Nduja is a delicious, spicy, spreadable cured sausage from the Calabrese region of Italy. It’s perfect spread on toasted ciabatta or even stirred into a pasta sauce. But the question is can you extend the life of nduja?
Can You Freeze Nduja?
Yes, you can freeze nduja for up to 1 month, but there is a risk that you’ll ruin its flavour and texture so consider whether freezing is your only and best option. Nduja will freeze somewhat better in a dish such as pasta sauce.
Do Does Nduja freeze well? Sometimes
Can you refreeze Nduja? No
How to Freeze Nduja
The big challenge is keeping air out when it comes to freezing nduja. So take your time and follow the step outlined before to effectively freeze nduja. Firstly, it’s worth noting that you should try and keep your nduja in one piece.
Slicing it can only help air get into contact with the meat and therefore ruin the texture.
- Wrap: Take your nduja and wrap it tightly in a layer of cling film, wrapping it at each end to ensure there is nowhere for air to get in.
- Wrap Again: Take your clingfilmed nduja and wrap it in a layer of foil. This is further protection against air getting in.
- Freeze: You can now place it in the freezer.
If you have access to a vacuum-sealer, this would be ideal as it is the most successful way of ensuring air cannot get into your nduja.
If you have cooked nduja in a pasta sauce, it will freeze much better as the textural changes will be hidden by the fact that it is in a sauce. Bag the sauce up using thick bags so there is no risk of leakage. Seal them up and freeze.
3 Tips for Freezing Nduja
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing nduja to have the best results:
Wrap Again
Wrapping nduja in a combination of clingfilm and foil will ensure no air gets in. If air does get in, it will dry the nduja out and cause the texture to change drastically.
Label It Clearly
When frozen, nduja can look like other spicy meat such as chorizo. Write a clear label on your frozen nduja, so you know exactly what it is you’re defrosting.
Cook Into Dishes
Nduja freezes particularly well as part of cooked dishes such as pasta sauce. Instead of freezing it alone, try cooking it first and freezing it in ready-to-eat dishes.
How Long Can You Freeze Nduja?
Unfortunately, the longer you leave the nduja in the freezer, the greater the risk of the flavour degrading and freezer burn making an appearance.
We highly recommend against freezing it for much longer than a month. If you can keep this period as low as possible, you’ll keep the quality of your nduja high.
This depends on the type of nduja. If you have jarred nduja, this can last up to a year. Fresh nduja will need to be kept airtight but will only last for a few days.
How Do You Defrost Nduja?
To defrost your frozen nduja, you’ll want to place it in a bowl in the fridge and leave it there to thaw overnight. Do not try to rush this process and you will end up ruining the texture of your nduja.
This will involve planning, of course.
Can You Refreeze Nduja?
Absolutely not! You’ll already have issues with the texture if you were to freeze your nduja once…
Doing so again will ruin the texture further and increase the risk of bacteria contaminating it. We would strongly advise against refreezing nduja.
Does Nduja Freeze Well?
Unfortunately, like a lot of cured meat such as Parma ham, nduja isn’t the best when it has been frozen. As nduja is spreadable, it contains quite a lot of moisture which does help it to freeze.
However, the problem is that air can easily get into the body of the meat, which can cause some serious oxidation and freezer burn.
This can remove both the texture whilst simultaneously degrading the flavour.
If you’re able to vacuum-seal the nduja and ensure no air can get to it, it will freeze fairly well.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing nduja or nduja in general, then these may help:
Yes, nduja paste can be frozen like fresh nduja, but there’s not much point. Nduja paste has a long fridge life that won’t be extended greatly through freezing.
Yes, fresh nduja sausage can be frozen for around 1 month. It will degrade rapidly in the freezer so it should be frozen for as little as possible.
Sources
We have verified the information on this page using the following resources:
