Can You Freeze Soup in Tupperware – And How to Do It
The absolute best part of making soup is cooking up a huge batch, enough to feed an army, and having leftovers to feed you for days. You might not want to actually eat soup 3 meals a day for the next week, however, so freezing is a great alternative.
In most of our kitchens, you’ll find a wide variety of shapes and sizes of Tupperware. Is this a suitable container for freezing soup? Can you freeze soup in Tupperware? Yes, absolutely!
There are just a few handy tricks that you’ll want to practice to make sure your soups freeze safely and reheat perfectly.
How to Freeze Soup in Tupperware- 7 Steps to Follow
1. Freeze Your Soup the Same Day You Cook It
If you think you’ll want some leftovers for the next few days, save as much as you want to store in the fridge, but the rest should go in the freezer the same day to maintain its freshness. The longer soup sits, the more of the liquid will be soaked up by the vegetables and meats.
That’s great for flavor, but not so wonderful for consistency. When you freeze it right after cooking (and cooling), all the individual components of your delicious dish will better maintain their integrity. When you’re ready to eat it, it’ll be like you just whipped up an entirely fresh batch!
2. Store Your Soup in Individual Meal Sizes
You can either store in single servings or however much you would reheat for a single meal for your family. Don’t just throw an entire pot of soup into a huge container and hope for the best.
The smaller the container size, the more evenly your soup will freeze and reheat. Also, once soup has been frozen and thawed once, you aren’t going to want to refreeze leftovers again, so keeping the rest frozen from the start is ideal.
3. Make Sure You’re Using Freezer Friendly Tupperware
The manufacturer makes it nice and easy on you by placing a snowflake icon on their containers that will hold up well to being frozen and defrosted regularly.
Not all plastic containers are made equal, and many will crack when they’re chilled. Look for the snowflake!
This set of GladWare FreezeWare is perfect for soup because not only will it not stain, but each container is liquid and airtight, and they’re perfectly stackable.
They’re also BPA-free, which is a complete must when you’re storing food.
4. Make Sure Your Soup Has Fully Cooled Down Before Putting It into the Tupperware
Most people know that it’s important not to put hot food directly in the freezer to avoid risking bacterial growth, but it’s also important that you don’t place hot foods directly into plastic Tupperware containers.
Most plastic containers made for food these days are BPA-free, but just to be safe, it’s a good practice to not heat up plastic containers and put your food at risk for any chemical leaching.
5. Make Sure There’s Room to Grow
Food often expands when it’s frozen because water changes state. As it goes from liquid to crystal and solid, it gets bigger. Soup expands more than most food because it’s got a lot of water in it!
This is totally normal, but you definitely want to make sure there’s enough room in your container to handle this expansion without cracking your container or pushing off the lid.
6. Top with Plastic Wrap
To get a protective seal that will allow for natural expansion, place some plastic wrap on top of your soup. It doesn’t have to be a perfect seal, but it will protect the top layer from being exposed to the air in the extra space of your container.
7. A Special Note About Noodles
Noodles don’t hold up to freezing and reheating very well, so if you’re making yourself a noodle soup that you’re planning on freezing, it’s a good idea to cook your noodles separately.
Cook only as much as you need for the meals that you’re going to eat right away, freeze your soup without noodles, and whip up a fresh batch when you’re ready to reheat it.
How to Reheat Soup Frozen in Tupperware
The average broth-based meat and vegetable soup are quite easy to reheat and you have many methods to choose from, depending on your preferences and time constraints. No matter how you reheat it, you’re going to first remove it from the Tupperware container.
Microwave
Empty your frozen soup into a nice large, microwave-safe container. If time allows, let it thaw out on your counter or in your fridge first. This will let it heat more evenly, and keep your meat and veggies at their freshest.
Once thawed, cover with plastic wrap or a microwave cover to keep your soup from decorating the inside of your machine. Work slow and steady, in bursts of 30 – 45 seconds, stirring in between.
Soup heats up quickly and it’s better to not overheat and let your veggies get soft or your meats get chewy.
If you’re really low on time, you can heat directly from frozen. Start out at 1 minute in your microwave, and then stir as well as you can. If it’s still completely frozen, go for another minute.
As soon as it’s mostly thawed, decrease the burst of time to 30 seconds to avoid overheating. Remember to mix after each burst in order to get an even heat.
Stovetop
Stovetop is really easy. Just empty your frozen soup into a pot and add about an inch of water to the bottom to keep the frozen soup from burning as it heats. Put a lid on and warm it on low-medium heat. Stir periodically as it thaws and when it’s hot enough, dish it up!
Instant Pot
This is probably the quickest and easiest way to reheat your soup. Put it in frozen, use the pressure cooker setting, and set it to go for 5 minutes. Voila! The one major downside is that an Instant Pot is not a great solution for cream soups.
Reheating cream-based soups take extra special care. Milk will thicken when it’s frozen, but patience can bring it back to the right. It’s a good idea to let your cream soups thaw in your fridge overnight and then warm them up on low heat, nice and easy, stirring well and often until you get the desired temperature and consistency back.
Mistakes to Avoid When Freezing & Reheating Soup
The first mistake people make is freezing a soup and forgetting about it. If you leave a soup in your freezer for too long, tiny ice crystals will form on the top of your soup and also, in minuscule form, in the actual fibers of your food.
When you defrost it, this will affect the taste and texture, so you want to be sure you eat your soup within 3 months of freezing.
We’ve mentioned being careful not to overfill your containers, but you also don’t want to underfill it. The more air that is inside the container, the more freezer burn can happen. Covering the top of your soup with plastic wrap will help, but otherwise just try to leave about 1” between your soup and the top of your container.
You also don’t want to use a crockpot to reheat frozen soups.
They are magical for creating crockpot meals in which the prepped veggies and meat are frozen uncooked, and then cooked all together in the crockpot or slow cooker. But once they’re cooked, frozen and thawed, a slow cooker won’t heat everything up quick enough, and it leaves too much time for bacteria to survive and thrive.
Related Questions
Are There Any Soups You Can’t Freeze?
Yes. Noodles don’t freeze well, and cream soups you need to thaw and reheat very carefully or else they separate and take on a not-overly-pleasant texture. It can be done, but slowly.
Veggies that are really high in water (like zucchini), will change in consistency, and so will really starchy veggies (like potatoes). That doesn’t mean you can’t freeze these soups, just be prepared for a bit of a different texture.
How Do You Prep and Freeze Soup for Crockpot Meals?
The super quick and easy way is to simply chop up all your veggies, throw them in a bag and freeze them.
The better way to do it would be to chop up your veggies and flash freeze them (line them up nicely on a baking pan and freeze them so that they stay in individual pieces), then put everything together in a freezer bag and freeze it. You can even include raw meat, so long as you freeze it right away and cook it all together.
Can You Freeze Soup in Mason Jars?
Yes! You certainly can, but you want to make sure the soup is fully cooled before placing it in the freezer. You also want to be sure there’s room for your soup to expand without cracking or bursting the glass.
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