It was cold last night so I used my porch for a makeshift cooler. The cabbage I purchased yesterday is now frozen. Can I use the frozen cabbage in soup?
You can use frozen cabbage in several ways.
You do not have to let it thaw.
I like to add it to soups/stews in my crock pot.
As a general rule the texture may not be exactly the same as fresh but the taste is okay.
I sometimes saute it in a frying pan or a Wok and it's very good; you can add onions or other veggies.
There are lots of recipes online using frozen cabbage in case you're wanting to try something different.
Frozen cabbage can be used with most of these recipes:
www.spendwithpennies.com/
It should be fine. My ex's mom used to do this all the time and it would be extra soft in soup which she liked.
The only thing I will warn you about is if you refreeze the soup after it is made, sometimes the pre-frozen cabbage really weird when you defrost it. Like it melts...but if you eat up the pot of soup in a few days you should be good to go!
Post your recipe!! It is cold in Pgh and a good soup recipe sounds like something I need at the moment!
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Can frozen cabbage be used to make chow chow?
This may be possible but for the time and 'trouble' it takes to make good chow chow, I would not take the chance.
I have used frozen cabbage in soups and other liquid type dishes and it was okay (not the best) but never tried letting it drain so this might work if that is all that you have available.
if you try this method, please let us know how it turns out.
When you freeze cabbage it changes the cabbage and adds a lot moe water to the cabbage once it is defrosted. I would not recommend using frozen cabbage in your chow chow and would find it best to use fresh cabbage when making this dish.
I went to get my cabbage out of the fridge and it's frozen! I'm making pan fried cabbage and noodles.
Will this still cook up? I don't care if it soaks up the butter, just want to be able to use it.I hope if you tried this it was at least edible but usually any frozen vegetable is best used in soups and stews due to the high water content.
I have a head of cabbage which I froze. I now would like to make ham and cabbage. Would the cabbage be alright to thaw and use in this recipe?
I use cabbage, ham, and sliced potatoes along with caraway seeds.Thanks it was helpful waiting on my cabbage to defrost
Yes you can freeze it before and after cooking it.
After thawing, can you fry it and will it be crisp?
Freezing cabbage is really not recommended because of the water content in the cabbage. If you want to fry this it will be very wet and limp. It more than likely will soak up a lot of the oil in the pan and not taste too good.
Can I make sauerkraut using frozen cabbage?
By Judy from St. James, MN
No. Frozen cabbage has already been damaged to some extent. Sauerkraut is a fermentation process which takes place over some days, and I have no doubt you'd have a really smelly mess on your hands.
If you mean the cabbage was frozen in the field, and the inner head is not frozen, you can use any part not frozen. Sauerkraut is fermented at about 70 degrees so you'd have to be able to keep it at that temperature. Not hotter, not colder. A heated kitchen is good.
Ok, so I have a question. I had 5 cabbage given to me and I made 24 jars last year of sauerkraut and it was amazing. I do not have time to make it right now so I blanched and froze the cabbage in baggies. When I come back, can I use it in a stone crock pot and make my sauerkraut? I do not know what else to do with it.
I tried making sauerkraut last fall for the first time. As i didn't have a large container I decided to use the freezer bag method and froze the rest (cut up but not blanched). At 25 cents a pound I couldn't pass it up. The sauerkraut was great. The cabbage was a little soft, fine for soup and casseroles but a little softer than I like it for stir fries which is how I like to use it other than coleslaw. I came to this site for info on using frozen cabbage and thanks to your warning will pass that up and try some more next fall. I used 4 liter zip lock freezer bags. By squeezing the air out before zipping the back closed keeps the cabbage submerged in the brine thereby eliminating the chance of mold developing and when it has finished fermenting you can just pop it in the freezer. Plus no need to sterilize your containers and if you do have a problem it would be less likely to contaminate every bag. I am now looking for recipes using other vegetables. They are so good for you!
Yes - you can and it works! Sorry to necro an old thread, but the answer here is absolutely wrong. I recently had an incident in which my son accidentally put two bags of cabbage into the freezer. I decided to try an experiment after reading this thread as Google uses it as an answer when asking if frozen cabbage can be used. The result - after 26 days it was perfect. There was no texture issues, the flavor was spot on, and the entire family loved it. So if you have frozen cabbage...give it a shot - you will be happy you tried :)
Thank you so much! I forgot to harvest three heads in the field and with work and stuff I forgot to pick it before the 20 degree days and nights hit here in vt.. am going to try it and was hoping there was a comment out there with some positivity to make it worth the try!
This good news, thanks for sharing.
I bought 165 pounds of cabbage late last fall and stored it in a wheel barrel in an unheated garage under heavy blankets. I was very busy with work at the time and unfortunately contracted Covid-19 and could not make my sauerkraut. During that time the weather turned very cold and and stayed several weeks below freezing; the heads froze but never thawed. It is now the end of a very cold February.
I wrote whole lot of cabbage off as a loss until I stumbled on your post. I just pulled out a head that had been frozen for over six weeks and removed a few of the outer leaves. The head looks perfect except it is frozen solid. I'm going to go ahead and make sauerkraut in the same manner as I always do and hope for the best.
Please let us know how it turns out. It should be tasty but maybe a little softer than sauerkraut made from fresh.
Hi! I have frozen Shredded cabbage from a huge harvest last fall. Did you do your kraft using the crock style or the jar style? In our family, we salt our cabbage and pack in jars, loosely fit caps and rings, set in tubs to ferment, then process after a few weeks.
Can you use frozen cabbage for soups?
By Eva S.
Certainly! And frozen leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, peppers, peas, spinach, carrots, parsnips. Go for it.
Absolutely! Frozen cabbage is wonderful in soups. Cut into wedges first, blanch for 90 sec, pop into ice water to stop cooking and freeze. Will last a while. Enjoy
Can frozen cabbage be eaten raw, like for cole slaw?
By Gammy from Brighton, TN
Well, I'd say, yes, because I have a recipe for "freezer slaw" that doesn't cook the ingredients. You make up a big batch and store it in small containers in the freezer. It's almost like a relish or chow-chow. Having said that, I don't think frozen cabbage would do well in a mayo based slaw. Of course, you could try a cup full and experiment before freezing lots and lots of it.
If you freeze it in a vinegar base freezer slaw recipe it's fine when you take it out as a cole slaw if you want a creamy slaw drain the broth and add mayonnaise.
If you don't make freezer slaw it will be limp, and usable in soup or other cooked dishes, but not very tasty to eat raw.
Frozen Coleslaw
1 large head cabbage, shredded (I just use a bag of pre-shredded cabbage)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon celery seeds
(I like to add some chopped green onions to mine, and I also add 1/3 cup cooking oil to the ingredients that are boiled.)
Combine vegetables; sprinkle with salt, and let stand 1 hour. Drain mixture if water accumulates.
Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil 1 minute, Cool. Pour over cabbage mixture; stir well. Freeze in plastic freezer bags or containers. To serve, thaw in refrigerator. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.
Mrs. Varden Hiner, Abilene, Texas Southern Living Magazine, many years ago.
jsham, AR
I want to use cabbage with corned beef, but the cabbage froze on my deck. I forgot to bring it in after shopping. Can I still use it it's still whole?
By Patricia S.
That is rubbish. Nothing wrong with it at all. The outer leaves will be good for cabbage rolls. Use the inner ones shredded for coleslaw.
