After extensive testing and reviewing over 15 different reusable brands, I’m sharing my top picks and best quality gallon sized reusable freezer bags.
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There are so many different varieties of reusable gallon sized freezer bags out there from silicone to PEVA, lay-flat to stand-up styles, single seam and double seam varieties and even different kinds of zipper close tabs.
So, to find out which ones are the best, I researched and ordered in all the different types or reusable gallon sized bags. I tested them all for strength, capacity, stains, smells, leaking and used them to make freezer meals.
This post shares all my research data, the winning reusable bags, and my full research processes.
Also make sure to scroll to the end of this post for bonus info & tips on how best to label and clean your reusable bags too!
The Rezip bags are made of food safe FDA-grade PEVA material and my absolute favorite gallon sized freezer safe reusable bag of all. This 16 cup capacity bag is the closest I have found to the quality of the traditional Ziploc freezer bag. Each bag has a strong & easy to grip zipper seal that didn’t break or leak with all my tests. It’s dishwasher safe on low heat, double pressed sealed, and kept the air out of my freezer meals during testing. It costs around $7 per bag, so it’s more pricy than some of the others, but the quality of the bag makes up for it.
The SIK reusable freezer bag holds a whopping 16 cups of liquid easily and held up to all my strength tests as well. And with a price of $2.50-$4.00 depending on the sales this bag truly is a bargain. This bag has a single seam vs the double seam, and the zipper tab is not quite as big, and you cannot wash it in hot water or in the dishwasher. These are the reasons the Rezip bag above beat it for the number one pick. But these SIK bags are great quality and at this price, you can’t go wrong.
The Bealy reusable freezer bags have a triple zipper system which I LOVE and wish all other bag companies had. It made it so nice to open and close the zipper of the bag as you can really get your fingers in there and grip it. I love that there are not logos on the bags and they are double seamed too. The problem with this bag is that it NOT a true gallon size – as it only holds 12 cups of liquid while the top two reusable bags above hold 16 cups, which is a gallon. It passed all the tests, is a great quality bag and only costs around $2.45 per bag. So if you don’t plan on making large batches of freezer meals these bags would be a great pick.
If you love a good silicone bag the Saffron Goods bags are my top pick. While I’m not a fan personally of silicone bags due to them not stacking well in the freezer, being hard to open and close and not having a full gallon sized option available anywhere yet, they are a favorite to many and offer many benefits that other bag types don’t offer. For example these bags are dishwasher safe and you can clean them with soap and hot water unlike the PEVA bags. They can go from freezer to Instant Pot or Slow cooker, as they are the perfect size.
After testing several different silicone bag brands including the Stasher bag, Saffron Goods out performed the others with their leak-proof 6-cup capacity reusable bag. Plus they passed all my tests when others didn’t.
The Russbe recycled plastic reusable bag is different from the others. It will hold 16 cups so it’s a true gallon size freezer safe bag. It is dishwasher safe as well, however my tests showed that after going through the dishwasher the seal to the bags weren’t holding as strong, so I’d recommend hand washing so they last longer. These are strong bags and held up to my tests, but the reason I don’t like them as much as the others is that filling them and removing the food from the bag isn’t ideal as the bag doesn’t fully open. With shipping it breaks down to about $2.37 per bag, which makes this a great option too.
I started a spreadsheet listing all the reusable bags I could find on amazon.com and other websites online. I added the bag size dimentions (as you’ll notice there are so many different options out there). Added regular price and sale price. And calculated the price per bag.
Then I added categories for all the different tests I wanted to do on them.
Then from there I ordered in the ones with a good price value, and with interesting enough characteristics to be able to compare one from another. One was dishwasher safe, one had double seams around the bag, one had a triple zipper, one had a tab to hang them dry on. Some were bigger, some were smaller. Lots of options.
I mean, look at all these bags to test!! So many different reusable bags.
Once all the bags arrived it was time to compare and figure out which reusable bag was the very best! My main comparison was that the bags needed to be just as tough as Ziploc freezer bags.
Here are all the tests I put the reusable bags through:
The tried-n-true Ziplock gallon sized freezer-safe bags passed all these tests.
