Make mealtimes easy and delicious when you make soups for the freezer. These tips and best freezer soup recipes will make it simple.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
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Years ago I remember reading that you shouldn’t spend time freezing soups. The rationale was that soups are mostly water, easy to prepare, and would take up valuable freezer space. And for many years, I believed the lie.
But, this past winter, I’ve come to realize the true potential in bulk cooking several kinds of soups and freezing them in 2 cup and dinner-size portions. The benefits are numerous. Let me count the ways.
Why Make Freezer Soups
You get it your way. When you make bulk batches of freezer soups, you’re presumably making a few different kinds, particularly those that you like. When you do this, you get to enjoy the soups that no one else likes! I don’t have to force feed it to anyone or make a smaller batch. I just cook what I like and divide it into 2-cup portions, perfect for a quick soup lunch.
Everyone else gets his or her own way. Likewise, every other member of the household gets his choice of soup. When I make three kinds of freezer soups in one cooking session, that means that three kinds of soup will be stored in the freezer for later. Everybody has the chance to be happy on Soup Night. Pro tip: This is a great way to handle meal planning for different diets.
Meals come together quickly. Lunchtime can come together in a matter of minutes. It doesn’t take long to thaw/reheat soup in the microwave or by placing the container in cold water. Add some bread and a side salad and the meal is served.
Freezer soups are great to make Sunday Dinner easier. These are a great postpartum freeze meals to keep on hand, too!
You have soup whenever you want it. Soup is comfort food, especially when you’re under the weather. And who wants to cook when you’re sick? Having some homemade soup in the freezer makes it easy to enjoy comfort food, even in less than perfect circumstances.
Tips for freezing soup
Stock up on the right containers. I prefer reusable plastic containers with lids or silicone Soupercubes for freezing soup.
I’ve tried wide mouth, quart size canning jars with plastic lids, but it you don’t thaw ahead of time, it is difficult to get frozen blobs of soup out of the jars. With plastic or silicone, the little cube of soup pops right out for stovetop or microwave reheating.
Choose recipes that share common ingredients. One of the biggest time saving techniques in freezer cooking is to use common ingredients. Since soups often share many vegetables and broths in common, you can easily prep a lot of these ingredients and combine them in different ways for variety.
Make several batches at one time. I own two stockpots and an instant pot. But, I also have several crockpots. I could potentially have many different kinds of freezer soup cooking at one time. Use what you have to make bulk batches of soup to freeze.
Choose a variety of soups to please everyone. If you’re making three or four freezer soups at one time, make at least one kind that will please the picky eater in your crowd. This will serve you in many ways, especially on the night when he really doesn’t like what everyone else is eating. Pull out a container of soup he does like.
Go light on the garlic and spices. Flavors can intensify in the freezer. Use a light hand in the preparation and adjust the seasonings on the serving end.
Buy or borrow a stick blender. A friend told me how wonderful it was to use in soups. I was a skeptic. But, now I’m a believer. I’ve used this immersion blender for many years and am amazed at how easy it is to use.
In the past, I’ve always blended soups in batches in the food processor. What a hassle and mess! This gadget is fantastic — and stores in a drawer out of sight.
Avoid noodles and potatoes for freezer soups. For best texture, avoid adding noodles and potatoes to the soup before you freeze it. Instead, add those when you reheat for best texture.
Best Freezer Soup Recipes
These are some of the best soup recipes to make to freeze!
Soups for Cooking
These soup recipes are excellent to use in casseroles and other dinner recipes. Having a few cups of them on hand in the freezer can make your meal prep quick and easy.
Tell us what you think!
We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.
This post was originally published on April 4, 2011. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Amber
I’m going to be leaning hard into soups this fall and winter season. I’m excited to get more stocked in my freezer for the very reasons you listed. And I want to have some comforting soups on hand to drop off to a friend if they need a meal. Good thoughts on storage. I have souper cubes but I’m going to buy some plastic freezable deli containers because like you said – easier to thaw and I would think easier to take to someone.
