The Best Freezer Containers to Keep Your Leftovers and Meal Prep Freshly Preserved

Best Overall

Rubbermaid Brilliance 3.2-Cup Food Storage Container, 5-Pack

$40 at Amazon $40 at Walmart $45 at Target

Available in a variety of useful sizes, these versatile all-purpose freezer containers are what every household needs. They’re made from durable, crystal-clear, BPA-free plastic with secure latches that provide an airtight seal—something Karrie Truman, author of "Seriously Good Freezer Meals" and owner of the blog Happy Moneysaver, notes is a must for keeping food fresh in the freezer, refrigerator, or on the go. During testing, we were impressed by how the seal was so tight we could hear the air escaping when we opened it.

Even soups and other liquid-based dishes won’t spill or leak when stored in these solid containers. This goes for reheating, too. The latches release to open vents that allow for splatter-free microwaving. Testing involved zapping leftover rice, chicken, and vegetables for lunch, and heating up a slice of leftover quiche for breakfast, all of which took about 90 seconds to warm in total. When taking items from the freezer to microwave, defrosting a 3.2-cup container of frozen pasta sauce took just four minutes with a stir break in the middle.

As for the plastic: It's as transparent as glass, so there's never any mystery about what’s hiding in your freezer. It’s also stain- and odor-resistant, so you don’t have to worry about putting a slice of cake in a container that recently stored onions. Unlike glass, these plastic vessels are light to carry and virtually indestructible, though they have that more expensive look considering the high-quality plastic is visually similar to glass. Rubbermaid Brilliance Food Storage Containers are designed to stack neatly for compact storage, and they're super easy to clean via dishwasher.

What’s Included: Five containers with lids | Material: Plastic | Capacity: 3.2 cups per container | Container Dimensions: 7.89 x 5.36 x 2.49 inches | Microwave Safe: Yes |  Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Best Budget

DuraHome Food Storage Containers With Lids Combo Pack

$20 at Amazon $34 at Walmart

You can’t beat the price of this 44-item set of deli storage containers, especially if you're someone who likes to send food home to friends. These tubs come in three handy sizes: quart (perfect for freezing soups and stews), pint (the right size for beans and grains), and cup (ideal for sauces). They're excellent for freezing food, even for long periods of time, and are dishwasher and microwave safe.

The deli-style container is ideal for stocking a kitchen, and we've yet to find a food we want to freeze that doesn’t work with one of these sizes. Best of all, the lids are interchangeable, so there’s no frustration tracking down the right one when you’re trying to put leftovers away after dinner.

What’s Included: 44 containers with lids | Material: Plastic | Capacity: 1, 2, or 4 cups per container | Microwave Safe: Yes |  Dishwasher Safe: Top rack only

Best for Soup

Oxo Good Grips 4-Cup Glass Round Food Storage Container

$15 at Amazon $15 at Oxo View on Webstaurantstore.com

Unlike some foods, soup’s flavor actually improves in the freezer, but it can be difficult without the right container. These containers by Oxo are an excellent option for all your soup- and stew-freezing needs. The shatter-resistant borosilicate glass guards against thermal shocks, so you can move a quart of chili directly from the freezer to the oven with no worries of breakage.

What you need most in a container for storing soup is a completely leakproof lid, and this one features four locking tabs that ensure the lid is on tight every time. Beyond that, glass food storage containers like these appeal to those who want to move away from plastics. If your soup only partially fills the container, Truman recommends pressing a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the food to prevent freezer burn.

What’s Included: One container with lid | Material: Glass and plastic | Capacity: 4 cups | Dimensions: 6.5 x 6.5 x 3.5 inches | Microwave Safe: Yes |  Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Best for Freezer-to-Microwave Meals

Bentgo Glass Leak-Proof Food Storage Set

$45 at Amazon View on Bentgo.com $45 at Jcpenney.com

Made of heavy-duty freezer-safe borosilicate glass, these containers come in various sizes that are perfect for stashing leftovers and portioned-out meals for one to two people. Use them for lasagna or casserole, or stash ingredients like fruit for smoothies or homemade chicken broth. We’d love to see a larger size for family meal prep, but you can’t beat the overall design of these containers.

The best part? They are completely leakproof. We filled one with chicken broth and held it sideways for 60 seconds without any mess—not even a drip. And for your convenience, these containers can go right from the freezer to the microwave without issue, as long as you vent the lid. On the downside, the lids are a bit hard to snap on at times, and because these glass containers are so durable, they’re also heavy (not ideal for transporting to the office). However, they are easy to clean in the dishwasher and resistant to staining.

