Can You Freeze Chicken Parmesan?

Chicken parmesan is a delicious dish that is easy to make and can also be made ahead of time. While it is easy to make, it gives rise to the question, Can you freeze chicken parmesan? The dish is so easy to make but can be time-consuming. As such, to avoid making fresh batches all the time, the only option will be to freeze the leftovers or excess.

The answer is yes; you can freeze chicken parmesan. In this article, we share with you how to freeze chicken parmesan, and its signs of spoilage, as well as provide you with tips to ensure freezing them successfully and how to defrost them when you are ready to eat.

What Exactly Is Chicken Parmesan?

Chicken parmesan is a classic dish that is made with chicken. The chicken is deep-fried or baked in the oven. To make this dish delicious, other ingredients like bread crumbs, eggs, parmesan, marinara sauce, flour, and cheese are needed. The chicken is soaked in eggs and then rolled in breadcrumbs and fried to make it rich and creamy and also give it a crispy texture. After this, it is then cooked in marinara sauce, topped with cheese, and baked to give it a brown finish.

Chicken parmesan is served with salad, noodles, and potatoes. It may interest you to check out: Can you freeze bread crumbs?

How to Freeze Chicken Parmesan

The good news about the question, “Can you freeze chicken parmesan?” is that it is possible. However, there are two options you can choose to follow. The first is to freeze parmesan after baking.

STEP 1: Allow Parmesan to Cool

After baking your chicken parmesan, take it out of the oven and leave it to cool off completely. Ensure the parmesan is completely cooled off before freezing, you do not want to freeze it while warm or still hit.

STEP 2: Divide into Portions

After cooling, divide the parmesan into individual portions of your choice.

STEP 3: Pack Them

Pack the portioned chicken parmesan and transfer it to freezer bags or air-tight containers. Before sealing the freezer bag shut, push out excess air from it, and also, ensure you close the lid of the container tightly and firmly.

STEP 4: Record and Freeze

Lastly, using a marker pen, record the freezing date on the freezer bags or air-tight containers. Place in the freezer.

The second is to freeze parmesan uncooked or unbaked. This is the safest way of freezing chicken parmesan for a longer time

STEP 1: Assemble the Chicken

The first thing to do is to assemble the fried chicken on top of the marinara sauce. The sauce should be on a baking dish that is safe to be in the freezer for about 3 months.

STEP 2: Add Your Cheese

After assembling the chicken, you can go ahead to top the chicken with the cheese of your choice.

STEP 3: Divide into Portions

This is entirely up to you but you may choose to divide chicken parmesan into smaller portions if you’d like. This way, you can use only desired portions when you are ready to eat them again.

STEP 4: Wrap Dish

Next, using a plastic wrap or aluminum foil, cover the entire dish of chicken parmesan ensuring there are no holes or openings around the edges. Wrap and cover the baking dish firmly and tightly.

STEP 5: Label and Freeze

Using a marker pen, label a sticky piece of paper with the storage date, stick it on the baking dish, and place it in the freezer for about 3 months.

How Long Can You Freeze Chicken Parmesan?

You can freeze chicken parmesan for about 3 months in the freezer.

We recommend that you freeze chicken parmesan before baking as already baked or cooked parmesan does not freeze well and gets spoilt easily.

2 Tips For Freezing Chicken Parmesan

The question of whether can you freeze chicken parmesan is yes. However, we recommend the following tips to ensure you freeze them for the best results.

TIP 1: Properly wrap and cover chicken parmesan before freezing.

TIP 2: Label the dish with the freezing date.

How Do You Defrost Chicken Parmesan?

When you are ready to eat chicken parmesan again, you must defrost it evenly. To defrost, transfer the dish from the freezer to the refrigerator and let it melt overnight. Once defrosted, you can now bake the dish in the oven for 30 minutes until it bubbles and the cheese begins to melt.

How To Tell If Your Frozen Chicken Parmesan Is Bad

One of the amazing things about a food product is that it tells you when and if it has gone bad. Here are signs of bad chicken parmesan that means you should throw them out immediately.

Sour smell
Sour taste
The appearance of mold
Wet and sticky texture

Can You Refreeze Chicken Parmesan?

No, chicken parmesan should not be refrozen. Once defrosted, it should be consumed immediately as refreezing will compromise its original taste and texture.

Does Chicken Parmesan Freeze Well?

Chicken parmesan freezes extremely well. Provided that you freeze it uncooked or unbaked, it freezes for about 3 months in the freezer.

You could also check out how to freeze Garlic Butter.

FAQs

How long to defrost chicken parmesan?

It should take 24 hours to defrost chicken parmesan evenly if you transfer it from the freezer to the refrigerator to melt overnight. However, it can take you 20-30 minutes to defrost chicken parmesan from frozen. To do this, reheat the chicken parmesan in the oven by adding the cheese of your selection and more marine sauce to enhance its taste when begins to melt.

Can you freeze chicken parmesan after it’s cooked?

Yes, you can freeze chicken parmesan after it is cooked. However, it is safe to freeze it uncooked or unbaked. If you must freeze it cooked, allow chicken parmesan to cool off completely before portioning it into freezer bags or air-tight containers. Label the freezer bags or containers and place them in the freezer for about 3 months.