I already have some chili in the freezer, making taco soup tomorrow and I look forward to trying some of your recipes very soon.
Julie in Choco
I wasn’t happy with the texture of the pasta in chicken noodle soup and other pasta soups when I froze them because sometimes the pasta would absorb too much liquid during the thawing process and be overly mushy. I solved the problem by freezing the pasta separately or making the pasta on the day I want to eat it. I freeze the cooked broth with all the veggies and meat in whatever portion size desired. Then I thaw and heat it, pour it over the separate thawed or newly cooked pasta and the soup has all the good flavor and perfectly textured pasta.
Jessica Fisher
Yes! Thanks for making that point. I’ve been doing the same, also with rice.
Kate @ thedebtfreefamily.com
MMM I just made the cheddar soup last night. I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand! Do you know…what happens if you sub plain old water for chicken broth? Do you need to add some sort of spices or salt to balance it out, or will it do as is (or not)? We don’t always have chicken broth on hand and it seems like a lot of non-chili soups call for it. Thanks!
Julie
If you use plain water rather than chicken broth, the soup will be bland tasting and far less salty. While it is great if you have the freezer space to make and freeze your own, my favorite alternative to making it or buying expensive, bulky grocery store chicken broth, I purchase a jar of Better Than Bouillion broth concentrate(available in chicken, beef or vegetable flavors and even in low sodium organic options). Keep this in your fridge and whenever you need broth, just add a tablespoon of this to a couple cups of water and you have great flavored broth.
Dina
In the beginning of this past December we had a Soup for the freezer play date. 6 ladies responded and we each had to make one kind of soup but we had to make enough soup for each family to take home 4 cups (prepackaged before the play date) and then a pot to taste at the play date. Also recipes typed & printed for everyone.
It was so much fun and our freezers were stocked with yummy stuff. I use those recipes all the time.
Amy
I have frozen my butternut squash bisque. No one in the family eats it but me, so I make a huge batch and eat it all winter long.
tpdval
I so agree! For me, having a freezer full of soup is such a comfort! One of my favourites to freeze is my Apple Squash soup – just add the cream/milk in after you reheat it from frozen.
Hope your readers enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
http://girlfriendlifeline.blogspot.com/2011/03/recipe-apple-squash-soup.html
Sharon Chartier
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe for the Apple Squash soup!! I can’t wait to try it.
Lisa
I was wondering if you ever gave the potato soup a shot. I commented on a post a long time ago – not offended if you don’t remember 🙂 with a recipe for a Bennigans copy cat. I was just wondering if it worked for you. I love having it around for easy cooking nights.
I am attempting to can a few soups this canning season to free up some freezer space but I have veggie soups, beef stew/soups and chicken noodle in my freezer at the moment.
Eckert S
I tried potstickers and your orange cranberry granola, and we loved them both! I researched several potsticker recipes and came up with my own adaptation using broccoli slaw, fresh ginger, garlic and green onions with pork sausauge. (Note to self, 60 wontons skins come in each package, so next time I won’t buy so many packs, and I’ll add the veggies after I’ve “overworked” the pork) I’m thrilled with adding both of those recipes to my freezer stash.
Amanda Molnar
Frozen soups, stews, sauces and just about anything really are my savior in the winter. Long hours at work mean that sometimes I don’t have time to cook. When you can take out something and heat up a hearty, home-cooked meal in a few minutes, it really makes a difference!
Even though I’m not a mother yet, I really appreciate the insightfulness of your blog and I enjoy reading everything you put on here. Hopefully it will sink into my head by the time I have kids.
Thanks for being fabulous,
-BBC
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for making my day! LOL
karen
I love my immersion blender! I didn’t think I would use it that much–but it is awesome. Soup, smoothies, salad dressing, mayo, whipped cream, butter if you don’t pay enough attention to your whipped cream…I really have a bit of blender obsession.