What vegetables can be frozen?

Lilith1980

Hi all, title says it all really

We're moving into a new flat in 2 weeks and will at last be able to order from Tescos online - for some reason it would not accept our current address as being able to deliver to us

We cannot afford a car and at the moment I am doing the shopping weekly, split over two days, and lugging it home on the bus as I refuse to pay the £5 taxi to get home :rotfl:

Anyway, so I want to do two weeks worth of shopping at a time and wondered if I would be able to bulk-buy any vegetables and freeze them so that they don't perrish.

Does anyone know which, if any, can be frozen please?

We tend to mainly buy potatoes, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, broccoli, aubergines and parsnips.

Thanks

anudeglory

They can all be frozen but it depends what you are going to do with them afterwards....

I generally find that carrots, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, broccoli/cauliflower and aubergines all go a little sloppy or watery once defrosted and then cooked. Which is fine for soup or something that is going to be pureed, not so much if you want them with a bit of bite - really not a fan of overcooked sloppy vegetables.

You shouldn't need to freeze your potatoes, just put them somewhere cool and dark and preferably in a paper/cloth bag an not a plastic one. Same goes for onions/garlic.

Parsnips, swedes, peas and sweetcorn (although personally I don't like the last one frozen) generally freeze okay though.

Best thing to do is experiment a little

skintandsad

I agree; I prefer fresh veg to that which has been frozen, as the freezing process seems to make them watery.

I invested in a vacuum sealer last year; the best gadget I have ever bought, as now I buy large packs of ham, veg, meat etc, and vacuum seal the "extra".

Most items keep in the fridge for ages, but with meat I freeze it once vacuum sealed.

I've never sealed brocolli or cauli so can't confirm how well these stay fresh???

But, like poster above said, potatoes keep well stored in a paper bag, in a dark dry cool place.

sheeps68

Generally I prepare and blanch my veg before freezing. The only veg I really think duffers badly is carrots.

Pretani

Does this blanching thing really work? and if so what's the best way to do it?

paulwf

This site explains blanching and freezing in great detail:

http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/Storing_the_Surplus_Freezing.php

Some things are better frozen after cooking, e.g. roast potatoes freeze well and so do soups so some meal planning may help. We tend to use Tesco for heavy and bulky stuff (tins, drinks and loo roll) then shop locally for veg as and when required.

youngie

why not buy some of your veg ready frozen it will be cheaper

Enterprise_1701C

Invest in some of the green veg bags that increase the longevity of the veg in the fridge (and outside it!). I didn't believe they worked but got them cheap off a market (the JML ones), so far I have managed to keep carrots in them for 4 weeks and parsnips for 3. They didn't go off, we just used them up in that time.

mluton

We freeze everything and anything.

flea72

i find if i freeze vegetables myself, they quite often taste stale, and watery once defrosted

But if i buy ready frozen veg, they taste fine. The nutritional quality of frozen veg, is just as good, if not better than fresh

However, if its only fruit/veg that you want fresh, im sure you could carry the few bits home that you need on the bus - its not like youre carrying a full shop anymore. Or find a local shop within walking distance that sells fruit/veg - most corner shops have a limited range

Actually, the types of veg you are eating, should keep fresh anyway, if ordering fortnightly. Keep the root veg in a dark cupboard, and the rest should be ok in the fridge

Flea

Chris25

I freeze a lot of carrots and they are always fine - cut into fairly thick rings, blanch and then steam to reheat. Carrots mashed with swede come out good but a little watery.

With parsnips, I either almost cook, and then mash them and reheat in microwave or, cut into large chunks, blanch, spritz with oil spray before freezing and then put frozen into oven for roasting. They don't turn out quite as crispy as cooking from fresh though.

With mushrooms and peppers, i don't bother blanching, I just cut into slices and frreze into handfuls - I'd use these for pizzas, soup or stir-fries. I haven't found them too watery but I use them from frozen rather defrost first so that might make a difference.

The only veggies I don't bother freezing are cauliflower (unless it's in a sauce), cabbage (unless it's cooked red) or brocolli as i can't get them right.

Try to drain off any blached veg - you could leave them in colander to cool so less water to freeze And try and get as much air out of the bag as you can before putting in freezer.