Pate doesn’t have a long shelf life. Whether it’s bought in a shop, from a deli or homemade. The best you get in the fridge is about a week, ten days if you are lucky and it isn’t always easy to use up all of the pate in that time. So what do you do?
Can You Freeze Pate?
Yes, you can freeze pate for up to 3 months. The main thing to focus on is that you store the pate airtight. If air can get in then the flavour and texture will degrade rapidly.
Do Does Pate freeze well? Sometimes
Can you refreeze Pate? No
How To Freeze Pate
Pate is delicately made, and it can also be delicate to freeze. It has a high-fat content that can change in both texture and taste fairly easily when frozen.
If you follow these easy instructions, you should be able to freeze any leftover pate successfully.
How to Freeze Pate Whole
If you have a packet of pate that you want to freeze whole, or if you have made pate yourself and know you’ll be eating the whole thing in one go, then this is the method for you:
- Freeze It (Really!): If your pate is still unopened and in its original packaging, you can pop it in the freezer. No preparation is necessary! Make sure you write the date on the packet before freezing so you know when you need to use it.
- Portion It
If your pate is opened or you have made it from scratch, you need to ensure it is in an airtight container or bag before freezing.
How to Freeze Pate In Portions
If, however, you don’t think you’ll consume the full pate in one hit, then you’ll be far better off portioning it out first and then freezing it in smaller portions:
- Prepare a Tray: You need to grab a silicone ice cube tray or small silicone cake tin. Choose a tin or tray with sections that match the size of the pate portion you prefer. Spoon the pate into the different sections of the tray.
- Flash Freeze: Pop the tray into the freezer and let it freeze for a few hours. Once the pate has frozen, you can take it out of the freezer and transfer it from the silicone moulds into a freezer bag.
- Bag It: Label the freezer bag, and seal it tight, squeezing out any air. This helps to avoid freezer burn.
- Final Freeze: Pop it back into the freezer and refreeze. Now, whenever you want a portion of pate, you can take out the amount you need out of the freezer and defrost it.
3 Tips for Freezing Pate
Now you know how to freeze pate, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing them to have the best results:
Flash Freeze Portions
We recommend freezing pate in portions to make it far easier to grab as much as you need. But to freeze portions efficiently, you will want to flash freeze them before placing them all into a bag. This will prevent them from sticking to one another.
Protect
One of the most important things to do is protect pate in the freezer. It can become freezer burnt easily and will also absorb other odours. Wrap it in multiple layers of clingfilm before placing it in thick freezer bags.
Avoid Refreezing
Refreezing pate, especially those containing meat, can be dangerous and cause huge textural changes. We would advise against refreezing pate.
How Long Can You Freeze Pate?
Luckily if you freeze your pate while it is still fresh, you can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Make sure you don’t leave it in the freezer any longer as the dish’s high-fat content will cause it to separate and deteriorate.
Pate will last for between 5 and 10 days in the fridge. You need to ensure it is wrapped tightly so that air cannot get in, however. You must also consume it before the use-by date.
How Do You Defrost Pate?
There are two ways you can defrost pate. The first is the most recommended as it is less likely to deteriorate the pate. This is the slower thawing method, so it takes a little forethought.
The night before you need the pate, take it out of the freezer and put it on a plate in the fridge overnight. This allows the pate to defrost slowly, so it should be perfect by the time you need to use it.
Suppose you need the pate to be edible a little quicker, then you can speed up the process by defrosting it in room temperature water.
Grab a bowl, fill it up, and submerge the pate in the freezer bag until it has defrosted. Just make sure the pate is well wrapped before putting it in the water or you will end up with a very wet pate.
Can You Refreeze Pate?
Pate isn’t something that can be refrozen again and again.
The delicate structure of the dish and the fat and moisture content means that crystals will form every time it has frozen, which changes the overall texture.
Does Pate Freeze Well?
Pate doesn’t always freeze well, and you are likely to notice a slight change in the pate’s texture once it has been frozen and defrosted.
As long as you don’t mind this slight change, you should be able to enjoy your pate as much as you did when it was fresh!
If you notice any separating ingredients after it has thawed, you can always give it a quick blend in a blender or even mix it back up with a fork.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing pate or pate in general, then these may help:
Terrine, like pate, can be frozen. Wrap portions of terrine in a sheet of clingfilm then pop them into a freezer bag. You could also freeze terrine on a baking tray before popping the frozen pieces into a bag.
When freezing fish, you need to be a little careful, but there is no reason you can’t freeze mackerel pate successfully. Either pop an unopened packet in the freezer or wrap portions of mackerel pate, bag it up and freeze it.
Mushroom pate is one of the best types of pates to freeze. It still has a high-fat content which can cause a few issues and texture changes when freezing but it will still be delicious to eat and is the perfect way to store pate that would have gone to waste.
