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The BEST Way to Freeze Peppers

Whether you’re raising them in your garden or bought a few too many at the Farmer’s Market, at some point freezing peppers will probably hit your To-Do List. Here’s a simple guide on how to freeze peppers to get you started.

Green peppers with text overlay how to freeze green peppers

I’m telling you, I am so impressed with our organic garden this year. Everything that we’ve planted has just done tremendously well.

A couple of weeks ago, we had zucchini and tomatoes coming out of our ears. Our zucchini has slowed down tremendously with the hot, mid-summer temperatures, but we’re still getting quite a few tomatoes daily.

green pepper hanging on plant

And our green peppers and jalapeno peppers? Oh my goodness! I’ve been scouring Pinterest for recipes that use peppers because it seems like they all ripen at once, but there’s just no way for us to use up all of them before they go bad, so I’ve decided I need to start freezing peppers.

Now, freezing green peppers may sound like a super easy thing to some of you, but there’s a couple tricks that someone shared with me that make this the easiest and best way to freeze green peppers

Prepping green peppers to freeze

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And I love them, because once you know a super, simple skill like this – it’ll stick with you forever and it’s something that we can easily pass on down generations to teach our children how to preserve food and live more sustainable.

Can You Freeze Green Peppers and Other Peppers?

You can use this method to freeze peppers of just about any kind! You can slice them lengthways, as I have done here, or even in circle slices for freezing jalapeno peppers, or other smaller peppers.

Sliced yellow red and green peppers on wooden cutting board

What do you need to freeze peppers?

This is a super simple process and I bet you already have everything you need to freeze peppers in your kitchen already!

  • Green Peppers, or peppers of your choice.
  • Sharp knife
  • Cutting board
  • Freezer zip-top bags
  • Cookie sheet
tips for freezing green peppers text overlay with sliced green peppers on cookie sheet

The best part about freezing green peppers, and any peppers for that matter, is there is no need to blanch. You can really freeze green peppers in under 30 minutes!

How to Freeze Peppers

Besides a stuffed pepper recipe, we hardly ever use green peppers as a whole, I almost always use them sliced or sometimes diced, so it only makes sense to freeze them that way.

sliced green peppers in zip top freezer bag
  1. To freeze peppers, you’ll need to slice them how you’ll use them most – sliced or diced, you’ll go through the same process.
  2. Lay them out on your cookie sheet so they aren’t touching each other. There’s no need to wet the peppers, as the liquid inside the pepper will freeze nicely and quickly.
  3. Place cookie sheet in your freezer. You’ll only need to leave them in the freezer for about 20 minutes, just long enough for them to freeze individually so they won’t stick to each other when put together in the bag!
  4. Then put your individually frozen green peppers in your freezer zip-top bags for long-term storage. I’ve kept my frozen green peppers in the freezer for up to 3 months – that’s about as long as they last because when it’s winter time, my family craves fresh summer veggies.
How to Freeze Green Peppers for Longterm Storage

Can you freeze bell peppers whole?

While I most often freeze my green peppers sliced, you can freeze bell peppers whole. It works great for recipes like stuffed peppers.

Just be sure to cut the tops off, scoop out the seeds and return top for freezing.

Tip: Freeze sliced green peppers individually, without touching each other, on your favorite cookie sheet so you can choose the exact amount you need for dinner prep.

How to Freeze Fresh Peppers

Freezing Green Peppers

Whether you’re raising them in your garden or bought a few too many at the Farmer’s Market, at some point freezing peppers will probably hit your To-Do List. Here’s a simple guide on how to freeze peppers to get you started.

Materials

  • Fresh Peppers
  • Ziploc Freezer Bags

Tools

  • Knife for slicing peppers
  • Cutting Board
  • Cookie Sheet

Instructions

  1. Choose tender, crisp, fresh peppers to freeze.
  2. Wash the peppers.
  3. Cut out pepper stems and slice in half.
  4. Remove seeds and membrane.
  5. Once you’ve done that, slice the peppers the thickness that you desire. I most often prefer slices because it takes less time, but you can even dice them.
  6. Once you have them sliced, arrange them on a cookie sheet so that they are not touching each other.
  7. Put into freezer for about 30 minutes. They should each be frozen individually.
  8. Then, put them all together in a freezer zip-top bag. Since they were frozen individually, they will not freeze together in a clump.
  9. Be sure to get all the air out of the bag to prevent freezer burn.

Notes

While the frozen peppers will last in your freezer up to 1 year, I prefer to use them within 6 months for the best freshness.

Do you have any experience freezing peppers?

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I love using fresh green peppers in some of my favorite recipes, but I don’t always have fresh ones on hand, especially during the winter months. That’s why I always have plenty in the freezer!

Here are some of my favorite recipes and why I love freezing green peppers!

mediterranean salad with fresh veggies chopped in white bowl
mini sloppy joe pies on white plate
chicken casserole with lettuce on white plate

Worries

Thursday 23rd of April 2020

Stuffed Peppers are a fancy way to serve peppers! They are so easy, delicious and impressive enough to serve for special occasions or special guests! 

APKun

Wednesday 22nd of April 2020

I usually cut my peppers across the top but you can also cut them top to bottom to make smaller portions (like in my  Mexican Stuffed Peppers ).

Thecead.Com

Sunday 29th of March 2020

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!  

Kathleen K Dvorak

Tuesday 3rd of September 2019

I freeze whole red raspberries and blueberries. Then I take out a few for my breakfast cereal. Great to eat anytime!

Boyd Kobe

Friday 26th of October 2018

Hi Lindsey, I really appreciate your wonderful explanation. This tip is really useful. Thanks.

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