Can You Freeze Blue Cheese

Can You Freeze Blue Cheese?

Blue cheese has an acquired taste, but it’s still a popular cheese that has sharp and salty flavours loved by cheese connoisseurs across the planet.

Whether it’s crumbled into sauces or enjoyed as part of an after-dinner cheese board, it’s handy to have a block of blue cheese on hand, particularly around the holidays when you have time to get creative in the kitchen.

But if you find yourself with too much blue cheese, is it possible to freeze it and save it for a later date?

The Quick Answer

Yes, you can freeze blue cheese. Blue cheese can be frozen for around 3 months. Either split the blue cheese into portion sizes or wrap it well and freeze it as it is, and it should be perfectly fine for several months in the freezer. 

You Might Like This: Can You Freeze Stilton Cheese?

How to Freeze Blue Cheese

As blue cheese is one of the harder cheeses, it freezes relatively well. However, it becomes crumbly after it has frozen, and it loses some of its potent taste.

While this isn’t a problem if you plan to use blue cheese in a sauce or as part of a recipe, you might want to avoid serving it up as an after-dinner option with crackers.

Below are the steps you need to follow to successfully freeze blue cheese: 

  1. Slice
    If you’ve purchased a big block of blue cheese, you might want to slice it into smaller portions before you freeze it. This just makes your life easier when it’s time to defrost the right amount of cheese in the future. 
  2. Wrap
    Place each piece of blue cheese in foil and wrap well. Make sure there are no tears or cracks in the wrapping, as freezer-burn will affect the taste and texture of your cheese. 
  3. Place in a Container
    Next, place your wrapped blue cheese in a freezer-safe container and seal. This stops the odour from releasing to the other foods in your freezer. 
  4. Label and Freeze
    Write today’s date, as well as the use-by date of your blue cheese on the lid of the freezer-safe container before placing it in the freezer. Remember, you can freeze blue cheese for around three months. 

3 Tips for Freezing Blue Cheese

Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing blue cheese to have the best results:

  • Check the Date – Blue cheese tends to have a relatively long shelf life compared to other cheeses. As such, you might find that you don’t necessarily need to freeze it, which ensures it won’t crumble or lose any of its taste. 
  • Use in Sauce or as a Topping – Because your blue cheese is likely to crumble in the freezer, you should plan to use it in a sauce, soup, or as a topping on pasta or a pizza.  
  • Always Store in a Container: Blue cheese has an extremely strong odour, so you need to wrap it well and store it in a suitable container in the freezer. You don’t want the odour to affect your other food in the freezer! 

How Long Can You Freeze Blue Cheese?

You can freeze blue cheese for around three months. 

Blue cheese has a lifespan of around six months, but it usually needs to be used within a few weeks after being opened. As such, freezing blue cheese as it approaches its expiry date is an excellent way of preserving it for a few extra months.

You Can Freeze Blue Cheese for up to 3 Months

How Do You Defrost Blue Cheese?

When you’re ready to enjoy your frozen blue cheese, you will need to remove it from the freezer and transfer it to the fridge. You need to be careful when defrosting dairy, and you should never defrost cheese at room temperature.

It’s a good idea to take the block of cheese out the night before you plan to enjoy or use it, as this gives it sufficient time to thaw thoroughly in the fridge.

Can You Refreeze Blue Cheese?

You should only freeze blue cheese once. If you’re worried about wasting leftovers, slice your block of blue cheese into smaller portion sizes before you freeze it. This makes it easy for you to remove the amount of blue cheese you need at any given time.  

Does Blue Cheese Freeze Well?

It’s fair to say that blue cheese freezes reasonably well. If you’re planning to use it in a sauce, soup, or as a topping, you should have no issues with the freezing process.

But because it becomes crumbly after being frozen, it’s not ideal for serving up as part of an after-dinner cheeseboard, as your guests will be disappointed with its texture as they try to apply it to their crackers!

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing blue cheese or cheese in general, then these may help:

How Long Can You Keep Blue Cheese in the Fridge?

Once opened, blue cheese will keep in the fridge for between 3 to 4 weeks but this does rely on your storing it properly. To store blue cheese in the fridge, it’s important to wrap it in multiple layers of cling film before placing it into an airtight container or bag. 

Can You Freeze Stilton Cheese?

Stilton is one of the most eaten blue cheeses but can this hugely popular blue cheese also be frozen like blue cheeses? Yes, stilton can be frozen! The method for freezing stilton is identical to the method outlined on this page for freeze blue cheese in general. 

Slice into portions, wrap it tightly, bag it up and freeze it. 

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