On cold winter days, long after the summer garden has been put to rest for the year, it’s always nice to have some of your own home grown peppers ready to use in your favorite recipes.
Yes, you could always buy some fresh peppers at crazy winter prices, but why when you can just grab some of your own garden harvest, right out of your freezer!
Freezing peppers is super quick and easy. Unlike many other veggies that need to be blanched or steamed first, peppers just need a quick rinse and freeze.
If you are planning on using all of your peppers in one batch, you can just wash, cut, bag and freeze the peppers in usable portion sizes.
On the other hand, if you would like to use your peppers a handful at a time, a nearly as quick- but just as simple way of processing them is by flash freezing.
There are only a few simple steps to the process…
1.) Start by washing and coring your peppers- cutting off any bad spots.
2.) Cut your peppers to their desired portion sizes- whole, halves, strips, diced, or an assortment of any and all!
3.) Prepare the pepper for freezing- lay them out flat on a cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap. If you have more than one sheet will hold just cover with another layer of plastic wrap and repeat. When done, cover the top with another layer of plastic, to prevent frost forming on the top layer.
An alternative, and my preferred method is to use the stack-able trays from our dehydrator, stacking them up and covering with a piece of plastic wrap or a empty solid tray.
4.) Place the trays in the freezer
5.) Once frozen, transfer the peppers to freezer zip-top bags and place back in the freezer.
That’s all there is to it! You’ll have frozen peppers ready to be added to all of your favorite winter recipes- omelets, stir-frys, pizzas, fajitas, the options are endless!
Enjoy!
