Do you have Half and Half milk close to the expiration date but don’t want it go bad because of how expensive it was? Don’t worry, you can freeze it!
You know the situation. You buy Half & Half milk because you are craving homemade ice cream. You only need a cup but the store only has a quart of it. Even worse, it’s $5.79. So you ponder “Should I just buy a carton of ice cream already made?” or “Should I suck up the price and make my own?”. You decide to go against the grain and make your own. You take it home and make your ice cream.
You’re feeling good about yourself and keep telling yourself you’re going to use the rest of the Half & Half for something else and you won’t let that money go to waste. Then you open the refrigerator again and you see that Half & Half staring back at you for the 90th time. You know the expiration date is coming up in 4 days. You panic. You let the Half & Half down. It’s going to go waste. You wasted money! Ahhhh, the agony of defeat!
But now you won’t ever let that happen because I’m here to tell you how easy it is to freeze Half & Half milk. All you do is measure it out into freezer bags (I usually do 1 cup per bag because recipes call for that) and then freeze them. When you need that Half & Half for a recipe, defrost it and you have your milk. You’ll never have to throw away money again!
Can you freeze half and half? Yes!
How to:
Stare at your Half & Half milk.
Measure the amount you want to use in each freezer bag. I recommend 1/2 cup or 1 cup.
Grab your freezer bags.
Pour the Half & Half into each freezer bag, closing the bag the best you can to remove all air.
I like to throw it on a cookie sheet so it stays flat when freezing. After it’s frozen I’ll remove it from the cookie sheet and then stack in my freezer. I find that freezing flat really helps with keeping the freezer more organized and allows me to store more.
Into the freezer it goes. When you need it, defrost it and continue to use how you regularly would.
Easy, right?
Hope you liked this tip!
Sandi says
I didnt know you could freeze half n half! And the mashed potatoes- awesome!
Pamela says
Hope this helps you Sandi!
Fran says
How long can you freeze half n half?
Pamela says
On average I find that it freezes well up for up to 3 months.
Toby D says
I love this tip for freezing half-and-half. Normally I buy just a quart and sometimes that goes bad. But recently I was at Costco and got a half gallon. What was I thinking? I did exactly what you showed. Put some in freezer bags and laid flat. Love love love this tip. Thank you
Cath says
Unfortunately, I froze an entire carton of Half and Half instead of portioning it out. When I thawed it in the fridge, it poured out in a curdled mess. Is this salvageable in any way? I have another full carton in the freezer as well.
Judi Baskett says
I read on another page that you can use a whisk or immersion blender after it is completely thawed and it will incorporate the ingredients back to normal.
Peter K Schaffer says
Does this successfully apply to ultra-pasteurized as well as so-called “fresh” (refrigerated, short life) half & half? Thank you.
Pamela says
Hey Peter, yes it will work for both.
Brenda says
I am so glad to know all I needed to do after freezing half and half was to shake it! I threw away two cartons just yesterday thinking they were not any good as they appeared curdled! Thank you for the tip!! I’m just sorry I was a day late in reading your blog!!
Pamela says
Glad this tip could help you Brenda!
Anthony says
Thanks for the tip. I started doing this because I bought a big container of it but only needed 1/4 cup. Now I add this in my iced coffee, works perfectly.
Pamela says
Thanks for commenting Anthony, happy it works for your coffee!
Connie Lee Peterson says
My husband uses creamer for his coffee. I have weaned him off the junk stuff and make a creamer from half and half. But I’m afraid he won’t go through it fast enough. Freezing it will help! Thanks.