Can you freeze cooked pasta?

Plain cooked pasta freezes safely and reheats acceptably, but it continues to soften as it thaws, so pasta cooked to al dente comes out slightly past it. Cooking it a minute short compensates. The other problem is clumping: surface starch glues the strands together as they freeze. A light coat of oil, and freezing the portions spread out before bagging, keeps them separate. Baked pasta dishes such as lasagne freeze better than plain pasta because the sauce protects the strands.

How to do it properly

1. Cook one minute less than the packet says
2. Rinse briefly, drain well, and toss with a teaspoon of oil
3. Freeze single portions in flat bags with the air pressed out
4. Reheat by dropping straight into boiling water for 30-60 seconds, or in sauce

What goes wrong

• Fully cooked pasta thaws mushy
• Undrained pasta freezes into one solid lump
• Fresh egg pasta suffers more than dried

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 mashed potatoes? Yes — Yes — mash with plenty of butter or cream, which protects the texture through freezing.