When it comes to planning out your meals and meal prepping, it may have crossed your mind whether you could freeze marinated meat or not. Although the marination process itself is super easy, it can certainly take time that you don’t have, especially if you don’t plan ahead of time. Sometimes it is just easier to have marinated meat on hand that you can thaw in the fridge and cook quickly. So here are the tips and tricks on how to do just that so that you can have delicious and flavorful meat ready to go instantly!

How to Store Marinated Meats in the Freezer

 Freezing marinated meat is super simple. To start, you can place the meat and marinade in the same freezer bag (be sure that the bag is resealable and airtight). Try not to fill the bag since contents expand in the freezer. Yet, be sure not to leave too much empty space as that can leave the meat susceptible to freezer burn. The ideal space between the contents and the top of the bag should be approximately 1-2 inches. Double bagging may also be preferable, just in case.

Next be sure that the marinade coats the meat well. Shake the bag a few times and place it in the freezer in a way that allows the marinade to completely cover the meat. Let it sit for a few hours until you are sure that the marinade covers the meat. From there it can stay in the freezer for longer.

When the time comes for thawing the meat, be sure to put the meat in the fridge and allow it thaw for a few hours or overnight. It is best that you use this thawing method over quick thawing methods such as letting it sit out at room temperature or thawing it in cold water. Although these thawing methods are not considered dangerous, the fridge method is considered the safest and greatly decreases your chances of foodborne illnesses from bacteria.

The Don’ts of Using Frozen Marinade Meat

• Don’t reuse the leftover marinade in the fridge. Once you have thawed the meat, completely discard the marinade. Using leftover marinade that was frozen, can greatly increase your chances of getting sick since the marinade came in contact with raw meat.
• Don’t refreeze your marinated meat after cooking. Once you have cooked your marinated meat, store all leftovers in the fridge or discard the rest. Refreezing the cooked meat can greatly ruin the quality of the meat.
• Don’t leave your meat in the freezer for longer than 3 months. Past that point, the quality of the meat will decrease greatly. It is best to use it as soon as you can to truly take advantage of the flavor and quality.
• Don’t worry about freezing your meat in the marinade. You may have heard people say that freezing meat in marinade is bad because the acids in the marinade alongside the prolonged exposure will cause the meat to turn mushy, but that isn’t really the case. When meat is frozen, it isn’t absorbing any of the marinade surrounding it. Rather the meat doesn’t absorb the marinade until the thawing process takes place. In other words, marination happens as thawing is happening and you get to combine both time-consuming processes into one!

Well, there you have it! All the basic tips you need to know to properly store your frozen marinated meat well. If you follow these storing and thawing tips, you should be able to greatly enjoy whatever meal you have in mind while also never worrying about needing extra time. It is a great way to have easy, fulfilling dinners even on the busiest of days.