Freezer Vegetables
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I am a soup gal. Some of you regular readers may have noticed that last year. If you are a new reader to my blog, you will start to take notice real soon since soup season is coming up. I am already whipping out soup recipes. I LOVE soup! Like, LoVe, LOVE soup! Soups can be super easy & comforting for the cool fall & winter weather coming up. Some of you may say, “Soup is not easy. Soup sucks to make because I am chopping vegetables all the time. And then the extra vegetables go bad & I have to throw them out.”
If you are a soup person like me, then you will want to do this trick. You can even use these for pot pies, pot roasts, & casseroles. No need to throw out any vegetables. Freeze your vegetables! Then you will have most of the chopping done when it comes time to prepare your soups & other recipes. Most soups call for Mirepoix – which is basically an onion, celery, carrot mixture. In the cold weather months, I keep these three things in stock in my freezer, just because I know I make soups, pot pies, & other casseroles that use them. And there is never any waste.
You ready to learn how to do it? Ok. I will show you:
Rinse & dice celery. Sometimes it is good to put the celery in a bowl with a paper towel so you can pat off any water spots from rinsing. This helps it not clump so bad once it is frozen.
Place it into a labeled zip-top bag. Squeeze any air out & seal shut. Place into the freezer.
Dice an onion.
Place diced onion into a labeled zip-top bag. Squeeze out any air & seal shut. Place into the freezer. You may want to double bag this one because sometimes it stinks up your freezer depending on how strong the onion is. It also helps the smell if you don’t touch the outside of the bag with onion hands.
Rinse, peel & dice carrots.
Place carrots into a zip-top bag, squeeze out any excess air & seal shut. Place into the freezer.
Voila! Your vegetables are ready for your recipes!
You may have to break up the dices in the bag before measuring them for recipes, but it’s easy to do if you bang it on the edge of the counter.
*Note: Freezing these vegetables does soften them, so they are good for recipes where you cook them anyway: Soups, Stews, Pot Roasts, Pot Pies, Casseroles, etc. The celery will not be crisp to use for chicken salads & things like that. Just FYI.
39 Comments on “Freezer Vegetables”
This is such a cute post!! I love it – great tips 🙂
Yvonne @ TriedandTasty.com
What a great idea! I have never thought about freezing veggies for later. Do you just take our parts of the vegetables (like do they separate okay) or do you have to use the whole bag full at once?
Just bang the bag a little against the counter & you can measure out how much you need & put the rest back in the freezer!
When it comes to fruits and vegetables I like to lay them out on a cookie sheet and freeze them prior to putting them in the baggies so they are separated and not smashed.
GENIUS. I’m such a fan of the freezer – I think I use it too often. I keep hinting to my dear husband that I want a deep freezer. Can you IMAGINE the possibilities?! Thanks for sharing – you are amazing!
I have a deep freezer, and it is so worth it! Not only for buying things like meat and bread in bulk and putting in there, but also make ahead freezer meals, and even huge Costco size bags of flour that I can take a canister’s worth at a time out and not worry about bugs getting into my flour.
Oh how I wish I had more freezer space! I totally need to buy a deep freezer! Love the idea of the flour!
I LOVE this! Such great ideas. I love freezing different food but haven’t tried these vegetables yet. I need to. Thanks for the inspiration!
I never thought to freeze onions and celery! Genius!
This is a great post! Love the idea!
very smart, I have a huge freezer too, so very smart
I am glad you posted this because soup doesn’t freeze well but the ingredients that make up the soup usually do. Great idea!
So glad I stumbled upon this post! I will definitely start doing this to speed up my dinner prep. Do you think these veggies would hold up for the crock pot?
Hi Cat! Welcome! These vegetables do great in a crock pot. They kind of soften & lose their crunch during the freezing process, so they tend to cook quicker anyway. That’s why they are perfect for soups & things you cook them in. They are not good for fresh foods like chicken salad; the celery would be moist & soft instead of crunchy since it was frozen. But they are a time saver for those fall casseroles & soups!
BTW, I found you on my google+ stream. Gonna check out your blog for more ideas & recipes.
Such an awesome idea, I am going to do this. I am a big soup lover to, but I have chopping everything. You get a chance, please link up to the Suburbsmama Sunday Linky Party: http://suburbsmama.blogspot.com/2013/09/sunday-linky-26.html
Thanks, Amber! I just followed your tips and chopped up a big bag of sweet onions from Costco. Other than my eyes burning, I LOVE having all these pre-chopped onions now.
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Do you thaw before using
I use mine straight from the freezer. 🙂
How long can the veggies be frozen for without being “past their prime”?
Hi Jen,
It mostly depends on how you store them. I use regular zip-top bags (not freezer safe) and they last about 3 months without getting overly crystalized and covered in ice. I’m betting they will last longer in the freezer bags, but I can’t say for sure how much longer. Hope this helps!
~Amber
Will freezing carrots make them cook faster? Raw carrots take so long to soften.
Yes, actually! It makes them softer because of the moister from the freezer. That’s why you can’t use this method, for example, to freeze celery for chicken salad, but you can use all 3 of these veggies in anything you cook, simply because freezing them breaks down the fibers a little bit and softens the original vegetable.
Love this idea! Just thinking, if you did a combination of all 3 in each bag, wouldn’t that make it even easier?
That is a great idea! I use onion in recipes that I don’t always use carrots and celery in as well, so that’s why I keep mine separate, but you totally could!
brillianr idea i have thought about doing this but never got round to doing it but will now
It has definitely been useful for us!
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okay, after throwing away zillions of dollars worth of wilted carrots and celery, NOW you tell us! 🙂
I know, right?! Never again!
I was just wondering about freezing celery! Thank you for the post!
Awesome! Glad my post could help!
If you have a little extra time and freezer space, you can put the cut up veggies (or fresh fruit like blueberries, strawberries, etc.) on a baking sheet and put it in the freezer so they’ll freeze separately and then you can dump them in their freezer bag. They don’t get all stuck together that way. This has worked really well form me. I love the freezing cut up veggies idea.
I have done it like that too! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Amber
Should you blanch the vegetables before freezing?
You can, but I don’t. They cook just fine in soups and things later on. Thanks for asking!
I’ve always froze extra onions and thought I was being smart by freezing “left overs” from celery and onions to season my chicken broth with. I take the leaves and the root (after washing well) of celery, onions outer skin and root that you don’t use and freeze them. When I have roast chicken I pull off all the meat and keep the carcass in the freezer. Any time I need chicken broth I can make a flavorful broth with my scraps of celery and onion plus the chicken carcass. No preservatives or extra sodium in my broth. Not to mention it saves a trip to the store to get canned chicken broth.
Great tips Joy! When I worked in a restaurant one time, the head chef yelled at me for throwing out the celery leaves. He said they provide the most flavor. I haven’t made that mistake again! 😉