Can You Freeze Spaghetti Bolognese?

3 minutes

Spaghetti bolognese is one of those dinners that the whole family enjoys. To ensure you’ve always got enough in for the following pasta night, have you considered whether it’s freezable or not?

How to Freeze Spaghetti Bolognese

Freezing spaghetti bolognese doesn’t have to be a contrived, complex effort, but it involves a little more than tipping a plate into the freezer.

Follow our instructions to achieve the best results:

1. Transfer Spaghetti: Transferring the spaghetti to a rigid container while it’s still warm and moist will be easier than doing it when it’s cooled, when it becomes sticky.
2. Cool: Allowing the spaghetti to cool is vital, as it will ensure that you can avoid condensation within your containers. Condensation and the humidity it creates allow for bacterial growth, which is unsafe for storage and consumption in the home.
3. Seal: Sealing the container well is essential. If you don’t seal the container and ensure that the plastic snapping latches are well sealed, you can risk spilling spaghetti bolognese within your freezer.
4. Label: Label the container with the correct date to ensure you don’t store the spaghetti bolognese for too long. If you did store it for too long, then you would end up freezer burning the food, leading to a poor meal.
5. Freeze: Make sure to place the container into the centre of the freezer, where the frost front will be delayed for as long as possible. That will allow you to extend the shelf time of your pasta.

3 Tips for Freezing Spaghetti Bolognese

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

Avoid Cheese
Freezing cheese isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but fine shards of parmesan can serve as nucleation points for ice crystals within your freezer. To ensure they don’t start a freezer burn wave, avoid freezing pasta with the cheese on top.

Cool Directly In Containers
Cooling the spaghetti in the freezer containers traps more moisture in the pasta and meat. This, once the pasta has been reheated, makes for the difference between a dry, disappointing meal and a tasty, rich one. 

Undercook the Pasta
If you know that you’re making spaghetti bolognese for your freezer, consider undercooking the pasta quite a bit – almost by half! The freezing process will ‘cook’ the pasta a little.

How Long Can You Freeze Spaghetti Bolognese?

You can freeze spaghetti bolognese for up to 3 months. The thing holding you back from freezing spaghetti for longer than that is the pasta itself – it will lose its texture reasonably quickly.

To store things a little longer, consider freezing the sauce on its own and keeping the dry pasta uncooked in your pantry.

How Do You Defrost Spaghetti Bolognese?

The best way to defrost spaghetti bolognese is to use the microwave. The reason for this is that when you microwave it at full power in increments of 30 seconds, you can easily and quickly stir the pasta dish.

This allows heat to be distributed quicker and more evenly. The pasta is ready to eat when it’s steaming hot through.

Can You Refreeze Spaghetti Bolognese?

This depends on a few things. Principally, if your bolognese sauce contains actual meat, then no, you cannot refreeze spaghetti bolognese.

If your spaghetti bolognese contains no meat or a meat substitute, such as Quorn, then you can thaw and refreeze spaghetti if needs be.

Does Spaghetti Bolognese Freeze Well?

Yes, spaghetti bolognese does freeze well.

The reason for this is that there is relatively little water in the dish to be separated out by freezing, leading to flavour and texture loss. Providing that you only freeze it for up to 6 months, you won’t notice any significant changes at all.

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing spaghetti bolognese or bolognese in general, then these may help: