Can I freeze PleNOSH meals? How to store and reheat your delivery

Short answer: yes. Plenty of our customers order a Weekly Meal Pack, eat 3 or 4 meals that week and freeze the rest for the week after. Here's how to do it well.

When the box arrives

Your meals travel chilled in an insulated box with ice packs. Unpack them as soon as you can and get them into the fridge or freezer. If the box has been sitting on the doorstep for a while on a warm day and the meals feel warm to the touch, get in touch with us before eating them.

In the fridge

Meals keep for 5 days in the fridge from the day they're delivered. Every container has a label with the ingredients, allergens and use-by date, so you don't have to remember.

In the freezer

Decide on delivery day which meals you'll freeze, and freeze them straight away rather than after 2 or 3 days in the fridge. The sooner a meal goes into the freezer, the better it comes out.

• Keep the meal in its sealed container.
• Write the date on the lid if you'll have more than one week's meals in there.
• Use within 1 month.

Which dishes freeze best

Curries, braises, stews and saucy dishes freeze and reheat well: Japanese beef curry, Thai green curry, braised pork belly, pulled beef, satay chicken. Rice-based meals are fine too.

Salads and dishes with fresh herbs or crunchy vegetables are best eaten fresh. If your pack includes a noodle salad or a soup with fresh greens, eat those first and freeze the curries.

Defrosting

Move the meal from the freezer to the fridge the day before you want to eat it. Overnight in the fridge is the safest way to defrost and gives the best texture. Avoid defrosting on the bench.

Reheating

Loosen or remove the lid, then microwave until steaming hot all the way through. Stir halfway if the dish has rice underneath, so the middle heats as well as the edges.

Stovetop or oven works too, especially for the Mains to Share packs. Tip the contents into a pan and heat gently, or cover in an ovenproof dish and heat until piping hot.

Food safety basics

• Reheat until steaming hot throughout, not lukewarm.
• Don't refreeze a meal once it's been thawed.
• Don't reheat a meal more than once.
• If in doubt, throw it out.

Ordering with the freezer in mind

If you know you'll freeze half, a larger Weekly Meal Pack on a fortnightly order can work out easier than ordering every week. Subscribers save 10% on every order and can skip a week whenever they need to.

Meat Weekly Meal Pack · Vegetarian Weekly Meal Pack