Can You Freeze Tinned Sweetcorn?

I’d opened a can of tinned sweetcorn the other day, when I made an orzo, tuna and sweetcorn salad during a heatwave – but I’d not used the whole can and the heatwave finished, so I was “off salads” as it turned quite nippy!

What I did with the remainder of the sweetcorn was to freeze it as I’ll be able to use that in the coming months in a variety of other dishes and recipes.

Once I’d opened the tin of sweetcorn I’d immediately put what I hadn’t used into a lidded pot in the fridge, so it’d be kept in the best way possible until I decided it was time to freeze it as I wasn’t going to get round to using it.

Why Would You Freeze Tinned Sweetcorn?

If you live in a large household, you can probably open and use a whole can in one go.  When you’re cooking for one you’re perpetually having to buy and open cans that are too large for your needs, and plan what you’re going to do with the rest!  I never eat a whole can of sweetcorn – and am loathe to buy the smaller cans as they’re just not “good value for money”, so I’ll buy a larger/cheaper can to save money, leaving me having to deal with the excess/leftovers when I open the can.  Freezing sweetcorn works and is the perfect solution.

Method: 

1. Drain the sweetcorn, there’s no need to wash it.
2. Tip the tinned sweetcorn into a freezer bag, seal the bag (I use freezer clips) and flatten the sweetcorn down, spreading it out as thinly as possible – you don’t want it freezing into a football!
3. Place the flattened bag of sweetcorn into the freezer.

I’d happily use frozen sweetcorn up to a year or more after I’d frozen it, but I know it won’t last that long.  I expect to get through it in 3-6 months.  This won’t become freezer clutter and the flattened shape means it’ll take up a smaller space than if I’d just frozen it in a lump.

How to Use Frozen Sweetcorn: 

You don’t need to defrost it to use it – it will depend what you’re using it in.  If I were making a tuna/sweetcorn potato topping or sandwich filler I’d defrost it first, which could be done by pouring boiling water over it, then dunking it into cold water.  If I were adding the sweetcorn to a slow cooker meal I might defrost it, or I might just toss it in.

I can break off a couple of spoons of sweetcorn to use to top homemade pizzas, or to add additional toppings to ready made pizzas I buy.

Tinned sweetcorn is already cooked, so any reheating is reheating and not full cooking.

Sweetcorn Quiche / Sweetcorn Flan

Many years ago I went to a birthday party of a friend and her mum had made a sweetcorn flan, or sweetcorn quiche as it’d be called these days!  There was also a tinned tomato and onion quiche – I asked for the recipes and she brought them in and I made loads of sweetcorn flans and tomato/onion quiches in the coming months.  Over the years I’ve lost the recipe, but it was a simple quiche recipe, so these days I just use a simple quiche mix recipe and add sweetcorn to it – in fact, now I remember that I should make one in the coming weeks as I have frozen sweetcorn in my freezer! And the tomato/onion variety!