Can you freeze cooked chicken?

Cooked chicken freezes safely and reheats well, and it is the standard answer to having thawed too much raw chicken. The rule that matters is speed: get it from cooked to cold quickly and into the freezer within two hours, because the two-hour limit at room temperature applies before freezing just as it does before refrigerating. Sliced or shredded meat dries out faster than whole pieces, so freezing it in a little stock or sauce keeps it usable. USDA gives four months as the quality limit for cooked poultry, though it stays safe beyond that.

How to do it properly

1. Cool quickly — slice or spread it out rather than leaving a whole bird to cool
2. Freeze within two hours of cooking
3. Pack in portions, with a spoonful of stock or sauce if it is shredded
4. Thaw in the fridge and reheat to 74 °C (165 °F)

What goes wrong

• Chicken left out to cool for hours is unsafe before it ever reaches the freezer
• Unprotected slices dry out and go stringy
• Reheat once only

Other "can you freeze" questions

• Can you freeze cheese? It depends — Yes, and it stays safe indefinitely — but hard cheese comes out crumbly and soft cheese comes out wet.
• Can you freeze milk? Yes — Yes — leave headspace for expansion and shake it hard after thawing.
• Can you freeze eggs? It depends — Not in the shell. Beat them first, or freeze whites on their own.
• Can you freeze bread? Yes — Yes — freezing is the best way to store bread, far better than the fridge.
• Can you freeze bananas? Yes — Yes — peel and slice them first, because the peel turns black and welds itself on.
• Can you freeze cooked rice? Yes — Yes, and freezing quickly is the safest way to keep leftover rice.
• Can you freeze raw chicken twice? It depends — Only if it thawed in the fridge and never got above 4 °C (40 °F).
• Can you freeze breast milk? Yes — Yes — freeze it flat in bags, and use within six months for best quality.
• Can you freeze avocado? It depends — Yes, but only as a purée — frozen slices go grey and watery.
• Can you freeze soup? It depends — Yes for most soups; cream, milk and potato-based ones separate or go grainy.
• Can you freeze butter? Yes — Yes — butter freezes better than almost anything else in the fridge.
• Can you freeze cooked pasta? Yes — Yes — undercook it slightly and toss it in oil first, or it thaws into a solid block.