Have you ever tried Freezing Dairy Products to Stretch your Grocery Budget?
While shopping with a friend one time I seen a great deal on butter and scooped up at least a dozen and put them into my cart. My friend gave me the oddest look, she had no idea that butter could be frozen.
The shock was on me when someone later told me that you could also freeze milk. That information was awesome to hear, since it seems we are running to the store for milk many times a week.
Shopping during sales and preventing perishables form spoiling are a great way to stretch your grocery budget. Did you know that many dairy products can last in the freezer, and later re-thawed in the fridge for use?
Milk
- Pasteurized homogenized milk can be frozen for up to 1 month while Non-fat and low-fat milks will freeze better than whole milk. Take note that liquids expand when frozen, so be sure to remove about 1/3 cup of the milk before placing in the freezer. When thawing, be sure to shake your milk well to remix the fats.
Butter
- Butter can last for 6-12 months in the freezer, yet Unsalted butter can lose its flavor over time so it should only be frozen for 3-6 months.
Cheese
- Hard cheese can be frozen for up to 4-6 months. They may become dry and crumbly after thawing, so they are then best used for cooking and not slicing. Myself, I shred the cheese and separate about 2 cups into each freezer bags – perfect to use for casseroles, tacos, lasagnas and pastas!
Cream Cheese
- Cream cheese can be frozen for up to 4-6 months. Since it loses a bit of the creaminess once thawed, mix well and best used for baking and cooking.
Cottage Cheese
- Cottage Cheese can be frozen for up to 1 month.
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Great tips! And yup, I knew about the milk trick… I froze copious amounts of breastmilk for my little fanatic over the course of a year
Cheese doesn’t even last long enough in our household to be frozen. We do however freeze butter since I only use it for baking and so always stock up when it is on sale.
we go in stages, Becky. Sometimes our cheese should be frozen it seems!
I’m with you on the butter though, best to buy on sale for future use!
I have frozen all dairy products except cottage cheese. I never even thought to freeze it, but now I will because I can buy extra when it’s on sale.
We also freeze yogurt.
Is the same when thawed, Monica?
I’ve bought the activia dessert yogurt when it was 50% off since it was going to expire soon and then froze it. It made for a great cool treat!!
Tammi, it’s a little crystally (is that even a word?? lol) when it thaws but if you stir it well it’s really good. However, what I usually do is spoon it into popsicle type moulds and we eat it frozen… DELICIOUS, very creamy and low in fat and calories. You could also take the single serve containers and poke a little slit in the top of each, insert a wooden popsicle stick and freeze.
This is my first time heard that dairy products can be frozen. How is the taste? I will try and see if my daughter likes it. Thank you for the tips.
I always freeze shredded cheese. I didn’t know about milk. I knew about butter, but for some reason don’t do it. Thanks for the tips.
I would love to have the freezer room to freeze milk jugs, I seen a great sale of 1.49 for 4L the other day! Alas, my freezer is too full!
I knew about milk and learned about cheese a few months ago. I find milk does not turn out right after thawing. But like you said to shake it i would have to do. But i don’t think we will be doing that anytime soon.
Thank you for the tips and how long the products will last in the freezer.
Londia, I need to get an extra fridge/freezer at some point. That’s when I’m really going to test the freeze-the-milk test. Right now we don’t have the space, But, I do know lots of people that do freeze it!
These are really excellent tips, had no idea you could freeze cheese but I suppose that makes sense seeing as you get it on frozen pizzas and the like!
But what I am wondering is can you freeze eggs?
You can Louisa, but it is tricky. Since i wasn’t sure how they turned out, I didn’t include it in my list – but you can!
Awesome tips… I get kind of giddy just thinking about a freezer full of butter though
I knew butter & cheese can be frozen but I am a bit skeptical about liquid form (milk/cream) as I read from someone that after it thawed the shelf life will be within 10 days.
And, the milk I bought is alway 4L plastic bags ($7.18) which is cheaper than I buy in 2L cartons ($4.38)
Yep, milk in QC is expensive.
whoa! And I thought AB was bad for prices, that’s a hefty price!