Can you freeze cooked pasta? Yes! Easy tutorial showing how to freeze spaghetti, shells, & all types of noodles – with or without sauce. Great for last-minute meals, fast weeknight dinners, and reducing waste by saving leftovers!
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just snap our fingers and dinner made itself?
Wishful thinking aside, having a few pantry staples like Instant Pot Beans or Homemade Chicken Stock and even Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice in the freezer is the next best thing to waving a magic wand and dinner magically appearing on the table.
Believe it or not, the same goes for freezing cooked pasta… have you ever wondered if you can freeze cooked pasta?
It turns out you can, and because when I accidentally made a whole box of pasta (instead of using my kitchen scale like I normally do), I had a TON of leftover pasta.
I began thinking of what we could do for the pasta not to go to waste and I thought – can I freeze cooked pasta?!
I know uncooked pasta has a long shelf life, but the question is does it freeze well?
Can You Freeze Cooked Pasta?
Yes! And the opportunity to freeze pasta may come up more often than you think!
- Batch Cooking: Batch Cooking is intentionally making more so you can save time later by not having to cook. It’s ideal for staples like seasoned Ground Beef, Spaghetti Sauce, and cooked pasta.
- Leftover Pasta: If you make more than the family is able to finish, freezing pasta is an easy way to reduce food waste and get the most out of your grocery dollars.
- Cook Once, Eat Twice: If you have pasta on your meal plan twice this week, work smarter by cooking the pasta just once, and freezing pasta for later.
Step-by-Step: Freezing Cooked Pasta
Here’s a tutorial for freezing cooked pasta so it’s not mushy later:
Step 1: Slightly undercook the pasta. Cook pasta al dente, which is slightly undercooked. If the box says to cook for 9-11 minutes, the timer for cooking the noodles should be set for 8 minutes.
Step 2: Rinse cooked pasta under running cold water. The cooler water helps to stop the cooking process, and it’s the same reason we put Instant Pot Hard-boiled Eggs into a water bath. It also lets the pasta cool completely.
Step 3: Toss the fresh pasta with olive oil. Olive oil will help keep the pasta from sticking together as it freezes, as you store it, and when you use it in your recipe later.
Step 4: Freeze the cooked pasta. Place the pasta on a baking sheet in a single layer. This is important – if the pasta is not in a single layer, it will clump together as it freezes. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least one full hour, or up to 8 hours.
Tip: When freezing cooked spaghetti noodles (or fettuccine, angel hair, etc.), make “nests” by taking a fork and twirling it in the tossed pasta. When you have about ½ cup of pasta on the fork, carefully move the pasta directly to the cookie sheet in the nest shape. Leave a couple of inches between nests on the baking sheet.
Step 5: Move the pasta to an airtight container. This can be a set of glass storage containers, glass jars (here’s how to freeze jars without breaking them), or freezer-safe bags.
How to Store Cooked Pasta
You’ll want to freeze pasta in amounts you would typically use in a recipe, i.e. 2 cups or 4 cups of cooked noodles. This makes it much easier to pull just what you need for a recipe. You can also freeze in individual portions if you have only one person who eats pasta.
Always use airtight, freezer-safe containers. This can be freezer bags, re-purposed glass jars, or plastic storage containers.
Be sure to label and date your container. I promise you will NOT remember what’s in that bag in a few months!
You can store pasta in the freezer for up to three months.
Can You Freeze Pasta: Tips & Tricks
- Salt the water you use to cook your pasta noodles. This adds flavor to the pasta from the very beginning, so your pasta tastes good no matter how you decide to use it later.
- If freezing in a freezer-safe bag, remove as much air from the bag as possible to avoid freezer burn. Freezer-burned food is still safe to eat, but it can be dry and sometimes the flavor can be affected. This method works well when you have a small portion of pasta and want to add more to it until you have enough for a whole meal.
- If freezing in a reusable container, use a size that fits the quantity of pasta. You’ll want to fill or nearly fill your container from the get-go to avoid freezer burn. This method works well when you’re batch cooking or meal planning more than one pasta dish.
4 Ways to Reheat Frozen Spaghetti or Pasta
Method 1: Remove the noodles from the storage container and place them directly in a pan of WARM (not hot) water. The goal is to bring the noodles to room temperature, not cook them.
Method 2: Carefully stir frozen pasta directly into the dish. This will defrost the pasta and cool the dish slightly, so make sure the pasta is heated through again before serving. Also, try not to over-stir the noodles so they don’t get mushy.
Method 3: Place the frozen pasta directly into a pot of boiling water and cook for ONE minute. Use a kitchen timer. This will very, very quickly thaw the noodles, but don’t walk away or you run the risk of over-cooking the noodles.
FAQs to Freeze Cooked Pasta
What is the best way to freeze cooked pasta?
