Freezer Batch Planner for Portions and Best-By Labels
This freezer batch planner turns a big pot of cooked food into freezer portions, counts the containers you need and writes a ready-to-copy label with the frozen and best-by dates.
Plan and label your freezer batches
Batches (example batches shown; replace them with your own)
Enter the batch and the portion in weight or in volume. They must be the same kind, because weight and volume cannot be converted without the density of the dish. Months are your own choice, from 1 to 24.
Containers equal full portions: one container or bag per portion. Best-by dates are quality guidance based on the months you choose, not a safety deadline. Cool food and refrigerate it within 2 hours of cooking before you freeze it.
How does the freezer batch planner work?
The freezer batch planner divides what you cooked by the size of one portion, rounds down to whole portions and adds your chosen number of months to the freezing date. Each batch is worked out on its own:
full portions = round down (total cooked ÷ portion size)
leftover = total cooked − (full portions × portion size)
best by = date frozen + chosen months
When the target month is shorter than the starting day, the planner uses the last day of that month. All date work uses whole numbers for year, month and day, so it does not depend on your phone’s clock, your time zone or today’s date.
Worked example: three batches
These are example batches, not recommended amounts. The months are the ones typed into each row.
| Batch | Portions | Leftover | Frozen | Best by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dal tadka, 2 kg in 250 g portions, 3 months | 8 | 0 kg | 2026-10-16 | 2027-01-16 |
| Chicken curry, 1.5 kg in 350 g portions, 4 months | 4 | 0.1 kg | 2026-10-12 | 2027-02-12 |
| Vegetable soup, 3 L in 400 mL portions, 6 months | 7 | 0.2 L | 2026-08-31 | 2027-02-28 |
The soup was frozen on 31 August. February 2027 has only 28 days, so its best-by date is 28 February. The summary is sorted by the earliest best-by date, so the dal is listed first and should be eaten first.
How long do frozen leftovers keep their quality?
The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service gives 3 to 4 months as the time to keep frozen leftovers, and says leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. The freezing guidance describes frozen times as being about quality. Because of that, the planner never fixes the months for you. Choose the number that suits your dish, then label it. If you are unsure, the 3 to 4 months from the leftovers guidance is a sensible starting point.
How quickly should I cool cooked food?
The same USDA leftovers guidance says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, or within 1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F (about 32 °C), and to use shallow containers so food cools quickly. The freezer batch planner does not time your cooling, so follow that rule before you portion and freeze.
Tips for labelling portions
- Write the dish name, portion size, frozen date and best-by date on each container. The copied label line has all four.
- Use the same portion size for the whole batch so every container is the same. Scale a recipe up first with the recipe scaler.
- Check unusual units with the kitchen unit converter, for example cups to millilitres.
- Batch cooking saves money when you cook a large pot of something you already like. Compare it with buying ready meals using the recipe cost calculator.
For a dish that freezes well, try our Karachi biryani recipe or the Sardinian minestrone recipe.
What this planner does not do
- It does not tell you how long a particular dish is safe or tasty. The months are yours to choose.
- It does not weigh or measure food. Portion counts are only as accurate as the amounts you enter.
- It does not read today’s date, so it shows no days-left countdown. Check the best-by date on each label yourself.
- It does not mix weight and volume, because that would need the density of your dish.
Sources used on this page
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: Leftovers and Food Safety (leftovers frozen for 3 to 4 months; refrigerate within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90 °F; shallow containers).
Add each batch once, check the portions and copy the labels from the freezer batch planner before the food goes into the freezer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Divide the total amount cooked by the size of one portion and round down, because a partly filled container is not a full portion. For 2 kg of dal split into 250 g portions, 2,000 ÷ 250 = 8 full portions with nothing left over. For 1.5 kg of curry in 350 g portions you get 4 portions and 0.1 kg (100 g) left to eat fresh.
Add the number of months you chose to the date you froze it. If that month has no matching day, use its last day. Food frozen on 31 August 2026 with a 6-month quality window gets 28 February 2027, because February has no 31st. The planner does this with whole-number calendar maths, so leap years such as 2028 are handled too.
The US Department of Agriculture says leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for 3 to 4 months. Its freezing guidance explains that those frozen times are about quality, not a safety deadline. The planner lets you pick 1 to 24 months, so the best-by date is your own choice, not a safety limit.
The US Department of Agriculture says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, or within 1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F (about 32 °C). Use shallow containers so the food cools quickly. Freeze portions once they have been chilled, and keep the freezer at 0 °F (-18 °C) or colder.
The planner assumes one container or bag per portion, so the number of containers equals the number of full portions. A batch of 7 portions needs 7 containers. Any leftover amount smaller than a portion is shown separately, so you can eat it fresh or round up the portion size and plan again.