Fabulous food waste hacks to maximise your freezer

From Parmesan rinds to yoghurt, berries to chillies, there are so many ingredients that can be cooked from frozen, giving us easy access to quick flavour boosts whenever we need them.

Just don’t forget to label and date whatever you pop in there! These food waste hacks will change the way you cook, and save you money in the long-run, too.

Parmesan rinds

Packed with umami flavour, Parmesan rinds are perfectly edible and will add depth and natural saltiness to all sorts of sauces, soups and casseroles. Whenever you come to the end of some Parmesan, put the rind in the freezer, then add it straight from frozen to soups, casseroles and tomato sauces, or try it in this Silky squash risotto and store-cupboard Minestrone. Pick out and discard the rind before serving, or chop it up and stir it through your dish.

Ripe fruit

Whether you’ve got a glut of blackberries from the garden or a punnet of strawberries from the supermarket, pop your berries straight into the freezer for sweetness and vibrancy at your fingertips. Try them in Frozen fruit smoothies or a Frozen fruit & almond crumble.

Freeze overripe bananas after you’ve peeled and chopped them into chunks – then blitz them straight from frozen into this Kiwi, ginger & banana smoothie. Peel and chop apples and pears into chunks, squeeze over a little lemon juice to stop them from browning, then freeze. They’ll cook nicely in your breakfast compote.

Herbs

Herbs can wilt fairly quickly, so turn them into flavoured oil cubes by tearing the leaves into ice-cube trays and topping up with olive oil before freezing. Use these herby oil cubes to kick off a Freezer-raid pasta soup.

Spinach

Bag that spinach before it goes off! Chuck it in the freezer, so you can add a handful of goodness to your next Quick green pasta or Lamb & chickpea curry.

Citrus

Citrus fruits are so handy to have in your flavour arsenal, and it’s great to have them on ice! Cut lemons, limes, oranges or grapefruits into slices or wedges then freeze, ready to pop straight into something chilled like this English garden mocktail. Pomegranate seeds also freeze well (but not the whole fruit) – pair them with lime in this refreshing Pomegranate, ginger & lime-flavoured water. You could also juice citrus fruit directly into ice cube trays, to make zingy ice cubes that won’t dilute your summer Mojito.

Yoghurt

Yoghurt on the turn? Make a quick batch of Fruity frozen yoghurt or these Berry & vanilla fro-yo lollies. Yes!

Chillies, ginger & lemongrass

Frozen chillies are one of Jamie’s favourite ingredient hacks! Freeze them whole, so you can grate them directly into your cooking, like these Butter beans with a spicy zing. Aromatic ginger and lemongrass also store perfectly well in the freezer. Then simply peel and grate ginger into Honey & ginger chicken wings or add both to this Smashed lemongrass chicken.

Cheese

Cheese on hand in the freezer whenever you need it? We’re in! Grate hard cheese into freezer-safe containers to sprinkle directly onto pasta bakes and lasagne, or use it in this special cheese toastie.

Bread

Sliced bread freezes perfectly, as do breadcrumbs. Turn that loaf into breadcrumbs before freezing them in labelled bags, to give you a quick handful whenever you’re making burgers or you need a crunchy herby topper to pasta or this Sausage pasta bake.

Want to know more? Here are 10 more tips to help you reduce food waste.