Can You Freeze French Onion Soup?

French onion soup is one of the easiest soups to make. It is usually made with beef stock along with other ingredients like butter, salt and pepper, cheese, sweet onions, and thyme. A hot bowl of freshly made French onion does a lot of good on cold days. The soup is tasty, packed with sweet flavors, and soothes the airways.

If you’re feeling sick with cold, you can take some hot French onion soup to help you feel better. French onion soup is also a great meal to gift friends and family. 

The ingredients used in making French onion soup are healthy for the body. Those ingredients are also affordable, which means you can still prepare your French onion soup even when you have a small budget. Eating French onion soup in the right proportions will supply you with calcium, vitamins B6, B1, and B2, phosphorus, and fibers. 

It is quite common for people to prepare fresh soup in large quantity for preservation till a later date. Doing so will keep you supplied with tasty and nutritious soup that can be eaten whenever you have a craving.

So, can you also prepare French onion soup in large quantity and preserve for future use? If so, what preservation method do you use? 

At this point you’re probably wondering: can you freeze French onion soup? Yes, you can freeze French onion soup. Freezing will preserve French onion soup for up to 3 months. The soup should be packed properly in a sealable freezer-safe bag or container before being kept in the freezer. Also, French onion soup should not be kept in the freezer while it’s still hot. Allow the soup to cool down to room temperature before placing in the freezer. 

Freezing French Onion Soup 

There are certain things that can’t be ignored if you want the best result out of freezing your French onion soup. For instance, your French onion soup shouldn’t be left exposed to room temperature beyond 2 hours before you freeze it. Also, it is best to freeze a large batch of French onion soup in individual smaller sizes. This way, the soup will freeze better and will also be easier to thaw and reheat later on.  Genshin Impact Tier List

Once French onion soup has been frozen, thawed, and reheated once, it is not advisable to refreeze it again. Make sure you only reheat a portion of the frozen soup that you can finish at once.   

How to Freeze French Onion Soup  

The aim of freezing French onion soup is to keep its original taste and consistency preserved over a long period of time. To achieve this aim, you must follow the right steps. Luckily, the steps for freezing French onion soup are easy to follow. This is what you should do:  

Step 1: Prepare French Onion Soup from Scratch

Start by cooking the batch of fresh French onion soup. Since you intend to freeze the soup for a long period of time, I’d advise you to make use of the best quality ingredients. Instead of cooking the soup to completion, you should only cook it partially. The soup will be cooked to completion on a later date when you’re finally ready to thaw and heat some of it. 

Fully cooked soup will be mushier and softer than partially cooked soup after being kept in the freezer for some time. 

Step 2: Let the Soup Cool Down before Freezing

Before finally packing the soup for freezing, you must give it some time to cool down. It is never a good idea to place hot food directly in the freezer. If the soup is frozen while it’s still hot, the original taste and texture of the soup will be greatly altered. Hot food raises the freezer’s temperature, damages other food items in the freezer, and leads to the formation of ice crystals which cause freezer burn. 

If you’re not patient enough for the soup to cool at room temperature, you can place the pot containing the hot soup in some cold water to cool.   

Step 3: Divide Soup into Smaller Portions and Package Correctly

To avoid any wastage on future days, divide a large batch of French onion soup into smaller portions. This way, you can easily thaw just the amount of soup that’ll be finished in one sitting. Make use of freezer-safe bags or containers to pack the soup for the freezer. 

Plastic freezer-safe bags are preferable to containers because they don’t take up as much space. You can conveniently stack multiple freezer bags of soup on top of each other to save space in the freezer. Make sure that the sealable plastic bags of your choosing are high quality ones. 

Step 4: Seal the Freezer-Safe Bag and Label

Leave some space in the sealable freezer-safe bags for possible expansion of the soup during freezing. Seal the bags tightly and label them with the current date. The date is supposed to keep you reminded of how long your French onion soup has been frozen for.  

How to Defrost and Reheat Frozen French Onion Soup 

Before thawing frozen French onion soup, make sure you’ve only taken out a portion that you can finish at once. It is not safe to refreeze any French onion soup that has already been thawed.

To thaw the frozen soup, simply leave it overnight in the refrigerator. Although this would usually take several hours, thawing in the refrigerator is the most effective method. 

You can alternatively thaw frozen French onion soup by submerging the bag of soup in cold water. After the soup has been thawed completely, transfer it into a microwave-safe bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave and heat on high for 20 seconds. 

After the first 20 seconds have lapsed, take the soup out of the microwave and stir gently together. Put the soup back in the microwave for another 20 seconds and stir once that time is over – repeat till you’re satisfied with the results. You must be careful not to leave the soup heating in the microwave for too long.