Can I eat it: half-thawed chili

March 10, 2025 5:14 AM

I took a ziplock of frozen chili from the freezer, let it half-thaw, changed my mind, and stuck it back in the freezer. Can I thaw it and eat it now?
posted by Ollie to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

sure
posted by HearHere at 5:21 AM on March 10 [2 favorites]

Yeah it's fine. Absolute WORST case is that the texture might be a little worse from the re-freezing, but for something like chili you probably won't even be able to tell.
posted by mekily at 5:36 AM on March 10 [8 favorites]

heat it to thaw, right? [healthline] save chili ice cream for a special occasion 🍧
posted by HearHere at 5:36 AM on March 10

It will be fine. You will be fine.
posted by number9dream at 6:45 AM on March 10

I do this fairly regularly. It's totally fine to eat.

(There were/are "warnings" I've seen against re-freezing stuff, especially meat, but this truly has no basis in safety. Maybe it's a texture issue, but nothing bad happened to your chili as it thawed.)
posted by hydra77 at 7:02 AM on March 10

Absolutely!

Coincidentally, I just put two containers of chili in my freezer today. Hooray for freezer chili!
posted by inexorably_forward at 7:39 AM on March 10 [1 favorite]

Agreeing with previous that yes.
Remember that some spices kill bacteria.

posted by falsedmitri at 7:40 AM on March 10

The frozen part will have kept the thawed part cool. I would eat it.
posted by waving at 8:36 AM on March 10

Best answer: This is a pretty straightforward article about what happens and what might happen with re-freezing defrosted food. It basically comes down to change in texture, loss of nutrients, and a possibility of microbial growth that likely won't occur if you've defrosted the food in a fridge and refrozen it right away. Best to check the smell of whatever you defrost a second time to see if it smells unappetizing, a very useful stand-in for spoiled.
https://kitchenjournal.net/what-happens-if-you-refreeze-food/
posted by drossdragon at 3:10 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]

Is there meat in this chili?
Did you thaw in fridge or on counter? If on counter, for how long?

Just kidding. The answers above don’t matter. I’d eat it!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:53 PM on March 10

Response by poster: Thank you everyone.
posted by Ollie at 6:20 PM on March 10

@drossdragon Your high-level summary is good, but the article you've linked reads like AI-generated dreck to me.

From the article:

Refreezing food can create an environment conducive to microbial growth, as the larger ice crystals can provide a safe haven for bacteria and other microorganisms to multiply.

Uh, what? Large ice crystals encourage bacterial growth? Utter nonsense!
posted by mekily at 8:04 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]