The main reason people freeze their fruit and veg is so they last longer! That means less worrying about food wastage and more time spent cooking delicious dishes in the kitchen!
Here are our top tips for freezing your fruits and veggies!
- Choose produce that’s ripe and unblemished.
- Before freezing, blanche and shock vegetables by briefly boiling them, drain them, then plunge them into ice water. Dry produce well.
- The best way to freeze produce quickly is by laying them in a single layer on a rimmed sheet pan.
- Store the fruit and veg in air-tight containers or freezer bags. Be sure to date the packages.
- Freeze at 0° or colder!
- Fruit can stay frozen for about a year; vegetables, approximately 18 months.
Wondering how to best thaw your frozen fruit and veg?
Vegetables can usually go from freezer to boiling water, although some types like corn prefer to be thawed out a bit first. The same goes with fruit! The water in fruit and veg expands when you freeze it, which causes ice crystals to pierce and break cell walls. This can make thawed veg quite mushy. Make sure you get the vegetables in the freezer as quickly as possible after blanching and shocking to reduce this happening!