Do you have an overabundance of fresh veggies? You need to know how to freeze fresh veggies! Here is a step by step guide on how to freeze fresh veggies.
How to Freeze Fresh Veggies
We are supposed to be getting some nasty cold weather in the next few days. So we have been busy busy harvesting what could be harvested from our garden and trying to cover and protect what isn’t ready yet for harvest.
This lead to me having about 30 carrots and an overabundance of fresh green beans. There was no way we would be able to eat all of it before it spoiled, so to the interweb I went looking for ways on how to preserve fresh veggies. The interweb is so handy in times like this. It spit out a BUNCH of suggestions.
I went with a simpler method- blanching and freezing the fresh veggies. I am preparing to can a bunch of tomatoes so I just didn’t feel up to canning the fresh veggies.
Plus blanching and freezing really are the quickest and easiest in my opinion. So without further ado here is How to freeze fresh veggies.
Like I said I had green beans and carrots. First, we will go thru the steps for the green beans then the steps for the carrots. Although the steps are very similar with only a few differences in cooking time, peeling and slicing, etc.
Green Beans:
1. Wash the green beans. Mine were a bit dirty and had bits of other plants on them. Wash them really good.
2. After the beans are washed thoroughly, snip off the ends of each bean. Also if you have spots that the bugs have been nibbling on snip those off as well. Next, snap the beans in half.
3. Bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the beans in and boil them for 3 minutes. While the beans are boiling get a big bowl ready with about 2 cups of ice and fill it with water. Do NOT overcook the beans.
4. Immediately transfer the beans to the ice water bath. Leave them in for 3 minutes. Strain out the beans and pat them dry. Bag them up into freezer bags and label them. Freeze for up to 9 months.
Later when you are ready to cook them just bring about 1/3 cup water to a boil add in beans, cover, and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the beans are nice and tender. Slather with a tablespoon of butter and some salt and pepper.
Carrots:
There are a few extra steps with the carrots but they are still simple and easy to freeze.
1. Wash the carrots. Carrots are much harder to get clean as they have all kinds of nooks and crannies where dirt likes to lodge. Use a vegetable brush to get them really clean.
2. Peel carrots and slice into coins. This is probably the most time-consuming part of the whole process.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a steady rolling boil. Prepare your ice water bath like above. Boil the carrots for 2 minutes. Immediately transfer to the ice water bath and let them sit for 2 minutes.
4. Pat carrots dry. Line a large cookie sheet or two with parchment paper. Transfer carrots to lined cookie sheets, make sure they are in a single layer and are not touching or overlapping.
Freeze for 1-2 hours. After they are frozen bag them in portioned sized freezer bags, label, and freeze for up to 9 months.
[…] How to Freeze Fresh Veggies […]