Why You Should Use Frozen Bread When Packing Sandwiches For Lunch

If you have kids around the house, you know how hectic mornings can be. Assembling lunches, getting the kids out the door, and ensuring that you can get a shower in before a busy workday can be a challenge. And, nobody needs the annoying setback of having your sandwich bread rip when you go to spread a condiment on it or try to assemble a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But with this simple hack, you can have ready-to-assemble sandwich bread: Simply freeze your bread ahead of time.

When you're ready to assemble, pull out your bread, slap on your fillings, and pop the assembled sandwich into your storage container of choice. The frozen bread won't rip as readily as room-temperature bread (especially cheap sandwich bread), and it will also keep the contents of your sandwich chilled up until you (or whoever you're making this sandwich for) are ready to eat it. This is also a great hack for folks who can't go through an entire loaf of bread before it goes stale.

You may want to consider double-wrapping your bread in plastic wrap to prevent it from going soggy. This method can make an entire loaf last up to about three months — which is great if you only want a sandwich for lunch occasionally. 

You don't only have to freeze the bread; you can even go a step further and freeze the whole sandwich ahead of time. This will, of course, depend on the fillings inside of it. Sandwich additions like lettuce and tomatoes tend not to fare as well as others, so you'll need to be a bit selective about which sandwiches you make ahead of time and which need to be made the day of. As a whole, it's best to wait on adding veggies to freezer sandwiches because of their high water content (which translates into ice crystals). But, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are fair game — and it's a much cheaper option than kid-favorite Uncrustables. 

The best breads for freezer sandwiches include ciabatta and sourdough because the crust will prevent the inside from getting too soggy. You can also prevent your bread from getting soggy by altering the order in which you assemble the sandwich. For example, add wet condiments (like jelly, mustard, and hummus) to the center of your sandwich, rather than between the other ingredients and the bread.