The Costco Item That Makes Freezing Leftovers A Breeze

Freezing leftover Bolognese for later is a great way to save time and money. Unfortunately, it's hard to remove and defrost leftovers that have been frozen in a single large container made of glass or plastic. Luckily, Costco stocks a set of amazing MIU Silicone Freezer Trays that make freezing leftovers a breeze.

This 10-piece assortment, available in green and grey, is comprised of five containers with lids. Priced at $31.99, the set includes two trays split into two halves (each division holds 2 cups each) and two trays divided into four rectangles (each section holds 1 cup each). There's also a tray made up of eight sections (each holding ½ a cup) for freezing smaller portions.

The awesome thing about these trays is that they're made of flexible silicone. This allows you to pop the frozen segments out with ease instead of waiting for them to defrost. Since each tray is divided into sections, you can also freeze different-sized portions of fully cooked meals or individual ingredients — such as bone broth, cooked beans, or even our crockpot marinara sauce recipe — in smaller measures. Better yet, there are fill lines on the inside of each section in both metric and standard units, making it easy to measure out exact amounts for recipes that call for ½ a cup of egg whites or cream sauce. Plus, the accompanying lids prevent the leftovers inside from absorbing any strong smells from other foods in the freezer.

All five MIU freezer trays can stack on top of one another, meaning they'll take up minimal space in your kitchen cabinet when not in use (the lids are interchangeable, too, so you won't need to hunt through your drawers to find the correct size). Once you've used them, you can pop them straight into the dishwasher, eliminating all that annoying cleanup. Perhaps the best feature of these handy trays, however, is that you can reheat your leftovers in the same container you used to freeze them, as they're oven-safe up to 446 degrees Fahrenheit (without the lids). Of course, you could also bake your batch-cooked dishes directly inside them as well.

Using up frozen leftovers is a superb way to reduce food waste, but what if you don't need to defrost an entire family-sized portion of lasagna? According to the 2-2-2 rule, leftovers will stay fresh for up to two days in the fridge and two months in the freezer. However, you shouldn't reheat leftovers multiple times, as this can affect their taste and nutritional value. Costco's freezer trays eliminate this problem because you can divvy up a large amount of leftovers into smaller measures and pop out one segment at a time as needed.