For vegetarians and vegans, the nut roast is fast becoming a Christmas mealtime tradition that rivals turkey. Making a nut roast can be tricky and time-consuming, which can be difficult on special occasions when you are busy doing so many other things! So…
Can You Freeze Nut Roast?
Yes, you can freeze nut roast for up to 1 months in both portions and whole. Wrap slices in cling film before bagging them up and then freezing.
Do freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Nut Roast? No
How To Freeze Nut Roast
Freezing your nut roast couldn’t be much simpler. You can freeze it baked or unbaked, and both work pretty well!
How to Freeze Baked Nut Roast Whole
This method works well if you have leftovers or want to reheat the nut roast at a later date.
- Cool: Allow the nut roast to cool completely before freezing.
- Remove from Tin: Once it has cooled, then you can pop it out of the tin.
- Wrap: Wrap it in several layers of cling film. This is to keep it airtight and tasting as fresh as possible.
- Bag Up: Pop the nut roast in a freezer bag.
- Label: Label the bag with the date and seal it tightly.
- Freeze: Pop it into the freezer.
How to Freeze Baked Nut Roast In Slices
If you have leftover nut roast that you don’t want to go to waste this method is the method for you! It allows you to freeze in handy portions to grab out just the amount you need at a later date.
Freeze the nut roast as soon as you can, once it has cooled using this method:
- Slice: Prepare the nut roast by cutting into portion-sized slices.
- Wrap: Wrap each slice in cling film individually. You want to ensure that each slice is airtight to stop the taste from degrading.
- Bag Up and Freeze: Pop the wrapped slices into a labelled and dated freezer bag and freeze.
How to Freeze Unbaked Nut Roast
If you want to take out much of the hassle of making a nut roast but still want to bake it fresh on the day you need it, then this method should work. Just be careful with your ingredients and check that these can be frozen before doing this.
- Prepare Roast: Prepare your nut roast as normal.
- Line Tin: Line the tin you plan to bake it in with parchment paper.
- Portion Out: Put the nut roast in the tin.
- Wrap: Wrap the whole nut roast and tin in cling film and pop into the freezer.
- Freeze: You can either keep it frozen in the tin until you need it or you can take the nut roast out of the tin once it has frozen. Then wrap the frozen nut roast again. Pop it into a labelled freezer bag and pop it back into the freezer.
3 Tips for Freezing Nut Roast
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing nut roast to have the best results:
Try Freezing Uncooked
By freezing it uncooked, you can cook it fresh when you want to serve it. This is one of the best ways of masking the fact it was ever frozen in the first place (not that freezing is a bad thing).
Avoid the Microwave
Although you can safely defrost nut roast in the microwave, this will often dry the nut out and leave it quite rubbery. Instead, opt to thaw it slowly in the fridge overnight.
Consider Uses
If there’s one vegetarian in your house who eats nut roast then portion it into slices. If the whole family enjoys it then consider freezing it whole. It’s always important to consider how you use and consume frozen foods.
How Long Can You Freeze Nut Roast?
Different recipes may have different ideas on how long a nut roast should be frozen for and it will also come down to what makes up your nut roast such as chestnuts or cashew nuts. To be safe, we recommend that you only freeze for up to a month.
This ensures that the flavour is as close to fresh as possible. It is worth checking your recipe to see if they have further advice on this.
Cooked nut roast will last up to 4 days in the fridge in a covered dish or bowl. It can then be reheated in the oven, microwave or even enjoyed cold.
How Do You Defrost Nut Roast?
The best method for defrosting nut roast is with a fridge and a little patience! You can take the nut roast out of the freezer and pop it into the fridge to thaw out slowly.
To ensure it is defrosted thoroughly before cooking, get the nut roast out of the freezer the day before you need it.
You could try and speed up the process by defrosting in a microwave, but you should take care with this as the nut roast could end up a little rubbery.
Yes, it is possible to cook an unbaked nut roast directly from frozen. You’ll need to add between 10 and 15 minutes to the usual cooking time. If it begins to burn, cover it with foil.
Can You Refreeze Nut Roast?
It isn’t recommended to refreeze nut roast. It isn’t recommended refreezing many foods at all! This is because freezing as a process changes the food. Crystals form as the food freezes, and these will forever change the texture.
The more often you do this, the more chance there is for the texture and taste to change.
Does Nut Roast Freeze Well?
On the whole, nut roast does freeze fairly well.
As long as you don’t keep it in the freezer for too long and you have wrapped it well so the air can’t get to it, then you shouldn’t notice very much difference at all between fresh, frozen and reheated nut roast!
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing nut roast or nut roast in general, then these may help:
Yes, a baked lentil nut roast can be frozen for around 1 month. Wrap the whole nut roast, or portions of it, in sheets of cling film before popping them into a bag and then freezing.
Hungarian nut roast tends to be a little more like a loaf. We would, therefore, recommend cooking it before freezing and then wrapping it tightly in a couple of layers of clingfilm before freezing as oxidation will degrade the load rapidly.
