Freezing Mashed Potatoes: What You Should Consider

You can freeze mashed potatoes without any problems – as long as they are prepared with milk, cream or butter. It is practical to freeze the porridge in portions and write the use-by date on the container with a waterproof pen.

Freeze mashed potatoes at room temperature

Mashed potatoes are a delicious side dish for meat and vegetables. The porridge is quickly made in large quantities. There is often a portion left over. Before you throw them away, you should freeze the mashed potatoes.

• It is important to know that you should only freeze mashed potatoes that have been prepared with milk, cream or butter. If you seasoned the porridge with water or broth, then after defrosting, lumps will form. They occur because the starch sticks together without the fatty ingredients from freezing.
• Only freeze freshly made mashed potatoes. It should be at room temperature before you put it in the freezer. However, the porridge should not stand in a warm place for several hours. This quickly increases the germ load.
• The mashed potatoes can be frozen in sealable plastic or glass containers or in freezer bags. Important: Write down the freezing date or the date by when the mashed potatoes should be used.

Defrost and reheat mashed potatoes slowly

At minus 18 degrees, the frozen mashed potatoes can be kept for two months. Because of the milk, cream or butter it contains, you should no longer store the porridge in the freezer.

• If you want to thaw the mashed potatoes, you can either do that overnight in the fridge. Or – if you want it to go faster – you can thaw the porridge at room temperature. You should not heat frozen mashed potatoes. This is not good for the consistency or the taste.
• After defrosting, you can either heat the mashed potatoes directly in a saucepan. To do this, add some fresh milk and boil the porridge while stirring.
• Or you can use a water bath in which the mashed potatoes are gently heated. This takes longer than direct heating in a saucepan. The water bath method is particularly gentle on consistency and taste. Again, add some milk to the porridge.
• After reheating, the mashed potatoes should be eaten immediately. Refreezing is not advisable due to a possible high germ load.