
One of my favorite things about the summer garden is the basil. We pretty much use basil for one thing….pesto. I shared photos of our first batch of pesto for this season and a couple of local friends asked me about freezing in glass jars. Then I got a comment on the post asking how to freeze in glass jars without the glass breaking. Apparently, I never got the “don’t freeze in glass” memo growing up and have been successfully freezing food in glass for most of my adult life. So, I thought I’d share my best freezing food in glass tips with you.
I also have some food preservation worksheets for you so you can know what freezes well and keep an inventory of what you have preserved. To get the worksheets, just fill out the form below and they’ll be emailed to you.
How to choose freezer storage containers
If you want to freeze food in glass containers you need to pick containers that are safe for freezing. That means that the glass is tempered, as non-tempered glass has microscopic air bubbles that will expand and contract when the glass is exposed to extreme temperatures as it is when canning, freezing, or baking.
Examples of tempered glass would be canning jars, freezer jelly jars, and glass storage containers that can be used in the oven (Pyrex® for example). Canning jars are my favorite to freeze in because they’re simple, inexpensive, and multi-purpose – you can freeze, store, and can in them. If you’re freezing baby food in jars, there is no need to get fancy (expensive) “baby food freezer jars“, 8 oz or 4 oz caning jar will do just fine. You can use the metal lids over and over since you’re not canning in them, however, if you wanted to use plastic you could get Tattler lids or plastic storage lids.

How to freeze in mason jars
I rarely break a glass jar in the freezer. I don’t have a good number but it’s just been a handful in 20+ years. Here are some tips.
- Use jars without a shoulder if possible. So wide mouth jars, the tall pickle jars, and the regular mouth jelly jar above are great for freezing in.
- Leave plenty of head space, especially if the contents have a lot of water such as broth. If the jar has a shoulder DON’T put the contents above the shoulder, stop filling before you get to the curve.
- Label the contents. Frozen milk looks very much like frozen chicken broth – don’t ask how I know. But I now make sure to label everything. Just put a piece of masking tape on the lid and use a sharpie to write what the contents are on the lid. Do this before you put the container in the refrigerator.
- Make sure the contents are completely cooled before you freeze them. I put the jars in the refrigerator overnight and then into the freezer the next day. This makes sure that they are cooled all the way through before they go into the freezer.
- Don’t screw the lid on all the way until the contents are frozen. When I put the jars in the freezer the lids are just resting on the jar and after they’re frozen I screw the lids on all the way. If there is a lot of water, it will expand in the middle and will create a little hill inside the glass jar. If the lid is on tight and you didn’t leave much head space, there’s no place for the liquid to expand into and the glass will break.

How to thaw food that’s been frozen in glass
The best way to thaw food that’s been frozen in glass is to put it in the refrigerator and let it thaw slowly. However, this can take a day or so and sometimes we need it faster than that.
When I need quicker than that, I’ll put it in the sink and fun hot tap water in the sink with the plug in. Don’t use boiling water, the key to not breaking the glass is to not go from one extreme temperature to another too quickly. If I’ve frozen the food in storage containers instead of jars, I’ll sometimes use the defrost option on the microwave. I check it and stir every few minutes. This is key.

What can you freeze in glass
Unless you have unlimited freezer space you’ll need prioritize what to preserve by freezing. There are a lot of things besides pesto that you can freeze in glass. I always can my jelly and jam but I know some people love the simplicity of freezer jam and jelly. If you don’t have a a pressure canner and want to make and preserve soup broth, freezing the broth is the way to go. Dried beans can also be cooked and frozen which is a great help for meal stretching. I actually like to put all the ingredients for hummus in the jar so when I thaw it out I can blend the whole thing and have fresh hummus in minutes. Although you could also blend the hummus and then freeze it. Hummus is the only thing I use tahini in so I like to make a several batches of hummus and use a whole jar of tahini so it doesn’t go bad.
I also use my freezer to store short term things such as eggs when we have too many in the spring so we have some in the fall.
I mainly use the rectangle storage containers for individual meals. When we have left overs, I’ll put them in meal size portions and freeze them for my husband and older boys to take to work for lunches. It works great if they have access to a microwave with most of them do.
Don’t be scared to freeze in glass, just follow these simple tips and it will all be fine. What do you like to freeze in glass jars?

