Dear Home Ec 101,
My neighbor is a gardening whiz and brought over a ton of sweet bell peppers. I don’t want any to go to waste, but there is no way we can eat them all. Can you freeze bell peppers?
Signed,
~Peter Piper
Gratuitous Pretty Pepper Pic
Heather says:
Not only can you freeze bell peppers, but it takes very little effort. Frozen bell peppers are great additions to eggs, soups, stews, chili, stir fries, and of course we can’t forget sausage, peppers, and onions. I use this not only for when I mooch off of my gardening friends, but whenever I see peppers on the clearance shelf in the produce section.
Get ready, because this won’t take long.
Slice or dice the bell peppers.
Scatter the peppers on the cookie sheet. Make sure there are no clumps or they will be hard to separate later.
Freeze.
Scoop into a freezer bag.
Remove as much air as possible and return to the freezer.
That’s it!
This method is often referred to as flash freezing. By freezing the peppers as separate pieces it is easy to take only what you need for a recipe in the future. You will be able to bring a little of summer’s bounty to your winter table.
Your bell peppers will retain their quality for eight months if they are stored at 0°F or below.
Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Funny you should mention this, since I used my frozen bell peppers in Jambalya last night. However, mine had frozen together in a solid clump. I found that banging them against the counter broke the pieces apart, much like you would a bag of ice.
Hugs,
Melinda
I’ve also successfully frozen (and later, actually used) bell pepper halves for making stuffed peppers. Just stuff them while still frozen, then bake.
I have a bag of pepper rings and slices I made with on sale peppers a couple of weeks ago. I am glad to know they will keep for 8 months! I am going to buy some more this weekend (3/$2 and yes that’s a crazy good sale around here)
The last time I got a good sale on peppers….5 POUNDS for $2!! Yes, It was at the end of the season at a farmer’s stand…anyway, I also froze several halved peppers. I used them for stuffed peppers. And the frozen peppers made the stuffing part so much easier.
Having already chopped, and prepared veggies in the freezer is so nice when you’re short on time.
I would assume that you can do jalepinos the same way. I dont eat them but my son does. We got alot of them this year
What I do is cit them just like that, and put them in a mason jar. Top off with boiling apple cider vinegar, and then put in fridge. A quick pickle I call it. works for leftover garlic, onions, peppers, and such.
Not a true ‘can for a year’ pickle, but a simple one. I like to make mixes and then laddle out some to spice up beans in a crockpot or to sizzle in a pan before making an scrambled egg. I call the mixes ‘bean spice’.
I do this almost every time I have peppers. I have a tendency to only need 1/2 or 1 1/2 for whatever I’m making. The left over 1/2 gets sliced into strips and shoved in a sandwich bag. Best part is it means I always have pepper slices on hand to broil with my chicken, top my pizza, pepper steak sandwich, etc. Yum!
can you also freeze roasted bell peppers?
That's my question too, Ginny…did you try? If so, how did they come out when you went to use them later?