The reusables…. ? Well, many brands didn’t even make it past the strength of seal water hold test! And if they didn’t make it past that test, I stopped their testing process and only continued on with the ones that did.
Using all that testing data, I was able to come up with the absolute best reusable freezer bags for !!
I also tested out several different ways to label the reusable bags and found the very best method! Check out those results here.
I also ended up testing out methods for cleaning these bags as many of them say you can’t use hot water on them. Read those findings here.
There are three main types of reusable bags available on the market right now – reusable silicone bags, reusable bags made of PEVA and reusable bags made from recycled plastic. Let’s talk about what those mean and look at the pros and cons of each.
Most of the options available on Amazon.com are made using FDA-grade PEVA materials and feel a lot closer to traditional Ziploc gallon sized freezer bags than any other type. These bags are my favorite as they are easy to use, work great and are typically inexpensive too!
What is food safe PEVA material exactly? It’s a non-chlorinated vinyl material that is low in toxins. It’s often used in making dog toys or baby teethers (and reusable bags now). It’s a much safer material than others according to this article from Clear + Well, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice saying they “recommend the avoidance of PVC and the alternate use of EVA and PEVA as safer substitutes. “
The bags I recommend are PVC-, lead-, phthalate- and BPA-free. They are food safe and are perfect to use in your freezer too!
Reusable silicone bags are typically made of food grade silicone which contains no BPA, no PVC, no phthalates, no petroleum, is plastic free & latex free; is non-allergenic; and is non-toxic.
The bags made from recycled plastic aren’t as widely available as the other two types. Bags like Russbe are an example of what these look like. They are usually made of durable, recyclable plastic that is free of PVC, latex and phthalates. They are also freezer and dishwasher safe too.
But my opinion on them is that the seals don’t work as well after being run through the dishwasher. And they are harder to open up to fill and empty the bags.
Here are my top picks for the best reusable freezer bags for :
1. Best Overall Quality Bag: ReZip Reusable Gallon Sized Bag
2. Best On A Budget: Sik Reusable Gallon Bag
HONORABLE MENTIONS: (passed important tests)
Best Zipper Seal: Bealy Reusable Freezer Bags
Best Silicone Reusable Bag: Saffron Goods
Best Recycled Plastic Bag: Russbe Reusable Gallon Bags
Least Expensive Bag: Baturu Bag Thicker Style Bag: JonyJ Bag
I tried out several different ways to label these for the freezer. But as you might know you need something that won’t wipe off, won’t be affected by water or condensation in the freezer. And should be able to be washed off with cold water and soap.
I tried out dry erase crayons, Sharpie pro wax pencils, party wine glass markers, water-based paint pens and more. I also considered dissolvable labels like they use with canning, but since this is a post about less waste I figured some sort of marker would be a better solution.
The best way to label your reusable bags is to use Dry Erase Crayons. They don’t smudge even with other bags rubbing against it and being in the freezer. Plus they wash off simply with cold water and dish soap.
The second best would be the Overhead Transparency Marker. It took a few minutes to dry, but once dry wouldn’t smudge and washed off perfectly with cold soap and water too.
If you don’t mind using rubbing alcohol to clean the label marks off, my third choice would be the Sharpie Water Based Paint Pen.
The other options I wouldn’t recommend at all. The Sharpie Pro Wax pencil / Listo Wax Pencils didn’t wash off well with cold or warm water and soap or alcohol. Also smudged when bag rubbed against other bags. The Party Wine Glass Marker left residue behind after cleaning with rubbing alcohol.
One of the questions I had when testing out these bags was how to clean them and would they still be safe to use after holding raw meat in them. After searching online I couldn’t find any data so I decided to order in some bacteria tests and test them out myself.
Dishwasher Safe Reusable Bags
For the gallon sized rezip bags I placed them over a large dinner plate so they’d stand upright in the dishwasher. The seams held strong after being washed on low in dishwasher. However when I tested the bag for bacteria after using raw meat inside, it tested positive. The reason was that the top of the bag never got clean as the bag folded over in the dishwasher. So I’d recommend hand washing all reusable bags instead of washing in the dishwasher.
