Updates: Sept 12, 2023
“What’s in our shares this week?”
Fall is here! Sweet potatoes, Cucumbers, Butternut Squash, Spaghetti squash, tomatoes, okra, Banana peppers, bell peppers, summer squash. Combo share: Tomatoes. Fruit share: Golden Delicious. Enjoy!
Do you freeze extra peppers from your share? You should – they freeze great! Here are some ideas for you: How long will they last?
The colder the better, so at 0 degrees they should last 6-8 months. That’s a pretty good long time!
What kinds of peppers can I freeze?
You can freeze any kinds of peppers this way: green, yellow, orange, and red bell peppers, Italian frying peppers, poblano peppers, other hot peppers, etc. Any kind of pepper will work well! They don’t require blanching! Here’s how to do it:
Prepare your peppers: Wash and dry your peppers well.
Core and seed your peppers: Slice in half and remove seeds. Cut up your peppers into strips, rings, or chunks. Or – leave them halved or Whole for stuffing. Keep your peppers dry! Don’t rinse them after you cut them up! This will help prevent freezer burn.
Optional steps: (1) Lay them out in a single layer on a cookie tray: This helps to freeze them fastest and keep them separated from each other in the bag for easy access later. (I actually never do this, but know it is the best practice if you have the time and freezer space to do it. I find they come out good without though, too.)
(2) Put them in freezer bags: Use heavy-duty freezer bags and remove as much air as possible from the bags to help prevent freezer burn. Yep that’s all you do.
Use them in the following ways:
Stir-fry: Use other veggies fresh or frozen and add in peppers towards the end to warm through. I personally love to see that bright red or green color in my wintertime stir-fries!
Soups: Use with other veggies in a veggie-based soup. So good! Or try a red pepper pureed creamy soup! They’ll warm your heart with memories of summer flavor!
Fajitas: Slice your onions and sauté until browning, quickly throw in frozen peppers to warm through and voila – you’re ready for fajitas.
Italian sausage sandwiches/subs: Repeat above except put on a sandwich or sub. Yum!
Pizza topping: Use them on a pizza! Easy and you won’t regret it!
Chili: add them into a pot of chili towards the end. You’ll have your summer pepper flavor in your warming winter chili! This is probably our highest use of frozen red and green peppers.
Egg dishes: Scrambled in with eggs in the morning or in a quiche or frittata, fresh peppers are delicious with eggs and frozen are no different!
Shakshuka: I make this in the winter with our frozen peppers and canned tomatoes. It’s soooo good and reminds me of late summer gardens when there is snow on the ground.
Theres nothing more aggravating in winter than needing peppers or onions to make a particular recipe and have none in the house! Freezing to the rescue! Both freeze well.