One secret to working smarter, not harder, is freezing pasta. Did you know you can freeze pasta and save yourself thirty minutes the next time you sit down to a pasta meal? Think about it-it takes about ten minutes to heat water to a boil and you boil pasta about ten to twelve minutes. You spend about three minutes preparing the water and draining in the colander, etc. Why not make the entire box or make two box (depending on your family size) the next time you prepare ANY type of pasta.
How about whole wheat penne pasta?
Or spaghetti noodles? I like to portion smaller sizes for quick lunches for the young kids at home. The quart size bags are reserved for family meals.
Drain in colander as usual and lightly toss the pasta in olive oil, cooking spray or butter to prevent sticking. Stir the pasta frequently to cool thoroughly. Once it’s completely cooled, bag it in quart size freezer bags. Label and date your bags, toss in the freezer for your next meal.
Thaw your pasta bags the night before you plan to make it. That’s why I highly recommend a refrigerator menu plan to remind you to thaw your pasta in your thawing box. I also advocate a freezer inventory when stash items in your freezer. Don’t you want to shop your freezer with ease, without digging through it to see what you have?
Reheat in the microwave on 50% power for approximately three to five minutes. You’ll be ready for spaghetti and meatballs, macaroni and cheese, chicken with penne pasta and more. Work smarter, not harder-any type of pasta-spaghetti, linguine, penne, macaroni, rotini and more, freezes well.
Have you thought of freezing more than one type of pasta for quick 15-minute meals or perhaps ministry meals you can prepare in a jiffy?
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Awesome post! I love it very much!
Thank you, check back for recipes to come how I use frozen pasta in quick, creative recipes, like mac and cheese, pasta salad, asian pasta stir-fry next week.
Thank you.
Earlier this week, I was doing a batch cooking session and cooked up 2 pkgs of penne pasta (along with a beef roast, a pork roast, banana bread, and banana muffins).
About half of the pasta went into that night’s casserole. I froze the rest in quart ziplocks.
Yesterday I thawed one package in the fridge. Tonight I followed your reheating instructions.
It was good. And certainly easy. My menus will have a lot more pasta now.
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Thank you for your blog! It is helping our house to have more family time each evening.
This is awesome news! All the new things I have learned I can freeze, I need another extra freezer. how long can you freeze the pasta for?
I found your site from All You! Love it! Do you let the pasta cool down before you freeze it?
Amanda, you should always let everything cool completely before freezing. Heat is what causes extra condensation, thus freezer burn and sogginess when you thaw. The less water and air exposure to the food, the better the product. So squeeze the air or suck it out with a straw for everything you freeze. And absolutely drain very well until dry and no heat remains and then freeze. Thaw 24 hours and enjoy. Smaller quart size bags thaw quicker than gallon size bags. I use them for virtually everything.
Smart! I love ideas like these that make my busy life a little easier.
You have the greatest ideas!
Hi, I had a question: Do you thaw in the microwave IN the ziplock freezer bag? I am always afraid to thaw in the microwave with a plastic baggie for fear chemicals get into the food….Thanks!
I never thaw in the bag. I prefer to thaw overnight in my thawing box (plastic shoe box), but you can also thaw pasta on the counter for a couple of hours or in cold water upright. If you must thaw in microwave, cut the package open with kitchen shears and place in safe dish, microwave 30 to 50% power until thawed. Then proceed to heat.