Can You Freeze Baked Beans?
Can you freeze baked beans? As summer approaches, baked beans are often a go-to side dish at cookouts and barbecues. Whether you’ve made baked beans from scratch or used your favorite brand of canned beans, throwing out uneaten food can be wasteful. This helpful guide answers your most common questions about freezing baked beans and gives you some tips for thawing the beans out once they’ve been frozen.
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- Can You Freeze Baked Beans?
- How to Freeze Baked Beans
- How to Thaw Baked Beans
- How Long Can You Freeze Baked Beans?
Can You Freeze Baked Beans?
Can baked beans be frozen? Put simply, yes. Baked beans, like most vegetables, can be frozen to maintain flavor and freshness. If you aren’t planning to eat your leftover baked beans right away, freezing them can be a great alternative to letting them languish in the refrigerator until they go bad — great news if you’re trying to fight food waste.
How to Freeze Baked Beans
One of the main questions that comes up with cooked baked beans is “Can you freeze baked beans after cooking?” The answer to that question is a definite yes! You can freeze baked beans that you’ve cooked, like these Instant Pot baked beans, by letting them cool completely and then transferring them into a sealable plastic bag or other meal prep container. For best results, freeze your homemade beans the same day you cook them.
It’s also possible to freeze canned baked beans. Whether you didn’t need to use the entire can or have another reason for freezing them, this is a good way to make them last.
One thing to be sure of is that you transfer the canned beans into a freezer-safe container. You should never try to freeze canned beans in the can you purchased them in; this can create a dangerous situation in your freezer.
Whether you are freezing homemade or canned beans, be sure to leave some room in the container so that the beans can expand as they freeze.
How to Thaw Baked Beans
Now that we’ve answered the questions, “Can baked beans be frozen?” and “Can you freeze baked beans after cooking?”, it’s time to discuss thawing those frozen beans.
The best option is to take the beans out of the freezer the night before you’ll need them and leave them in the refrigerator overnight. By the time you’ll need to use them, they’ll be thawed and ready to go.
A second way to thaw the beans is to place the frozen beans into a saucepan and heat on the stove top on a low temperature. You can slowly add water to help with the thawing process. This method also leads naturally into reheating the beans if that is all you need to do before serving them as a side dish.
If you forget to pull the beans out of the freezer in time or don’t want to use a saucepan, there is still another way to thaw them: the microwave. This method is certainly quicker and will result in thawed beans much sooner, but some say that it is not as healthy to thaw food in the microwave as it is to simply let it thaw on its own.
How Long Can You Freeze Baked Beans?
Most experts agree that baked beans can be frozen for up to six months, but after about the three-month marker they might start to lose some of their flavor. So if you are saving money on groceries by freezing your cooked beans, be sure to use them in a timely fashion.
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Next time you host a cookout or a barbecue, don’t worry about having baked beans left at the end of the meal. Simply pop them in a freezer-safe container and relax knowing that you’ll be able to enjoy them whenever it’s most convenient for you. Plus, now you’ll be able to share helpful tips to any friends who might also be wondering “Can you freeze baked beans?”
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