How to freeze mashed potatoes

While potatoes don’t have a good track record for freezing well, mashed potatoes are the exception. As long as your potatoes are coated with plenty of butter and cream, they’re perfectly freezer-friendly.

While most chefs advocate for making them fresh, mashed potatoes can be made ahead and frozen until ready to use. Follow these tips and tricks to ensure that your mashed potatoes maintain their texture and flavor once frozen and reheated.

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Place 2 cups of mashed potatoes in a quart-size freezer-safe bag and squeeze out extra air. Lay the bag flat and pat it out so the potatoes can freeze in an even layer. Repeat until you use up all the mashed potatoes. Be sure to label the bags with the date and amount of potatoes in each one.

Mashed Potatoes can last about 10 months in the freezer, but I find that using them within 6 months gives the best tasting potatoes. Make sure to add cream cheese or sour cream to make them extra creamy!

Potatoes don’t freeze well raw, so they will need to be cooked or partially cooked beforehand. Always use potatoes that are fresh. Potatoes in the freezer will be at their best within three months.

Make the potatoes according to your recipe, then let cool completely, wrap individually in foil or plastic wrap, place in an airtight freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You can thaw twice-baked potatoes in the refrigerator or reheat them from frozen in the oven or microwave.

Yes, you can freeze raw carrots without going through the blanching process. To do this, wash and trim the carrots, peel if desired, slice into thin circles, and spread the slices on a lined baking sheet. Place the carrot slices in the freezer for a couple hours before transferring them to a tightly sealed freezer bag.

Yes, cooking potatoes or blanching before freezing is highly recommended to preserve the flavor and texture of the potatoes. You will want to blanch the whole, uncut potatoes. Then remove, drain, and let cool. Once they are cool, cut them up to the desired size and freeze them.

You can freeze completely cooked potatoes, too. To freeze leftover french fries, let them cool completely and then place them in a freezer bag or airtight container and freeze. You’ll want to eat them within a month. For mashed potatoes, scoop the cooked potatoes into patties and place them on a baking sheet.

HARD-BOILED EGGS

You can freeze hard-boiled egg yolks to use later for toppings or garnishes. Remove the yolks with a slotted spoon, drain them well and package them for freezing. It’s best not to freeze hard-boiled whole eggs and hard-boiled whites because they become tough and watery when frozen.

Cooked potatoes can be kept in the refrigerator for up to four days, or in an airtight container in the freezer for up to one year.

You can freeze almost anything.

The best vegetables to consider are corn, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, squash and winter greens such as spinach, kale, chard and collards. Onions, peppers, celery and herbs can also be frozen.

The biggest danger when it comes to freezing milk is that it expands. Whole milk doesn’t freeze as well as semi-skimmed because of its higher fat content. This is due to fat requiring a much lower temperature than the -18 degrees that typical household freezer can offer.

All that said, the only liquid that does not even freeze at the lowest possible temperature (“absolute zero”) is liquid helium. To turn that into a solid you additionally need to put it under pressure.