Can You Freeze Soy Milk?

Yes, you can freeze soy milk. But the question is how to freeze soy milk to prevent spoilage and maintain its original flavor?

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Can you freeze soy milk?

Soy milk is a plant-based drink, made from soybean with high nutritional value. It is a healthy beverage with high levels of proteins but very low saturated fats. Besides, soy milk is rich in calcium, potassium, minerals and vitamins like vitamin A, B12 and D.

You can freeze soy milk for longer use. Although the texture of soy milk will change and separate after thawing, it does not negatively affect the essential nutritional value of soy milk. However, frozen soy milk is suitable for making food instead of drinking it directly.

Is soy milk good for your health? How long does it stay safe in the freezer? How to use the thawed soy milk? Is frozen soy milk as nutritious as fresh soy milk?

Keep reading the following article to find out the answers.

What are the nutrition values of soy milk?

As announced by the USDA, one 1 cup (about 235 ml) of unsweetened soy milk contains:

Calories: 105
Carbohydrates: 12g
Fat: 3.6g
Fiber: 0.5g
Protein: 6.3g
Sodium: 115
Sugars: 8.9g

Is soy milk good for you? A look at the benefits of soy milk for your health

Soy milk may bring you following benefits:

Make your heart healthier

Because soy milk contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids so it can help your heart stronger.

Strengthen your bones

Calcium in soy milk is necessary for the structure and function of your bones and teeth. Depending on age or gender, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) ranges from 1,000 to 1,200 mg per day for adults, not including pregnant and bread-feeding women.

With one cup serving of fortified soy milk, your body is provided with nearly half of the RDA.

Reduce cholesterol level

With the high fiber content, soy milk can reduce bad cholesterol levels in the body.

Slow down the aging process

The rich source of vitamins in soy milk helps to prevent aging, adding moisture to the skin, preventing free radicals, or making the skin to be smooth and more elastic. At the same time, it can protect the hair from frizz, weak and brittle.

Support hormonal balance

In the post-menopausal stage, women often have symptoms like hair loss, wrinkled skin, irritability, hot flashes, sweating, or memory loss because of decreasing levels of estrogen. The phytoestrogens in soy milk provides a source of estrogen that partially assists the balance of female hormones.

Shelf life of soy milk: How long can soy milk last?

In fridge

Soy milk has a shelf life of 10 days’ maximum if it is properly packaged and stored in the fridge. If you leave it opened in room temperature, it will spoil in one day. Therefore, you should put soy milk the fridge right after opening the package.

In freezer

Frozen soy milk, if unopened, can be safe in the freezer for up to 6 to 7 months or thereabout.

After thawing

After thawing, soy milk should be used within 2 days. The bad news is that you won’t be able to refreeze soy milk after defrosting, so your defrosted soy milk must be used or discarded.

How to know if soy milk goes bad- What are the signs?

After freezing, it is natural if you see a pale-yellow color on your soy milk. But you can check by smell and sight to know whether it spoiled or not.

Stale smell: If you smell sour, your soy milk has started to spoil.
Lumpy soy milk: The lumpy soy milk also means it has expired. Good quality soy milk is usually slightly white and smooth, but not lumpy.
Expanded carton: When you see the carton that contains soy milk is expanded, your soy milk may go bad and not good for consumption.

Further reading: How Much Electricity Does an Old Fridge Use?

If you drink spoiled soy milk, you will feel abdominal pain, nausea, and some similar symptoms of food poisoning.

What you should know before freezing soy milk

After opening the carton, it is best to freeze soy milk as soon as possible to avoid the risk of spoiling. Keep in mind the followings:

Make sure your soy milk is safe for freezing: It should not be opened for more than a couple of days or not over the expiration date.
Use the right container: To avoid the water content of the milk separating from the soy milk, you need to choose the right container. Do not choose a glass jar to store soy milk in the freezer as heat and expansion can cause the glass to break. The best solution is a food container with a tight-fitting lid. If you choose a box, be sure to leave at least 1 inch to allow for expansion during freezing.
Shake your soy milk well before freezing: This action will help to minimize separation during the freezing process.
Label the containers with dates: You should pay attention to the expiration date of soy milk to prevent soy milk from going bad before putting it in the freezer. Calculate 3 months ahead from the day you freeze soy milk to determine the expiration date.
Use it before the expiration date.

Another idea is that you should freeze soy milk in batches separately or in small portions. This method will enable you to thaw as much as you want, without thawing a whole container.

What are the best ways to freeze soy milk?

Refrigerating is a perfect way to store soy milk. You can keep it frozen if you want to use it later.

In a cube tray

The best way to ensure the soy milk texture is guaranteed when freezing is to pour the soy milk into the ice tray overnight.

Here are the guidelines:

Step 1: Pour the shaken soy milk into the ice tray
Step 2: Put the soy milk ice cubes in the container
Step 3: Label it and put it in the freezer

This method is easy but suffers from a disadvantage is that cubes of soy milk will easily stick together. So many people have chosen to freeze in the container.

Storing in containers

However, to do this second way, you must keep the right amount of soy milk for the freezer safe container as the soy milk can expand during the freezing process causing the container to crack. Let’s try the following guideline:

Put soy milk in the box or bottle and keep it in freezer for later use

Step 1: Shake the soy milk well and put it in the food bottles or cans
Step 2: Make sure the soy milk container has 1-inch leftover
Step 3: Use airtight containers or container with a proper lid to separate soy milk for foods with strong odors like fish or shrimp
Step 4: Label it and put it in the freezer

Using its carton

When you buy soy milk in bulk and do not use it immediately, you should store it in freezer right away for longer use. In this case, put the whole carton in freezer, make sure the freezer has enough room for it.

Further reading: Does Freezing Milk Change the Taste?

How to defrost frozen soy milk?

To defrost frozen soy milk properly, you can:

Place frozen soy milk in the fridge at a lower temperature to thaw slowly. After the soy milk is completely defrosted, you can gently shake it to restore the original texture of the soy milk.
Put it in warm water: If you need soy milk for immediate use, you can put frozen soy milk in a glass in a bowl of warm water to speed up thaw time.

If you are making smoothies, you can also immediately use soy milk cubes without thawing them.

How to use thawed soy milk: Can you make ice cream with thawed soy milk?

Yes, you can make ice cream with soy milk. If you do it manually and without the support of a machine like an ice cream maker, then it is best to use fresh soy cream.

However, thawed soy cream is still a great choice for home ice cream makers because the safety and nutrients in soy milk are guaranteed if you freeze and defrost it properly.

In addition to ice cream, you can consider using thawed soy milk to make Italian soda, vegan Japanese soft milk buns, deserts, pancakes, muffins, salted caramel sauce, or smoothies.