How to Freeze Bell Peppers

This post may contain affiliate links which means I get commissions for purchases. Sponsored posts will always be clearly disclosed. Privacy Policy

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 by placing the tray in your freezer.
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 in a deep freeze at 0°F or below.

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Sharing is caring!

29 thoughts on “How to Freeze Bell Peppers”

  1. 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

    Reply
  2. 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)

    Reply
    • Speaking of bell peppers, our krogers store had them marked down to 3 for a dollar. They had red, green, yellowand red. What a deal!!

      Reply
  3. 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.

    Reply
  4. 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’.

    Reply
  5. 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!

    Reply
    • I always freeze my roasted bell peppers. After roasting, I peel and slice them , then freeze them in portion-size batches (I use disposable plastic cups, perfect size for us) plain (I once put lemon juice and they tasted awful). Can’t tell the difference! They thaw quickly and easily (although you get some juice which I discard)

      Reply
  6. Are you saying that you just wash and dry and then slice and put on a cookie sheet and put that in the freezer? that sounds too easy

    Reply
    • Sounds too easy to be true, but it is. They won't be any good in salads or other uncooked dishes, but they're great in recipes that are to be cooked. You won't have to cook them as long as if y ou were using fresh.

      Reply
  7. Make sure you buy organic bells if you can because they are on the top of the list of veggies high in pesticides. Of course with all the radiation and other things raining down on us from the tragedy in Japan, I don't know if 'organic' will mean anything anymore. Our media and government are not telling us anything near the truth about the amount of radiation we are being exposed to, especially when it rains or snows. Here is a true real forecast of the trajectory from the radiation in the planets jetstream: http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~tcanty/hysplit/ Stay out of the rain if you can! Make sure your iodine levels are normal because if they are low (which most people's are!) supplement them because if you don't, your body will absorb all the radioactive iodine to make up for it. Even if the levels of radioactive fallout are considered low-med, we will still the results in the next 1-5 years with a huge spike in cancer rates.

    Reply
  8. To Chris, Mr. Organic. Take a look at what is happinging in Europe right now with the organic krap, with emphisis on krap. Organic in not all it is not cracked up to be. My guess is that Chris is from the left coast.

    Reply
  9. Does it make much of a difference flash freezing over throwing them chopped in a zipper baggy and freezing that way? I have always just thrown them in a baggy and they’re fine though a bit watery. Will they be less watery when cooked if flash frozen?

    Reply
  10. @ChristinaCircleGavenda yes and no. How is that for helpful?

    Seriously, the faster they freeze the less watery they will be, so that is also completely dependent on the temperature of your freezer. Freezing them spread out does increase their freeze time, but it also prevents them from clumping which makes portioning for a recipe easier. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Can you use the frozen bell peppers on the grill? Say… skewering then grilling? They’re on sale right now for $0.68/ea and that’s a steal considering they were $3/ea just last week! Thanks!!

    Reply
  12. we have a food sealer that takes all the air out and man have I had a bumper crop this year even with the deer feeding on them ya thay even ate on my pepper we have keep our daughter inlaws restaurant keep full so thay havent had to buy them this year all from our home garden just about given up on the peas this year deer been to bad

    Reply
  13. Froze a couple bags in spring add pulled in august. Not edile. Horrid. Threw all out.. why??? Use caution and assuma the worse till you verify

    Reply
  14. I got a BUNCH of Red and Greens at the farmers market here in Maricopa, AZ. I sliced them 1/2 inch and froze them they seem fine in the freezer. I took some, coated with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Then I smoked them on the smoker grill at 375 for 25 minutes. Yummmmy! For the meat eaters, I combined the above, cooked bells with smoked and then chopped bison roast meat. (Which I had smoked too) oh my this is delicious!!! Wish I could attach a picture. Colorful , delicios and healthy!!yBison is grass fed.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.