Granola is one of the worldās favourite breakfast staples – itās easy to throw together and wonderfully tasty, too! Is it possible to freeze it to ensure you get the most out of your granola and the longest shelf life?
Can You Freeze Granola?
Yes, you can freeze granola for up to 3 months. The best way to do it is to ensure that thereās as little air in the container with the granola as possible, so a vacuum sealer is your best option before placing it into the freezer.
Do Does Granola freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Granola? Yes
How to Freeze Granola
The best way to freeze granola is any way that involves getting as little air inside the container as possible. For that reason, weād recommend using a vacuum sealer if you can get your hands on one.
- Bag Up: To get started, add as much granola to the bag as youād like to freeze, and vacuum seal the bag immediately. For a liquid-heavy recipe, we might suggest double-sealing the bag.
- Wrap: When the bag is sealed, wrap it in a layer of foil to prevent direct contact with ice, which would lead to freezer burn down the road.
- Label and Freeze: Label the packaging and place it in the freezer. It will freeze well for up to three months, with little to no degradation.
3 Tips for Freezing Granola
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing granola to have the best results:
Keep Air Out!
Make sure to vacuum seal the granola that youāre going to freeze if you possibly can, or if not, add it to a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible – you can even suck the air out with a straw! There are some tutorials (like this one) for using water pressure on the outside of a bag to press air out of the inside.
Avoid High-Moisture Ingredients
Fresh fruit, for example, will lead to moisture in the bag, inevitably leading to freezer burn over time. This must be avoided!Ā
Select Dried Fruits Carefully
If youāre making your granola, consider what dried fruits youāll be adding – dried fruit can go particularly chewy once frozen and thawed, so avoid adding too much if youāre not looking to do that much jaw work first thing in the morning.Ā
How Long Can You Freeze Granola?
You can freeze granola for three months at maximum to ensure the best quality. Technically, it can be frozen for longer than that and will be perfectly fine, but youāre getting into freezer burn territory at that point.
To ensure that you avoid freezer burn as much as possible, we recommend adding one or two layers of foil around the bag of granola. This will prevent the bag from coming into contact with ice in your freezer, which is the primary cause of freezer burn.
How Do You Defrost Granola?
To defrost granola, leave it out on the counter overnight.
The best part about this method is that if youāve made sure to vacuum seal the granola that youāre using, you wonāt even need to open the bag to defrost it – that would introduce air to the mixture, potentially pushing you down the path of stale granola.
Suppose youād prefer to leave it to defrost in the open air? In that case, we recommend vacuum-sealing individual portions of granola since youāll then be able to thaw them in a bowl overnight at room temperature.
Can You Refreeze Granola?
Yes, you can refreeze granola. The main obstacle to successfully refreezing granola is the moisture content in the air around the granola that youāre working with – eventually, it can go stale if left in the open air.
Of course, this isnāt something you want, as it will negatively impact the granola itself.
We suggest leaving the granola within the vacuum-sealed bags for as long as possible. This way, if you need to refreeze the granola itself, it wonāt be stale since the bag hasnāt been opened.
As a rule of thumb when refreezing granola, we suggest restarting the 3-month āclockā when you put the granola back into the freezer.
We suggest this as the 3-month timer exists to ensure that the granola doesnāt get freezer burn. This timer is essentially reset when you thaw and refreeze the granola.
Does Granola Freeze Well?
Yes, granola does freeze well. The reason for this is that most of the ingredients in granola are either dried or high in fat – thereās little water to expand and damage the ingredients’ cells. Instead, it will freeze well without those things.
To ensure that you get the best freezing time out of your granola, weād suggest wrapping the vacuum-sealed pouches in one or two layers of foil. This prevents direct contact with ice and, in turn, freezer burn.
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing granola or granola in general, then these may help:
If the granola is kept in an airtight container away from direct sunlight and temperature changes, it will keep for around 12 months.
Muesli will stay in the cupboard for a long time, maybe 6 months. Therefore, there’s no reason to freeze it. You can, however, freeze bircher muesli which has a much shorter shelf life.
