an airtight container, and which has not been left out at room temperature for too long, and which has not been in contact with other food items.

Can I Refreeze Broccoli Cheese Soup?

You should not refreeze broccoli cheese soup. The general rule of thumb is that you should not refreeze any foods. This will only destroy the quality too much and put the food at risk of bacteria growth.

You might be able to get away with refreezing broccoli cheese soup if it has been left in the fridge to thaw, and it still has some ice crystals. But this really isn’t recommended.

Can I Refrigerate Broccoli Cheese Soup Which Has Been Thawed and Reheated?

No, you cannot refrigerate broccoli cheese soup which has already been thawed and reheated. You should only reheat the amount of broccoli cheese soup that you are going to eat in one sitting.

Once the soup has been reheated, if there are any leftovers, they should be discarded. There is too high a chance of bacterial growth.

Freezing Broccoli Cheese Soup – Review

Broccoli cheese soup, while one of the more difficult soups to freeze, can be frozen.

You just need to pay extra attention when reheating the soup to ensure that you work to incorporate the ingredients back together again, as the creamy base does tend to separate during freezing.

This should not put you off cooking up a whole batch of broccoli cheese soup and keeping a good stockpile in the freezer to enjoy for some quick and easy lunches or dinners!

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