• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Delicious on a Dime logo

  • Home
  • Save Money
    • Stock your Pantry on a Dime
    • Stock your Freezer on a Dime
    • 2 Easy Ways to Save Leftover Tomato Paste
    • 7 Steps to Meal Planning
    • Fresh Herbs
    • Freeze Cheese
    • Freeze Goat Cheese
    • Freeze Mushrooms
    • Superstar Food for Your Budget
    • Stock Your First Kitchen
    • Stock Your Fridge on a Dime
    • The Best $10 Kitchen Tool
  • Recipes
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Home » How-to » Save Money on Groceries

Can You Freeze Salami? Here’s what you need to know!

Published: Oct 29, 2022 by Myra · This post may contain affiliate links

Sharing is caring!

  • Share
  • Yummly
Picture of salami with text on top saying "How to Freeze Salami - here's what you next to know".

If you’ve ever wondered, ‘can you freeze salami?’, this post is for you! 

Yes, you can definitely freeze salami, but depending on what type of salami it is (Italian Genoa, slices of deli meat, whole salami, German salami, and more), the process might look different.

We’ll walk you through all the options!

Various types of salami including chub, Italian Genoa, sliced deli, German and Hungarian.

Why Should You Freeze Salami?

First, let’s talk for a minute about some reasons you might want to freeze salami. The two biggest reasons I would freeze salami are to avoid food waste, and to store food I’ve bought in bulk.

Both these reasons have a common theme: to save money on groceries.

The whole point of this blog is saving money on groceries, and avoiding food waste and buying in bulk are two excellent ways to do that.

  1. Buying in bulk to save money

    When I see an excellent deal on a grocery product, I stock up!

    Not long ago I saw a fantastic deal on Italian Genoa salami – it was about 1/3 of the price it normally is. I bought 10 packages of it, took it home and sliced it, and froze it in smaller portions.

    That meant a huge savings for us, since this is an ingredient we normally buy at full price, or on a smaller sale.

    If you can find ways to buy in bulk, either when you see a great deal, or when you visit stores that sell in bulk (for example, Costco), you can start to notice a significant savings in your grocery bill.

  2. Freezing Food to Avoid Food Waste

    Avoiding food waste is another important reason you might want to freeze salami. You spend your hard earned money on groceries! It’s so frustrating to have to throw them away because they spoiled before you could use them.

    I try to be diligent about freezing items before they spoil – that way, future me can still pull them out to use for recipes 🙂
Pizza with blue cheese, apple, spicy salami and glass of red wine

Related: Pizza with Italian Salami, Apple and Blue Cheese (or Goat Cheese)

Supplies

Freezing supplies, including Ziplock freezer bags, baggies, saran wrap, wax paper and pen.

There are a few supplies you’ll want to have on-hand to make sure the food you’re freezing is still in good shape when you thaw it out.

  • Heavy duty freezer bags – These are a must when you want to preserve the quality of the food you’re freezing (which is obviously all the time)
  • Saran wrap or tin foil – to tightly wrap the food before it goes into the freezer bag
  • Wax paper or parchment paper – depending on what I’m freezing, I sometimes use wax paper or parchment paper to divide the layers so it’s easier to separate them when thawing.
  • Pen or sharpie – Because labelling is critical so you actually know what the heck is in your freezer and when you put it there.
  • Vacuum sealer – Like this Food Saver from Amazon. Optional but super nice to have because it helps the frozen food maintain excellent quality for way longer.

Freezing salami slices

How you choose to freeze salami slices should depend on how you want to use them in the future, as well as what kind of salami slices you’re freezing.

Sliced hard salami

Dry, hard salami, like Italian Genoa, cacciatore, calabrese, German and Hungarian salami freeze and thaw really well in slices.

Large chunk of spicy Italian Genoa salami.
Sliced Genoa salami and knife on a wooden cutting board.

If you’re slicing your own Genoa, cacciatore or calabrese, you’ll want to use a sharp knife (because they are such hard, dry salamis) and try to keep your slices fairly thin and consistent.

Sliced and chunked Italian salami prepped for freezer.

I tested out stacking the slices together with wax paper in between them, and also stacking them with no wax paper in between – just one on top of the other.

Sliced German/Hungarian salami.

