Whether it’s sweet romano peppers or your common bell pepper, all varieties of pepper add a sweet and juicy hit of flavour to a range of dishes from pasta sauces to summery salads. But is there a way you can have peppers ready-prepared for easy midweek meals?
Can You Freeze Peppers?
Yes, you can freeze peppers for up to 6 months. To freeze peppers, clean them up then prepare your peppers as you normally would. Freeze on a baking tray then, when solid, tip into a freezer bag and freeze for the long term.
Do Peppers Freeze Well? Yes
Can You Refreeze Peppers? No
How to Freeze Peppers
As always with any vegetables, make sure you give them a good clean under running water and then pat them dry before you begin to look at freezing them.
- Clean and Discard: Once you’ve given your peppers a clean, discard any that have mould or have damage to the outside. By freezing, you won’t fix any problems so you’re better off freezing perfect peppers from the get-go.
- Remove Seeds: Now that you have perfect pepper, prepare them by cutting them in half and removing the seeds.
- Slice Up: You can now slice the peppers how you would normally cut them up.
- Flash Freeze: You now need to flash freeze them. Simply spread them out on a baking tray, ensuring no peppers are touching. Place in the freezer for a couple of hours until your pepper slices are frozen solid.
- Bag Up and Freeze: You can then remove the tray from the freezer and tip the frozen slices into a bag and return them to the freezer.
This method will work for any peppers cut into any size whether you like really thin strings, chunks or rings.
Yes, you can freeze raw peppers. In fact, you don’t need to blanch peppers before freezing like you do with many other types of vegetables. They tend to hold up much better in the freezer.
Yes, peppers can be frozen chopped, sliced or diced. The shape and size of the pepper pieces doesn’t matter as the method remains the same in both cases.
3 Tips for Freezing Peppers
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing peppers to have the best results:
Mix With Other Veggies
Peppers can be frozen with other vegetables to create ready-to-use mixed vegetable bags. Consider mixing with veg such as onions, courgettes and mushrooms to have easy to roast bags of veg. You can either add herbs.
Consider Your Uses
If you like to use big chunks of peppers in a pasta sauce then cut them up into chunks. If you prefer to have thin slices to quickly stir fry then cut them up small before freezing.
Label Clearly
If you’ve cut the peppers up small (or left your chillies large) then it can be tough to tell the difference when in the freezer. Make sure you write a clear label to avoid any issues!
How Long Can You Freeze Peppers?
Like most frozen products, the longer you leave them in the freezer, the greater the risk of freezer burn. This will affect the texture and flavour. It can also lead to some of the nutrients being lost.
That’s why, with peppers, we recommend using them within 6 months.
The good news is that they’ll be perfectly safe to consume beyond this but they might not be quite as sweet and the texture may degrade.
Raw peppers will last for around 2 weeks in the fridge. If they have been cooked then they will last for 3 to 5 days.
How Do You Defrost Peppers?
If you’re cooking your peppers in a sauce or stirfry then you can use them straight from the freezer with no thawing. Just place them into your pot over a low heat to give them time to thaw without burning the outside.
If, however, you want to use your peppers in a salad or cold dish then you’ll need to allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge.
Can You Refreeze Peppers?
We would not recommend refreezing peppers as it can completely ruin the texture. You’ll find they can become both mushy and bland.
The only exception is if you have frozen raw pepper, defrosted them and then cooked them in a dish such as stir fry or pasta sauce which you then want to freeze. You can freeze peppers cooked and uncooked.
Do Peppers Freeze Well?
Yes and no… Unfortunately, frozen peppers can lose some of the crisp texture you’ll love them for. That does mean when using frozen peppers in a cold dish such as a salad, there can be a noticeable difference in texture.
The good news, however, is that this is not noticeable when using peppers in a cooked dish. When it comes to cooked dishes, you’ll struggle to tell the difference between fresh and frozen peppers.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing peppers or peppers in general, then these may help:
If you know you’ll be cooking the peppers at a later date then you can blanch them. It has been proven to help vegetables retain their colour and flavour. However, it’s not essential.
You can freeze stuffed peppers. Slice the top off your peppers, scoop the seeds out and then freeze them with no filling. When you’re ready to make your stuffed pepper, just make the filling then fill the pepper (still frozen) with your stuffing then bake. You don’t need to thaw your peppers.
