Is It Safe To Eat 2-Year-Old Frozen Cream Cheese

Freezer technology is a wonderful convenience of our modern age. Don't want to eat something right away? No problem. Just get it really, really, cold, and then when you feel like eating it, pop it right out, warm it right up, and you're good to go. On a basic level, freezing foods does preserve them for quite a while, but the preservation is not forever and more often than not, your food will not be the same as it was when you first put it into your freezer. 

According to Healthline, you can safely store cream cheese in the freezer for up to two months. Anything more (two years for instance) and the cream cheese will no longer be assuredly safe to consume. If you are planning on freezing cream cheese, make sure that it is placed in some sort of airtight container and there is no moisture touching the cream cheese.

To safely thaw, just leave your frozen cream cheese in the fridge for a couple hours or even overnight. Once you have thawed it, you'll find that the cream cheese now has a drastically different texture, making it unsuitable for spreading. Because the water in the cream cheese separates from the fats during the freezing process your new cheese curds will need to be whisked together to get back to the normal consistency, per AllRecipes. Healthline also suggests microwaving your thawed cream cheese for 10 to 15 seconds then stirring well to achieve a smooth consistency.

The main issue with frozen then thawed cream cheese is its grainy texture. Healthline and AllRecipes recommend using thawed cream cheese for baking or in other dishes where its new texture will not be noticeable. Some Tasting Table favorites include thick fudge-like Cream Cheese Brownies, creamy Banana Pudding Brownies, or sweet and simple Gooey Butter Bars.