How to Freeze Soup In Mason Jars (Easy Meal Prep Idea!)
Try these tips on how to freeze soup in mason jars!
Need an easy meal prep idea? Try mason jar soup!
Can you freeze soup in mason jars? You bet! In fact, mason jar soup makes for an easy healthy and homemade meal! There’s nothing more comforting than a warm bowl of soup, and I’ll show you how to freeze soup in mason jars as a great way to prep individual meals!
For this project, I turned leftover rotisserie chicken into a pot of delicious Chicken Lemon Orzo Soup, let it cool, and then transferred it to pint-sized wide-mouth mason jars to reheat in the future!
Ideas like mason jar soup can be a lifesaver when you want a homemade meal and have no time to cook. These jars of soup would also make a thoughtful gift for a new mom or sick friend if they have the freezer space!
Tips on how to freeze soup in mason jars:
- Let the soup cool down before transferring to glass. This will avoid shocking jars and breakage.
- Wide mouth-style jars are preferred when freezing soup because they are easier to fill and less likely to break with expansion.
- When freezing soup, do not overfill jars. Leave 1-2 inches of room for headspace so you’ll have room for expansion.
- Don’t have a mason jar? You can freeze the soup in Ziploc bags and lay them down until frozen, then arrange them in an upright position like filing folders. Brilliant!
- Consider loosely placing lids on initially for freezing, then coming back to tighten the next day.
- Try not to store jars touching each other. There are several ways to do this which include – using the cardboard box the jars come with, using a jar box protector, or even slipping jars into clean socks!
- Frozen mason jar soup can stay fresh for 3-4 months in the freezer.
How to Freeze Soup In Mason Jars
Freezing soup in mason jars is an easy and simple way to prepare your meals ahead.
Ingredients
Directions
1
Prepare and cook your soup as normal. Allow time for the soup to completely cool.
2
Transfer the soup with a ladle into mason jars without overfilling them so the jars don't break once the frozen soup starts to expand. Loosely put the lid on. Let freeze, and then tighten the lids the following day.
3
To defrost your mason jar soup, place jars into the fridge overnight or on the counter. Submerge the jars in lukewarm water (don't microwave). If ingredients separate after thawing, shake the jar or mix in the blender. Reheat in a pot or microwave as normal. Enjoy!
How do I defrost my soup?
Now that you know how to freeze soup, you need to learn how to defrost it! The ideal way to defrost frozen jars is to move them to your refrigerator overnight, or on the counter – but keep an eye on them. To speed up the process, try submerging in lukewarm water. Microwaving a frozen glass jar is NOT recommended. Always defrost first.
If the soup separates after thawing, try giving the jar a shake or a whirl in the blender to mix.
What types of soup freeze well?
You can freeze most soups, but keep in mind that sometimes cream-based varieties with potatoes and/or fresh veggies can have a different consistency when reheated. It can be as easy as whipping them up again after re-heating to fix it, however.
For this reason, broth-based soups and ones that have beans are great for freezing and reheating. For freezing soups that have pasta, consider under-cooking noodles a little. That way your pasta will have a nice texture when re-heated.
Need some delicious mason jar soup ideas? Check out these popular Hip2Save soup recipes that are freezer-friendly:
- Comforting Minestrone Soup
- Easy Ham and Bean Soup
- Cheesy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Italian Tortellini Soup
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Keto Cauliflower Soup
- Tomato Basil Soup Recipe
- Keto Butternut Squash Soup
- Albondigas Mexican Meatball Soup
- Keto Chicken Jalapeno Popper Soup
Here are even more soup recipes to try!
These is such a great idea! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thank you for your wonderful ideas! 👍
Thanks LeeLee!
Once the jar had been in the refrig and defrosted, is it okay to heat up in the microwave then? I would want to put the frozen soup in the refrig the night before and then take to work and heat up in the microwave there.
Yes! Works great 👍
Please do not use just any mason jar. They must be freezer mason jars or they will break in the freezer.
Great Idea! Thank you for sharing.
I use freezer strength zip lock bags, lay them flat and stack in freezer. I have had jars break on me. Either way I do freeze soup and it is great.
Oh great idea! Thanks for sharing 👍
I do the same thing!
Thanks for sharing. These look wonderful. Anyone have tips for broth. I’m never sure what to save to make my own. Also reluctant to buy can broth because it is usually high in sodium also not sure I would care for flavor.
If you cook a whole chicken in a crockpot, that will give you a lot of broth. I’m also in the same boat, I look for low sodium everything! Love the sodium free packets to make chicken broth for recipes!
