Freezer restock list
A freezer is only useful if you know what is in it. Restock quarterly, label everything with what and when, and keep one shelf for meals rather than ingredients.
37 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Meals, ready to reheat
- Bolognese or ragù×4
- Curry or dal×4
- Soup×4
- A pie or a bake
- Portions for one, for the evenings alone×2
- Vegetables
- Peas
- Spinach
- Sweetcorn
- Mixed stir-fry vegetables
- Broad beans or edamame
- Herbs frozen in oil in an ice cube tray
- Protein
- Chicken breasts or thighs, frozen flat and separated
- Mince×2
- White fish fillets
- Prawns
- Sausages
- Bread and pastry
- Sliced bread
- Rolls or pitta
- Puff pastry
- Croissants or pastries for a slow morning
- Useful odds
- Ice
- Stock, frozen in portions
- Ginger and chillies, frozen wholeGrate ginger straight from frozen. It is easier than fresh.
- Berries for smoothies and puddings
- Ice cream
- Keeping it usable
- Label everything: what, and the date
- Freeze flat, in bags, so it stacks and thaws fast
- One shelf for meals, one for ingredients
- Keep a list on the door and cross things off
- Eat-me-first box for anything over three months
- Defrost the freezer once a year
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- How long does frozen food actually keep?
- Three months is a good working rule for home-cooked food, six for most raw meat. It stays safe far longer; it stops being nice to eat around there.
- What is not worth freezing?
- Salad, whole eggs, cream-based sauces, potatoes in a stew and anything fried. They come back as a different texture and usually a worse one.