Marinara sauce is made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions. You can add wine, chili, capers, and olives if you wish. It tends to be spicier than most Italian tomato-based tomato sauces.
You can use it as a sauce for most pasta dishes such as spaghetti and meatballs, pasta bake, and lasagna. Put it on a pizza for a hint of spice, or even use it as the base for soup. It is very convenient to have on hand for a quick meal but can you store it for a long time?
The answer is yes. You can make it in bulk and store it in portions in your freezer. In this article, we will tell you how to freeze marinara sauce and how to defrost it.
How To Freeze Marinara Sauce
1. After making the sauce, cool it down.
Take the sauce off the stove and pour it into a cold bowl. Leave it to cool down at room temperature. This should take an hour or so. You don’t want to put the sauce in the freezer while it is warm as this may ruin the texture. In addition, it will bring up the temperature in the freezer and other food may start to defrost and perhaps spoil.
2. Put the marinara sauce in freezer bags.
We recommend that you split the sauce into meal-size portions so that you only defrost as much as you need. Only fill the bags two-thirds full as the sauce can expand and the bags burst.
3. Put the freezer bags in an airtight container.
This is because the bags could split in the freezer and make a mess. Put a label on the container with the date and contents. You don’t want to keep the sauce in the freezer longer than its use-by date. Also, if you are freezing different sauces, you’ll want to know which is which.
4. Put the airtight container in the freezer.
Tips For Freezing Marinara Sauce
- You can freeze either homemade or store-bought marinara sauce. If the store-bought sauce comes in a jar, take it out and put it in meal-size freezer bags.
- Divide the marinara sauce into meal-size portions so that you only defrost as much as you need. This will eliminate the need for refreezing which, while possible, can mean that it doesn’t taste as good. The only other alternative is to throw it away and this is a waste.
- Squeeze out all the air from the freezer bags so that freezer burn doesn’t occur. This will ruin the taste and texture of the sauce.
- You can freeze any type of tomato sauce in the same way as marinara sauce. Other pasta sauces you might want to freeze include arrabiata and puttanesca sauces.
For How Long Can You Freeze Marinara Sauce For?
You can freeze marinara sauce for around six months. After this time, the taste and texture may start to deteriorate even though it will still be safe to eat.
How Do You Defrost Marinara Sauce?
The best way to defrost marinara sauce is slowly and steadily. This helps to retain taste and texture as well as nutrients. Take it out of the freezer the night you want to use it and put it in the fridge.
If you are in a hurry, you can defrost it in the microwave but this may slightly change the texture. We recommend that once defrosted, you heat it up using a conventional cooker according to the recipe you are using.
Can You Refreeze Marinara Sauce?
Technically, you can refreeze marinara sauce safely, and, in fact, any type of tomato sauce can be frozen again but the more times you do this, the more the taste and texture will deteriorate. This is why it is much better to freeze the marinara sauce in portions so that you only remove as much as you need for each meal. This will eliminate the need for refreezing or throwing away.
Is It A Good Idea To Freeze Marinara Sauce?
Yes, it is a good idea to freeze marinara sauce and any other tomato-based sauce. They freeze very well and keep for six months. It is a good idea to make a marinara sauce in bulk and divide it up into portions. Then you will have easy meals on hand whenever you are busy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hopefully, you now know all there is to know about freezing marinara sauce, but in case you have further questions, we have answered a few here.
You can keep marinara sauce in the fridge for up to a week. If you want to keep it for any longer, we recommend that you freeze it in meal-size portions.
We don’t advise this unless you only fill it two-thirds of the way up as the sauce will expand and the jar could crack. There is no need to freeze a full jar of store-bought marinara sauce as it has a long shelf life. If you have opened it and want to freeze some, put it in freezer bags and then an airtight container.
You can freeze any tomato-based sauce easily in the way we have described. However, we don’t recommend that you freeze cream or cheese-based pasta sauces as they may split. You can freeze pesto sauce but it is best to blanch the basil leaves in boiling salted water first. Because you probably won’t need so much pesto sauce for each meal, it is a good idea to freeze it in the slots of an ice cube tray. Then you can remove just as many cubes as you need.
It is a lovely sauce to have with roasted vegetables, on a pizza, or with a simple salad. Use as a marinade for meat, chicken, or fish. Top scrambled eggs or baked potatoes with the sauce, put it in a grilled chicken wrap, or on top of a frittata.
