Freezing Cauliflower Cheese | Ask Nigella.com (2024)

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Freezing Cauliflower Cheese | Ask Nigella.com? ›

Our answer

Freezing cauliflower is a great way to avoid waste. It will also make the cooking time quicker when you come to cook it from frozen. Like most vegetables, if frozen raw, the texture, taste, colour and nutritional value deteriorates, so make sure you blanch it to preserve these elements.

How long can you keep Cauliflower Cheese in the fridge? Once you've put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours. If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftovers of Cauliflower Cheese in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Drain well

Make sure you drain the cauliflower really well after it's boiled up and before you add it to the dish, otherwise it will end up too watery.

We'd strongly recommend blanching cauliflower first, otherwise the high water content in the veg will turn it mushy if you freeze raw. To prevent deterioration of texture and nutritional value, it is best to partly cook (blanch) cauliflower florets before freezing. Wash the cauliflower and chop into equal size florets.

Food safety and quality

Before preserving vegetables, blanch the vegetables to improve the safety and quality of the final product. All vegetables should be blanched and quickly cooled before freezing, drying or dehydrating.

Can you reheat cauliflower cheese? Yes you can, and it will taste fine… But just be aware that it will dry out a little and the cauliflower will be a little bit softer… not a deal breaker, but definitely not as good as fresh! Simply place any leftover cauliflower in a lidded container and refrigerate.

Baking it, I find, has a tendency to overcook the cauliflower before the top browns. Adding the cheese sauce hot means there's no need for any further baking – the top will bubble and brown in minutes, before the cauliflower has time to soften any further.

Not Draining Excess Water. "If you want to make cauliflower rice or cauliflower pizza crust, you'll need to wring out the excess moisture using a clean kitchen towel," says Blay. If you don't, your cauliflower will be far too mushy to imitate the carbs you're trying to replace.

If you're planning to roast the cauliflower whole or slice it into steaks, slice off the thick stem at the base. Drop the whole cauliflower head upside-down into cool, salted water. Let it soak for 10 to 15 minutes to remove dirt, residue and bugs.

How long will fresh cauliflower last in freezer? ›

Frozen cauliflower florets can last 10 to 12 months (and if you're looking to freeze other vegetables, check out our how-to guide for freezing produce).

Broccoli Cheese Bake Storage Instructions

To store, place into the fridge for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 6 months, both held in an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.

Frozen cauliflower is harvested at peak ripeness, blanched, and flash frozen to preserve most of the nutrients, kill bacteria, and prevent spoiling. The one difference is that the texture of frozen won't be as crisp and, again, that's because it's already partially cooked.

Make sure to blanch your broccoli and cauliflower before freezing! Begin by setting a large pot of water to boiling. Make sure the pot is big enough to hold both the boiling water and your chopped florets. Aim to get a rolling boil.

Ideally, we should all eat food straight after it has been cooked. This is when it's at its freshest and likely to taste the best. In terms of food safety, however, so long as you reheat the food at the correct temperature and for the correct duration of time, it can in fact be safely reheated multiple times.