Yes — you can freeze soup.
Soup is one of the best things to batch-cook and freeze — make a big pot, eat some now, and stash the rest for an easy lunch or dinner another day. Most soups freeze brilliantly, especially brothy, vegetable and pulse-based ones. The main thing to watch is dairy: creamy soups can separate when frozen and thawed.
How to do it well
Let the soup cool completely, then portion it into tubs or bags — leaving a little room at the top for expansion — and freeze. For creamy soups, freeze the base before adding any cream or milk, and stir that in fresh when you reheat. Always reheat soup until it’s piping hot the whole way through.
How to freeze soup
- Cool the soup completely before freezing — never freeze it warm.
- Portion it into tubs or freezer bags, leaving a couple of centimetres at the top, as soup expands when it freezes.
- Label with the date, and freeze bags flat to save space.
How long it keeps
Up to 3 months.
How to defrost
Thaw in the fridge overnight, or reheat gently straight from frozen in a pan.
How to reheat
Reheat until piping hot throughout, stirring, and only reheat once.
When not to freeze it
- Creamy or milk-based soups can split when frozen — freeze them before adding the cream, and stir it in after reheating.
- Soups with lots of potato can turn slightly grainy, though the flavour is unaffected.
Food safety: Cool soup quickly, ideally within 1–2 hours, before it goes in the freezer. Reheat once, until steaming hot all the way through.