If you are anything like me, you like to make soup in big pots. Sometimes all that soup gets eaten up – and sometimes it doesn’t. If it was potato soup in question, you might be wondering – canI freeze my potato soup leftovers?
Is Potato Soup Freezer-Friendly?
You probably know that potatoes are difficult to freeze (and if you don’t you can read on our site). There are a few tricks you can use, but in general, it’s difficult to restore the original texture of potatoes after freezing (see also Freezing Jacket Potatoes). But what about potato soup?
Well, in general, potato soup can be frozen. Being mashed into a soup actually makes potatoes freeze better (see also How To Freeze Mashed Potatoes) than whole. Still, there are some things to keep in mind and we have tips that can help you enjoy nicer potato soup straight out of the freezer.
#1 Puree Your Potatoes
Some potato soups call for cubed potatoes, but we recommend pureeing them instead if you plan to freeze the soup. As mentioned, potatoes don’t freeze that well. If you freeze chunks of potatoes, they will probably turn into mush anyway upon thawing (see also How To Freeze Dauphinoise Potatoes).
If you add pureed potato to the soup, it will freeze much better.
#2 Hold The Dairy
Providing that your potatoes are pureed, it’s often actually not potatoes that make potato soup look weird when you take it out of the freezer. Actually, it’s the dairy. If you are adding milk, chease, or cream to your soup, consider adding it while reheating the soup next time.
The problem with dairy is that they tend to separate when freezing. As a result, you’ll see chunks of cream or cheese in your soup.
Skipping the cream and similar products while cooking (and adding them only to the part of the soup you plan to eat immediately) makes for a fool-proof process.
However, if you’ve already made the soup and it has dairy inside, we still recommend freezing it. Sure, it might look a bit weird upon thawing but it will still be perfectly edible. Stirring the soup vigorously and perhaps adding a bit of fresh cream while reheating can help restore the texture.
#3 Skip The Garnishes
If you use any garnishes or fresh herbs for your soup, we suggest adding them after reheating the soup too. This is simply because fresh herbs will lose their aroma and texture while you reheat the soup. If they are already in there, they won’t do any harm, but adding fresh herbs can make reheated soup taste even better. The same goes for any kind of garnish or topping, such as croutons.
How To Freeze Potato Soup
There are not too many special considerations when it comes to freezing potato soup (see also How To Freeze Vegetable Soup). Basically you want it cooled down, safely stored in air-tight containers, and labeled.
The first step is actually quite important – cooling down the soup. Don’t be tempted to pour hot soup straight into the containers and into the freezer. You can simply let the soup cool down on the counter. To make the process faster, you might consider a cold water bath. Simply put the pot with the soup inside a larger pot filled with cold water. If it’s a very large pot, you could also fill your sink with cold water and put the pot in there (make sure the water is lower than the rim of the pot – you don’t want the cold water to actually get into your soup.
You could also simply place the soup pot in any cold area in your home. Don’t put the warm dish into the fridge, though. You can do that once it’s cooled down a bit, but putting a pot of hot soup in the fridge could raise the temperature inside and damage the other food that’s in there.
Once the soup is fairly cool, you can transfer it to your freezer-safe containers. If you don’t have a suitable container lying around, you can also use a freezer bag. While it might feel awkward to use a freezer bag for soup, it’s actually quite easy to do once you get used to it. The trick is to take a bowl and stretch the bag over it. Pouring the soup in that way will feel much more natural.
Once your soup is ready, make sure to label it and add the date too. It’s always helpful to know when exactly you froze the food in your freezer. The optimal time to use up your frozen potato soup is within six months. However, you don’t have to worry about it spoiling – it will simply start loosing the texture and flavour if you keep it frozen for much longer than that.
How To Thaw Potato Soup
Thawing potato soup is best done in the fridge. If you do it overnight, you won’t even notice the process. If you used a freezer bag for your potato soup, you might want to consider placing it inside a bowl before you put it in the fridge. As the soup melts, the bag will loose shape and this can be awkward in the fridge. Additionally, if you put the bag in a container, you will be completely safe even if the bag is leaking (tends to happen often with some freezer bags). When the soup is liquid again you can go ahead and reheat it. Stir occasionally to mix up the ingredients that might have separated.
