Buzz
If you find yourself with an excess of carrots that you can't consume quickly, freezing them is a great option for long-term storage. Be sure to peel and blanch them in boiling water to eliminate any harmful bacteria before freezing. Luckily, this process is quite simple, and you'll soon have carrots ready to store in your freezer!
Steps
Prepare the Carrots for Freezing
Use fresh, high-quality carrots. Choose young, tender carrots with no bruising.
- Medium-sized carrots are generally the best. 'Baby' carrots, a small variety, don't retain much flavor when frozen, but they can still be frozen technically.
- If possible, opt for freshly harvested carrots. If you can't freeze them immediately after harvest, store them in the fridge until you're ready to freeze them.
- Avoid using wilted or dried-out carrots.
Wash the carrots. Rinse or scrub the carrots under running water to remove any dirt or sand.
- If you're using carrots harvested from your garden, you may need to use a vegetable brush to clean off the soil.
- If you're using store-bought carrots, simply rinsing them under cold or warm water should be sufficient.
Cut the carrots into smaller pieces. Use a knife to slice the carrots into 0.5 cm thick rounds.
- Peel off the outer skin using a vegetable peeler to reveal the bright orange flesh underneath.
- Trim the ends of the carrot. Slice off about 0.5 cm from both ends and discard them.
- Cut the rest of the carrot into 0.5 cm rounds. You can also cut the carrots into thin strips or smaller pieces, but slicing into rounds is typically the easiest.
- There's no need to cut baby carrots into smaller pieces.
Blanch the carrots
Boil water in a large pot. Fill the pot about two-thirds with water and bring it to a boil over high heat.
- The water should be at a rolling boil.
- If you don't have a large enough pot to blanch all the carrots at once, blanch them in batches. Blanch each batch before starting the next one.
Prepare an ice water bath. The ice bath should be at least as large as the pot of boiling water. Add about 12 ice cubes to a basin and fill it two-thirds with cold water.
- Make sure to set up the ice water bath before you start blanching the carrots.
- If you're blanching multiple batches, you might need to add more ice if the first batch melts the ice.
Blanch the carrots in boiling water. Add the chopped carrots to the boiling water and cook quickly.
- Sliced carrots should be blanched for only 2 minutes, while whole baby carrots take about 5 minutes.
- The blanching process helps reduce some enzymes and bacteria in the carrots, preventing color changes, loss of flavor, or nutrient degradation.
- The water used for blanching can be reused up to 5 times, but you may need to add more hot water to the pot after a while.
Quickly transfer the carrots to the ice water bath. As soon as the blanching time is over, use a slotted spoon to remove the carrots from the pot and place them into the ice water bath.
- Soak the carrots in the ice water for the same amount of time as the blanching process. Generally, sliced carrots need about 2 minutes to cool, and baby carrots need about 5 minutes.
- Cooling the carrots is important as it stops the cooking process. You should not allow the carrots to become overcooked.
Drain the water. Place the carrots in a colander and wait a few minutes for the water to drain.
- You can also use a slotted spoon to transfer the carrots onto a few layers of clean paper towels to dry them.
Freeze the carrots
Spread the carrots on a baking tray. Arrange the carrots in a single layer on the baking tray, making sure they don't touch or overlap.
- If they are stacked on top of each other, the carrots will stick together when frozen. This step ensures that the carrots remain separate in the freezer, making it easier to portion and thaw them later.
- If the baking tray isn't large enough to fit all the carrots, you can use multiple trays or freeze them in batches.
Pre-freeze the carrots. Place the baking tray in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until the carrots are fully frozen.
- This step is optional. If you plan to use the entire bag or box of carrots at once, there’s no need to separate each carrot slice for freezing. However, if you don’t want to use up all the carrots at once, pre-freezing them will prevent them from sticking together when stored in the freezer for a longer period.
- Once the carrots are frozen, they cannot be broken or cut with a knife.
Transfer the carrots into a freezer-safe container. Use a spatula to move the carrots from the baking tray into a plastic container or a resealable plastic bag.
- If using a plastic container, leave about 1 cm of space above the carrots to allow for expansion when they freeze. This space will help the carrots expand as they freeze.
- If using a plastic bag, try to remove as much air as possible before sealing it. Use a vacuum sealer if available.
- Glass containers are not recommended as they may crack or shatter when placed in the freezer.
- Label the container with the freezing date so you can track how long the carrots have been stored.
Freeze until ready to use. Carrots will maintain good quality for about 9 months in a regular freezer when stored in a plastic container or resealable plastic bag.
- If you use a vacuum-sealed bag and deep freeze, carrots can usually last up to 14 months without losing quality.
- Frozen carrots are better suited for cooking dishes than for raw consumption.
Things you will need
- Vegetable brush
- Chef's knife
- Peeler
- Pot or pan
- Large bowl
- Slotted spoon
- Colander
- Paper towels
- Baking tray
- Freezer-safe containers or bags
- Labels
- Permanent marker
