Freezer Friendly Fruits and Vegetables for Winter

It helps to know which freezer friendly fruits and vegetable are readily available in your area so you can plan ahead for sales and fill your freezer for winter.

In This Article

Save Money On Your Grocery Bill

Preparing food ahead of time makes it possible for you to save money on your grocery bill especially if you buy that food in bulk or grow it yourself.

You can find fruits and vegetables on sale during the summer and into fall months when they are in season and cheaper.

Don't just look at the grocery stores though, look at your local farmer's market.

What You Need To Know About Freezing Fruits And Vegetables

Not all fruits and vegetables freeze well fresh from the garden.

Fruits can often be frozen without much preparation but the same can't be said about vegetables.

Most vegetables will require you to blanch them for about 5 minutes and then dip them into ice water to stop the cooking process before they can be frozen.

It pays to do your homework, know your fruits or vegetables and their specific requirements for freezing.

Start by choosing the fruits and vegetables you plan to freeze at the peak of their individual ripeness.

Not all fruits and vegetables ripen at the same time.

They should be firm and without bruises to ensure the best taste when they are used in the future.

Don't be afraid to sniff the fruit to see how it smells which is often an indicator of how it tastes.

When freezing fruit you may be concerned that it will darken.

This can be avoided by soaking the fruit or vegetables in a simple syrup made with ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

One name brand product that I personally like is Fruit Fresh.

Fruits That Freeze Well

Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Berries of all kinds
Cherries
Coconut
Cranberries
Citrus
Grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Pineapple
Plums
Raspberries
Rhubarb
Strawberries

Fruit That Does Not Freeze Well

Fruits that don't freeze well include watermelon and citrus fruit sections.

While you may find these fruits frozen, you will notice the texture is totally different when thawed.

I have frozen citrus whole if all I intended to do with it was juice it - and it does juice easier when it is just barely thawed.

What You Need To Know About The Texture Of Frozen Vegetables

Most vegetables can be frozen but the texture may be off when you thaw them.

For this reason, it might be good to plan to use some frozen vegetables in soups or casseroles.

Vegetables That Freeze Well

Asparagus
Beans (most varieties)
Beets
Broccoli
Cabbage (only use for cooking)
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Corn
Eggplant
Greens (Kale, mustard and turnip)
Okra
Parsnips
Peas (black-eyed and green)
Pumpkin
Sweet potatoes
Rutabagas and turnips
Summer squash
Tomatoes (only use for cooking and chop them up into smaller pieces)

Vegetables That Do Not Freeze Well

Vegetables you don't want to freeze include lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, endive, parsley and radishes.

Final Thoughts

Remember that even though the majority of fruits and vegetables are freezer friendly, they won't be exactly the same as fresh ones.

The taste should be very similar but the texture could be considerably different.

If you have an overabundance of fruits and vegetables, however, freezing them is one way to store them for long-term use.

Freezing Tutorials and Food Preservation Guides

Once you have decided which fruits and vegetables belong in your freezer, the next step is preparing each food correctly. Some fruits need little more than washing, cutting and packing, while many vegetables need blanching to slow enzyme activity before freezing. The correct preparation also depends on how you will cook the food later: slices for baking, diced vegetables for soup and plain fruit for smoothies are not necessarily packed in the same way.

Start with how to freeze apples for later use if you are preserving a fall orchard harvest. For another useful crop, explore how to freeze eggplant. Both give food-specific preparation guidance beyond a general list of freezer-friendly produce.

For a larger picture of freezing alongside other preservation methods, visit home food preservation options. The goal isn't to freeze everything the same way, but to process the harvest in a form that makes future meals easier. Keep the freezer at 0°F or lower, label packages with their contents and date, and use freezer-safe packaging that limits air exposure and freezer burn.

Freezing generally preserves safety when food has been prepared and handled correctly, but it doesn't sterilize produce. Wash fruits and vegetables before processing, use current tested blanching guidance where appropriate, cool blanched vegetables rapidly, and move prepared foods into the freezer without unnecessary delays. Later, thaw and cook each ingredient according to its intended use.

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