11 Things You Need to Have in Your Freezer

This is your desert island list. If your desert island was really cold.

Freezer real estate is so precious, you have to make some decisions on what to chill out. So I asked everybody on the Epi team what they leave room for in their freezer, their freezer staples.

Here’s our top 11 desert (and dessert) island list.

1. Chicken Thighs

Executive Director Eric Gillin believes if you have one kind of chicken in the freezer, it needs to be chicken thighs, “because chicken breast is overpriced and overrated.” Having frozen chicken thighs on hand is like a dinner safeguard. No matter how crazy the weather is outside, or how long it’s been since you grocery shopped, you’ll always have dinner at the ready.

Pull out a sheet pan, some bacon and greens, or some Greek yogurt to round out dinner.

2. Alternative Flours

In our test kitchen, we keep all of the flours in the freezer in resealable plastic bags (which helps keep them fresh and prevents odors from seeping in). Assistant Food Editor Anna Stockwell keeps all of her gluten-free flours in the freezer at home, too. Alternative flours like rye and even whole wheat can spoil quickly, and for the cost, you want to take the utmost care to prevent them from going rancid. It doesn’t take long for them to come back up to room temperature before using.

3. Broth/Stock

If you’re going to go through the trouble of buying pounds of bones and then cooking them for hours to make stock, you probably going to make a lot. Pour your strained stock or broth into stackable containers of different sizes, and next time you need a flavorful base for a soup quickly, reach for the freezer door.

4. Fruit

Keep mango chunks for smoothies, peeled bananas for ice cream (or unpeeled for faster ripening), and blueberries for pancakes, just for a starting point. Frozen berries make for a fast dessert—just toss them still-frozen in a hot pan with sugar and orange zest and use it as a topping for ice cream, which (hopefully!) is also in your freezer.

5. Breadcrumbs

Here’s how I keep a life supply of breadcrumbs. I keep a 24-ounce container in my freezer door. Whenever I have bread that’s over a day old, I use it for croutons or panzanella and blitz the rest down into crumbs.

Freeze larger chunks for croutons, and use the more finely ground crumbs for a quick add-on to salads, vegetarian mains, pasta, and most delightfully, mac and cheese.

6. Frozen Peas

Frozen peas are brighter and sweeter than the canned kind. They can make a quick side with butter and prosciutto, but that’s just getting started. Use frozen peas in pasta, pesto, soups, or even cocktails (with some vodka you might be keeping in the freezer). They can even multi-task for pain relief. “Doubles nice as an ice pack,” says Eric.

7. Stock Up on Scraps

This is a catch-all way to save scraps, waste less, and make better stocks and broths that we all swear by. To start, take a gallon-sized freezer bag. Next time you’re slicing onions or carrots, toss the ends into the bag. Throw mushroom stems into the bag. Those heels and tips to celery can also go in. Think parsley stems are trash? Think again—that’s fair game for the broth bag.

Make one for meat bones, too—those have way too much flavor to go right in the trash. When you have a bag or two, you can toss the contents into a stockpot, cover with water, and bring to a simmer.

8. A Bag of Frozen Shrimp

Like chicken thighs, these are a safe option to keep in the back pocket (of the freezer). With only a few things in the pantry, you can make a pretty stellar dinner. With a few stray scallions and a bag of grits, you can even make breakfast.

9. Pizza Dough

Thaw it. Roll it out. Toast in a cast-iron skillet. Throw on the toppings. Now bake it. Whoever said pizza on a weeknight was impossible must not have owned a freezer.

10. Crumble Topping

Using the freezer to make dessert is great, but when you don’t have time (or the patience) to wait for a semifreddo to firm up, you can count on the crumble, an easy-to-make topping. To make your own, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter until crumbly. Place in a freezer-friendly container. “Slice almost any fruit, sprinkle with frozen crumb topping, and bake for an easy and delicious dessert,” says Food Director Rhoda Boone. Pro tip: it also doubles as a pie topping.

11. Parmesan Rinds

The next time you grate down a cheese like Parmesan or Grana, keep the rind. Just like chicken bones, there’s a lot of flavor in the rinds. Once you’ve collected a nice collection of rinds, there's a wide array of uses for it. Use about a pound’s worth in making Parmesan broth. Throw a rind in with your risotto. Or plop one in with your next big pot of Italian soup.