If you’re trying to achieve a zero waste lifestyle, then there are many foods you might not realise you can freeze. Perhaps you’re putting off opening a tin of beans as you’re not sure when you’ll want to eat the rest and don’t want to waste them. 
Once a can of beans is opened, you should transfer any leftover beans into a lidded container in the fridge, where they’ll happily be fine for 4-5 days. But, did you know you can freeze baked beans?
To Freeze Baked Beans:
- Make sure the beans are cool
- Put the beans into a freezer bag or freezer-safe lidded pot.
- Open up the freezer door, pop the potted beans inside. Close the freezer door
It’s as easy as that! No prep at all.
To use the beans you can either let them defrost in the fridge, or use the microwave to reheat the beans from frozen.
Freezer & Microwave Safe Pots
I bought some small, lidded, freezer and microwave safe pots, that hold about half a can’s worth of beans – when I open a tin of beans I immediately fill the pot and put it in the fridge, I then eat the remainder of the can with the meal I am preparing. If, after 2-3 days, I don’t think I’ll be eating the remainder of the beans soon they’re already in the right freezer container, so I just put the pot into the freezer, which takes about 2 seconds!
A regular tin of baked beans is about 420 grams, so a pot large enough for half a tin is ~220 ml.
What Can you Do with Leftover/Frozen Baked Beans?
Once defrosted there’s no difference between the original beans and what you’ve now got, so you can use them exactly as you’d use freshly opened beans:
- Beans on toast
- Jacket potato topping
- Cold as part of a buffet salad bar
- Bulk out a chilli con carne
- Add to any slow cooker casserole or stew
- Serve with egg & chips 🙂
You can pick up small Clip & Lock storage boxes at most supermarkets and other shops, or, if you’re not going shopping for awhile, then you can buy them online and have them delivered in the next couple of days. Ebay usually has the best prices for clip & lock. The smallest size tends to be: Clip & Lock 200ml – this size has 101 uses and is perfect for storing single portions of food in the fridge or freezer.