Freezing bean soups? (frozen, cookie, reheat, thawing)

[JustJulia]

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a great New Year, with many yummy things to eat.

I have an extra ham in my freezer and would like to make a couple of bean soups. The last two or three hams have been made into split pea soups, and I want to do something different. Both these recipes look good, I think there will be enough meat plus a little left over for snacking, and I like that only one requires a ham bone.

Ham and Bean Soup - All Recipes

Basic Ham and Bean Soup - All Recipes

(Yes, I love Allrecipes.)

I figured I could make both soups this weekend and freeze one or both of them. I don't know how to freeze something so big, though. I tried making a frozen punch once, the kind you freeze and make into a slush. Even with a double freezer bag, I made a huge mess because the weight of the liquid broke the seals. (NEVER doing that again!) I use a lot of disposable/reusable plastic containers ... do they come BIG? What should I do?

And will the beans get dry or pasty? They can absorb a lot of liquid. When I reheat the soup, maybe I should add some broth?

Thanks for the advice!

[LaceyEx]

JJ-I swear by the zip lock containers-with the screw tops. They freeze beautifully and wash up great. When I see them 2/$5 I load up.

[JustJulia]

Thanks, Lacey. I'll have to look for those. I'm kind of a cheapskate and have been buying generic containers, so I haven't looked closely enough at the newer Ziploc products. Can I buy containers to hold several cups of soup (a meal's worth)? I went to ziploc.com, but they only had a picture of the small size (one or two servings).

I do have Pyrex dishes with sealing lids, but I use those on a regular basis.

[stacylee926]

I would not freeze it in one container. Definitely split it up into meals.
I find the best way to freeze 'liquidy' things is to double bag them in a freezer ziplock, lay flat on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen, remove the cookie sheet and they store much easier in the flat bags.

It is perfectly fine to add additional broth or other liquid after thawing and reheating!

I always make my spaghetti sauce in big batches and freeze this way.

[LaceyEx]

JJ there are 2 sizes and I use both-the small are great for 1 serving and the larger enough for 2.

[Goodpasture]

I would use ziplock freezer bags rather than the small containers. I use the quart bags and like stacylee says freeze them first on a cookie sheet flattened out. don't over fill the bags. It is so much easier to thaw one bag at a time, and if you need two or three at once, the cost isn't significant. But frozen flat like that they can be stacked in the freezer easily and neatly.

[jlawrence01]

You should have no problems freezing bean soups. Just let them thaw out completely before cooking.

Personally, I like rigid platic containers when freezing soups over the bags.

[antiquesmountainapache]

The bags and containers both work well. I have always liked to freeze things in small batches. By the way, the soup recipe with the Great Northern beans is delicious. I have made this for years. It was dinner Saturday and tonight. I'll freeze any smidgeon that's left!

[JustJulia]

Thanks, everybody. I think the medium-sized Ziploc containers will work well. They won't hold a dinner's worth of soup, BUT I can thaw a smaller amount for lunch. Also, depending on the container size, maybe I can pop a couple soup blocks into a crock pot and thaw them on warm.

I did see some large, rectangular Rubbermaid containers, too. Those will stack nicely in my freezer, but the crock pot idea would be out. I'll see what's a decent price at Target or Meijer and stock up!

[sgresident]

I use the square quart containers. they are white/clear. I label the tops with masking tape so i know what is inside. I never put liquids in ziploc bags. (just not that confident). The containers work great for soups, chili, spaghetti sauce, etc. they are not expensive and seem to last quite a long time. I do a lot of batch cooking and the only things that don't freeze well are veggie soups with chunks of potatoes in them. or stew with potatoes.