Freezing and Reheating Soup

I thaw it in the microwave or in a crock pot, both w/o incident. I also refreeze with no problem.

SAHM of seven

S. - I'm not certain why you can't heat it slowly in a pot and why it needs to thaw in the refrigerator. But one thing I would recommend is to not thaw it in the microwave. the microwave has a tendency to eliminate some of the nutrients in the food. You took all that time to make it from scratch and freeze it for later, it would be a shame that it didn't hold the nutritional value because of the microwave. Also, any plastic in a microwave can release toxins into the food.

Good luck

D.

good morning...

you can go ahead and slowly cook any frozen food,im a retired executive chef,as long as its heated up to 165 degrees.boiling-that kills all possible bacteria-i never thaw anything in the fridge-just go ahead and cook it-if your comfy with the microwave-thats fine also.cook away.

I think you should be able to reheat the soup in the microwave on 50% power. If you want to use a pan on the stove you might want to add some extra liquid to it instead of just putting it strait in a pot. What are you storing it in to freeze it? If it is a seal bag you should be able to just put the bag in boiling water on the stove.

S.; i would not know why you would have to thaw it in the fridge first, maybe when soup was invented, microwaves were not , i dont know, soup is one thing you can and do make large batches of , so i dont see why you cant, even on meat and other things they tell you to thaw it in the fridge, but we still do that in a microwave, a microwave has a handy button on it that says defrost, thats why it was invented, was to speed up the process between frozen and hot, i say go for it, if packaged in a microwave safe container, that is, hahahah any way , have fun, enjoy life, D. s

I would follow the same guidelines you would for meats. Thawing in the refrigerator is best but microwaving should be ok too. I think the concern with heating it from frozen is that it doesn't heat as evenly. Some parts maybe frozen while others are hot. I was looking up things about reheating homemade babyfood. I found you should reheat them to 160 degrees. Maybe you should heat your soup to that temp to be safe.

I have always taken frozen soup,put it in a pot with a little water and warmed it up that way.

My husband and I make large batches of soup and freeze it all of the time. We wait for it to fully cool and then pour individual-size portions into either glass containers or freezer bags. When we want to eat it, we let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to loosen from the bag or container and then put it in a pot on the stove.

Please don't heat your left overs in plastic...it's really not safe as most contain PBA and Phthalates. With breast cancer on the rise, none of us need extra chemicals in our bodies simulating hormones!

Best of luck and happy soup making! Yum, yum!

Hello,
I'm not an expert, but I love to cook and with 4 kids I do a lot of it! :) My husband makes really good soup and usually large batches. We freeze it all the time. Rarely do I think to take it our 2 days before we are going to eat it so it can thaw in the frig. I have heated it on the stove but usually thaw it in the micro first. Noodles can get mushy after freezing so try to avoid that.
The whole idea of homemade soup available in the freezer sure beats canned soup! (Yuck)
L.

dfkslf

Betty Crocker says to always slow thaw in the fridge (meat, soup, etc.). She doesn't even recommend using the defrost setting on the microwave. Don't know why but she's right. Foods that are slow thawed always taste better.

My husband makes huge batches of several different soups and stews each fall for us to eat over the winter. He puts 1-2 person portion sizes into the heavy duty bags that go with our FoodSaver vacuum sealer (best investment ever!). He freezes them BEFORE sealing them to give the liquid room to expand. To reheat them we simply boil the bag in a pot of water. Works like a charm every time!

S., I heat up frozen casseroles and soup all the time. You can just put it in a big pot on the stove and warm it up very slowly. Put the lid on it, and keep the burner on low.

I hate microwaves, so I'm a little biased there, but you could certainly put it in the microwave on a low setting to do the thawing if you wished.

Hi S.,
We always reheat in the microwave in pyrex. We store it in tupperware. Run hot water over the bottom until you can push it out. Add a little water - it always seems to lose some - and reheat on medium for 5 minutes, then flip it over, stir the melted part and repeat until it's hot.

Thawing on the stove top is completely safe. Thawing in the microwave is not advised if you thaw it in a plastic container. The plastic will leach into the soup.

Hi S.,

I think it should be fine to reheat it slowly on the stove, I even let it thaw on the counter first sometimes. I've never had any problems with that. Personally, I don't use a microwave, I've never felt comfortable about the effects it could have.

T. T.
____@____.com

I reheat my soup from frozen all the time. Who has the time to wait for the fridge to do it? Putting on medium to reheat on the stove is fine. If you micro make sure to use glass and not plastic. I will use my tupperware rock and serve for soup though as its a much hardier plastic and I don't worry about the leaching in it as its designed to microwave in. But otherwise use glass, you'll want to stop the microwave to stir it and maybe break up the ice chunks once in awhile as well.
Good luck K.

Hi S.!
It's fine to reheat slowly from frozen to hot (bypassing the fridge), as long as it doesn't take more than 4 hours. But, once you'vre reheated anything that has already been cooked, you do have to eat it up or toss it--food cannot safely be reheated more than once!
Jen

Thawing in the fridge, microwave, or stovetop all works. You could try each method and see what you prefer. Texture and taste could vary, but if you're not real picky it should not be an issue. Good idea!

I love to make and freeze soup, it's the best. If you're looking to make single batches when you want them, why not make your big pot of soup and then freeze smaller bags that are the portion you would be looking for. I use freezer bags and lay them flat so when they freeze, they take up much less room. To thaw, you can simply immerse them in a bowl of hot water. You may need to change the water a few times but it thaws much faster that way vs heating on the stove from frozen.

Enjoy!

I freeze homemade soup and pasta sauce all the time. Then I freeze it in single serving sizes for quick lunches and snacks. I thaw it in the microwave then heat it in a pan or I just do the whole thing in the microwave. Its quick and easy.

I re-heat in a pan from frozen all the time. On low, or med heat and keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn the parts that are thawed. Chili, Soup, etc., I've tried it all and it works great. Especially in a pinch.

Tupperware makes great containers called Vent 'N Serve. They are specially designed to go from freezer to microwave and can also be used as a serving bowl. The way they work is you put your leftovers in them and freeze. Then when it comes time to reheat, you pop a valve on the lid (the lid stays on during reheating), and then microwave to reheat. There are several different sizes to choose from. Please contact me if interested.
A.

I made and froze a beef stew a while back. We just put it in the microwave to thaw it out and heat it up.

I take it straight from the freezer to the stove and reheat it on the stove.