Top tips for freezing and reheating soups

Do

• Wait for the soup to cool completely before freezing it. Too warm and it will raise the temperature of the freezer and risk defrosting other food.
• Slightly undercook vegetables if you want to keep them chunky. The vegetables will continue cooking when you reheat later on and may lose their firmness.
• Leave out pasta unless you don’t mind a mushy texture. Defrost, reheat and add cooked pasta when you’re ready to eat it.
• Freeze in individual portion size containers so you only have to defrost the amount you want.
• Label and date your containers so you know what’s what. Try to eat within 3 months.
• Add a fresh ingredient every time, such as chilli, herbs or wilted spinach to keep your soups new and exciting. Sometimes just a pinch of salt or squeeze of lemon is all that’s needed to add some zing.
• Skip the garnish until the soup is defrosted, reheated and ready to eat. Try seeds, fresh herbs or grated cheese.

Don’t

• Overfill the container. Liquid expands when frozen
  so leave space between the soup and lid.
• Freeze soups with milk or cream as they can separate when reheated and give a grainy texture. Just leave out the dairy and add it once the soup has defrosted. Coconut or almond milk fare much better in the freezer.