Buying chicken in bulk and freezing it for later is a great way to save money in the kitchen. It’s not difficult to freeze chicken, and we’ve put together this handy guide to get you started.
Freezing Chicken
Here at Budget Delicious, we love chicken recipes. Chicken is flavorful, versatile, and best of all, it’s budget-friendly.
We often recommend that you purchase chicken on sale or in bulk and freeze it for later use. Chicken is one of the least expensive meat options, and it also goes on sale pretty frequently. Purchasing chicken in bulk at wholesale clubs is also a fantastic way to save on chicken, and because you are buying in large quantities, the price is often lower than grocery store sale prices.
Raw chicken will only last for a few days, and freezing can extend the life of chicken to up to a year. Using a vacuum sealer is ideal because the machine removes excess air for you before sealing the chicken. Since not everyone has a vacuum sealer, we’ve created this guide to show you how to freeze chicken using freezer bags.
Why Freeze Chicken
- Save Money – Buy chicken in bulk or on sale and save it for later.
- Safe Storage – Chicken only lasts a few days in the fridge and then bacteria can develop. Freezing stops this process allowing you to keep chicken longer.
- Meal Prep – Freeze seasoned and prepped chicken for easy meal prep later on.
Supplies Needed For Freezing Chicken
- Sandwich Baggies – Look for the thin sandwich baggies that fold over rather than the zip-top bags. You can also use plastic wrap.
- Zip-top Bags – Zip-top freezer bags are a great choice because they are thicker and usually have a double zipper, allowing you to freeze chicken longer. Gallon-sized bags will hold several chicken breasts.
- Permanent Marker – Always label each bag with the date, contents, quantity, and use-by date.
How To Freeze Chicken Breasts
- Gather your supplies and determine how to want to divide the chicken.
- Label each bag with the date, contents, quantity, and use-by date, then set aside.
- Wrap individual chicken pieces with sandwich baggies or plastic wrap and fold over, removing as much air as possible. For mess-free wrapping, invert a sandwich bag over your hand and use it to pick up the raw chicken. Use your other hand to turn the bag over the chicken and seal without ever touching raw chicken.
- Place the individually wrapped chicken into the large freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal the bag, then place the bags of chicken into the freezer.
- When ready to use, remove what you need and place it on a plate in the fridge to defrost overnight.
How To Freeze Other Cuts of Chicken
The exact process works to freeze other chicken cuts like chicken tenders, chicken thighs, chicken wings, and chicken legs.
Because it can be challenging to remove all the air from bone-in chicken, you should use these cuts within 6 months.
How To Freeze A Whole Chicken
Freezing whole chicken is really easy. Just pop it in the freezer in the packaging it came in. Whole chickens can easily be frozen for a year.
To defrost whole chicken, place it in the fridge for at least 24 hours for every 5 pounds of chicken.
Tips For Success
- Make sure you have plenty of room in your freezer before purchasing large quantities of chicken.
- Have all of your supplies ready, then prep and label each bag before you begin working with the chicken.
- Remove as much air as possible from each bag to reduce the risk of freezer burn.
- Make a list of what you freeze and keep it on the freezer door to know exactly what’s inside without opening the door.
- Wrapping the chicken in the extra baggie helps protect the chicken from freezer burn and makes it easy to grab just what you need instead of having to thaw large amounts of chicken.
- Always wash your hands with warm, soapy water after handling raw chicken.
How To Meal Prep With Frozen Chicken
Frozen chicken is great for easy meal prep later on.
- Season raw chicken before freezing.
- Add marinades and sauces before freezing the chicken.
- Include sliced veggies for easy dump-and-go meals.
When seasoning or prepping chicken for meal prep, label each bag with the contents and directions for cooking.
How To Prevent Freezer Burn
Freezer burn looks like white, dry patches on raw chicken and indicates an area where moisture escaped and formed ice crystals on the surface of the chicken. These spots aren’t harmful, but they don’t taste very good.
- Make sure the storage bag is not damaged and doesn’t have any holes.
- Remove as much air as possible from the freezer bag.
- Keep the freezer temperature as close as possible to 0 and keep it steady. Fluctuations in temperatures can cause melting and refreezing.
- If you have a few small areas of freezer burn, they can be trimmed off before cooking.
FAQs
Cutting and cubing chicken that will be used that way when thawed out is a great way to save time on meal prep.
Yes! Freezing cooked chicken is a great way to save leftovers and also makes for easy meal prep. The process for freezing cooked chicken is the same, but cooked chicken won’t keep as long in the freezer. Use cooked chicken within 3 to 4 months.
As long as the chicken remains frozen, it technically lasts indefinitely however, there will be a loss of flavor over time due to freezer burn. Chicken kept frozen for longer than a year will not be harmful but may not taste as great. See above for tips for avoiding freezer burn.
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Get The How To Freeze Chicken Instructions:
How To Freeze Chicken
Materials
- Sandwich Baggies Look for the thin sandwich baggies that fold over rather than the zip-top bags. You can also use plastic wrap.
- Zip-Top Freezer Bags Zip-top freezer bags are a great choice because they are thicker and usually have a double zipper, allowing you to freeze chicken longer. Gallon-sized bags will hold several chicken breasts.
- Permanant Marker Always label each bag with the date, contents, quantity, and use-by date.
Instructions
- Gather your supplies and determine how to want to divide the chicken.
- Label each bag with the date, contents, quantity, and use-by date, then set aside.
- Wrap individual chicken pieces with sandwich baggies or plastic wrap and fold over, removing as much air as possible. For mess-free wrapping, invert a sandwich bag over your hand and use it to pick up the raw chicken. Use your other hand to turn the bag over the chicken and seal without ever touching raw chicken.
- Place the individually wrapped chicken into the large freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal the bag.
- Place the bags of chicken into the freezer.
- When ready to use, remove what you need and place it on a plate in the fridge to defrost overnight.
How To Freeze Other Cuts of Chicken
- The exact process works to freeze other chicken cuts like chicken tenders, chicken thighs, chicken wings, and chicken legs.
- Because it can be challenging to remove all the air from bone-in chicken, you should use these cuts within 6 months.
How to Freeze A Whole Chicken
- Freezing whole chicken is really easy. Just pop it in the freezer in the packaging it came in. Whole chickens can easily be frozen for a year.
- To defrost whole chicken, place it in the fridge for at least 24 hours for every 5 pounds of chicken.
Video
Notes
- Make sure you have plenty of room in your freezer before purchasing large quantities of chicken.
- Have all of your supplies ready, then prep and label each bag before you begin working with the chicken.
- Remove as much air as possible from each bag to reduce the risk of freezer burn.
- Make a list of what you freeze and keep it on the freezer door to know exactly what’s inside without opening the door.
- Wrapping the chicken in the extra baggie helps protect the chicken from freezer burn and makes it easy to grab just what you need instead of having to thaw large amounts of chicken.
- Always wash your hands with warm, soapy water after handling raw chicken.
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