Here's What Happens To Cream Cheese When You Put It In The Freezer

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We don't know about you, but in our homes, we can't get enough cream cheese. Some folks think of this malleable, mild dairy product as little more than a schmear for bagels, but they are, in our humble opinion, short-sighted. Cream cheese is the mayo swap that makes better sandwiches, for one. It's also the ideal cream base for every casserole under the sun, it jazzes up our mashed potatoes with richness and tang, and let's not even get started on cheesecake. If this divine ingredient has one strike against it, it's how long cream cheese lasts once opened ... which is not long at all.

If you want your cream cheese to go the distance, such as if you got a great deal on a huge block at a warehouse store or if you want to pre-game the shopping marathon for your holiday feasts, you may have been tempted to freeze it for later use. Will that work out? The good news is that, yes, you can, in fact, freeze cream cheese ... with a caveat.

Cream cheese has a high water content, which is what makes it oh-so spreadable and silky. When frozen, all that water expands, meaning that, when thawed, you may find that your thawed cream cheese is a bit more grainy or crumbly than it was before. The good news is that this isn't a problem if you are using your cream cheese for cooking, like in a dip or hot dish. The jury's out on whether it's fit for eating straight on your morning bagel, however.

Here's some extra good news: you can drastically improve your frozen cream cheese by freezing and thawing it properly. Perhaps the best way to freeze unopened cream cheese is in its original container or wrapping, since that is already airtight. Barring that (like if your cream cheese has been opened), keep in mind that you want it as protected from the freezing air as possible.

To that end, wrap your cream cheese well. Consider cutting it into individual servings and, after freezing those solid on a baking sheet, wrapping them in plastic and then sealing them in a freezer bag with all the air squeezed out. Make sure that you label the bag with the date you put it in the freezer, as even frozen cream cheese has a shelf life of about two months before it becomes unusable.

When it comes to thawing your cheese, putting it in the fridge overnight to defrost slowly may be the best bet for preserving texture. In a pinch, you can use the same trick you do to soften cream cheese fast and blast it in the microwave on short intervals, stirring frequently. Once it's fully thawed, whipping it briefly with a hand mixer (we like the ratings on this pretty, blue budget model by Yomelo) may do wonders for the consistency of the end product as well.