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Ever open up a container of broth and not finish it? Want to make homemade stock or broth and don’t need to use it all right away? No worries! Go ahead and freeze it! This post will walk you through a couple of my favorite ways to freeze and store broth for later use. We love to freeze broth when we make our favorite Homemade Chicken Broth!
First Steps
The first step to freezing broth is to make sure that you have cooled the broth to room temperature or chilled it in the refrigerator first. Do not attempt to put hot stock or broth directly into the freezer. This can affect the temperature of your freezer and potentially ruin the food nearby.
The best way to chill down hot broth is an ice bath. Take a large bowl and pour lots of ice and water into and then place your container of broth inside that. The ice water around the hot liquid will help lower the temperature quickly.
Next, decide on how you would prefer to freeze the broth. Are you freezing it in individual servings? Enough for a large recipe? There are a few different ways to freeze your broth so it will be ready for specific uses. Choose from the different methods based on what makes the most sense for you!
Freezing Broth in Different Portions
Once you have decided on how you what portion sizes you would prefer for your broth and it is cooled to at least room temperature it’s time to begin freezing your broth. I prefer to do mine in a couple of sizes for a variety of recipes (see images below). Here are the recommended containers you can use and their approximate portion sizes:
Ice cube trays– these are probably the most popular size because almost everyone has at least one ice tray laying around. Depending on the size of your ice cube tray about 6-8 of these would equal a cup of broth. This method is great for any extra smaller amounts of leftover broth you may have on hand that you do not want to waste.
To freeze broth in an ice cube tray, pour broth into the tray and let sit in the freezer until frozen solid (typically overnight).
Muffin cups– I love to use the small reusable silicone muffin liners to freeze broth. Each one is about 1/3 cup (so 3 would be 1 cup of broth). This is a much better size when it comes to recipes. I do not recommend freezing broth directly in a muffin tin as it will be hard to remove without defrosting the broth partially.
To freeze broth in silicone muffin cups, pour broth into muffin cups that you have placed on a cookie sheet and freeze overnight or until frozen solid.
Ziploc bags– Ziploc bags are a great way to freeze broth because you pour any amount you prefer into a bag. I did these ones in 2 cup portions into a sandwich size bag. These will be perfect for when I make soups and risotto. This method is also good for larger quantities such as 2-4 cups of broth since bags can be purchased in many sizes.
To freeze broth in ziploc bags, pour desired amount of broth in ziploc bags and then lay them flat on a cookie sheet or baking sheet. Be sure to remove the excess air from the bag before closing. Freeze overnight or until frozen solid.
Another very simple way to freeze stock is to freeze it in a freezer safe airtight container. This is probably the easiest way to freeze broth. Not only will it not need to be transferred into ziploc bags after but they will be easy to stack if you have more than one. Freezer safe containers include plastic tupperware and glass jars such as mason jars!
Storing Frozen Broth
Once your broth is frozen it’s time to store it properly so that it will last a long time! For ice cube trays or muffin cups, pop the broth out of the containers and place in a larger ziploc freezer bag. Label the bag with the date and portion size. The broth will be good for up to 6 months if stored correctly.
For the broth frozen in ziploc bags I also like to place them into a larger gallon-sized freezer bag with a label so they stay fresh. If you freeze the broth directly in freezer bags this step can be skipped and they can stand upright in the freezer to help take up less space.
For the freezer safe airtight containers I recommend using a piece of tape and a sharpie to label them with a date and portion size for future reference.
Thawing Frozen Chicken Broth
Thawing frozen chicken broth is as simple as letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight or heating it on the stove over medium to low heat. Once thawed go ahead and use the broth as your recipe calls for.
How Long Does Chicken Broth Last
Frozen chicken broth should be used within 6 months of freezing it. Also, any broth that is defrosted should not be refrozen again. This is to prevent growth of bacteria. If you have defrosted chicken broth and you are not using it right away it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I like to use mason jars for the broth I store in the refrigerator.
Using Chicken Broth
Once you have frozen and thawed your chicken broth you are ready to use it! Here are some of our favorite recipes that use chicken broth:
Frequently Asked Questions
While this most mainly talks about chicken broth there are other liquids that you can freeze. Try this method for bone broth, beef broth, vegetable broth, beef stock and vegetable stock.
The first time you freeze broth it may be trial and error unless you have certain recipes planned out to use it for. If this is the case i recommend freezing your broth in 1 cup measurements. Use a measuring cup to measure the broth and pour into ziploc bags for freezing. This is the most common measurement of broth you will come across in recipes.
Absolutely! Have a entire can of chicken stock from the grocery store that’s near expiration date? Go ahead and freeze the broth with one of the methods described above so you can use it at a later date.
Yes! We love to make Homemade Chicken Bone Broth in the slow cooker anytime we have a whole chicken on hand. Making your own bone broth at home ensures the best quality and flavor since it can be changed to your taste.
The best thing about freezing leftover chicken broth is that you will always have some on hand. No need to worry about getting it at the grocery store when it’s time for those soup recipes we look forward to all summer long!
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