I really like your post!! Thanks for sharing such great tips with us. Using glass instead of plastic is more safer for our health & environment. I am also using glass products in my daily life, such as glass bottles, glass containers & much more.
I’ve seen in other posts about using plastic lids only. Is that necessary, and if so, why? It looks like you’ve used regular lids… Which is what I would like to do.
Hi Cecelia, there’s no need to only use plastic lids for freezing in canning jars. I just use whatever happens to be in lid drawer at the time. I save used metal lids to use for freezing and for storing dried goods. I’ve never had a problem. The only time I think it’s truly necessary to use plastic lids (or put plastic wrap between the jar contents and the metal lid) is when I’m infusing herbs in vinegar because the vinegar can cause the metal lid to rust. Hope that helps.
Thank you. Donto like plastic.
Thank you. I have broken a few mason jars when they defrost on the counter and that is a bummer.
Thanks for your good advice. Good going on the pesto as well. And I like the advice on making hummus. I hate to by plastic containers with food in them so the idea of making a bunch of garbanzo beans and then freezing it so you just defrost and blend sounds great.
#GratefullyfromBerkeley!
Glad it was helpful, Jeni. I hate it when I break a mason jar, fortunately it rarely happens anymore.
Hi, I was just wondering if you had ever frozen blanched corn in a jar? I’ve been looking into how to freeze corn on Pinterest, and so far the only things that have really come up are using plastic freezer bags. Canning isn’t an option since I don’t have a pressure canner. Has anyone tried freezing corn in glass jars?
Yes, corn can be frozen in glass jars. The issue that I see with freezing corn in glass jars is that if there’s no liquid in the jar ice crystals will form in the empty spaces over time. This will cause freezer burn. It’s fine for a month or so but if you want long term storage you’ll need to add water to fill in the spaces so ice crystals don’t form. Just make sure to leave ample headspace. Let me know how it works for you.
Hi Angi, Boy am I glad I found your little spot online and just in time. I’m an old man (71) that has recently purchased an IP. Last night I made the best pasta sauce I’ve ever tasted. But, I made too much. My first thought was to freeze it, so I filled 3 quart size wide mouth Ball Jars up to the “fill to here line for freezing”. Do you think that would be enough head space? It’s not real watery nor is it real thick. Thanks for the tips to refrigerate overnight and to just set the lids on until frozen.
Dominic
Hi Dominic, yes that should be enough space, especially if you refrigerate it and don’t screw on the lid. How exciting that you made such a great pasta sauce!
Hi Angi,
Love the tips you shared, I have had numerous broken jar experiences in the freezer and gave up using that method. I will try again now using this new information. This year I planted what for me is a huge garden, especially since I am the only one tending it. Now I am faced with the happy problem of a bumper crop of tomatoes, corn, butternut, acorn squash and cabbage. I am trying to figure what to do with all my basil. Loved to hear about freezing pesto and will be doing that soon. Today I am using your recipe for corn and bean salsa. Hubbie just purchased a beautiful pressure canner for me. So I am excited to get on with it. Oh by the way my garden is 110 feet long and 35 ft wide. I did not realize it was going to be so successful and am scrambling to keep up with it. Love your site and thank you for sharing good info. Blessings
Hi Luverne, what great news that your garden is doing so well! Good job! There’s a season when it seams like everything is coming in at once and you scramble but it doesn’t last long, which is always good news. I really utilize my freezer during this time – I freeze all our tomatoes and then can them later when I have time. When they thaw the skin just slides right off, it’s great. I’m excited for your pressure canner, you’ll be able to do so much with it!
Hi, I have amber (brown) bottles I keep from types of drinks I used to drink. They have a plastic top and the body is amber glass. Would this is alright for freezing? I want to freeze my bone broth.
Maybe? There has to be enough room for the liquid to expand when freezing. If these are bottles that have a narrow neck and a small opening, it will be tricky. I would try one and see how it goes before doing a bunch of them. You could even do a test run with just water in the bottle.
Hi Angi
I have read that when you freeze food in glass jars, they can sometimes crack on the inside of the jar and release tiny shards of glass into the food. You won’t even know that this is in the food. Is this true?
He Hanna, I’ve never heard that. Every time I’ve had a jar crack it’s been obvious and we throw the jar and contents away. I’ve done a lot of reading on USDA and university sites about preserving food and no where do they mention that jars can crack in a way that isn’t noticeable. They all say that glass is a safe way to freeze food. Here’s one of the articles.
I am doing all the things yous say to do when I freeze food in the freezer, but so far I have broken three glass canning jars that were in the freezer. In each instance, the bottom dropped out of the jar. Any suggestions?
Thank you
Miriam
If the bottom drops out of the jar, I’m going to guess that there is some kind of thermal shock going on. Maybe the contents weren’t fully cooled before putting them in the freezer or the thawing process was too quick (like putting them in warm or hot water or in the microwave). It could also be that there wasn’t enough headspace left. Try leaving an even larger headspace and putting the jar in the refrigerator for 24 hours before moving to the freezer. Hope that helps!
@Angi Schneider,
I learned that it is also very important to unscrew the lid when thawing.
Great article as always, Angi! Thank you. I recently had several broken jars in the freezer which had never happened before. I guess I filled them too full and made the lids too tight! Thanks again!