Your spaghetti sauce is thawed and ready to go, but you’re craving a pizza tonight. Can you refreeze tomato sauce?
Yes, you can refreeze tomato sauce and it is safe. But be aware that the texture may change once it’s been frozen again. If your sauce has already been cooked, it should freeze just fine as long as there are no chunks of vegetables or meat in it.
If the recipe calls for raw tomatoes, those will need to be omitted from the freezer bag before freezing so they don’t break down too much when reheating.
You can also add a little cornstarch or flour (about 1 teaspoon per pint) if you plan on heating up your sauce after refreezing.
This will help keep everything intact while rewarming.
How to refreeze tomato sauce properly?
Refreezing tomato sauce properly is very important to keep the texture and quality in place.
You can refreeze cooked tomato sauce for up to 3 months as long as it isn’t touched by any meat or raw ingredients.
To refreeze, let thaw completely and mix with a little water if refreezing was done in a bag.
If refrozen in the original container, make sure to leave room for expansion of the refrozen food once opened back up again.
Never refreeze sauce if it’s frozen solid. It should always be refrozen once thawed.
If your food has been properly refrozen, it will refreeze into a softer state.
If refreezing occurs when still mostly frozen, the refrozen food will refreeze into larger ice crystals that are harder to break down.
If you need to refreeze an opened bottle of tomato sauce to use immediately, make sure to refreeze it at a low temperature.
This way refreezing is slower and safer to ensure that refreezing is done slowly and refreezing is refrozen thoroughly.
What should I watch out for when refreezing?
When refreezing tomato sauce, try not to refreeze too much at a time.
This can cause the refrozen sauce to refreeze much harder than it originally did, making it difficult to break up.
Refreezing may also alter the color and texture of sauces that contain cream or cheese.
They will both refreeze fine in small amounts, but refreezing large portions can change the way they look and taste.
If you are refreezing pasta sauce in a bag, make sure that none of the contents are touching the bottom or sides of the plastic so you don’t refreeze any freezer burn-on contact.
Can I refreeze tomato sauce from a can?
Yes, refreezing canned tomato sauce is safe and fine.
Canned sauce refreezes fine in the same way as if it were a homemade sauce.
Then refreeze according to the number of months recommended on the can (usually 1 year).
How many times can I refreeze spaghetti sauce?
You can refreeze tomato sauce up to 3 times.
However, you need to remember that refreezing will potentially affect the quality of the sauce.
So try to refreeze tomato sauce up to three times.
What happens if I refreeze spaghetti sauce too many times?
If refrozen more than 3 times, your refrozen tomato sauce could become a little grainy and hard to break down when reheating.
Once refrozen too many times, the texture will no longer be smooth like it was in the beginning when you refroze the sauce for the first time.
Advice from the experts:
Freezing sauces in their original containers typically refreeze fine.
But if you refreeze in a bag with some air space, all of the contents will refreeze evenly and more precisely.
Bags are also better for freezing sauces because they protect food from freezer burn-on touching the sauce’s edges or bottom.
What about the refreezing homemade sauce?
You can refreeze any kind of sauce as long as it was originally refrozen properly.
This includes sauces made from fresh ingredients, frozen and refrozen whole or in parts, jarred foods refrozen after opening, or refrozen from a can.
If you are refreezing home-cooked tomato sauce after refreezing, make sure that it has been properly refrozen the first time around.
This means refreezing slowly until refrozen completely through and refreezing in small portions to keep a safe texture once refrozen.
How long can tomato sauce be refrozen?
You can refreeze any kind of refreeze sauce for up to 3 months.
Remember that refreezing with too much at a time will refreeze the food harder than it was before, making it difficult to break down after reheating.
So refreezing in small amounts can refreeze it into a better quality after refreezing.
What’s the best way to refreeze tomato sauce?
When refreezing pasta sauce, make sure that all of the contents are touching the bottom and sides of the plastic bag so you don’t refreeze any freezer burn-on contact.
Refreezing the sauce from its original container will refreeze it just as nicely as refreezing it from a can.
How long does defrosted tomato sauce last?
Defrosted tomato sauce can last up to 7 days in the refrigerator, or be refrozen for up to 3 months.
Final Thoughts
As you can see refreezing tomato sauce is safe and easy to do.
Keep the tomato sauce in the freezer for a refreezing period of 3 months is what I recommend.
However, only refreeze your tomato sauce up to three times.
After that, it’s best not to refreeze the sauce because refreezing multiple times can make it much harder than refreezing for just once.
I hope this helps. Thank you for visiting.
If you want to learn more about freezing foods, visit my guide.