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Can You Freeze Welsh Rarebit?

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By Ross Young

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Savory, melted cheese seasoned with mustard, ale, and spices poured over toasted bread and grilled until bubbly and golden brown. But what if you’ve made too much…what you really want to know is can you freeze it?

Can You Freeze Welsh Rarebit?

Sort of. It doesn’t freeze well as a whole meal (Welsh Rarebit over bread). However, you CAN freeze the cheese sauce (up to 3 months) separately or make the cheese sauce ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for a few days.(**Full Instructions Below – Cheese Sauce, Bread, Reheating, Etc**)

Does Welsh Rarebit Freeze Well? Not Particularly

Can You Refreeze Welsh Rarebit? Not Recommended

How to Freeze Welsh Rarebit

Welsh Rarebit

Welsh rarebit can be a tricky freeze, and is usually best fresh since it doesn’t freeze well as a whole meal. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible….

Cheeses with a higher fat content will freeze best, and therefore, harder cheeses like cheddar and parmesan freeze particularly well.

How to Freeze Bread Slices

The first key ingredient to any Welsh rarebit is bread. So here is how to go about freezing bread slices successfully: 

  1. Slice Up: Cut your bread into slices ready for making into Welsh rarebit.
  2. Wrap in Cling Film: Wrap each slice well in cling film and pop it into a freezer bag.
  3. Seal: Squeeze out excess air from the bag, seal it up and then label with the date and contents.
  4. Freeze: Pop this into the freezer carefully. You want to keep it away from other food items until it has frozen to ensure the bread doesn’t get squashed in the freezer.

How to Freeze Cheese Sauce

Once you’ve frozen bread, you’ll want to move onto the second element of any Welsh rarebit – the cheese, of course! Here is the method for freezing cheese sauce

  1. Cool: Make your sauce using your favourite recipe and allow it to cool completely.
  2. Label: Label the containers of your choice. (It’s much easier to label them before you add the food.)
  3. Portion Out: Pour the sauce (using serving-sized portions) into freezer-safe containers. Leave a little gap at the top to allow the sauce to expand.
  4. Freeze: Pop the sauce into the freezer and freeze.

Tip

It won’t freeze particularly well as the cheese & butter will likely split in the freezer. As you reheat it, give it a good stir/whisk to blend it back together as much as possible.

Freeze Cheese Sauce

3 Tips for Freezing Welsh Rarebit

Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our Top 3 Tips to follow when freezing Welsh rarebit to have the best results:

Freeze Separately
The best tip we can give your freezing Welsh rarebit is to not freeze it together as a meal, but freeze the sauce separately. It won’t particularly freeze well and will be much tastier if you make it freshly. (We’ve got a tip below for reheating it below.)

Store Cheese Sauce in the Fridge
Instead of freezing your cheese sauce, you can make it ahead of time and pop it into the fridge instead. It will keep for up to five days in the fridge so you can make it well ahead of the time you need it and be prepared.

Keep Them Airtight
If you choose to freeze the bread and sauce separately, then make sure you keep both protected from the air while it is in the freezer. Make sure any bags or containers are sealed as tightly as possible and where you can remove any excess air from bags.

How Long Can You Freeze Welsh Rarebit?

You can’t freeze Welsh rarebit; however, you can freeze bread for between four and six months. You can also freeze cheese sauce for up to three months.

If you put beer into the recipe as is traditional, then you may find it doesn’t freeze as well, so be careful if you choose to do this.

How Do You Defrost Welsh Rarebit?

If you have chosen to freeze the cheese sauce separately, take it out of the freezer and put it into the fridge to thaw out as slowly as possible.

It is important you don’t try and speed up this process. Crystals will have formed in the sauce during the freezing process and these can make the sauce grainy.

Once thawed, you can reheat the sauce on the stovetop. But here’s the KEY TIP:

Whisk the cheese sauce as you reheat it!

The bread is much easier to thaw out. You can either take it out of the freezer and pop it onto the kitchen side to thaw out or just toast it right from frozen. Toasting it can help crisp up the bread and make it as delicious as it was when it was fresh.

Can You Refreeze Welsh Rarebit?

We strongly recommend that you NOT refreeze Welsh rarebit.

WARNING

There is an increased risk of foodborne pathogens if you refreeze Welsh Rarebit.

There’s a high risk of bacterial growth if the sauce is left at room temperature for too long during the thawing process. It’s best to thaw only the amount of cheese sauce you plan to use and consume it within a few days.

Does Welsh Rarebit Freeze Well?

Welsh rarebit doesn’t freeze particularly well.

You can freeze the bread and cheese sauce separately, but you will find that the bread freezes well enough to be toasted, and the cheese sauce will have separated. 

It can become grainy once it has thawed, so you may need to give it a whisk or a blend to try and help with this.

Related FAQs

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

How Long Does Welsh Rarebit Last in the Fridge?

The cheese sauce topping will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days but a cooked Welsh rarebit will only last for 24 hours in the fridge before it goes soggy.

Can You Freeze Cheese Toasties?

Unfortunately, cheese does not freeze well, so we would recommend not freezing toasties. You’ll notice a dramatic change in the texture of the cheese when you come to eat it. Cheese toasties are one thing we would recommend making fresh. 

Can You Freeze Cheese on Toast?

Welsh rarebit is a fancying, more complex version of cheese on toast. Unfortunately, the same can be said for cheese on toast when it comes to freezing it. It simply will not freeze well. You can try to freeze bread and freeze cheese slices individually instead. 

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2 thoughts on “Can You Freeze Welsh Rarebit?”

  1. We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. I often make ridiculously large batches of Welsh Rarebit for the sole purpose of freezing. The only issue you may have is some separation of the butter & cheese as it thaws. Simple solution….whisk it as you heat! You could also use an immerson blender or pour it into a food processor/blender/Bullet etc… If it was good when you first served it, it’ll be good when you thaw & heat it. Also, you only sauce the bread you’re going to eat, right before you eat it so there should be no reason to try to freeze soggy, sauce-soaked bread. Yuck.

    Reply
    • It’s always nice to hear other perspectives. And, in this case, I think we’re saying essentially the same thing….don’t freeze the bread and Welsh Rarebit together (yuck!), but freezing the rarebit cheese sauce separately is still possible. We’ll change the wording a bit in our answer to make that more clear. Thanks for the input!

      Reply

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