For small and/or short pasta, the best way to freeze pasta is to place it in a single layer on a baking sheet until the individual noodles are frozen through. This prevents clumping of noodles later when you go to use the frozen noodles.
Can you freeze spaghetti?
Yes! When freezing long noodles like spaghetti, be sure to make “nests” instead of freezing in a single layer. Just use a fork to twirl the tossed pasta in about ½ cup size nests, then carefully move the pasta nest directly to the cookie sheet. Leave a couple of inches between nests. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for at least one full hour, or up to 8 hours.
Can you freeze cooked pasta with sauce?
You can freeze the pasta together with non-dairy sauces like Meat Sauce or Pesto, or you can freeze the pasta separately from the sauce. If you freeze the pasta and pasta sauce together, I recommend using glass containers that are oven safe. Then you easily can go from freezer to fridge to oven without dirtying additional dishes.
How to freeze pasta without sauce?
Cook the pasta al dente, divide it into portions, and freeze on a baking sheet. When the pasta is frozen through, place it in a freezer-safe container!
Delicious Recipes and Pasta Dishes:
- Weeknight Creamy Mushroom Pasta
- Creamy Squash Pasta Bake
- Slow Cooker Beef Ragu
- The Best Stove-top Macaroni & Cheese
- Pumpkin Chili Mac
- Lentil Macaroni & Cheese
More Freezable Foods:
- How to Freeze Yogurt
- How to Freeze Pizza Dough
- How to Freeze Fresh Herbs
- How to Freeze Ginger
- How to Freeze Tomato Paste
Finally an article properly explaining a method for something that isn’t elbow macaroni.
Easiest homemade pasta I make is fettuccine because I have a pasta machine, but none of the tips I’ve found elsewhere explains the proper freezing technique as mentioned here.
Best ways to freeze spaghetti with meat and sauce for a crowd? A wedding. About 200 people. Spaghetti and alfredo? I want to prepare and freeze about a week in advance. Whats the best ways to reheat?
Thank you for this tip! We are bracing for a hurricane and I’m thinking having some pasta in the freezer would be a good idea. I can make a pasta salad out of it if we lose power!
Hi! Will this work with gluten-free pasta as well? I’m thinking this trick is going to come in extremely handy for me! Thanks!
Hi Margaret,
Yes, gf pasta will work fine. 🙂
Hello. I want to cook my large shells then cool them then stuff them with cheese and put on a pan single layer and freeze. This this ok to do?
Hi Maureen!
Yes, this is fine. My only suggestion might be to leave your sauce on the side until after reheating, just so the shells don’t get soggy during thawing. Hope they’re great!
Thank you for your help! I’m involved with a community project to make frozen family meals for the local health care workers. The freezing part is challenging me! I’m glad to know I can freeze the pasta to go with my Chicken Chasseur dish – this week’s planned supper.
So glad we could help, Margie!
A friend of mine said To safely cook pasta and rice that you have to freeze it while it is hot. I had never heard of that. But what do you think of it.
Anna, if you follow this recipe it should turn out well.
I cooked mine all the way until done. THEN I searched for how to freeze pasta. Do you think it will still freeze ok? Thank you!
Hi Diane,
It will freeze alright! Just don’t cook them for too long when you use it so the noodles don’t dissolve! It happened to me once with gluten-free noodles. I should have waited to add them in the last 5 minutes! Best of luck! 🙂
In the section on freezing cooked pasta, you mention using olive oil. How much should be used?
I do realize it depends on how much pasta I am cooking but just need a rough estimate….(cooking ~9 oz of pasta,…)
1/4 tbsp. tossed with the pasta well will usually keeps pasta from sticking together, Dan.
So freezing pasta saves only 10 min over cooking fresh unless you defrost first 🤔
10 minute is 10 minutes! Some nights we’re lucky to have that before we have to leave again!!
I’m making freezer meals for my elderly neighbour for a week at a time. I was going to put the sauce and cooked pasta in a container together. Would I be better off mixing the sauce and pasta together rather than keep them separate? She will be pulling the single container from the freezer to thaw the night before and then microwaving? Thanks
Verity, freeze the sauce and pasta separate then put them in freezer and microwave safe containers by the serving.
You are so correct! AND If you freeze several meals of cooked pasta, that could easily be 30 minutes or more of time saved. PLUS the clean up!
The biggest issue I have with freezing pasta per your directions is the OIL.
If you add EVOO (or ANY) kind of oil during OR after the cooking process, any sauce you add later WILL NOT STICK. This is the reason you SALT pasta, not ADD oil.
Thanks for sharing, Rebecca!
10 minutes PLUS the time it takes for the water to boil!
Would I use the same cooking method to freeze pasta for a cold pasta salad, or would I cook it a little longer? I’m only going to freeze the noodles, not anything else. thank you!
Hi Billie! Yes, the same cooking method – just a hair under-done.
Thank you! I had never considered freezing pasta on a cookie sheet – it makes sense!