Can You Freeze Egg Yolk?
Yes, you can freeze it.
12 months
Whisk in a pinch of salt or sugar before freezing or the yolks gel and become unusable.
Yolks are the one egg component that needs a deliberate extra step before freezing, because their fat and protein set into a thick, almost rubbery gel on their own once ice crystals disrupt the structure — whisking in a small amount of salt for a savory use, or sugar for a sweet one, before freezing keeps that gelling from happening and preserves a workable texture. Labeling which one you used matters, since salted yolks are a poor fit for a dessert and sugared yolks won't work in a savory sauce. Frozen this way, yolks hold up for about a year, considerably longer than the couple of days they'd last raw and separated in the fridge.
Skip the salt or sugar and a frozen yolk turns into a dense, rubbery gel that won't blend smoothly into anything once thawed — genuinely unusable rather than just slightly changed, which is why this step isn't optional the way it might seem. A commonly cited ratio is about 1/8 teaspoon of salt or 1½ teaspoons of sugar per 4 yolks, whisked in thoroughly before the mixture goes into the freezer; too little of either additive leaves the gelling only partially prevented. Freezing yolks in small portions, one or two per ice-cube slot, matters more here than for whites, since a large frozen block of yolks takes longer to thaw evenly and there's no way to divide a solid piece once it's frozen.
Storage times and safe temperatures are general guidance from USDA FoodKeeper, USDA FSIS, and FDA sources — they are not a guarantee of safety. When in doubt, throw it out. This is not a substitute for professional food-safety advice.
Source: USDA FoodKeeper data, checked 2026-07-12.