Can You Freeze Potato Cakes?

How to Freeze Potato Cakes

To freeze potato cakes successfully, you need to take a little care and do some preparation work, including double freezing them. It is worth it because your potato cakes will freeze better and be easier to use.

To freeze the potato cakes, follow these instructions.

1. Cook and Cool
   Cook your potato cakes and then pop them onto a cooling rack to cool down.
2. Place Onto a Baking Tray
   Once the potato cakes are cooled completely then you can start the next step of the freezing process. To start with, you need to grab a baking sheet or two. These need to be completely flat and freezer safe. Put some parchment paper onto the baking sheets and lay the potato cakes flat onto it. Keep the potato cakes completely flat and separate. Pop the trays into the freezer.
3. Freeze
   Let the potato cakes freeze for a couple of hours, and while they are freezing, you can prepare for the next step. You will need to cut some squares of parchment paper a little larger than the potato cakes.
4. Remove from Freezer
   When the potato cakes have frozen, then you can grab them out of the freezer.
5. Layer Into Stacks
   Layer your frozen potato cakes up with a layer of parchment paper in between each one until you have a stack of potato cakes that won’t stick together in the freezer.
6. Bag Up
   Pop your stack of potato cakes into a freezer bag and seal it closed tightly.
7. Freeze
   Label the bag with the date and contents and pop it into the freezer.

Now, whenever you need a potato cake or two, you can pull a couple off the stack without the others getting ruined.

How to Freeze Tuna Potato Cakes

Tuna potato cakes are a delicious version of potato cake. A little like fishcakes, you can make these with or without breadcrumbs. You can freeze them, and you freeze them using the same method outlined above for freezing potato cakes.

3 Tips for Freezing Potato Cakes

Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing potato cakes to have the best results:

• Add Other Ingredients – You can include lots of other ingredients in your potato cakes, so add whatever ingredients take your fancy. When it comes to freezing, you do have to be a little careful and check that these ingredients and can also be frozen. Most ingredients won’t make too much difference, so you should still have plenty of time to eat the potato cakes.
• Keep Them Airtight – Making your potato cakes airtight is the best way to keep them as fresh and tasty as possible. If you want to be extra careful, you can wrap the whole stack in clingfilm before putting them into the freezer bag. This will ensure that the air in the freezer can’t get at the potato cakes.
• Write Clear Labels – If you’ve made a variety of potato cakes with different fillings them make sure you write the content on the label, so you know whether you’re defrosting plain, fish or corned beef cakes. 

How Long Can You Freeze Potato Cakes?

You can freeze your potato cakes for up to around three months. After this, the potato cakes can start to dry out or even start to taste freezer burnt. Luckily three months is plenty of time to use them up. They are a versatile food that can be used for so many meals and snacks.

You Can Freeze Potato Cakes for up to 3 Months

How Do You Defrost Potato Cakes?

Heating and eating your potato cakes are really easy to do. In some cases, you might not even need to thaw them out. They may even taste better if cooked from frozen! You can pop them under the grill or in the oven and cook.

They will defrost and crisp up as they thaw out. If you want to pan-fry, you can even shallow fry them in a little oil. 

If you would like to thaw out the potato cakes before heating, then the best method to do so is by putting them on a plate in the fridge until they are thawed out completely.

Can You Refreeze Potato Cakes?

You shouldn’t try and refreeze your potato cakes once they have been thawed out and reheated. Unfortunately, they can degrade or even spoil and just wouldn’t taste as good. Refrozen food can also make you sick, and it isn’t worth the risk.

Do Potato Cakes Freeze Well?

Potato cakes do freeze well on the whole. If there is any change, it will be to the texture with the potato cakes becoming a little too moist. You can always fix this by heating them under the grill for a few moments.

This will help crisp them back up until they are almost as good as fresh potato cakes.

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing potato cakes or potatoes in general, then these may help:

Can You Freeze Mashed Potato Patties?

Mashed potato patties are essential potato cakes. You take any leftover mashed potato and form it into a burger patty shape before frying. If you want to freeze them, then follow the method at the top of this page. 

Can You Freeze Potato Pancakes?

Potato pancakes, as you can probably guess, are fairly similar to potato cakes but tend to be a little thinner. This can make them a little more fragile to handle when freezing. They do end up quite brittle, so you do need to be gentle. Having said that, you can freeze potato pancakes.