Can You Freeze Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is a very popular spread food. You love eating it on bagels and crackers, but it’s too much for just one day. If you have too much cream cheese at your disposal and you don’t know what to do with it all, we can help. This article will teach you how to freeze cream cheese to be available for later use.

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Freezing Cream Cheese – Does It Work?

Cream cheese is made of milk and cream. The cream is usually added to make the spread thicker, but all the rest of the ingredients are optional. When you freeze cream cheese, all the lactose (milk sugar) will be transformed into lactic acid. This effect is reversible with the heating up of cream cheese.

Since cream cheese is also largely made of fat, it does have some shelf life even if frozen. The same process of freezing applies to whipping cream too.

What Happens When You Freeze Cream Cheese?

When you freeze cream cheese, it will become semi-crystallized or solid. When you thaw it, it turns out to be a liquid again. Freezing cream cheese is a tricky process. If you freeze it according to the instructions below, you will have a perfect result every time.

How To Freeze Cream Cheese

To be able to freeze cream cheese, it’s very important to keep it in its original packaging if it is sealed. If your cream cheese comes in a plastic tub or jar, leave the lid on and put the container in a Ziploc bag before placing it in the freezer.

To ensure that no air gets into the bag, use two bags – one inside another. If air is trapped between packages and cream cheese, your frozen spread will get freezer burn, which changes its taste and smell forever!

Freezing Unopened Cream Cheese

Put your container of cream cheese in a Ziploc bag. Ensure there is a little bit of air in the bag for the cream cheese to breathe. Close the bag and put it in your freezer. The best place for it is on an upper shelf so that other foods (that might be too moist or frozen) won’t drip onto it or get into it. 

Freezing unopened cream cheese will keep its taste and smell intact, but we suggest you use it within 1 month after freezing in order to enjoy the best possible quality.

Freezing Opened Cream Cheese

If you want to freeze opened cream cheese, you can use the same methods we used when freezing unopened cream cheese. However, it’s much better to store your opened cream cheese in an airtight container so that no moisture or other flavors will get into it. You can keep opened cream cheese in your freezer for up to 1 week.

How Long Can You Keep Cream Cheese In The Freezer

The freezing process doesn’t affect the shelf life of cream cheese, so it’ll stay edible for a long time after freezing. The main thing you should remember is to keep your cream cheese in the freezer at all times. The longer you keep it there, the better.

You can keep your cream cheese for up to 1 month if it’s in an airtight container and also in its original packaging if possible. If you need to store your opened cream cheese for a longer period of time, put it in a tightly sealed container and put it back into your freezer immediately.

How To Thaw Frozen Cream Cheese

You can thaw frozen cream cheese in two ways, depending on how much you need or how fast you want it to be ready.

The first way is to transfer your frozen cream cheese into the fridge overnight. The second way is to place it in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 10 minutes. If you’re thawing a lot of cream cheese, we suggest using a refrigerator as this method is much better than the second one and will make your cream cheese taste better.

How To Make Defrosted Cream Cheese Creamy Again

You can make your frozen cream cheese into a creamy spread again with just one step. This is very easy – you just mix the frozen cream cheese with a little bit of warm water until you get a smooth spread. The process is the same as making regular fresh cream cheese. You can also use a food processor for this goal.

How To Use Defrosted Cream Cheese

Defrosted cream cheese is a very good addition to your recipe when it’s needed for serving or making something else, such as bagels and crackers. Since it has been thawed from the freezer, there won’t be any taste or consistency changes.

You can also use defrosted cream cheese for baking in the oven placed on baking sheets. You can make a cream cheesecake this way – just bake it for about 15 minutes at about 350F.

If you defrost cream cheese for a recipe, do this step first. Then, you can use your cream cheese as a regular spread.

The best thing about defrosted cream cheese is that you can mix it with other ingredients like jalapeno peppers or bacon and other ingredients to cook an amazing meal!

Overall, freezing cream cheese is very simple. It’s important to keep the frozen product in its original packaging and store it on the upper shelves of the freezer to keep its taste and smell intact.

The Bottom Line

Today, many people prefer frozen food over fresh food. If you use cream cheese in your recipes, it might be good to freeze it for future use. The freezing process slightly changes the flavor of cream cheese, but you can easily make it creamy again.

You should now be able to freeze cream cheese and make it into creamy frozen spreads. If you have any questions or issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always glad to answer your questions and concerns. If you have a comment, please leave it below. We would love to hear from you!

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