Refreezing cooked veggies - safe to eat?

[Argamemnon]

I cooked brown rice with frozen mixed veggies today. I put them in the freezer in small portions. I forgot that I shouldn't refreeze food. Is it safe to eat it?

 

[lynseysnatural]

I don't want to promise you anything, but I've done it before and I survived...

 

[Andy M.]

Unless foods have been left out at room temperatures for too long, refreezing is not an unsafe practice.

Assuming the rice and veggies were safe when cooked, then promptly frozen after the meal, they will be fine.

The rule to not refreeze food is more a matter of changing the texture of the food rather than making it unsafe. The veggies could be a little mushy when defrosted and reheated.

 

[babetoo]

should be safe

 

[Recipes Cookbook Writer]

Try searching google for food safety guidelines and refreezing. You may find a more definite answer that way.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Basically - what Andy M. said is about as definitive as it gets. As long as the vegetables were handled properly (cooking from frozen or properly thawed and then cooled and refrozen in a timely manner) then there should be no safety issue.

The more times a food is thawed, cooked/heated and refrozen the more it will suffer from a loss of texture and nutrition.

 

[MomsKitchenAndStuff]

Oh my goodness. I hope it's safe because I do this all.the.time. However, I don't refreeze the same veggies over and over again (just once after the initial freezing) because I have found that it starts to taste like cardboard.

 

[jet]

Two questions you have to ask:

1. How long was it left out?
2. How long do you intend to keep it in the freezer?

Another thing that a lot of people don't know, is that cooked rice can pose a serious food poisoning threat.
London Borough of Bexley - Food Safety - Producing Cooked Rice Safely

 

[Scotch]

While you shouldn't refreeze raw food that's been unfrozen, there's no problem with refreezing previously frozen food that's been fully cooked, provided it's been handled safely after cooking.

 

[Uncle Bob]

We have a large freezer container where small amounts of left over vegetables (sometimes meat) and a little of the cooking liquid is stored..beans, peas, corn, whatever..In time the container is full...When it's soup making time...In da pot it goes!!!

 

[Scotch]

We have a large freezer container where small amounts of left over vegetables (sometimes meat) and a little of the cooking liquid is stored..beans, peas, corn, whatever..In time the container is full...When it's soup making time...In da pot it goes!!!

My college roommate's girlfriend's mother used to keep a large plastic bag in her refrigerator for the same reason. She dubbed her concoction "Garbage Soup"!

 

[Uncle Bob]

My college roommate's girlfriend's mother used to keep a large plastic bag in her refrigerator for the same reason. She dubbed her concoction "Garbage Soup"!

Yep.. It's amazing the flavor a few refrigerator "scraps" can add to a pot of vegetable soup etc!!!! Also, I have this (imaginary) hog under a big Oak tree out back...I do my dead level best to starve him to death!!!