Cold Water Washing Only Reusable Bags
Many PEVA reusable bags say to only wash in cold or room temperature water to keep the zipper seals from breaking down. I decided to test the bags with several different sanitization methods after having raw meat inside them. Using a cold water and soap only didn’t work. Using a vinegar-water solution after washing with cold water and soap also didn’t work.
The only two methods that worked to destroy raw meat bacteria were
1. Wash using warm soap and water and air drying
2. Wash using cold water and soap, then following with a 30-minute bleach-water solution soak, pouring it out and allowing it to air dry. (To do this, after washing the bag with cold soap and water, rinse it out, then fill it up with cool water. Add 2 tsp regular Clorox bleach to a gallon sized bag. Seal bag, flip it over a few times and then let it sit in your sink for 30 minutes. Then pour out solution and air dry our bag.
After cleaning your bags, you can hang your bags upside down to let air dry. Some people use a simple towel and try to get the bags to stand up straight to dry, but that can be a challenge. I had some freezer meal bag holders hanging around and gave them a go, they worked great! You can balance and dry two reusable bags perfectly.
Hope you enjoyed this guide to the very best reusable freezer bags!
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Also make sure and check out my list of 15 Actually EASY Freezer Meal Recipes if you’d like to get rid of the dinner time guilt, save time, money and maybe even your sanity. Ha!
It’s empowering to have a freezer full of ingredients and premade meals. You can throw a fresh-tasting dinner together without taking a trip to the store. You can bake homemade cookies a few at a time, defrost an emergency brownie or two, and toast fresh bagels. And in the dead of winter, you can draw on summer’s bounty of basil, berries, and stone fruit. Plus, freezing food is one of the easiest things you can do to minimize food waste, save money, and reduce your environmental impact.
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Globally, food waste accounts for an estimated 8% to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. (To put that into context, aviation accounts for about 2% of global CO₂ emissions.) In the United States, about a third of food goes to waste, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And food waste is the biggest methane emitter in landfills. It also comes with major financial costs: According to the USDA, the average family of four in the US will lose $1,500 annually to food waste.
One of the simplest ways to reduce food waste is to freeze food, because it helps stretch your leftovers and raw ingredients. (You can read our other tips for reducing food waste here.) Below, we share the best gear and techniques for packing, thawing, and organizing so you can reap the rewards of your freezer while also living more sustainably and saving money.
The key to ensuring your food tastes great after it’s thawed is how you store it: Food stays freshest when it’s frozen in airtight containers and thick, durable wrappings.
The biggest enemies of frozen foods are air and ambient moisture. They both cause freezer burn, which creates a tough or rubbery texture after food is thawed. The right packaging staves off that dreaded aftereffect by limiting the amount of air, odors, and moisture vapor allowed in, said Elizabeth Andress, food safety specialist and professor of foods and nutrition at the University of Georgia.
Below, we’ve rounded up our freezer-storage recommendations to help your food taste better for longer.
Zip-top bags are great for freezing food because it’s easier to get all the air out of them than it is with rigid containers. And zip-top bags have an added space-saving benefit: You can stack them, if you lay them flat to freeze first.
We like Hefty Freezer Slider Bags, but if you can’t find them, look for an option that’s labeled for freezing. Freezer bags are thicker, and they’re designed to be less brittle than regular bags when frozen, so they’re less likely to puncture or tear while you rummage around. (Another advantage is that you can wash and reuse them for longer before they go kaput.)
Bags with sliding zip tops are easiest to fill, and they seal even when they contain saucy foods, which can gum up the zippered seals on other bags.
As an alternative to plastic freezer bags, reusable silicone bags are sturdy, and they seal tightly and store flat. Of all the reusable bags we’ve tested, we recommend Stasher Reusable Silicone Bags. We like the multipack, which includes various sizes in bright, fun colors.
Though they’re much more expensive than plastic bags, the Stasher bags allow less transmission of air and moisture. And they last longer and are easy to clean, even in the dishwasher. If you use them frequently, over time they’ll contribute less to plastic waste—though ultimately silicone is also a plastic polymer.
