Freezing Green Peppers

As summer rolls to an end and the pepper harvest reaches its peak, you may be wondering what you will do with all of your peppers. We offer two excellent approaches: a simple method of freezing green peppers by chopping them in rounds, spreading them on a cookie sheet, freezing them, and then re-bagging them to store in your freezer. We describe the process in the first video, a Traditional Foods classic made from a video camera designed by a team of Pilgrims. The second method is a Traditional Foods original which requires cooking, seasoning, and processing your peppers before you freeze them in small patties.

Freezing Green Peppers in Slices

For this project, you will need fresh peppers, a cookie sheet or tray, and gallon-size freezer bag. Quart-sized freezer bags will work for smaller projects.

1. Wash your peppers thoroughly.

2. Slice your peppers into cooking-ready pieces. The pepper slices you make should be the size you want them to be when you cook with them later. You will be adding them to soups and stir-fries while they are still frozen and not particularly easy to re-size.
3. Arrange your prepared pepper slices in a single layer on a cookie tray and freeze them. It takes only a few hours for the layer to be totally frozen.
4. Remove the cookie sheet from the freezer and pop the peppers loose with a spatula.
5. Fill your freezer bags and return the pepper-filled bags to the freezer immediately.
6. Pieces of pepper will stay separate and be easy to retrieve in the amounts you want for any given use later.

Freezing Green Peppers in Patties

This particular method was born out of necessity one season when we had a bumper crop of peppers. We froze several bags using the method above and realized we needed a method that would allow us to freeze a greater quantity more quickly. The solution is simple and actually allows us to add more flavor to the peppers in the process.

The idea is to roast and season the peppers and puree and freeze in patties for later use.

Steps: Freezing Green Peppers as Patties

1. Wash stem and seed the peppers.

2. Roll the peppers in olive oil and crushed garlic.
3. Roast the peppers in a 425 degree for 50-60 minutes depending on how many peppers you are roasting. Be certain that there is a single layer of pepper in the pan.
4. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, puree them in a food processor.
5. Spoon your puree out on a cookie sheet by heaping tablespoons. These patties will look a bit like green cookies.
6. Freeze until the patties are completely solid.
7. Now comes the tricky part. Be certain that your sink is squeaky clean. Turn the cookie sheet upside down over the sink and run some water on the bottom of the pan. Your patties will let loose immediately. Rescue them quickly to an airtight container and return to the freezer.

If you like hot peppers, make some pepper patties with a bit of hot pepper added. Mark them appropriately to avoid mistaken identity later.

These patties have intense flavor of roasted pepper and garlic. Add them to soup, stew, sauces stir fries, salsas, salad dressings. Be creative. Play the artist with this splendid medium.

Nutrients in Frozen Green Peppers

Green peppers are a great source of nutrition and freezing them is a great way to store them for off-season use and to benefit from as much of their nutrient value at the same time. Freezing does reduce their nutrient content somewhat, but the impact is generally small.

Green peppers are a vitamin C powerhouse but also have a good amount of vitamin A. Green peppers will add some minerals to your diet as well and, perhaps as important, the vitamin C content in the green peppers will help you absorb more iron in your food.

Macronutrients In Frozen Green Peppers

Vitamins In Frozen Green Peppers

Minerals In Frozen Green Peppers

Enjoy your frozen peppers!

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