Freezing Peppers
September 12, 2008 by Linette Gerlach
Filed under Preserving the Harvest
Freezing peppers is super easy. I just cut the tops off the smaller hot peppers like habanero, and jalapenos. I lay them all out on a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer. I let them freeze for a couple hours, then I put them in a freezer bag labeled with the type of pepper and date. They’re wonderful to pull out in January for salsa, chili, or other spicy dishes.
I usually cut the tops off of bell peppers, and banana peppers, then take the seeds out. I freeze some bell peppers whole so I can pull them out and make stuffed peppers later. Smaller peppers I chop up to pull out for pizza, spaghetti, stir fry, and other dishes later in the year.
I freeze the bell peppers the same way I freeze the hot peppers. I put them on a cookie sheet in a single layer to freeze then put them in a freezer bag.
Pepper Image (c) L Gerlach
How long do the peppers keep before freezer burn becomes an issue?
/krys
Thanks for these tips! I have a bumper crop of Jalapenos and it would be great to freeze some. Yours look wonderful — we’re still waiting for ours to ripen.
I do this too. The bell peppers take up too much room whole (unless you are saving them for stuffing), so I slice them in half and freeze them that way. It’s great to freeze peppers and just pull out what you need for cooking and not have to worry about them going bad. I chop mine up while they are still frozen right before I use them.
Good Growing! I Love Peppers the hotter the better. Thanks for the tip.
Krys- If you use a good quality freezer bag, the pepper should keep for at least a year.
Nancy- I love the jalapenos for salsa, my husband loves them on everything:) Mine are just starting to ripen.
Diana- You’re right, they do take up less space if you slice them or chop them. Freezer space is at a premium at our house this time of year:)
Mike- My husband will agree with you, he loves hot salsa.
My peppers did great this year so I am chopping and freezing a lot of them unlike my poor tomatos which won’t be producing any sauce this year