Can You Freeze Hominy? – The Best Way

Have you tried hominy? It’s a thick, puffy corn that has its own unique texture and flavor. It doesn’t quite taste like corn but does have some of the corn flavors. It’s so good! 

You can make your own hominy at home or you can purchase it from the store already made and cook or heat it to your liking. However, the question is, can you freeze hominy?

Yes, you can freeze hominy. The best way is to drain it from the can (unless you made your own) and put it in a freezer-safe container. You can safely freeze hominy for up to 4 months.

When you make hominy or open fresh packaging, you typically don’t use a whole lot at one time. There are always leftovers when you’re finished—what do you do with those? Well, you freeze them, of course!

If you’re not familiar with hominy or you just don’t know how to use your hominy, it’s a versatile food. You can do a lot with hominy, including replacing corn in any recipe. The options are endless and the storage is quick and easy. 

We’ve put together a guide for you to walk you through uses for your hominy and the procedures for storing and freezing your hominy as well. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about freezing hominy and more. 

How to Freeze Hominy and More

Hominy is a functional food. It can be treated like a grain in your diet because of the way it is made and processed. It is a form of corn, but it has gone through a specific process that makes it more similar to a grain in nature. 

Hominy is certainly nothing to be afraid of. It has a lot of great uses and it tastes good as well. Here are some great options for using hominy:

• Replace corn in any recipe with hominy
• Use as a noodle replacement in soups
• Add as another complimentary flavor to chili
• Finely chop or puree and use in cornbread
• Delicious addition to potato soup or even mashed potatoes
• Mix with vegetables and sauté in oil with seasoning
• Add to various stews and soups
• Grits
• Corn nuts

As you can see, hominy has a lot of uses and is a functional vegetable that can even be eaten as simply a heated vegetable. You can warm it with butter and seasoning just as you might a can of sweet corn. 

These are just a few of the things you can do with hominy, but don’t let this list stop you from your own clever ideas when it comes to using hominy in your kitchen. 

How Hominy is Made

For the purposes of understanding just exactly what you’re working with when you use hominy, we thought we should share with you how hominy is made.

What we will share is a home recipe for making your own hominy, but the process would be quite similar when you buy hominy from the store – only in a mass manufacturing format. 

To make hominy, you must soak dry corn kernels in a solution that draws out the inner part of the kernel, allowing it to plump in size and draw out various flavors as well as nutrients that are hidden in that kernel. 

The solution that the kernels are soaked in is either an ash lye solution or a lime water solution. Manufacturers typically use the lye solution, but if you attempt to make hominy at home a lime water solution is much simpler. 

This process is not overly complicated but does take time and monitoring to complete. 

Lime Water Solution 

Combine 1 ½ cups of slaked lime with 3 ½ gallons of filtered water to make a lime water solution. The slaked lime is recommended to use pickling lime or you can use calcium hydroxide instead. Because of the acidity and calcium in the lime water, we recommend that you refrain from using any aluminum utensils or dishes for the solution. 

Bring your water to a simmer and then add the slaked lime and stir until well mixed. Remove the pan from the heat and cover with a lid for no less than 2 hours. When the mixture has sat for an appropriate time frame, pour the clear liquid into another pan leaving only the white layer that formed in the bottom of your pan. 

Making Hominy

It’s quite simple. You’ve already prepared your lime water solution and now you simply need to soak whole-kernel corns in the solution. 

Combine the solution with 6 pounds of whole-kernel corn in a pot (no aluminum). Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce your heat to low. Cover the lid and allow the ingredients to simmer overnight or for about 8 hours covered. 

The kernels expand and triple in size through this process. Drain the water and rinse the corn several times to remove the lime-water solution. When this is done, you have hominy. 

Properly Storing and Freezing Hominy

Storing your hominy is very simple. Whether you buy frozen or canned hominy from the store or you attempt to make your own hominy at home, the storage process works the same and it takes little to no effort to store effectively. 

Storage life of hominy is a bit limited compared to some other items you can freeze, but it will still preserve well for several months. Let’s start by discussing some pros and cons to freezing hominy. 

Pros to Freezing Hominy

• Make a large batch and freeze portions for later use.
• Reduce waste by saving leftover hominy when it does not all get used.
• Freezing hominy is simple and quick. 
• Hominy lasts for several months in the freezer. 
• Hominy is healthy and versatile, it’s great to have on hand. 

Cons to Freezing Hominy

• Hominy only preserves in the freezer for about 3 months.
• Hominy should be drained prior to freezing. 

As you can see the pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to freezing hominy. 

Hominy Storage Process

If you’ve made your own hominy or opened canned hominy, you’ve already mastered the hard part. Storing or freezing your hominy is so easy. 

1. You can store your hominy in the refrigerator for about 5 days. 
2. To freeze hominy, be sure it has been drained. 
3. Place your hominy in a freezer bag or an airtight container. 
4. Label and date your hominy. 
5. Place in freezer. Store hominy in the freezer 3-4 months. 

It’s truly that easy! There are no challenging steps to follow or tips you have to remember in order to freeze the perfect hominy. The biggest thing to remember is that your hominy needs to be sealed properly no matter what storage method you use. 

Sealing the hominy is the only step that could cause the preservation to go awry if it is not completed properly. 

Using your hominy after it has been frozen is also very simple. You can take it straight from the freezer to your cooking. You do not have to allow thawing time for most uses. 

If you are planning to sauté your hominy in oil after freezing, this is the instance in which we would recommend allowing it to thaw out. You can set the frozen hominy out and allow it to thaw for 2-3 hours or you can defrost it overnight in the fridge as well. 

Freezing and using your hominy is so simple! You don’t have to worry about messing it up or missing steps. You just freeze it and use it. 

Related Questions

We hope that you have found the information in this guide to freezing hominy to be helpful and informative. We have compiled some common questions and answers to provide you with additional information. We encourage you to check it out and see if it could of use to you as well. 

Is Hominy Healthy Since It Is Processed?

Hominy is still a form of corn and the processing is a mild process that does not affect the integrity of the product. There are no chemicals and additional unnecessary ingredients added in the process to make it unhealthy. 

Making hominy actually draws out additional nutrients from within the corn kernel and improves the overall nutrition of the kernel itself. Hominy is a great source of Vitamin B and calcium. 

Can You Purchase Dried Hominy?

Dried hominy packets are available, much like dried corn and other vegetables. This makes it a good option if you need travel packets. In order to use dried hominy, it is best if you are able to soak it in water for several hours to rehydrate the product prior to use. 

Can Hominy Be Made from Popcorn Kernels?

You can use any type of dry corn kernels to make hominy, including popcorn kernels. The smaller the kernel, the smaller the hominy will be but the methods work the same when it comes to making it from home. 

You can effectively use any type of dry corn or corn kernel with the same overall process and you will, in the end, produce delicious harmony to enjoy in your kitchen.