Most vegetables can be frozen which preserves them for later use and saves you money. This is a general guide about freezing and storing vegetables.
Veggies on sale? Buy a lot and freeze them. Your freezer can be your best friend when trying to save money on your food bills. Send this tip to a friend, it's free!
By blanching the vegetables, they retain more vitamins and will cook faster when you decide to use them. To cook your frozen vegetables: Heat vegetables in water until tender.
Freezing veggies is not as difficult as freezing meat or proteins. As for zucchini, carrots, etc, cut them the same round size and blanch them in boiling water for about a minute.
Then strain them and blot them dry on a tea towel. Spread them out on a large cookie sheet and freeze quickly. When frozen, bag them in a freezer bag, They will last about 6 months.
Or, you can dehydrate them in a household dehydrator from Ronco etc. These dehydrated veggies, tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms , bananas, peppers etc. will last over a year. The dehydrated veggies will come back in hot water just like fresh in soup or chili etc.
Fresh vegetables can be frozen quickly and easily during the harvest season. Whether you freeze purchased or home-grown vegetables, the keys to a successful product are using vegetables at the peak of ripeness and freezing quickly after purchase or harvest.
Contents include:
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Published by: New Mexico State University
I buy frozen vegetables in the bags. Then when I get home I divide the veggies into the proportion size I want and put them into a sealed container. That way if I want some corn, for example, for a dish I'm making, I don't have to try and break up the corn in the bag. And it doesn't get freezer burned either.
By Pixie from Ohio
How do you freeze raw cauliflower and broccoli? Is it possible to freeze raw zucchini squash?
By Shirley from Tequesta, FL
By Deeli
11/16/2010
Here's all the info you should need. :-)
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/uga_freeze_veg.pdf
I want to vacuum pack vegetables without cooking them. Can you freeze vegetables without cooking them?
By Joan
By Deeli
09/29/2011
Except for veggies like peppers and onions they need to be blanched. The reason is to keep their fresh color but, most importantly, to stop the enzymes that break down the quality and nutrients of the food. Here's some info I shared a few weeks ago:
Vegetable Water Blanching Timetable
There have been a lot of requests for blanching veggies as of late so here's an easy timetable to follow. Be sure to check tenderness part way into the blanching guide times because freshness and size of vegetables vary and can affect how long they truly need to blanch.
Be sure to give the veggies an immediate ice water bath after the blanching to stop the cooking process. Pat veggies dry if you are going to be freezing them and remove as much air from the freezer bag as possible because both help to reduce freezer burn.
Artichoke Hearts, Globe: 7 minutes
Artichoke Whole, Globe: 10 minutes
Artichoke Whole, Jerusalem: 3 to 5 minutes
Asparagus: Small Stalk - 2 minutes, Medium Stalk - 3 minutes, Large Stalk - 4 minutes
Beans: Snap, Green or Wax - 3 minutes
Beans: Lima, Butter, or Pinto - Small - 2 minutes, Medium - 3 minutes, Large - 4 minutes
Beets: Cook until tender
Broccoli, Florets and Stems: 1 1/2 inch pieces - 3 Minutes
Brussels Sprouts, Heads: Small - 3 minutes, Medium - 4 minutes, Large - 5 minutes
Cabbage or Chinese Cabbage: Coarsely Shredded, thin wedges or leaves separated - 1 1/2 minutes
Carrots: Whole - 5 to 6 minutes, Diced or Sliced - 2 to 3 minutes
Cauliflower, Florets and stems: 1 to 1 1/2 inches - 3 to 4 minutes
Celery: Diced - 3 minutes
Corn-on-the-cob: Small - 8 minutes, Medium - 10 minutes, Large - 12 minutes, kernels - 5 minutes
Eggplant: 1 1/2 inch slices - 4 to 5 minutes
Greens, All Varieties: Tough Stems Removed - 2 1/2 to 4 minutes
Kohlrabi: Whole - 3 minutes, Cubed - 1 minute
Mushrooms: 4 to 6 minutes
Okra: Small - 3 minutes, Large - 4 minutes
Peas: 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes
Peppers, Sweet: Strips or Rings - 2 to 3 minutes, Halves - 3 to 4 minutes
Potatoes, All Varieties: Cook until tender
Pumpkin: Cook until tender
Rutabagas: Diced - 2 to 3 minutes
Soybeans, In Pod: 4 to 5 minutes
Squash, Winter: Cook until tender
Squash, Summer: 1/2 inch slices - 3 to 4 minutes
Turnips: Diced - 2 to 3 minutes
I am freezing zucchini and one of the methods is to freeze it unblanched. Is this method safe? What about the enzymes that blanching kills? I would hate to have problems with the zucchini once it is thawed but like the idea that it would not be as mushy as it gets when it is blanched. Please help, as we have a garden full of zucchini.
By Mira
By morbetomommy
07/31/2009
It is safe to freeze zuchinni. You can slice it and freeze it for stir frys, or shred it for baking. You can also saute it a little with butter and freeze it like that as well. This website has a great article on how to freeze zuchinni. Just type "Freezing Zuchinni" in the answer box and you will get some answers.
How do I to freeze vegetables?
By surelock from Lapeer, MI
By kay72
07/17/2011
If you can pick up a Ball Blue Book of preserving this will be a great help. I got mine at Wal-mart years ago and its a book that's worth it if you do canning or freezing of vegetables. Blanching is very important and must be done properly to destroy microorganisms that could destroy your food. But its a fairly easy process using boiling water don't over blanch this will cause a loss of flavor. Cool your vegetables by using ice water. Hope this helps.
How do you freeze cauliflowers and green beans? Do you have to blanch them first or can you freeze them without blanching?
By Yvonne from Coventry, England
By Deeli
09/01/2011
Oh, one more thing! After the ice bath you want to pat the veggies dry. This helps reduce freezer burn.
How do I freeze fresh celery?
By Vic
By Shelyn
01/10/2012
I have done this too, but I also wrapped several layers of plastic wrap and placed it in a zip lock bag to insure no freezer burn, in case I didn't get it used up in a timely manner. Now I use a vacuum sealer works much better, no freezer burn because all the air has been 'sucked' out.
I was considering lightly microwaving my home grown yellow squash and green beans instead of par boiling them which can make a lot of water, and then vacuum sealing is difficult.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
By Daphna A. from Alachua, FL
By fuzzytufts
05/17/2011
I microwaved 2 years ago and they got that funny taste after 6 months. I then tried the steam method... instead of microwave leave them whole and when you get them hot all the way thru dunk them in ice water to cool at once like corn on the cob, dry with a towel and cut up and freeze that way. They probably won't save over a year without changing taste. This works for green and yellow squash. After about 7 months I take mine out and dry them in the dehydrator and powder them to add to all my dishes. including spagetti sauce. Dried veggies add good flavor even to fried meat.
When drying vegetables and vacuum sealing them, what are the advantages and disadvantage over freezing?
By Tommy
By KellyRegan
10/12/2011
When you mention drying them before vacuum sealing, do you mean using a dehydrator, or do you mean rinsing them and patting them dry?
Why should you not freeze fresh vegetables?
Dawn
By 1stSharyn
Editor's Note Blanching is an important step with freezing many vegetables. Here is a link you may find helpful:
By Darlene H
I read 1stSharyn's post about freezing cauliflower and broccoli. Do you blanch these before freezing? I'm fixing vegetables to be used in stirfry later.
How do I go about freezing these veggies altogether (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, leeks, and capsicum (red and green)?
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