It can be a little tricky to compress the air from Stasher bags before sealing, but pressing them against a surface and rolling from the base toward the open edge helps. (Or try this handy sous vide trick for almost-like-a-vacuum-sealer results; it works for silicone bags, too.)
For items that are too bulky to fit in a freezer bag, you can choose from several types of freezer-specific wraps.
Heavy aluminum foil, like Reynolds Wrap Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil, is the easiest to find. You can wrap items in heavy-duty foil only, especially if you want to avoid single-use plastic. But a tight layer of ordinary plastic wrap under the foil wrapping will provide an extra line of defense against freezer burn.
Freezer paper is another wrapping option, especially if you freeze meat or fish regularly. (Packaging from the store, butcher, or fishmonger isn’t usually intended for long-term freezing.)
Not to be confused with wax, butcher, or parchment paper, freezer paper has a wax or plastic coating on one side that acts as a moisture barrier to hold in juices. (The other side is uncoated, so you can easily label and date the contents.) Andress likes using paper such as this one from Reynolds. Unfortunately, because of the coating, this paper can’t be recycled or composted.
If you choose to wrap your food in freezer paper, make sure to wrap it tightly. You can follow this demonstration of two folding methods (video) from the extension program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Compared with bags, reusable containers stack more neatly and may be easier to fill with liquids. After testing dozens of sets for our guide to the best food storage containers, we recommend the Pyrex 18-Piece Simply Store Food Storage Set. These durable tempered-glass containers stack well and won’t pick up stains or smells.
They’re also safe to use in the oven, as well as in the freezer and dishwasher. Just be careful to let the container defrost in the fridge before reheating, and place it on a room-temperature baking sheet before transferring it to the oven. (This will help prevent shattering, from the sudden temperature change.) We’ve used this method for baking chilled pies, and we’ve never had an issue.
Our top-pick Pyrex containers aren’t leakproof—for that, we like the Glasslock 18-Piece Container Set. The Glasslock containers have locking lids that prevent leaks. But the lids also put stress on the lip of the containers, and this makes the glass prone to chipping over time.
For an affordable plastic set, we like the Rubbermaid TakeAlongs Food Storage Containers. These containers are tight-sealing and microwave-safe, though we do suggest that you transfer your food to a non-plastic container for heating.
For freezing, you might also consider reusing plastic yogurt or sour cream cartons—a frugal, sustainable approach. Just know that, unfortunately, their lids don’t seal well and will let air in. So you’ll have to wrap the whole container with foil or plastic wrap for the best quality.
We’d also avoid using plastic takeout containers, which can become brittle in the freezer and then crack or shatter easily.
People who frequently freeze items or buy food in bulk may want to invest in a vacuum sealer to keep ingredients fresher for longer. Vacuum sealers get as much air out of a bag as possible, which helps reduce freezer burn.
For our guide to the best vacuum sealers, we sealed ground beef and bone-in cuts of meat using 12 different machines. Nearly all of our test items came out with minimal freezer burn after spending several months in the freezer. We recommend the easy-to-use Anova Precision Vacuum Sealer Pro, which offers powerful suction and has several useful settings.
In addition to the containers and bags you use, the way you pack foods will change how they freeze and thaw. We have some tips:
Freeze foods as quickly as possible. The slower the freezing process, the more likely it is that larger ice crystals will develop, making foods soggier or tougher when you reheat them. Avoid adding a ton of non-frozen food to your freezer at once, and consider lowering the temperature the day before freezing a lot of food. Packing smaller portions will also help speed up freezing times.
Let food cool down before you freeze it. Warm foods in a cold freezer will cause condensation to form, which is bad for frozen-food quality, according to Andress.
For liquids, leave enough headspace. Water expands when it freezes, so when you are putting anything in a jar, a container, or even a bag, leave some headspace to prevent cracks or rips. You should generally leave about half an inch of room, but the amount varies based on what you’re freezing and the kind of container you’re using.
Freeze different kinds of food separately. Do this if you’re freezing a meal with several components that will freeze and thaw at different rates, such as chicken and broccoli. Packing components separately will reduce freezer burn and improve the quality of the reheated meal.
