Can you freeze soup?

Broth, tomato, lentil and vegetable soups freeze extremely well and are one of the few things that arguably improve. Dairy is the exception: USDA lists milk sauces and cream fillings among the things that curdle or separate on freezing, and potato in a soup goes mealy. The workaround is to freeze the soup base without the cream or potato and add them when reheating. Cool the soup before it goes in, or a hot container raises the temperature of everything around it in the freezer.

How to do it properly

1. Cool the soup quickly — an ice bath or a shallow tray, not a pot left out overnight
2. Leave 2-3 cm of headspace, because liquid expands
3. Freeze flat in bags to save space and to thaw faster
4. Add cream, milk or yogurt when reheating, not before freezing
5. Reheat to a full simmer and stir well to bring it back together

What goes wrong

• Cream-based soups split into grainy solids and liquid
• Potato chunks turn mealy and fall apart
• Overfilled containers crack or force their lids off

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