If you buy dark meat chicken like drumsticks or thighs. Cook it in Instant Pot just long enough to get the meat done. Then turn it off and separate the meat from the bones. Then put the broth back in with bones and maybe 1 onion, 2 celery sticks, 2 cloves of garlic and pressure cook again for like 40mins- 1 hour. The broth should be ready then. You will get the goodness of the bone marrow plus the cartilage AND your chicken meat won’t be all mush from being cooked with the bones too long. That’s the main benefit of doing this in 2 steps.
Thanks for the helpful tips!
What I do is save all the chicken bones (the whole chicken or breast/leg/thighs from roasting), even if it still has some meat & skin on. I put the bones in a gallon size freezer baggie and label it ‘soup stock’. I also add along the way – tops/bottoms and the skins on the onions, celery & carrot tops. The onion skin will give your broth a nice brown color! When my bag gets full, then I dump it all in the crockpot with 6-8 C water, along with a few stems of fresh thyme & parsley, about 4 smashed garlic cloves, 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar & Salt & Pepper. Cook on low for 8-10 hrs. Once the broth is cool enough to handle, discard all the bones and strain well to get all the other weird bits and pieces out. I then freeze in 1 C units (either freezer containers or you can lay the ziploc bags flat on a cookie sheet so they freeze in a solid sheet, then you can stack them. Be sure to label with a sharpie first!)
Or, if you have a pressure cooker, then you can make the stock quicker. Add your bones first, then veggies, and water to the max fill line. Cook on High for 60 minutes, let pressure come down naturally, then strain.
Stock is great to enhance the flavor of rice & quinoa too.
Love making soup, so this is helpful to be able to do ahead.
Wow! What a great idea! I am always buying individual Campbell’s soups for school lunches in the winter, but they can really add up. I am excited to try these in lunch boxes!
thanks for the idea!! love it!! gracias gracias!
This is a great idea. I didn’t know you could frreze mason jars. I don’t make soup because it will go to waste at my house. Now I can make a big pot for me and save it.
Perfect! Look for the mason jars that say freezer safe such as Kerr or ball 👍
I like to can leftover soup with my pressure canner! The soup stays tender, is shelf stable, and is easy to give as a meal with some bread to an elderly neighbor, first-time-mom, etc.
Oh that’s so great!
I made taco soup last night and put them in jars, I let them cool first before putting in freezer ,but when I checked them today they had some ice crystals on the inside already, It is just at the top on the sides of the jar. I only filled them about 3/4 full . Is this ok , bc I dont want them to be freezer burnt
oh, and is the seal/lid suppose to have that bubble on top flat or is it ok for it to be popped up? I know when canning they are suppose to be down until first opening. All mine are up.
@Simone- the lid will only go down when it is heat processed. (Canned.) It is fine for the bubble to be up when it is frozen.
Don’t worry about the ice crystals. My soups do that. Before I thaw them, I just rinse the crystals off the top with fresh water, then let it thaw. It tastes fine!
Are there different mason jars to freeze rather then can. Thanks
What a fantastic idea. I am trying to stop using plastic but the glass storage containers add up. I a doing this from now on. Also love the freezer storage idea
Thanks Barb!
What about making a basic chicken soup, freeze then cook and add pasta, rice or potatoes in separately when you reheat. I’ve always had bad luck with leaving noodles in soup when storing. Noodles get bloated and you have no liquid remaining. I’ve tried different noodle types with the same results.
I think that is such a great idea!
I eat a ton of yogurt. I freeze all my stock, pasta sauce and soups in those. I wrote on them with a sharpie and love that I can give them away and not worry about getting my containers back
can you post how to make your chicken lemon orzo soup please I am someone just starting out making soups
Here you go, Megan! 🤗 https://hip2save.com/recipes/lemon-chicken-orzo-soup/
What a great idea. I love soup but my gang doesn’t. I can freeze some for me whenever I want some. What a great idea. Beef stew is the only one they will eat but I guess that isn’t technically a soup. LOL
I am loving this post! This is exactly the information I’ve been looking for. I eat a lot of lentil soup for the huge amounts of vitamins like folate. I just started learning that lentils need to be soaked before cooking. It removes the gassiness. I’d like to see a post on this. So far I’ve just use apple cider vinegar. I’d like to know what other people are using to soak lentils.
Oh awesome thanks for the feedback and ideas!
Use a canning funnel to make it even easier to fill the jars (or to use regular mouth mason jars). No mess!
Great tip! Thanks Pat!
This is a great idea but I never have enough room in my freezer for mason jars. I put mine in quart size size freezer Ziplock type bags and write the type of soup or chili as well as the date on the bag. Then I lay them flat on a sheet pan to freeze them. I have a basket in the freezer that I keep full of upright soup bags like this and, presto, dinner in a flash when I am short on time!
That’s a great idea! Thank you for sharing it with us ❤️
Mayonnaise lids should also fit the regular mouth jars.
Such a great money-saving tip, Jeanette. Thanks for sharing! 🤗 I’ll have to try this out on some of my jars soon!