Protein shakes are a vital part of any gym lover’s journey – they can be a great way to boost your nutritional intake while also being sure to gain some muscle mass. But, is it possible to batch prepare them and keep them?
Can You Freeze Protein Shakes?
Yes, you can freeze protein shakes for up to 3 months. The best way to do this is to place them into a container with a bit of headspace and then place them within your freezer at any convenient location.
Do Do Protein Shakes freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Protein Shakes? Yes
How to Freeze Protein Shakes
Before freezing a protein shake, you must ensure it’s as fresh as possible. With that in mind, we recommend using either your shaker, an immersion blender, or a more conventional blender to create the protein shake in one go.
You can create multiple protein shakes in one go, though you’d need to do the math to consider precisely what volume of water is required relative to the scoops of protein powder you’d be using.
Once you’ve made the protein shakes, make sure that there are no clumps in the shake – this will ensure that you can freeze the shake properly, as the shake will freeze solid, with no thawed sections in it. You can now get to freezing it:
- Portion: Portion the protein shakes into the containers. The best way to do this is to use a set of identically sized containers so that you can be sure that the portions you create will be precisely correct for your needs.
- Leave Room for Expansion: Make sure to leave around an inch of headroom between the top of the protein shake and the lid of the container. Water-based liquids expand once they’re frozen, which means protein shakes will do that, too. To avoid the containers bursting or spilling, headspace is vital.
- Seal: Seal the containers, allowing some excess air in there – that space will be used for the shake to expand into.
- Freeze: Once sealed, place the containers into the freezer, and allow them to freeze solid. Once frozen, they can be kept for up to 3 months.
3 Tips for Freezing Protein Shakes
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing protein shakes to have the best results:
Remove Clumps
Ensuring that there are no clumps within your protein shakes will allow them to freeze more evenly. Any clumps of powder will form clumps of air, which can lead to the protein shake not freezing correctly, and spillage occurring.
Leave Room for Expansion
Leaving headspace is the only way to ensure no spillage in your freezer, which can lead to a sticky, messy, frustrating situation. Anywhere from half an inch to an inch of headspace is the best rule of thumb to work with.
Label Clearly
Protein shakes can look like a range of other dishes once frozen. If you don’t want to find yourself thawing the wrong dish in future then make sure you write a really clear label on the container.
How Long Can You Freeze Protein Shakes?
You can freeze protein shakes in your home for up to three months.
We wouldn’t recommend freezing them for much beyond that since anything frozen for that long loses a lot of flavours, colour, and texture to the ice in your freezer and oxidates over time.
Homemade protein shakes can be kept in the fridge for around 72 hours. Be warned, however, that some separation will occur so they will need to be reshaken or blended.
How Do You Defrost Protein Shakes?
The best way to defrost protein shakes is to use your fridge.
Transfer the frozen protein shakes to your fridge the night before you intend to drink them, and then allow them to thaw to fridge temperature overnight.
In the morning, you may have to give them a stir, or transfer them to a shaker, to ensure that they’re entirely smooth.
Can You Refreeze Protein Shakes?
Yes, you can refreeze protein shakes. Since there is no meat content in the shakes, and there is no texture to be lost to freezer burn, refreezing the shakes is entirely fine, and will not place you in danger.
Do Protein Shakes Freeze Well?
Yes, protein shakes do freeze well. The reason for this is that they do not lose much if any, texture and flavour during the freezing process. Instead, the ice crystals form and thaw, leaving the protein shake largely untouched.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing protein shakes or shakes in general, then these may help:
Yes, nutritional shakes can be frozen for around 3 months in containers with a tight-fitting lid. They will need to be clump-free when frozen.
There is no point freezing dry protein powder as it has a lengthy shelf life when kept in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight.
