Can you freeze risotto?

Skint_Catt

Does that apply to twice frozen pizza? It's pepparoni, and I think I left it out of the freezer too long when I was sorting the drawers out for shopping but I put it back without thinking about it.

Bongedone

I doubt risotto would re-heat well and also the above safety aspect. I freeze boiled rice but I plunge is in cold water and drain it 1st. I would not freeze rice that had cooled down naturally. Its simple to re-heat in the microwave afterwards.

dannahaz

Hi, yes you can freeze risotto.

According to Delia you should let the risotto cool before freezing in a rigid plastic container. Defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating or place frozen risotto in the oven in a covered dish to heat through.

loulou123

Am currently making a chicken risotto in my new slow cooker and i've made way too much.
the chicken was fresh and i cooked it before adding it so know that this will be ok frozen, my problem is with the rice.

Now normally if i was saving rice, i know you must cool it as quickly as possible (e.g run it under a cold tap etc) but obviously i cant do this with rice that has a sauce in it.

So am bit confused as to what to do, would it be best to put the leftovers into boxes and just put straight into the fridge (even tho it will be very warm still) until its cool enough to pop in freezer, or leave to cool for a bit on the side, then cool in fridge before popping in the freezer. As its been cooked in the slow cooker, it stays warm for ages, as i found out last night with the sausage casserole i made and this concerns me with rice.

Or is trying to save some just too risky???

Please help!

Pink.

Hi loulou,

Cooling it in the fridge isn't a great idea as it will alter the fridge temperature. Just take it out of the slow cooker and put it into the boxes and leave it on the side to cool as the smaller amounts will cool down more quickly. Freeze once it's cold.

This thread has more advice on freezing risotto:

freezing risotto

I'll add your thread to it once you've had more replies as your question may help others.

Pink

loulou123

Thank you pink-winged. Hmmm after reading the link i'm even more unsure as to whether it is really safe to keep it, as a lot of the posts state that its the leaving it at a warm temperature part that is dangerous.

If i was to put it in the fridge when still warm, would this be dangerous (if it increased the fridges temp) as i have very little in the fridge anyway, apart from milk, cheese, juice and beer!

zippychick

Loulou

Ive not got time to read the risotto thread, but if you put in smaller portions out to cool at room temp, then refridgerate once cool, that should be fine. People are very very cautious about cooling and freezing rice so there may have also been comments along those lines.

I really don't think you should put it in the fridge to cool but that's my personal opinion

Few links

Food standards - discussion on storing cooked rice

Also - refridgerating food when warm by food standards agency

Myself, i have safely cooled, frozen and reheated rice on many many occasions and I live to tell the tale. Of course, be cautious and go with your instinct - what ever you feel comfortable iwth:A

Zip

Pink.

I have personally frozen risotto many times and it will be absolutely fine cooled in the kitchen as long as you put it into the freezer as soon as it's cold. If it's divided into smaller portions it should only take roughly half an hour to cool so it's not sitting around for too long. Sometimes I pop the covered containers onto the (outside) kitchen windowsill to help it along, but as it's warm at the moment that probably won't make any difference.

I think it will be fine, but if you aren't happy about it then you probably won't enjoy the risotto when you come to eat it, so although it's not something I would do, but if you don't have anything that would come to harm with the fridge not working efficiently and it puts your mind at ease, then go for it.

Pink

hermum

A bit late now, but I put things like that into a large saucepan, not the croc pot of slow cooker, put cold water & ice cubes into the sink, shove pan in without a lid but obviously make sure that the water isn;t over the top of the pan, it will cool down really quickly then.

pixie1

I'm trying to drastically cut down on my spending and one of my totally unacceptable expenditures is what I'm spending on my lunch for work!

I work long hours and my commute to work is also long so by the time I get home if I manage to cook something for dinner or reheat something that's a bonus, standing making sandwiches for the next day is really unlikely which has lead to an expensive habit of shop / deli brought lunches.

So this has to stop as I need to save money as it's hubs 40th next year and I want to do something lovely for him.

So I thought that I could make a batch of chilli, tomato and chicken risotto, freeze it in small containers and microwave it once naturally defrosted at work. Would this freeze well?

Any other cheap and easy lunch ideas would be much appreciated. I have a microwave, toaster and panini press at work, but I always work through my break so one handed ideas only lol

Thanks

Pix