Prep today and eat tomorrow with these frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Make your favorite sandwich now and enjoy it later with these tips and tricks.
My youngest child is obsessed with PBJs and asks for them almost daily (if not a few times a day). While I don't always give in to his requests, I do offer him his favorite sandwich for lunch whenever possible.
In an effort to save time, I've been meal-prepping and freezing foods including Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and PBJs. Making our own uncrustable sandwiches has been an excellent way to save time throughout the day and the kids love it too!
Why This Recipe Works
- The sandwiches last forever. Well, not really "forever," but you can have sandwiches last for several weeks in the freezer, so if desired you can prep a month's worth at once.
- There's no crust. One of the things we learned is that thawed bread crust isn't great. It's chewy. So instead, we cut off the crusts and save them in a bag in the freezer to make Peanut Butter Jelly Bread Pudding, and as an added bonus we don't hear kids complain about the crusts anymore, haha.
- You can cut shapes. While you don't have to use a sandwich cutter, they're cheap and fun for making lunch special.
Jump to:
🥘 Ingredients
Bread- You will need some sliced sandwich bread. I find that the cheaper storebought white bread works best but you can try any of your favorite varieties.
Peanut butter- We love creamy peanut butter but feel free to use any nut butter of choice.
Jelly- Use your favorite storebought or homemade jelly. We're big fans of strawberry and grape jelly. Yum!
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make Frozen Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Place a large clean cutting board in front of you and gather your items. This will streamline the process.
Place the sliced sandwich bread on the clean work surface in front of you.
On half of the sandwiches, top with peanut butter You can go to the edges if desired. On the other half, spread jelly in the center (about 1-2 tablespoons). Don't leave the center of the bread as jelly makes the sandwiches hard to seal if spread too far.
Close the sandwiches so that every peanut butter side is touching the jelly.
Place your sandwich cutter in the center of the bread, or simply cut off the crust with a knife.
Place any bread crusts aside in a gallon sized baggie and freeze them for future bread pudding or eat them as scraps to avoid waste.
Grab the sandwich sealer and press down over each sandwich to seal the edges. I like to press down, flip the sandwich, and press again. If you don't have a sealer, you can use fork prongs.
Place all of the sealed sandwiches neatly on a large baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours until solid and then transfer to an airtight container (gallon sized baggie or sandwich baggies) and continue to freeze for up to 3 months.
They will thaw very quickly so if you take them out the day they're needed, you can place them in a lunch box in the morning and they'll be ready by lunch or place in the fridge overnight and they're thawed that way too.
📖 Variations
If you don't have a sandwich cutter or sealer, it's easy enough to DIY this frozen sandwich with a butter knife and a fork. Trim the crust and press the fork along the edges, similar to pastry or pie crust.
🍴 Recipe Tips
I have learned through the art of trial and error that crust doesn't do well when frozen and thawed unless you plan to toast the sandwich. When you leave the crust on a PBJ and freeze it, it thaws wonderfully, but the crust becomes chewy (and the kids complain about the crust more than usual).
Trimming off the crust removes that issue. And using a sandwich cutter/sealer is perfect for helping to get the same shapes and quality from every cut sandwich.
When you toast or grill the sandwiches, the crust becomes less chewy as the bread becomes more crispy. Perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches, but if you don't toast your PBJs I can't imagine this being useful information.
⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
I recommend freezing the sandwiches solid before placing them into an airtight container because it makes them a lot easier to store. If you place them in fresh, sandwiches can touch, compress/get smooshed, leak, etc.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
You can freeze these PBJ sandwiches for up to 3 months in an airtight container in the freezer. They can also last up to 1 week in the fridge when stored in the same manner.
💭 FAQs
Yes! This is one of the easiest sandwiches to meal prep for later and freeze.
I have made these sandwiches countless times and never had one turn out soggy, but that is always a risk if you have a moisture issue. Using natural peanut butter or too much jelly can add liquid to the sandwiches and could cause the bread to turn out soggier than expected.
At room temperature you can have your fully frozen sandwich thawed and ready to eat in about 30-60 minutes.
More great sandwich recipes to check out soon
📖 Recipe
Frozen Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 6 slices Sandwich bread ($0.24)
- 4 Tablespoons Jelly ($0.44)
- 4 Tablespoons Peanut butter ($0.20)
Instructions
- Place a large clean cutting board in front of you and gather your items. This will streamline the process.
- Place the sliced sandwich bread on the clean work surface in front of you.
- On half of the sandwiches, top with peanut butter You can go to the edges if desired. On the other half, spread jelly in the center (about 1-2 tablespoons). Don't leave the center of the bread as jelly makes the sandwiches hard to seal if spread too far.
- Close the sandwiches so that every peanut butter side is touching the jelly.
- Place your sandwich cutter in the center of the bread, or simply cut off the crust with a knife.
- Place any bread crusts aside in a gallon sized baggie and freeze them for future bread pudding or eat them as scraps to avoid waste.
- Grab the sandwich sealer and press down over each sandwich to seal the edges. I like to press down, flip the sandwich, and press again. If you don't have a sealer, you can use fork prongs.
- Place all of the sealed sandwiches neatly on a large baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours until solid and then transfer to an airtight container (gallon sized baggie or sandwich baggies) and continue to freeze for up to 3 months.
- They will thaw very quickly so if you take them out the day they're needed, you can place them in a lunch box in the morning and they'll be ready by lunch or place in the fridge overnight and they're thawed that way too.
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