Can You Freeze Pizza Sauce?
Pizza sauce is one of the most useful food items to keep at home. If you have some ready-made pizza bases in the freezer, you just need some sauce and toppings to make an easy, yet delicious, lunch or dinner.
The only problem with having pizza sauce readily available for when you want to make a quick pizza is that it does have a limited shelf life. It doesn’t last forever in the fridge.
If you want to keep a supply in the freezer, is that even an option?
Can you freeze pizza sauce? Yes, you can freeze pizza sauce without losing much in quality or taste. Freezing is the best way to keep and store it for up to 6 months. You can freeze pizza sauce in large batches, or in single pizza-sized servings.
Pizza sauce happens to freeze really well, and the pizza sauce will not lose too much quality or taste when kept in the freezer. So you will hardly notice the difference between a fresh and a frozen pizza sauce.
Freezing pizza sauce is fairly simple, but there are a few tips to remember to ensure that the pizza sauce does not lose too much taste or quality in the freezer.
How To Freeze Pizza Sauce
How you freeze your pizza sauce will depend on how much you want to freeze at a time, and what kind of container you want to freeze the pizza sauce in.
Freezing Pizza Sauce in a Jar
If you bought a jar of ready-made pizza sauce from the store and you are wanting to freeze it as is, you can do so, but you need to remember to remove some of the pizza sauce before placing it in the freezer.
As it contains liquid, the pizza sauce will expand when frozen, and if the glass jar is left full, it could crack or explode in the freezer, which will cause a mess that you wouldn’t want to clean.
To freeze a jar of pizza sauce, follow the steps below:
- Remove some pizza sauce from the jar, so there is some room at the top for the pizza sauce to expand when frozen.
- Place the jar of pizza sauce into a plastic freezer bag.
- Label the freezer bag with the date of freezing, so you know when to use it before it goes bad.
- Remember to seal the glass jar and the plastic freezer bag tightly to avoid exposure to air and moisture.
You can also follow the above method if you are portioning out pizza sauce into your own mason jars. It is important to ensure that the jars are closed tightly and that you place the glass jar into a plastic freezer bag for extra protection in the freezer.
Freezing Pizza Sauce In Plastic Freezer Bags
If you do not want to freeze a whole jar of pizza sauce in one batch, and prefer to portion it out to smaller servings, you can freeze pizza sauce in plastic freezer bags.
Using a freezer bag allows you to control the portions you are freezing, and the freezer bags are fairly easy to work with.
Just modify the steps from above as follows:
- Portion out pizza sauce into freezer-friendly freezer bags.
- Push out as much air as possible from the freezer bags and seal tight.
- Label the date of freezing, and the name of the contents, on the plastic freezer bag. This helps with easy identification and helps you keep track of when the pizza sauce should be used by.
- Lay the freezer bags flat in the freezer, stacked on top of each other.
The best part of using freezer bags to store pizza sauce is that you can lay them flat on top of each other in the freezer, which saves you so much space.
If you have a small freezer, or not much space left in the freezer at home, stacking freezer bags on top of each other is a great space-saving hack.
You are also able to portion store-bought jars of pizza sauce into the freezer bags, to avoid having to defrost the whole jar when all you need is a small amount of pizza sauce for one or two pizzas.
Freezing Pizza Sauce In Ice Cube Trays
Another great freezing method to use when freezing pizza sauce is to freeze individual portions in ice cube trays.
This method is perfect for when you only need a small amount of pizza sauce at a time, but you are also able to use as much as you want by removing as many frozen pizza sauce cubes as you might need.
Here is how to freeze pizza sauce in ice cube trays:
- Clean out an ice cube tray.
- Pour the sauce into each of the ice cube spaces. (Remember, pizza sauce is a liquid so it will expand!)
- Place the tray into the freezer for 3 hours, until the pizza sauce is frozen solid.
- Remove the ice cube tray from the freezer and remove the individual pizza sauce cubes.
- Place these into a large freezer-safe plastic bag and seal tightly, removing as much as air possible from the bag.
- Label with the date of freezing.
By freezing the pizza sauce in the ice tray at first, you are freezing small portions to place into the freezer bag.
As the cubes would have frozen separately in the ice cube tray, they will not stick together in the freezer bag, and you can remove as many cubes as you want from the bag without having to defrost any more than what you would need at one time.
Can You Freeze Homemade Pizza Sauce?
You can freeze homemade pizza sauce, and many people choose to make their own pizza sauce to freeze to use at a later time.
This gives you a chance to perfect your pizza sauce, to suit your tastes, and to make larger batches to freeze, for cheaper than what you could buy the pizza sauce for at the store.
When making your own pizza sauce to freeze, there are a few things to remember to ensure that the homemade pizza sauce keeps its quality and is safe to freeze:
- Once the pizza sauce has finished cooking, leave it to cool down to room temperature before freezing. To make this faster, you could separate the pizza sauce into smaller portions to cool quicker, or place the pan of pizza sauce in an ice bath.
- Do not leave the pizza sauce out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours, as this could lead to bacteria growth, which could then cause foodborne illnesses.
- You can freeze the homemade pizza sauce in mason jars, in plastic freezer bags, or in ice cube trays. It will depend on what you have on hand and the size of the portions you are wanting to freeze.
- Keep in mind that by freezing larger portions, you are setting yourself to use that amount of pizza sauce, as you cannot refreeze the pizza sauce once it has thawed.
How Long Does Pizza Sauce Last In The Fridge?
Pizza sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. However, it is important to note that even if your pizza sauce has not passed its expiration date, if it is left open in the fridge, it might still spoil.
If your pizza sauce has been in the fridge for 5 days or more, you should look for signs of spoiling, such as:
- Any off smells, sour or acidic. If the pizza sauce does not smell right, rather throw it away.
- Any signs of mold or discoloration.
- Taste – if you happen to taste the pizza sauce and it tastes sour or off, throw it away.
Related Questions
How Do You Thaw Frozen Pizza Sauce?
The best way to thaw frozen pizza sauce is to leave it in the fridge overnight. This is the safest way to get it done, as it does not expose the pizza sauce to temperatures that might encourage bacteria growth.
However, if you are using the ice cube tray method to freeze pizza sauce, you can just pop one or two cubes in the microwave for 30 seconds to defrost.
How Long Does Pizza Sauce Last in the Freezer?
Pizza sauce, if stored properly, can be kept in the freezer for up to 6 months. The more you protect the pizza sauce in its storage container, the longer it will keep its quality.
It will still be fine to use after 6 months, but the quality will begin to decrease and it will not taste the same. The pizza sauce needs to be kept frozen at a constant temperature to maintain its quality.
Freezing Pizza Sauce – Review
It is such a great idea to keep a few portions of pizza sauce in the freezer. Whether you are freezing store-bought pizza sauce or making your own secret recipe, make sure to keep it protected in the freezer.
It will taste just as fresh when you use it, and be sure to label the container, so you use it within 6 months.
You don’t have to spend ages making pizza sauce when the craving hits if you have some stored away safely in the freezer!
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