Tips for Stocking Your Freezer With Healthy Foods

Making good use of your freezer can minimize food waste, cut preparation time, save money, and make nutritious choices easier, no matter your schedule.

Ready-to-Heat Meals

Pre-made frozen meals are convenient, but not always the best choice. If commercially made, they are often high in sodium and/or ultraprocessed. Look for meals with less than 600 calories and 20 percent of the daily value of sodium per serving (and make sure the serving size listed is actually the amount you intend to eat). Preparing your own meals is usually a healthier choice, and taking advantage of pre-frozen ingredients can make meal prep faster. Frozen vegetables, for example, are already washed, peeled, cut, and often partially cooked. They save time, reduce food waste, and are often less expensive than fresh.

For healthier ready-made meals, freeze leftovers. Package leftovers from home-cooked or restaurant meals or purposefully double recipes and freeze the extra in portion sizes you anticipate using in the future. With the prep done, simply heat and enjoy. Be aware that some meals don’t freeze as well as others, including those with potatoes, dairy, and cooked fish. Freezing changes the texture of these foods in undesirable ways.

Soups, stews, chowders, and chilis make excellent to-go lunches and go-to dinners. They’re easy to portion into single-serving or family size freezer bags or containers. To thaw, place in the refrigerator the day before eating, microwave, or heat on low in a pot on the stove. Casseroles, such as lasagna, shepherd’s pie, and frittatas are simple to prepare in advance, are easily doubled, and can be adapted to individual tastes and ingredients on hand (including fresh veggies that are about to go bad).

Thawing raw animal proteins at room temperature or in warm water is unsafe. Instead, thaw them in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave. Photo: Shutterstock

Mix and Match

There is no limit to the diverse meals that can be made by combining frozen ingredients. Keeping a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish and seafood, poultry, and meats in the freezer ensures your household is always meal-ready. Purchase frozen, ready-to-use ingredients—like broccoli florets and peeled, deveined shrimp—or freeze your own. To get you started, here are some ideas and do-it-yourself (DIY) instructions.

Vegetables. Use frozen vegetables and vegetable mixes in pasta dishes, stir-fries, casseroles, soups, and skillet or sheet pan meals. (Avoid choosing veggies have been packed with a sauce.) For a crisper texture, don’t thaw frozen vegetables before use.

DIY: Blanching vegetables before freezing preserves color, texture, and flavor. They will also cook more quickly than their fresh counterparts. To blanch vegetables, cut or prep according to how you’ll use them, plunge them into boiling water, then immediately transfer into ice water to stop further cooking. When they’re cool, drain them, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet, and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container. High water-content vegetables, such as celery, cucumbers, lettuce, leafy greens, cabbage, radishes, and potatoes do not freeze well. Some vegetables, such as beets, sweet potatoes, and winter squash should be fully cooked before freezing. (Visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation for blanching instruction and individual vegetable heating times.)

Fruits. Use frozen fruit on low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt and hot or cold cereals, in smoothies and cobblers/crumbles, in place of ice cubes in sparkling water, or as a snack on their own (frozen grapes are very refreshing!).

DIY: Most fruits, including berries, cherries, bananas, mangoes, peaches, cranberries, grapes, and pineapple freeze well. (Freezing fruits with higher water content, like citrus fruits, watermelon, and raw apples, will cause texture and flavor changes, although you can freeze the juice). Wash, dry, peel, and cut or slice the fruit to similar sizes, if necessary. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container.

Whole Grain Foods. Whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and barley make a great base for roasted vegetables or stir-fries, as a side dish or pilaf, or mixed into soups and casseroles. Due to their relatively long cooking times, keeping frozen cooked whole grains on hand is a good way to have them available on short notice. Frozen whole wheat bread slices and rolls are great for sandwiches or breakfast toast. Frozen fresh pastas and leftover cooked pastas, including tortellini and ravioli, make a quick meal when briefly heated in boiling water and tossed with vegetables, sauce, and the protein of your choice.

DIY: Cook larger batches than you need of brown rice, barley, oats, quinoa, and other whole grains. Cool, divide into convenient portions, and freeze. Wrap bread tightly and toss cooked pasta with olive oil before freezing.

Plant Proteins. Tofu, cooked beans, and firm, cooked lentils can be frozen. In the case of tofu, the texture will become meatier and more receptive to marinades once thawed and drained.

DIY: Slice or cube tofu before freezing, and make sure beans and lentils are not wet. Freeze in a single layer, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container.

Animal Proteins. Shrimp, fish, poultry, ground meats, beef, and pork work well in a variety of dishes, from kebabs, tacos, stir-fries, and wraps to soups, chilis, and burgers. They all freeze well raw or pre-cooked. (See “Safe Thawing” for important advice.)

DIY: Divide packages of animal proteins into smaller portions so you can thaw only what you will need for a meal. Freeze pre-seasoned or in a marinade to save even more time.

Nuts and Seeds. Freezing protects against rancidity, so it’s a good idea to store nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds, in the freezer. They can go straight from the freezer into salads, soups, pasta dishes, grain pilafs, oatmeal, yogurt, and smoothies without thawing.

DIY: Place in an airtight resealable bag or container and freeze.

Whether you want to save meal preparation time, make cooking easier, reduce your food waste, or save money, look no further than your freezer. Buying frozen ingredients, freezing your own, and popping leftovers or batch-cooked foods in the freezer for quick heat-and-eat meals are smart and easy tricks you can start using today. 

Safe Thawing

Thawing foods (especially raw animal proteins) at room temperature or in warm water is unsafe, as it allows the outer layer to reach the danger zone where bacteria thrive before the center thaws. Use one of these methods to thaw frozen foods safely:

• In the refrigerator. Place in the refrigerator the day before you plan to use it.
• In cold water. Submerge the food, sealed in a leak-proof package, in cold tap water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Thawing times vary depending on the size and configuration of the package. It can take a couple of hours, depending on the food.
• In the microwave. Make sure any containers or wrappings are labelled as microwave safe. Avoid taking glass containers directly from freezer to microwave. Use the defrost setting if your microwave has one. If not, set the power level to 30 to 50%. Cook food immediately after thawing.

Avoid refreezing food once it has thawed, as this causes cell damage that seriously degrades the texture and flavor of the food. If you defrost more than you need, cook the food before putting it back in the freezer.

This article originally appeared in the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter, published each month by the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.