Whether you’re adding potatoes to thicken up a delicious winter soup, mashing them to top a delightful cottage pie, or enjoying them whole. They’re a staple. But how do you go about keeping baked potatoes you’ve got left over for longer?
Can You Freeze Baked Potatoes?
Yes, you can freeze baked potatoes for up to 8 months. They should be wrapped individually after being baked, without any fillings for the best results. If you include leftover fillings within the potatoes when freezing, it will make the potatoes soggy.
Do Baked Potatoes Freeze Well? Yes
Can You Refreeze Baked Potatoes? No
How to Freeze Baked Potatoes
Baked potatoes are an excellent option for a quick and easy evening meal.
You can add all sorts of fillings to your baked potatoes, be it coleslaw, baked beans, or chilli con carne, which means if you’re short of time when you return home from work, you can have a delicious meal ready within minutes.
How to Freeze Baked Potatoes
Freezing baked potatoes is pretty straightforward, and you can do so by following the steps below:
- Cook and Cool: Make sure your potatoes are thoroughly baked before freezing. Once piping hot, place them on the work surface to cool. When they’re at room temperature, they’re ready to freeze.
- Wrap in Foil: When your baked potatoes are at room temperature, wrap them individually in aluminium foil, so they’re not exposed to freezing air when you put them in the freezer.
- Bag Up: Place the individually wrapped baked potatoes in a large, freezer-safe bag and place them in the freezer. Try and lay them flat, so they don’t lose their shape by being pressed against other items in the freezer.
- Freeze: Using a sharpie or permanent marker, label the freezer bag with the date you prepared the potatoes before placing them in the freezer. You could also put a use-by date for eight months in the future, so you know when to use them.
How to Freeze Baked Potatoes with Fillings
While some people enjoy a baked potato with butter, one of the best things about a baked potato meal is the delicious fillings that accompany the potato.
Whether you enjoy cheese and coleslaw, chilli, tuna mayo, or bacon and sour cream, there are so many toppings you can enjoy with your potato.
However, it’s not advised to freeze your baked potato with the toppings included. This is because the potato will go soggy when defrosted and also because the fillings may need to be frozen in a different way.
If you want to freeze the fillings as well, be sure to check that they are suitable for freezing, and wrap them in individual portions so you can defrost them at the same time as your potato.
Don’t be tempted to freeze them all in one as you will be disappointed when it comes to eating them!
3 Tips for Freezing Baked Potatoes
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing baked potatoes to have the best results:
Wrap Tightly
When wrapping in aluminium foil, make sure they’re tightly wrapped, and there are no rips in the foil. If the potato is exposed to freezing air, it will affect the texture when you go to defrost and enjoy it as a meal.
Remove Air
Squeeze as much air as you can from the bag before sealing and freezing.
Freeze Fillings Separately
If you want to freeze any fillings for your baked potatoes, it’s much better to freeze them separately, as every ingredient has different freezing requirements.
How Long Can You Freeze Baked Potatoes?
You can place baked potatoes in the fridge for a couple of days after preparing, so if you plan on using them a couple of nights in a row, there’s no need to freeze them.
However, if you’re preparing your baked potatoes in bulk, you can freeze them for up to eight months. However, as with any frozen item, the sooner you use them, the better they will taste.
Cooked, baked potatoes will last for around 3 days in the fridge when kept in a covered bowl.
How Do You Defrost Baked Potatoes?
The best way to defrost baked potatoes is to take them out of the freezer bag the night before and place them in the fridge. When taking them out of the freezer, you can unwrap them from the foil and place them in an airtight dish to thaw overnight.
If you’re pressed for time and want to enjoy your baked potato there and then, you can unwrap it from its foil and place it in the microwave. If you’re doing this, be sure to defrost it first and don’t just cook it from frozen.
To defrost first, heat it in the microwave on a low heat. Once it’s soft, you can then take it out of the microwave and add any fillings you desire before placing it in the oven to cook thoroughly.
Can You Refreeze Baked Potatoes?
It’s not recommended to refreeze baked potatoes once they have already been defrosted, as the texture of the potatoes will begin to deteriorate, and they will go mushy.
To avoid having to take more potatoes out of the freezer than you need, you should wrap them individually and remove only what you plan on eating that day.
Do Baked Potatoes Freeze Well?
If you make sure your baked potatoes are tightly wrapped in foil and placed into a freezer-safe bag, they freeze very well indeed. They keep their shape and texture and make for an excellent quick meal or filling snack at any time of the day.
As has been mentioned, it’s best not to freeze baked potatoes together with any fillings, as you run the risk of spoiling the potato. Freeze any fillings separately for best results.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing baked potatoes or baked potatoes in general, then these may help:
Although a completely different vegetable, baked sweet potatoes can be frozen in the same way as normal baked potatoes. Wrap each baked sweet potato in foil, bag up, seal and freeze.
Although loaded potato skins can be frozen, you do need to consider the ingredients in your filling. Most cheese will not freeze particularly well, so expect some of the texture to change. Having said that, if the cheese is melted, then you can hide some of that textural change.