If you have salami that’s already been sliced at the deli counter or in advance, you can either stack it with wax paper or parchment paper in between the slices, or leave it in a stack the way it was when you bought it.

Tip: There are pros and cons to both methods – it’s obviously easier to just wrap the meat up and freeze it, but it thaws faster and is easier to separate with the wax/parchment paper (see below).

  • Sliced German sausage wrapped for freezing.
  • Freezer bag of sliced Hungarian salami.

Wrap it up nice and tightly in saran wrap and put it in a freezer bag (Amazon has the best price on these, I find). This will protect it better than a regular Ziplock.

If you have a vacuum sealer (we have one and love it), that can be a great way to seal these packages for a longer life in the freezer.

Label and freeze.

Sliced deli and other uncured salami

Sliced deli or chub salami freezes well too, but since it isn’t as hard or dry as the types above, it thaws a little differently.

  • Chunks of whole salami and piles of sliced salami on a wooden cutting board with a knife.
  • Sliced deli salami prepped for the freezer.

Slice, then either freeze in a pile, or freeze the slices with wax or parchment paper between. Again, the wax paper option takes longer, but it’s easier to separate the slices when you take it out of the freezer later (more details below).

Wrap tightly with saran wrap and store in a freezer bag.

Freezing Packaged Salami and Whole Salami Sticks

  • Large package of chub deli salami.
  • Package of sliced deli meat salami.

For these whole salami packages, you can literally just put it in your freezer as-is, which is super convenient. The downside of this method is that you’ll have to thaw the whole package at once and use it relatively soon after.

Tip: You can cut large whole salamis (both cured and uncured types) into chunks and then freeze them, wrapped tightly in saran wrap, or vacuum sealed, and placed in freezer bags.

This way you have the relative convenience of freezing whole salamis, combined with the ability to thaw smaller portions at a time.

White plate piled with homemade pizza pockets and a small dish of red sauce on a brown table.

Related: Homemade Pizza Pockets

How to Defrost Frozen Salami

Thawing Salami Slices

How well the slices thawed depended on the type of salami we were using.

  • A hand separating slices of dry German salami.
  • A hand separating slices of frozen Hungarian salami.
  • The dry type of Hungarian/German salami slices separated really easily when they had the wax paper between the slices.
  • The stack without the wax paper was frozen into quite a solid chunk, but it only took about 15 minutes to thaw at room temperature.

Takeaway: If you have this type of sliced salami and you’re short on time, you can freeze it in small, portion sized stacks and only have to take it out of the freezer to defrost about 15 minutes before you want to use it.

  • A hand separating slices of Genoa salami.
  • A hand separating slices of frozen Italian Genoa salami.

The Italian Genoa salami (similar for cacciatore or calabrese) froze and thawed very well, but keep in mind that these were slightly thicker slices that I cut myself, as opposed to the paper thin slices cut by a deli.

In any case, I was able to easily separate even the slices that I didn’t layer with wax paper, so it’s really not necessary to take that step.

Takeaway: For thicker slices of hard Genoa salami, you can just stack them and wrap them well and you’ll have no problems using the slices pretty much as soon as you take them out of the freezer. For thin deli-cut slices, I feel they would behave the same way as the Hungarian slices above.

  • A hand separating slices of sliced chub salami.
  • A hand separating slices of sliced salami chub.

For the slices I cut from the deli stick of salami, I found none of them separated very well straight out of the freezer. The wax paper ripped easily when it was included and the stacked ones froze right together. In any case, after 5 minutes at room temperature they were both defrosted enough to separate and use.

Takeaway: Don’t bother using wax paper to separate the slices, although you might have more luck with parchment paper. Give yourself 5-10 minutes for your slices to thaw at room temperature before using.

  • A hand separating slices of frozen deli salami.
  • Package of sliced deli meat salami.
  • The deli sliced salami with the wax paper separated okay, but would have been perfect after a couple of minutes at room temperature.
  • The small sliced stack without wax paper took 15-20 minutes at room temperature.
  • The unopened packaged of sliced deli salami was frozen solid and took about 1 hour at room temperature to thaw, but from a food safety perspective it’s safer to do it overnight in the fridge if you can.

