Some prefer margarine atop their toast, in their sandwiches and mixed into mashed potatoes versus butter. If this is you, then you might have got carried away and bulk-bought a few tubs of margarine and are now left pondering what to do with it.
Can You Freeze Margarine?
Yes, you can freeze margarine for up to 1 year. To freeze margarine, portion into blocks before wrapping each in clingfilm followed by foil. Once wrapped, you can place the margarine into the freezer.
Do Does Margarine freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Margarine? No
How to Freeze Margarine
When it comes to freezing margarine, there are actually two approaches you can take depending on how you will use it. We’ve outlined both of these below:
How to Freeze Margarine In Blocks
This is the approach you should take if you want to have a small block of margarine in the fridge at a time from the freezer.
- Slice: Carefully slice your margarine up into smaller blocks. If the margarine is soft then you can throw it into the freezer for 20 minutes to harden up.
- Wrap: Wrap each block in a layer of clingfilm followed by a layer of foil.
- Freeze: Place each block into a thick freezer bag and then into the freezer.
How to Freeze Grated Margarine
This is the approach you should take if you want to have instant access to margarine that you can place onto toast or into dishes straight from the freezer.
The small surface area and thickness of the grated margarine will allow it to thaw almost instantly.
- Freeze: First, take a block of margarine and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes until it has hardened. If you try to grate it straight from the fridge it will soften too much.
- Grate Onto a Tray: Grate your frozen margarine block onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
- Freeze: Place the tray into the freezer to flash freeze for a few hours.
- Bag Up and Refreeze: When the grated margarine has frozen solid, you can tip it out and into a freezer bag to store for the longer term.
3 Tips for Freezing Margarine
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing margarine to have the best results:
Consider Portions
Before freezing margarine, consider how you use it and then freeze it in suitably sized portions.
Flavour It
Like butter, margarine can also be flavoured with herbs and spices. This is great if you cook with it and want to add instant flavour to soups, stews and vegetables.
Freeze Unopened Tubs
If you haven’t opened the tub and know you’ll consume the whole tub in a week or so then you can simply place the entire unopened tub into the freezer instead.
How Long Can You Freeze Margarine?
Because margarine is made primarily of oil, it freezes particularly well. That’s why you can actually keep it in the freezer for around a year. In fact, it will usually keep fairly well beyond this.
Try to plan what you have in the freezer so you can use it up in a suitable time frame. You don’t really want to be storing anything for much beyond a year.
When kept in the tub, margarine will last in the fridge for around 2 months.
How Do You Defrost Margarine?
This will come down to how you have frozen it, of course. If you have grated it then no defrosting is required, thankfully!
If you have frozen your margarine in a block then you can simply place it in a bowl to thaw at room temperature. This can take anywhere between 4 and 6 hours depending on the size of the blocks you have frozen.
You can also thaw it overnight in the fridge.
If you have frozen a whole tub then it can actually take 24hrs in the fridge to thaw throughout.
Finally, if you’re pushed for time then you can give it a quick blast in the microwave for 5 minutes. You should do this on the lowest power setting or the defrost setting if your microwave has one.
Can You Refreeze Margarine?
We would avoid refreezing margarine where possible as it can rapidly ruin the texture. It will remain safe to eat in most cases, however.
If you have frozen margarine then defrosted it and used it in a cooked dish which you then want to freeze then you can safely freeze this now cooked dish.
Does Margarine Freeze Well?
Margarine actually freezes really well.
Provided that you keep it wrapped and protected so that it doesn’t absorb odours from your freezer or get impacted by air then it will freeze really well, and you’ll struggle to tell the difference between frozen and non-frozen margarine.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing margarine, then these may help:
Yes, Stork, the popular spread used in baking, can be frozen either in portioned blocks or in a full tub for around 1 year.
If you want to freeze a whole rub of margarine so you have one ready to go when you run out then the good news is that you can! If you choose to freeze a whole tub then you will need to defrost and use the whole tub.
Yes, all brands of margarine can be frozen for around 1 year either portioned out or in the tub it came in.
