Can You Freeze Breaded Chicken? Freezing Guide

Breaded chicken is a delicious appetizer that can be eaten at any time of the day. It’s full of nutrition and quickly can be cooked. If you’ve bought breaded chickens from the grocery store or made them yourself at home, you will need to store them. Would freezing breaded chicken be an option?

Can you freeze breaded chicken? Yes, you can freeze breaded chickens. Due to the chicken already cooked, there will not be a lot of moisture in the meat. By preparing and storing it properly, breaded chicken can last for up to 3 months in the freezer.

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Does Breaded Chicken Freeze Well?

Breaded chicken freezes well since it’s already cooked. Due to the chicken being cooked, very little change in texture and flavor will occur.

When the chicken is cooked, the meat will be firm and have less moisture in it. This will avoid them from getting freezer burn too easily.

How To Freeze Breaded Chicken

There are many different methods of cooking breaded chickens. Whichever method you use, make sure that it’s fully cooked before freezing it.

Breaded chickens are fairly easy to freeze. However, it will take a bit of time to prep them. This extra time is important to ensure that the frozen chicken will taste fresh and last a long time in the freezer.

Below are the steps to preparing and freezing breaded chickens:

Prepare the breaded chickens as you normally would. Since it’s a meat product, make sure to cook it thoroughly.
Once the chicken is cooked, let them sit at room temperature to cool down first. Never store the chicken while it’s hot in a storage container or it will cause condensation in the container.
Once it’s cooled completely, you’ll want to flash freeze them first. This will ensure that they don’t stick to each other during freezing.
On a clean tray, lay a sheet of parchment paper on it.
Place the breaded chickens onto the tray keeping them spaced out between each other.
Put the tray of chickens into the freezer. Flash freeze them for 2-3 hours or until it’s completely frozen.
Once it’s frozen, take the tray out of the freezer.
Immediately transfer the frozen breaded chickens to an airtight container or freezer bag.
If using a freezer bag, squeeze out as much air from the bag before sealing it. For an airtight container, make sure there are no leaks in the lid before securing it to the container tightly.
Label the container or bag with the date of freezing and place it into the freezer.

How Long Can You Freeze Breaded Chicken?

If breaded chicken is properly stored, it will last for up to 3 months. After that time, the chicken will still be safe to eat but will start to deteriorate and lose some of its flavors.

It’s best to cook the breaded chickens thoroughly before you freeze them. By doing so, there won’t be a lot of moisture in the chicken which will keep them frozen and have a lesser chance of getting freezer burn.

The storage container you should use is an airtight container or freezer bag. These items are designed and able to handle the extreme cold of the freezer.

How Do You Defrost Breaded Chicken?

To defrost breaded chicken, the recommended method is to cook them directly from the freezer. If you thaw the breaded chicken first, you may end up with crumbs becoming soggy.

If you are not planning to cook them right away, it’s best to just leave them in the freezer until you’re ready to cook them.

To keep the crunchiness of the chicken, it’s best to cook them in the oven. Heat the oven to about 350F and place the frozen breaded chickens in the oven. Heat it for about 20-30 minutes until it’s piping hot throughout.

How Do You Reheat Frozen Breaded Chicken?

When it comes to reheating frozen breaded chickens, there are 2 methods that you can try. You can either reheat them in a conventional oven or in the microwave.

Method 1: Conventional Oven

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Remove the amount of breaded chickens from the freezer and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes at room temperature.
Fit a wire rack inside a baking sheet and place the chicken on the rack. This will allow hot air to circulate on all sides of the chicken. If you don’t have a wire rack, just use a foil-lined baking sheet.
Place the tray in the center of the oven and allow it to cook for about 10 minutes.
Check the chicken every few minutes to see if it has reached your desired level of crispness.
Once it does, you can remove it from the oven.

Method 2: Microwave

Reheating breaded chickens in the microwave can be a bit tricky. Using the microwave will cause them to be heated unevenly and often will leave the breaded chickens soggy.

It’s still possible to reheat chickens in the microwave by following the steps below:

Remove the breaded chickens from the fridge and let them sit on a plate until they reached room temperature. Avoid leaving them out too long as contaminating from bacteria is possible. About 3-4 minutes is enough.
Place a paper towel on the chicken to avoid it from getting too soggy. The towel will absorb some of the moisture.
On a microwavable plate, place the breaded chickens on it.
Microwave the chickens in 30-second intervals until it’s warm, flipping them intermittently.
In about 2-3 minutes, the breaded chickens should be cooked enough to eat.

Can You Refreeze Breaded Chicken?

When it comes to breaded chicken, since it’s already cooked, refreezing them is possible. However, you should only refreeze it if it hasn’t been sitting at room temperature for longer than 2o minutes.

If it’s been over that time, there’s a chance the breaded chicken will be contaminated with bacteria. If it is, freezing the chicken with bacteria will cause them to go bad.