So, you see those ridiculous deals on eggs—like, the kind that are a buck for an entire carton—and your brain goes “YES, let’s stock up!” But a week later, you’re sitting there staring at a dozen eggs that you’re never going to eat before they’re bad—a real bummer. Been there… it’s terrible. I used to think I had to either force myself into an egg-every-meal scenario (sad) or let them go bad. But guess what? You can freeze eggs—not in some weird complicated way, but actually quite simply.
Do Not Freeze Eggs in Shells
The first thing you need to know is to not even think of throwing raw eggs in the freezer still in their shells; a huge disaster. The liquid expands when it freezes, and the shell will crack leaving you with nothing but a gooey egg mess.
So, step one is to break them open, no shortcuts! Forgetting this step means you might be chipping ice off of eggshells in the future.
Break Eggs into Ice Cube Trays
Get an ice cube tray. Any ice cube tray works, as long as it is clean and big enough for your eggs. For each compartment of the tray, crack open one egg. I know it looks a little silly at first—like you are making a bunch of little egg puddles—but you will be glad you took this step.
Every egg has its own little frozen house, meaning that if you only need one or two eggs later, you don’t have to thaw out a giant blob of eggs. You can simply pop out what you need. Also, it is weirdly satisfying, watching all the yolks and whites settle into their frosty little slots for their soon-to-be chilly new adventure.
Freeze Until Hard
When your tray is full of cracked eggs, place it in the freezer. Do not disturb it until each egg has completely frozen. This, of course, usually takes a few hours. Don’t rush it. If you try to move your half-frozen eggs, they will turn into a slushy weird egg mush.
When they are solid – like hockey pucks, but egg – you are ready to move onto the next step.
Put in a Zip-Lock Bag
This is when you are going to be nice to future you. Pop these frozen egg cubes out of the tray. You may need to run a butter knife or spoon around the sides to get them out. Toss them in a zip-lock freezer bag. Maybe write the date on it. Certainly write the date on it. Seems odd now, I know; but, six months from now, you will open the mystery bag of yellow cubes, and you will have no idea what year they are from.
Now that they are in the bag, it frees up your ice cube tray for more freezing adventures. Plus, your eggs are neat and tidy and more compact than if you left them in the tray forever.
Why Freezing in Cubes is Awesome
You may be thinking, “Why did I go through all of these steps, instead of just throwing these eggs into a bulk container?” Here’s the thing: if you put a dozen eggs in one container to freeze, you will have to thaw them all at once since it is impossible to separate frozen eggs from a solid block. Not practical, and not smart! When you freeze one egg per cube, you can thaw exactly what you need for any recipe because you can grab the exact number of cubes from the freezer.
So when you get the craving to bake muffins or have some scrambled eggs, you don’t have to make an unexpected grocery run or thaw way more than you are actually going to use. Simply pull a couple cubes from the freezer, and you’re ready to go!! It’s like having access to an Egg ATM right in your freezer!
Thawing Your Egg Cubes
When you have a recipe that calls for eggs, grab the cubes you need, place them in a bowl and set them in a room-temperature area to thaw. You will see the whites and yolks slowly turn back into liquid. When the thawing process is done, give the eggs a quick whisk in the bowl and they are ready to use!
If you want to rush the thawing process, you can set the bowl of cubes into a larger bowl filled with warm water. Don’t even think about microwaving them! A microwave will heat the eggs unevenly, and does not do well for thawing frozen eggs, plus you may end up with uneaten rubbery chunks of eggs.
How Long Can Frozen Eggs Last?
Egg cubes can be stored in your freezer for up to three months without the quality dropping off. Some people swear they stored theirs in the freezer for a year and they were fine! I don’t love taking chances with old eggs, but hey—if you label the bag and keep those eggs frozen solid, go for it. Most often, three months is the sweet spot for taste and texture.
Texture Differences After Thawing
One important thing to note: thawed eggs don’t act like fresh eggs in every situation. You will notice a slight change in the texture. They are perfect for baking, scrambled eggs, or in recipes like quiches or pancakes, but if you are dreaming of a delicate sunny-side-up egg, this is not the method for you. You will either end up with odd, runny whites or rubbery yolks.
So just stick to recipes where the eggs will be fully incorporated into something or fully cooked through. That is where frozen eggs shine.
Freezing Makes Eggs Time & Money Savers
Think about it—when you buy when eggs are cheap, you make a huge savings. You can freeze the eggs that you won’t use immediately, and your life is WAY easier when you don’t have to make that annoying last minute grocery store run just because you ran out of eggs halfway through baking a cake. It saves you money and time. And honestly, it’s kind of pleasurable knowing that you have an inventory of eggs ready to go.
Check Your Eggs Before You Freeze
Oh—and don’t forget to make a check on your eggs before you freeze. Freezing will not salvage stale eggs that would have gone rancid. So if you are not sure and wonder if your egg may be stinko, crack the egg first into a small bowl. A bad egg will give an unmistakable foul smell. Now don’t talk yourself into saying it is fine. Just throw it away.
Give It a Go
So next time you see eggs on sale, go nuts. Buy some cartons of eggs, crack them open into an ice cube tray and freeze them. Then you will be thanking past-you when you are baking cookies in the midnight hour or whipping up an omelet for surprise guests without worrying that your eggs went bad.
Freezing eggs is not just a hack; it is kind of like a super power in your kitchen. Freezing eggs with a little forethought means you will always have one of the most versatile ingredients on hand and you won’t ever worry that your eggs will spoil before you use them.
Not sure if your eggs are bad yet before freezing? Find out how to tell if an egg is bad before you freeze it, and it’s easy to check, which can help you avoid a ruined recipe.