Use the dry-pack method to prevent clumping. For foods that you want to freeze in bulk but plan to use little by little, the key is to use the dry-pack method. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper (moist ingredients will stick to bare metal), arrange items in a single layer so they’re not touching, and then put the sheet in the freezer. After they’re individually frozen, you can pack up the foods to save space. This technique is great for berries (which would normally clump together), balls of cookie dough, slices of bread, or bacon from a pack you won’t eat all at once.
The Nordic Ware Naturals Baker’s Half Sheet—our favorite baking sheet—works great for this task. (You can get it in quarter-sheet and eighth-sheet sizes, too, and these may fit better into an already-crammed freezer.)
Use an ice cube tray to freeze small amounts of sauces, herbs, citrus juice, or condiments so that they’re easy to throw into a dish.
We recommend the OXO Good Grips Ice Cube Tray over others because it has a rigid plastic lid that keeps smells out and prevents spills. Plus, it allows for easy stacking, so you can maximize space. You can freeze cubes of pesto, tomato paste, lemon juice, minced garlic, or even individual, cracked eggs.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation has a timetable for the life span of frozen foods. But when it comes to deciding whether it’s too late to use something, you should employ your best judgment. “As long as that food stays frozen, then there aren’t any bacteria at work or even molds,” said Andress. “But quality will continue to deteriorate in the freezer.” Everyone perceives the shift in quality a little differently. However, it’s a good idea to use something within around eight to 12 months of freezing it.
The best, safest way to thaw cooked and raw foods is in the fridge, because it keeps the temperature below the danger zone (the temperature range in which dangerous bacteria can rapidly multiply).
But thawing food in the fridge takes a long time. A quicker way to thaw cooked and raw foods is to place sealed bags in a large mixing bowl filled with cold water (never use warm water), which you change out every 30 minutes until your food thaws.
If you need to thaw even faster, you can always use a microwave. Just make sure that you use what you’ve defrosted immediately so the food isn’t sitting at an unsafe, warm temperature at which bacteria can grow.
You can cook many frozen foods directly from the freezer, as long as they will heat fast enough. Premade frozen meals like soups and stews are fine to reheat directly in a pot, or you can use a sous vide machine (keeping the water bath above 140 degrees Fahrenheit) or an electric pressure cooker. However, Andress advises against putting anything frozen—especially meat—straight from the freezer into a slow cooker, which takes too long to heat foods to safe temperatures and thus allows bacteria to grow.
If you organize your freezer, label everything, and keep an inventory of what you have, food won’t just disappear into a black hole. Instead, you’ll be rich in ready-to-use, easy-to-find items that you can grab in an instant.
To keep track of expiration dates, label packages using markers and tape that won’t disintegrate in colder temperatures. We like the hardy ScotchBlue Multi-Surface Painter’s Tape, but you can also use freezer tape. Use a Sharpie Fine Point permanent marker (so it won’t rub off) to write the date and ingredients on tape labels.
Keep an inventory of what you have and what you’ve used, and place this list near your fridge so it’s visible. And by doing an occasional freezer edit (going through and reorganizing your freezer, each quarter or each year), you’ll keep your food items tidy and top of mind.
You can freeze almost anything, but not everything is appetizing after it thaws. Freezing temperatures can cause physical and chemical damage to cells and tissues, and that can make some foods limp or watery.
But there are many things that freeze very well: Soups, stews, casseroles, cakes, and cookie dough are just a few examples. Even some ingredients—including sour cream, tofu, and eggs—can be revived after freezing, and breads and tortillas can be zhuzhed up in a toaster or pan.
For recipe ideas and advice on what will freeze best, NYT Cooking has a guide to freezing many ingredients. It also offers several recipe roundups, including Freezer Friendly Recipes and 24 Freezer-Friendly Recipes to Cook for New (and Tired) Parents. The National Center for Home Food Preservation also provides extensive guidelines for freezing (though some of the recommendations are dated).
This article was edited by Katie Okamoto and Marguerite Preston.