How to Freeze Peppers
Hubby and I have been struggling to keep up with our vegetable garden this year. I haven’t been able to get all the tomatoes canned before they wither on the vine. We were worried all the peppers would spoil until I had the genius idea to freeze them. Okay, the genius idea wasn’t mine … I read somewhere that you could freeze them. It’s so easy to freeze peppers and I want to share it with you in case you have the same surplus problem.
Hubby loves hot peppers, I like mild ones. So we planted a mix of both. From very hot Ghost peppers to slightly sweet Louisiana Bell peppers. I decided to freeze the bell peppers first since we harvested so many of them. The red ones tend to be a bit sweeter than the green.
When you freeze peppers, you’ll be able to use them for up to 12 months. They don’t retain their crispness for use in salads, but they’re perfect for your favorite chile recipe. Hubby made chili for dinner with some of the ghost and jalapeno peppers from our garden. He never uses a chili recipe so each time it tastes different.
To freeze peppers, start by washing them. Slice in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and the stem. Then chop them up with a good chef knife. Spread the peppers in a single layer on a shallow baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place them in the freezer for an hour. Take the peppers out of the freezer and store in quart-size freezer-safe food storage bags. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can, then seal the bag.
It’s important to freeze the peppers for an hour before bagging to ensure that all peppers are frozen. If you bag them up without doing this, some of the peppers in the middle of the bag might not freeze properly.
Once the food storage bags are properly sealed, place your peppers back in the freezer. They’ll keep for up to 12 months. You can see I still have plenty more peppers to freeze. Word of warning. When you’re de-seeding and cutting really hot peppers, you might want to wear food-safe gloves. Working with hot peppers can leave a burning sensation on your skin, and if you accidentally rub your eyes … it’ll burn. I haven’t done this but hubby has.
If you have a harvest of peppers from your vegetable garden, I hope you’ll try freezing them. Even if you didn’t grow peppers, you can pick up fresh ones from your local farm market to freeze.
I have to admit, I enjoy having their pretty colors sitting in my colander on the kitchen counter. It almost makes me not want to chop them up and sentence them to the freezer.
Let me know if you’ve ever frozen peppers … or any other vegetable for that matter.
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Good Afternoon Jennifer, Well I never, I really did not know that it was possible to freeze peppers. Although our climate doesn’t allow us to grow peppers, when I buy peppers from the grocery shop I am always concious that I need to use them quickly, but now I know that I can open freeze the peppers, then pop them into freezer bags, the worlds my oyster, as far as peppers are concerned.
Thank you so much for the tip.
Best Wishes
Daphne
I have been freezing peppers for years successfully. I wash, cut the four sides off, toss the core and seeds, and freeze them without chopping (in quart size plastic bags). Works beautifully. Chopping them would be better, but I’m always short on time so do it just in the large pieces. Love it!!
I’ve frozen peppers before but never seem to use them all before they freezer burn. I do freeze tomatoes rather than can them and use all winter long in soups and stews. I just peel, chop and freeze. I freeze corn but I’ve found that it makes no difference whether I parboil or not, the corn always tastes the same and it eliminates one step. Frozen summer corn tastes soooo good in the wintertime.