Rich in tomato flavour, tomato soup is a firm favourite especially when tomatoes come into season. They make for such an easy way to bulk prepare tomatoes. But how should you go about storing your tomato soup for the long term?
Can You Freeze Tomato Soup?
Yes, you can freeze tomato soup for up to 6 months. Once cooled, you should decant the soup into good-quality freezer bags before sealing them up carefully and placing them into the freezer.
Do Does Tomato Soup freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Tomato Soup? No
How to Freeze Tomato Soup
As with freezing most soup types, freezing tomato soup is super simple and just requires freezer bags. Here is our 4-step method:
- Cool: Before you get to freezing the tomato soup, make sure you have given it time to cool to room temperature.
- Label Bags: Before pouring liquid into the bags, label them with tomato soup and the date. It can be a little difficult to write on bags that are full of liquid.
- Pour Into Freezer Bags: Pour the soup into the labelled freezer bags. You should try to pour one portion into each bag so you can easily defrost a portion at a time. Seal the bags up, removing excess air so they don’t take up too much room.
- Freeze: Place the bags into the freezer. It’s a good idea to try to keep them upright just in case they open up slightly and cause a leak. Once solid, they can then be moved.
3 Tips for Freezing Tomato Soup
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing tomato soup to have the best results:
Expect Tupperware to Stain
Unfortunately, the bright red colour of tomato soup will stain any plastic Tupperware containers you use. This is why we opt for freezer bags in our method. If you don’t mind your Tupperware getting stained then you can opt for them instead.
Use Good-Quality Freezer Bags
If you decide to use our approach of using freezer bags then make sure you use high-quality ones. You want to look for thick, leak-proof bags with a tight seal. Cheaper bags are far more prone to leaking.
Label It Clearly
Like many frozen products, it can be hard to tell them apart. Frozen tomato soup could quite easily look like pasta sauce or romesco sauce. By making sure you label it clearly, you can easily grab the correct item from the freeze.
How Long Can You Freeze Tomato Soup?
Although tomato soup can be frozen indefinitely, over time the flavour will degrade somewhat. This is why we would advise consuming it within a 6-month window. This is why you should always put the date on which you froze it on the bag.
How Do You Defrost Tomato Soup?
Defrosting tomato soup is simple but a little time-consuming. Ultimately, you should grab a portion of soup from the freezer before placing the bag into a bowl and into the fridge to thaw overnight.
A portion of soup should take roughly 24 hours to defrost in the fridge before it can be reheated in a pan.
Can You Refreeze Tomato Soup?
We would strongly advise against refreezing tomato soup.
Refreezing is unlikely to cause you any harm but it will certainly impact the flavour and texture (and sometimes even the colour). Instead, try to freeze it in portions so you never defrost more than you need.
Does Tomato Soup Freeze Well?
Tomato soup freezes really well and, providing that it is stored in a good-quality bag that is fully airtight, you’ll struggle to tell the difference between a freshly made soup and one that has been frozen.
The only exception to this is if you have stirred cream into the soup before freezing it. If you can, avoid doing so and only sitr the cream in when reheating it at a later date.
When serving it up, sprinkle with some fresh basil or parsley to add a little freshness to the soup and to completely mask the fact that it was once frozen.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing tomato soup or soup in general, then these may help:
If you have used cream in your tomato soup then it will freeze OK but there is a small risk the fat within the cream will split. A gentle warm through while stirring should rectify most of this, however.
Unfortunately, Heinz has confirmed that their soups cannot be frozen. We would assume this includes their tomato soup too.
Yes, canned tomato soup that has been opened can be frozen. If the can hasn’t been opened, however, then there is simply no point in freezing it as it will keep for months (if not years) in the can.
