Tofu, coagulated soy milk made in a cheese-like method, is a wonderful and versatile plant-based protein. If you are vegan/vegetarian or if you’re simply looking to include more meatless protein in your cooking, tofu is an amazing ingredient to always have on hand.
For that reason, you may be wondering how long tofu keeps and if it can be frozen to prolong its life and maintain its freshness.
You can freeze tofu for up to 3 months without any detrimental changes in taste or texture. When freezing tofu, remove it from its packaging and drain it before putting it in a resealable bag in the freezer. You can either freeze an entire block of tofu or cut it into smaller pieces. Thaw your tofu in the fridge and make sure to consume it before it goes bad.
In fact, freezing tofu comes with more benefits other than making it last longer. As a pretty much tasteless protein, tofu has the potential to fuel so many different dishes with the use of sauces, spices, and marinades.
How does freezing tofu change its properties to make it even easier to cook with and provide a more delicious end result?
Read on, because I will be explaining all that to you including the best methods for freezing and thawing tofu.
Does Tofu Change in Taste and Texture After Freezing It?
We all know that freezing food is a great way to keep it from spoiling quickly, but not all food does well in the freezer and the taste of some is negatively affected from being frozen.
Freezing tofu will definitely change its texture but this isn’t a worrisome change, in fact, it’s an entirely positive one. Since the taste of tofu is already so mild and entirely dependent on how you marinate it, freezing doesn’t really interfere with taste.
Actually, freezing tofu allows for a more flavorful meal as the texture becomes more chewy and airy and therefore able to absorb marinades and sauces much better.
It also makes the tofu firmer and less likely to crumble which means it will also turn out a lot crispier if you plan to fry it.
Sounds great!
How does it work?
Well, tofu is full of water and if you’ve ever cooked with it before, you’ll know that in order to get a nice, crispy texture you need to press your tofu to drain the water from it.
Pressing tofu can be a bit tedious if you don’t have the right equipment and it can add around 30 minutes of wait time to your cooking. Freezing tofu can help with this process.
When tofu freezes the water in it crystallizes and causes the tofu to expand and become more porous. When the tofu thaws and the water drains, the ice crystals disappear but the tofu remains airy and full of holes rather than dense.
The resulting texture is more meat-like and more receptive to flavoring and with a much nicer texture for frying.
I would recommend sticking to firm or extra firm tofu if you plan on using the freezer method.
While the change in texture is beneficial for keeping tofu spongy and not crumbly and is a game-changer for recipes that involve fried tofu, soft or silken tofu won’t have any benefits from being frozen.
As the name suggests, silken tofu is supposed to be soft and buttery, and putting it in the freezer will result in a stringy texture that removes all the creamy possibilities silken tofu brings.
How Long Can Tofu Be Frozen?
Fresh, opened tofu usually stays good for about 5 days in the fridge before its texture and smell begin to go a little funky. If your tofu develops a slimy outer layer that’s a good sign that it is no longer great to use. Frozen tofu, however, can keep for 4 to 6 months.
To prepare tofu for freezing you’ll want to remove it from its packaging, drain the extra water it sits in and wipe down the moisture from the surface with a paper towel or cloth to prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface.
You can then cut it into slices or cubes and space them out on a tray to freeze then transfer your cut tofu into a container to store in the freezer.
Pre-cutting the tofu will help it maintain its shape once it’s been thawed and allows you to grab only what you need when you need it without having to defrost the whole block.
You can also certainly freeze your tofu as a whole block but you will still want to follow the above steps of removing it from its original packaging and transferring to a different container.
Freezing the whole block will just require a longer thaw time. Tofu should not be frozen in the original packaging if it emerged in extra water.
Can You Freeze Fried Tofu?
Surprisingly, you can freeze not only fresh tofu, but fried tofu as well.
Some people even suggest flash-frying your tofu before freezing it because the already cooked pieces will have even less moisture to begin with but still react in the same way fresh tofu does in the cold temperature resulting in even less moisture.
If you buy fried tofu from the store you can also keep that in your freezer. It really works in the same way and has the exact same benefits as freezing regular firm tofu. It also results in a more absorbent end product.
You can also freeze already cooked dishes with tofu in them, such as stir fry or fried rice but the quality and amount of time for which you can store those types of dishes really depends on the other ingredients in the dish.
How Long Is Tofu Good After Thawing?
Unopened tofu has the ability to last even 3 months after the suggested “use by” date on the packaging. So if you have a package of tofu you don’t intend to use for a while, it may be best to leave it in the fridge for as long as possible.
However, if you have half a package of tofu or tofu that’s about to expire, you can keep it in the freezer for up to 6 months, as I mentioned before.
Once your tofu has been thawed you should not refreeze it. Thawed tofu has the same general lifespan of fresh, opened tofu of around 5 days.
How Should You Thaw Tofu?
Thawing tofu is probably the easiest part of the whole process! Especially because it should allow you to skip the annoying process of pressing the tofu to drain water from it.
There are a couple of different methods for thawing tofu.
The first is leaving it out on the countertop at room temperature. You can wrap the block in a kitchen cloth or place pieces between two towels to absorb any moisture that drains.
You can even cover it with a thin baking sheet to get even more moisture out. This will take around 6 hours depending on how your tofu is cut and the temperature in the room.
You can also thaw your tofu in the fridge by simply tossing it in there overnight in whatever container you froze it in. You can always also wrap it in a kitchen cloth or add a paper towel to the bottom of the container to soak up moisture.
This is the best method because it requires no effort and creates no clutter on your counter. You’ll be storing your tofu in the fridge once it’s thawed anyway so you might as well just transfer it a day before you plan to use it.
Microwaving frozen tofu is also a viable and quick option. To do this you will want to place your tofu on a microwave-safe dish and heat it for one minute. It will probably not defrost that quickly so continue to zap it in 30-minute intervals.
Doing so is important because you don’t want to risk overheating your tofu y leaving it in the microwave for too long.