What’s Included: Four containers with lids | Material: Borosilicate glass, plastic, silicone | Capacity: 12.8 ounces, 21.6 ounces, 35.2 ounces, 50.4 ounces | Container Dimensions: 6.1 x 4.6 x 2.3 inches, 7.1 x 5.3 x 2.5 inches, 8.3 x 6.3 x 2.8 inches, 9.2 x 7 x 2.9 inches | Microwave Safe: Yes | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Best for Sauce

Souper Cubes 1/2-Cup Freezing Tray with Lid

$20 at Amazon $20 at Williams-Sonoma $31 at Food52

This clever container is the perfect way to freeze sauces in practical portions, making small servings of pesto, marinara, and gravy available for speedy heating. That means your sauces won’t suffer from being repeatedly thawed and refrozen in larger containers—a process that can ruin them. A tight-fitting, transparent lid ensures that your sauces stay fresh when stored, and being able to see through the lid helps you identify the contents without needing to label anything.

Thanks to the BPA-free silicone material—which also happens to be oven safe, excluding the lid—each portion of frozen sauce pops out neatly and easily. The long, slender shape allows it to defrost quickly, too. If you make a lot of different sauces that you want to freeze, you might want more than one of these (they're stackable for easy storage). Each tray makes six 0.5-cup or 125-milliliter bars, and each compartment is marked with fill lines indicating 0.5 cup, 0.25 cup, 50 milliliters, and 125 milliliters.

What’s Included: One tray with lid | Material: Silicone | Capacity: 0.5 cup per bar | Overall Dimensions: 11.5 x 5.5 x 2.25 inches | Microwave Safe: No |  Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Best Bags

Re(zip) Stand-Up Pack 'n Go Kit

$23 at Amazon View on Rezip.com

If you're looking to move away from disposable freezer bags, these reusable alternatives are Truman’s top choice. “If you don’t have a lot of freezer space, bags can save a lot of room. I use these a ton,” she says. Durable and lead-free, these versatile bags can store almost anything you want to put in your freezer. For maximum space-saving, you can also lay them flat for storage.

(re)zip estimates that just one of these can replace 300 disposable bags. They’re made of lightweight PEVA material and are just as flexible as the alternative. The closure has a double locking mechanism, providing an airtight seal and assurance against leakage. You should note that you will want to wash these by hand to ensure that they last as long as possible.

What’s Included: Four bags | Material: PEVA | Capacity: 4 cups, 2 cups, 1 cup | Dimensions: Varies | Microwave Safe: No |  Dishwasher Safe: No

Best for Ice Cream

Snapware Total Solution Rectangular Plastic Food Storage

$9 at Amazon $9 at Walmart $6 at Snapware.com

Although grocery store freezers feature ice cream in cup-shaped containers, this shape isn’t actually the best for storing homemade ice cream. You’re better off with a flat or skinny rectangular container because the larger surface area exposes more of the ice cream to cold air, letting it freeze rapidly with few ice crystals.

Snapware’s 5-cup rectangular container fits the bill at an affordable price. Cold air quickly penetrates the single-wall plastic and freezes the contents. A quart of homemade ice cream, gelato, or sorbet fits with room to mix in bonus flavors, like fresh fruit and chocolate shavings. The lid’s four locking tabs and gasket keep air out, minimizing freezer burn.

The container stacks steadily with others, and the rectangular shape makes it easy to run an ice cream scoop down the length. As a bonus, you can write the flavor directly on the lid and wipe it off when you wash it by hand or in the dishwasher on the top rack.

What’s Included: One container with lid | Material: Plastic | Capacity: 5 cups | Dimensions: 6.75 x 4.75 x 3.5 inches | Microwave Safe: Yes |  Dishwasher Safe: Top rack only

Best for Baby Food

W&P Peak Silicone Everyday Ice Tray

$20 at Amazon View on Belk.com $14 at Revolve

One challenge in freezing baby food is keeping the portions small enough to give a child a well-rounded meal. W&P’s silicone tray lets you freeze 12 cubes of various purees in one container and pop them out as needed from the individually molded compartments. The tray’s steel-embedded perimeter keeps it steady as you add puree and remove cubes. The silicone lid doesn’t lock closed, but it rests securely enough atop the tray to stack it with other freezer foods.

W&P designed this ice cube tray and lid to meet high food safety standards. The silicone is BPA-free, complies with California’s Proposition 65, and has been LFGB certified, a more rigorous European food-safety test than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration standard. The tray is easy to clean by hand and resists staining even by bright foods, like raspberries. When you need larger portions, you can upsize to the W&P Cup Cubes Freezer Tray.

What’s Included: One tray with lid | Material: Silicone with steel frame | Capacity: 1 ounce per cube | Overall Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches | Microwave Safe: Yes |  Dishwasher Safe: No