Ramen broth has a wealth of flavour, typically at its best when it’s as fresh as possible. You don’t want the broth to become stale over time or spoil at all. But, can you store ramen broth? Would the freezer work?
Can You Freeze Ramen Broth?
Yes, you can freeze ramen broth for up to 1 month. The best way to do this is simple. Place the broth into an airtight container, leaving around two centimetres of headspace, and seal the container.
Do Does Ramen Broth freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Ramen Broth? Yes
How to Freeze Ramen Broth
The best way to freeze ramen broth in your kitchen is fundamentally very simple. To do this, we recommend ensuring that the broth is cooled and grabbing a clean container of an appropriate size.
- Decant Broth: Transfer the ramen broth to the airtight container with a ladle, leaving around two centimetres of headspace – water expands when it freezes, and broth is mostly water.
- Completely Cool: If the broth is still at all warm. Warmth in the container can lead to bacterial growth, which is, of course, food unsafe.
- Seal: When the broth is entirely cool, place the lid on the container, ensuring that it’s snapped shut all the way around – making sure the container is airtight is vital, as a non-sealed container will contribute smells to the interior of your freezer.
- Freeze: When sealed, transfer the container to the freezer and allow the broth to freeze solid; it should freeze and keep well for around a month.
3 Tips for Freezing Ramen Broth
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing ramen broth to have the best results:
Don’t Fear Freezer Burn
Ramen broth is just that – broth, a liquid that contains no solids that could be damaged through freezer burn. To that end, you don’t need to worry about wrapping the container in anything or take any similar precautions you might take for other ingredients.
Freeze Noodle Separately
If you’ve cooked noodles within the ramen broth while making it, remove them and freeze them separately. Because of the protein content of egg noodles, they really ought to be frozen in drier conditions.
Ensure the Container is Sealed
An open container will contribute to a poor odour in your freezer, which is bad for any other food that you may have frozen.
How Long Can You Freeze Ramen Broth?
You can freeze ramen broth for up to 1 month. Realistically, you could likely keep it in the freezer for a little longer, but the thing that ought to stop you is the aromatic ingredients.
Over time, even in the freezer, aromatic ingredients will slowly release all of their flavour compounds, leaving them with none. Ultimately, you’ll be left with a bland broth!
The ideal time limit for preventing this from happening is one month – that’s not enough time for all of the aromatic compounds in your food to evaporate and be lost.
How Do You Defrost Ramen Broth?
To defrost ramen broth, your best bet is to use the microwave. We recommend this as it will heat all of the ramen broth in one fell swoop, allowing for a more intense overall heating, which is more food safe.
To defrost ramen broth in the microwave, remove the lid from the container a small amount, either sitting it askew on top of the container or popping up one of the corners to create a hole for steam to escape through.
Microwave the ramen broth in minute-long increments on full power until it’s steaming hot.
Can You Refreeze Ramen Broth?
Yes, you can refreeze ramen broth. Since broth is entirely liquid, there’s no risk of freezer burn or repeated freezing, degrading the contents of the broth itself. Instead, you can be sure that the broth will maintain its quality.
We would urge you to be sure that there are no solids in the broth when you come to refreeze it, however – solids can be degraded through repeated freezing and cooking, and that will impact the final flavour and quality of your ramen meal.
Consider straining the cooled ramen broth into a container when the time comes for you to refreeze it.
Does Ramen Broth Freeze Well?
Yes, ramen broth does freeze well, typically not reducing in quality over time.
This is because liquids don’t have a chemical structure that is susceptible to damage over time from repeated or prolonged freezing. Instead, they simply form into a crystalline structure again and again.
To ensure that your ramen broth freezes well, we urge you to ensure that the broth is completely cool before you seal the container that it’s in. This will hugely cut down on any potential bacterial growth making your meal much safer.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing ramen broth or ramen in general, then these may help:
Unfortunately, cooked ramen does not have a long shelf life. It will only keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, if you’re lucky.
Ramen is often served with a soft-boiled egg atop. Although you can freeze ramen eggs, they will become rubbery. Unfortunately, ramen eggs are far better cooked fresh.
