Freezing food has its perks. It can help you plan meals for later and is the perfect quick fix after a busy day when you don’t feel like cooking. However, some question whether their frozen food is losing its nutritional value.
“It depends on the food,” Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic and co-author of Regenerative Health, told Health. “Some food has an enhanced bioavailability of nutrients when heat is applied (ie., when it’s blanched or cooked before freezing), while others may be better in a raw state.”
Freezing foods doesn’t cause much loss of nutritional value. According to the experts, it actually may preserve nutrients when properly stored.
“The freezing process can preserve the nutrients in food to some extent by slowing down the loss of vitamins that would occur over time if the food were kept at room temperature or in the fridge,” Kelsey Costa, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant told the outlet.
While freezing food is a great option to save time and money, there are a few things to know before doing so.
How to freeze food
Whether you have an upright or a chest freezer, there are certain things to do before freezing food and storing it away. Here are four tips on how to freeze food:
Let cooked food cool before freezing
Wrap the food properly or put it in sealed containers
Freeze serving size, not huge portions
Put a label on it with the date frozen
To keep your food longer, a few freezing tips to avoid are: Don’t freeze after the “use by”date and don’t let ice build up. If you don’t remember when you put the item in the freezer, throw it out.
“Freezers have a star rating to let you know how long the food can safely be stored. You should check the star rating, as well as the instructions on packaged frozen food,” says Safe Food.