Top Tips For Freezing And Reheating Soups
Ahhhh soup: while the mere thought of it causes an extra beading of sweat on the brow during summer months, at this time of year it's warmly welcomed to the dinner table.
If you're feeling under the weather: make soup. If you're out of time and energy for an elaborate meal: make soup.
If you're stuck on ideas for how to use your potatoes/ pumpkin/ leek/ celeriac: MAKE SOUP!
The beauty of a good soup is the liberty of tossing in whatever vegetables one desires, cooking it with stock and blending into a hearty bowl of soul-warming broth. I feel like I've talked about soup A LOT recently… but really, it's such a winter classic, and incredibly easy to procure.
Go one further and make extra, giving you a ready-made meal sitting in the freezer, simply waiting for the inevitable evening when you really, REALLY can't be bothered. Freezing and reheating soups takes little energy, plus it's cheaper and more nutritious than a take-away meal.
There's not much to it… it's fairly self-explanatory, but as a just in case, here are our top tips for freezing and reheating soups:
Cool the soup.
Before biffing it in the freezer, one would do well to let the leftover soup cool to room temperature (otherwise one runs the risk of increasing the temperature of the freezer compartment, which has the potential to affect other stored items).
Use the right containers.
Use freezer-safe containers or plastic bags. Glass is certainly an option, but be sure to check that your lovely large mason jar is tempered or borosilicate glass, otherwise you may find an unwelcome mess on your hands! If going for the glass option, we'd recommend popping it (and the soup) in the fridge overnight to cool it right down, then transferring to the freezer - this should reduce the risk of cracking due to thermal shock.
Leave headroom.
Think back to school physics - liquids expand as they freeze… if one fails to leave sufficient head room in the soup vessel of choice then, well, yet another mess potential!
Label.
Have you tossed leftovers in the freezer with the certainty that you will most definitely remember what it is… only to find that 6 months later your mind has failed you? We've all been there! For the minimal effort that writing a label declaring the contents and date of the item frozen, one could avoid the disappointment of pulling out soup, only to find it's actually last summers vegetable stock!
Types of soup.
Pretty much all soup freezes and thaws well, but do be mindful that a stint in the freezer will cause most veggies to lose their texture and take on a rather mushy quality. Given that most soups are blended up, this isn't too much of an issue, but do be ware if you're thinking of freezing a tasty minestrone.
Portions:
As with most freezing endeavours, portioning soup into individual or family-sized amounts is highly convenient. It means that you can simply pull out the soup container from the freezer, thaw it in the fridge overnight, and then gently reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave. Bing bang boom: dinner sorted!