Takeaway: If you’re freezing deli salami try to give yourself at least 20 minutes at room temperature for it to be usable.

Defrosting Sticks of Salami (both unopened and opened)

Large chunk of spicy Italian Genoa salami.

All of the salami I tested as whole sticks (both Genoa and unopened chub) was actually thawed enough to slice after just 15-20 minutes at room temperature.

This makes it a super convenient option as long as it’s frozen in chunks small enough to be used all at once (because you don’t want to thaw it and then refreeze what you don’t use).

FAQs about Freezing Salami

Five different types of salami on a countertop - chub, deli, prepackaged, Italian Genoa and Hungarian/German.
Can I refreeze salami after it’s been defrosted?


You shouldn’t refreeze meat that has been defrosted UNLESS it is cooked in between. For example, if you are making pizza and thaw a package of salami to top your pizza with, you can bake the pizza and then safely freeze the pizza with the salami on it. You can read more of the food safety guidelines on this subject here.

Can you thaw frozen salami in the microwave?

Yes, if you’re short on time you can thaw frozen salami in the microwave. If defrosting slices of salami, I would microwave on the defrost setting in small increments – no more than one minute at a time. The slices can go from thawing to cooking very quickly so you’ll need to keep an eye on them.

For stacks or sticks of salami, you’ll need to use small increments to make sure the outside doesn’t cook before the inside is defrosted.Large package of chub deli salami.

How long does salami last in the freezer?

The US Food and Drug Administration recommends only freezing deli meats for 1-2 months. However, this is for quality reasons – not safety reasons. I think if you’ve done a great job of packaging your salami for the freezer, you could still have good quality deli salami to defrost for up to 6 months, and for a dry salami that’s still in whole stick form, I think the quality would still be good for up to a year.

Other Groceries You Can Freeze

Check out these other posts that can help you save money on groceries, using your freezer!

Bag of corn tortillas with a hand removing the tortillas
How to Freeze Tortillas (corn & flour)
Sliced mushrooms on metal sheet pan.
How to Freeze Mushrooms
Sliced package of goat cheese on wooden board.
How to Freeze Goat Cheese
« Can You Freeze Tortillas? – {Yes! Here’s how!}
Can You Freeze Sourdough Bread? »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

A photo of a man and a woman in front of a building.

HI, WE'RE MYRA AND LAURIER!

We want to help YOU eat delicious food, AND save money on groceries!

With years of experience, we bring you EASY and CHEAP recipes and tips.

Take back control of your grocery budget, AND eat amazing food.

More about us →

FAST & EASY

  • Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie (NO protein powder!)
  • Grilled Cheese With Tomato and Onion
  • Quick & Healthy Mediterranean Dip (with hummus)
  • Homemade Bistro Box aka Adult Lunchables

EASY ENTERTAINING

  • Herb and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Bites – An Easy Party Appetizer!
  • Cheesy Bacon Garlic Pull Apart Bread
  • Pepperoni Pizza Dip (with cream cheese)
  • Whipped Artichoke and Feta Dip

AMAZON ASSOCIATE DISCLOSURE

Creative Cooking Solutions is a participant in the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.ca. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

A photo of a man and a woman in front of a building.

HI, WE'RE MYRA AND LAURIER!

We want to help YOU eat delicious food, AND save money on groceries!

With years of experience, we bring you EASY and CHEAP recipes and tips.

Take back control of your grocery budget, AND eat amazing food.

More about us →

FAST & EASY

  • Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie (NO protein powder!)
  • Grilled Cheese With Tomato and Onion
  • Quick & Healthy Mediterranean Dip (with hummus)
  • Homemade Bistro Box aka Adult Lunchables

EASY ENTERTAINING

  • Herb and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Bites – An Easy Party Appetizer!
  • Cheesy Bacon Garlic Pull Apart Bread
  • Pepperoni Pizza Dip (with cream cheese)
  • Whipped Artichoke and Feta Dip

AMAZON ASSOCIATE DISCLOSURE

Creative Cooking Solutions is a participant in the Amazon.com.ca, Inc. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.ca. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

WORK WITH US!

  • Download our
    Media Kit!

Contact

  • Subscribe for emails
    and updates
  • Contact

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2022 Creative Cooking Solutions