Can You Freeze Chicken Gravy?

5 minutes

Delicious chicken gravy is the perfect way to make a delicious roast chicken dinner that little bit extra special. It can be a little tricky to make from scratch and gravy is highly perishable and won’t keep for long so what can you do with leftovers?

How to Freeze Chicken Gravy

Freezing chicken gravy is a pretty easy process. Most chicken gravies can cope with the freezing process well. One thing to consider is that any cream or dairy added to gravies will affect the gravy, and these types of gravies and sauces won’t freeze as well.

We have outlined a couple of methods for you to use to make the most of your delicious chicken gravy.

How to Freeze Portions of Chicken Gravy

1. Prepare Containers
   Find some suitable containers to freeze the gravy in. The best type of containers to use are freezer-safe plastic containers with tight-fitting lids.
   
   However, you can get away with using high-quality freezer bags if you are careful with them and don’t allow the gravy to spill out in the freezer.
2. Portion Out
   Plan out how many portions you want to divide the gravy into and ladle a portion into each container or freezer bag.
3. Seal
   Pop the lid onto the containers and ensure they are sealed tightly. If you are using bags, try and keep them upright at all times until they are completely frozen.
4. Label
   Label the containers with the date and the name of the contents, so you know exactly when the gravy needs to be used up, and you don’t forget what type of gravy is in the container. Nobody wants to waste delicious gravy because they forgot about it!
5. Freeze
   Pop the containers into the freezer and freeze.

4 Tips for Freezing Chicken Gravy

Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 4 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing chicken gravy to have the best results:

Stir or Blend
You may find that your chicken gravy is thicker when it comes out of the freezer than it was when it went in. This is because the different molecules in the food can separate. You can help with this by stirring it well when heating or even by popping it into a blender and giving it a quick blend.

Use Good-Quality Freeze Bags
If you find it a struggle to find room for plastic containers but don’t want to risk a mess in the freezer, by using your usual freezer bags, you can invest in freezer bags that are specifically designed to contain liquids safely. These are perfect for soups, stews, sauces, and gravies, so they are perfect for freezing your chicken gravy.

Apply for Double Protection
Sometimes even a sealed tight container can leak a little if it is tipped over while it is in the freezer. You can pop an extra freezer bag around the container to catch any of these spills to help with this.

Keep Bag Upright
If you are using freezer bags to freeze your gravy, then it is important to keep the bags upright in the freezer. This is no easy task! One way to do this is to find a large plastic container that is suitable for the freezer. It needs to be large enough to fit all of the bags of gravy.

Stand the bags up right into the container. If there is space left, then pad this out with plastic bags or cardboard to ensure the bags remain upright. Pop the whole thing into the freezer until the chicken gravy has frozen.

You can take the container out of the freezer to save space once the gravy is frozen through and no longer a danger of spilling out of the bags.

How Long Can You Freeze Chicken Gravy?

Flour based chicken gravies can be frozen for up to four months. So, you can make sure you don’t waste your leftovers, or you could even make your gravy ahead of time to save yourself some hassle at the crucial last stages of cooking a roast dinner and pop it into the freezer in portions.

Then you can grab out a portion whenever you need to add some sauce to a meal without worrying about having to make it from scratch.

Having gravy handy in the freezer also means that you can add it to chicken dinners without cooking a full roast chicken every time. Perfect to pair with those chicken leftovers you have in the freezer too!

You Can Freeze Chicken Gravy for up to 4 Months

How Do You Defrost Chicken Gravy?

When it comes to defrosting your chicken gravy, you have a few options to consider. The method you use will depend on how quickly you need the gravy.

The best method to use is the slowest. Grab your gravy out of the freezer, pop it into a bowl and put it into the fridge to thaw out overnight.

This is the safest method to use and allows the gravy to fully thaw out without ever reaching a temperature where large amounts of bacteria grow.

If you need your gravy a little faster, then you can pop it into the microwave (make sure you put it into a bowl first) and put it on a defrost setting for a few minutes. Stir it every minute or two to ensure it thaws evenly, and then it is ready to heat up.

You can also thaw it out on the hob as you reheat it. Empty it into a saucepan, pop it on a low heat, and stir continually while it thaws out.

You should only use both of these faster-defrosting methods if you are planning on heating up and using the gravy immediately.

This is because the gravy would be in danger of spending too much time at room temperature, which is when bacteria growth can occur.

Can You Refreeze Chicken Gravy?

No, we wouldn’t recommend you refreeze chicken gravy. It is a meat-based product, and you do need to take care when freezing and reheating meat-based foods.

Harmful bacteria can grow and not only potentially make you ill, but it can destroy the texture and flavour of the food too.

Does Chicken Gravy Freeze Well?

Chicken gravy does freeze well! You may find that it doesn’t freeze perfectly. The sauce can thicken or even separate. This won’t affect the taste of the gravy, but it can affect its texture, and texture is a large part of what makes food enjoyable.

However, this should affect the gravy too much to spoil it, and if you have found that your gravy is grainy or separated, you can give it a quick whisk or blend before you heat it and serve it.

Related FAQs

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