Imagine this: errands took you way longer than you thought they would and those popsicles that you bought the kids are melting more every second. So you do what you need to do and just shove everything in the freezer to keep it from thawing. Sound familiar? I’ve done it myself a million times. But freezer organization doesn’t have to be as hard as we think. So here are my best freezer organization hacks that will make the best use of your freezer space so that you can know what you actually have!
Need more ideas? Check out my other posts: Easy Fridge Organization Tips and a Step-by-Step Pantry Organization Guide
List of Freezer Organization Supplies
Here is my favorite list of supplies and essentials for keeping your freezer organized. These tools will really help you in your journey to a non-avalanched freezer. 😉
- Multi-Purpose Bins
- Gallon Ziploc Bags
- Bag Stand
- Souper Cubes
- Small Plastic Containers
- Medium Plastic Containers
- Large Plastic Containers
- Large Aluminum Pans
- Small Aluminum Pans
- Freezer Labels
- Freezer Meal Plan (her recipes are my fave!)
Create a Filing System
My very favorite tool for freezer organization is to buy plastic file folder bins. These work really nicely because they usually fit really well and really help to keep things organized. That way there isn’t an avalanche of frozen peas every time you open the freezer. And if you know you need to get out the frozen vegetables, all you have to do is get out the bin that you need.
Group Foods By Type
When setting a plan to organize your freezer, think long and hard about the types of food that you typically have on hand. Do you buy tons of popsicles? Do you have a lot of meat on hand? Are you a freezer meal fanatic? It might be helpful to even write these items down.
The next step is to put food items into categories to help you determine how much space you’ll need for each food type. I know that I always buy the bags of frozen fruit from Costco, so I allocated my largest bin at the bottom of my freezer for that. Take that concept and apply it to each food group. If you are like me, the types of food that you buy in each category can wax and wane, but if your purchases are all over the place maybe try keeping your categories more general.
Freeze Food Flat
My next tip is to freeze things flat. I also freeze all of my soups this way. I usually double every recipe of soup for this exact reason. Then I always have an ample supply of extras on hand for busy weeknights when I don’t have time, or desire, to cook. Freezing things flat also makes really great use of your vertical storage space which otherwise ends up going to waste.
This ground beef tip is something that I learned from my sister-in-law: every time I get ground beef, I put 1 lb of ground beef in a gallon Ziploc bag and roll it out really flat and close the Ziploc bag and freeze it flat. After it’s frozen, I store it upright in my file folder bins. That way, every time you go to get out the ground beef, it only takes a couple of minutes for the frozen ground beef to thaw in a sink of hot water. Instead of trying to thaw a giant block of ground beef. Plus, because you froze it flat, it is really easy to organize in the file folder bins.
Freeze Food In Smaller Portions
Freezing your food in huge portions can be a big time-waster. Unless you have a super-human brain (unlike mine) and always forget to pull frozen food out of the freezer until about 4:30 PM. So if you freeze food in smaller portions, or freeze things flat as mentioned above, things will thaw out significantly faster.
Use Freezer-Specific Containers
Freezer burn can be a real problem and a real money waster if you let it! Nobody likes to pull chicken breasts out of the freezer with freezer burn all over them. So that’s why it’s important to choose your containers carefully.
When you freeze food in Ziploc bags, make sure that you are using the freezer bags. That extra thickness that the freezer bag provides will act as a buffer in preventing freezer burn on your food. Nobody likes wasted food!
Another way to prevent freezer burn is to get as much air out of the package as possible before freezing.
Souper Cubes
One product that I discovered that I am really in love with is called Souper Cubes. These silicone containers are excellent for freezing things in smaller portion sizes and it’s great for helping your freezer to stay organized. I definitely consider this a freezer organization hack! I love it because I am able to freeze leftovers of heavy whipping cream, pesto, or even leftover soup for my husband’s lunches that he takes to work. The possibilities are endless with these! They also have a lot of great ideas for how to use these on their website and Instagram.
Reusable Plastic Containers
My next tip is to buy small plastic containers to store leftover veggies. I absolutely hate cutting up and dicing onions for meals. So oftentimes I buy a few onions at a time, cut them all up at once, and then put the diced onions and frozen plastic containers so when they are ready to go for soups or most other dinner entrees, all I have to do is dump them in! It saves me so much time!
I do this for all sorts of things such as onions, and green peppers, celery for soups, craisins, and it’s great for even storing leftover nuts! The possibilities are limitless with what you can store in these containers.
They would even be great for storing kids snacks or for road trips. Use the code HANSEN for 15% off your order if you order through their website! They have several different sizes as well so you can customize it to your needs.
Label Your Freezer
Labeling your actual freezer is really important if you want it to stay organized. It not only helps you find what you need but it also helps your family keep things organized. That way they don’t go rifling through the entire freezer in search of something that isn’t there. If they know where to look for something, they leave the rest of the freezer alone.
There are several different ways that you can label things in your freezer. I chose to label my bins and freezer shelves with vinyl using my Silhouette machine. But you can also buy these freezer labels on Amazon that work great for labeling things such as freezer meals, chopped vegetables, or anything else!
Label and Date Your Food
Have you ever frozen some food and put it in the freezer without a label thinking, “I’ll for sure remember what that is”. Only to find it at the back of the freezer months later and throw it away because you can’t for the life of you remember how long it’s been there or what it even is? I have. This is why putting a date and a label on all of your food items is so important.
Freezer Meal Tips
If you are big into freezer meals, then I really recommend buying sturdy aluminum containers. I love these because they stack nicely and it’s easy to write the instructions of how to cook the meal the rest of the way on the lid of the aluminum pan. If you followed me for any length of time, you know that I am really passionate about the meal plans from Passionate Penny Pincher. My family LOVES almost every single meal we’ve tried from her! She also has a freezer meal plan that we started a few weeks ago that we are loving as well!
When I am trying to stock up on my freezer meals, I try to double every dinner recipe that I make. Some people like to do a big giant freezer meal session. And once in a while, I do that, but it seems easier to just build it a little bit at a time by doubling your normal recipes. I also really recommend using upright bag holders if you make freezer meals a lot. Trying to dump in a bunch of ingredients into a flimsy ziplock bag is near impossible to do without making a huge mess. Then I discovered these upright bag holders and my freezer meal prep has changed forever!
I hope that you’ve gotten some great freezer organization ideas that will help make your life easier.
How have the file folder storage bins help up in the freezer? I know some plastic can become brittle. thanks
They have been great! This plastic is really durable and I haven’t had any problems. Yay!