The rule, by thawing method
- Thawed in the refrigerator: may be refrozen without cooking, raw or cooked. Expect some loss of moisture and texture — that’s the only penalty.
- Thawed in cold water or the microwave: cook it first, then the cooked dish may be frozen.
- Left out at room temperature over 2 hours (1 hour above 90 °F): discard. Refreezing cannot undo time in the danger zone.
After a power outage
Freezer food that still contains ice crystals or has stayed at 40 °F (4 °C) or below may be safely refrozen — quality suffers, safety doesn’t. Anything warmer than 40 °F for over 2 hours: discard. The Power-Outage tool walks through this decision item by item.
Why refreezing costs quality
Each freeze forms ice crystals that rupture cell walls; each thaw drains the released moisture. Twice-frozen meat is noticeably drier. The fix is upstream: freeze in portions small enough that nothing gets thawed twice — see freezing in useful portions.
EU/UK note
Food frozen on or before its use-by date and then thawed should be used within 24 hours (UK FSA guidance) and not refrozen raw. Package instructions such as “do not refreeze” always govern.