This is a picture of the Onions and Peppers on the cookie sheet lined with wax paper for the first day of freezing.
As we continue to share breakfast ideas, one thing we do is have breakfast prep things done when we have extrat time so that when morning comes, those little tasks do not add up to a lot more time.
One of them is freezing already diced peppers and onions. We actually do use a lot of both in our breakfasts and our upcoming recipes and ideas will show you why. But we love prepping and freezing peppers and onions for lunches and dinners too! Also, when the colored bell peppers are in season, then this is a great way to stock-up and store.
In addition, onions tend to be the cheapest in the 3, 5 and more pound bags and although they do have longer shelf life than most produce, it is nice to chop them all up and store them in your freezer.
The way that we are going to show you allows you to freeze and store many onions and peppers in one bag, but use anywhere from a tablespoon to a few cups…. essentially as you need them.
Let me explain, if you cut and freeze in individual bags/servings, then you are bound to use that amount when you pull it out of the freezer. This way, you can open the bag and take exactly what you need.
Let’s answer some questions first about how to freeze Onions and Peppers:
- You can freeze onions and peppers for up to 6 months
- We use them for casseroles and recipes.
- Note that bell peppers when defrosted are not crisp – frozen peppers should only be used in dishes that are going to be cooked.
- You can freeze it in slices or chunks. Whatever shape you want.
How to Freeze Onions and Peppers
- First, chop them up to the desired size/shape. To be honest, I do not like chopping onions and so I cheat by throwing big chunks in my food processor and “pulsing” the button to chop them up. I do the same for peppers, especially when I have a lot of them. This method works and is very fast. BUT they don’t chop uniformly and are not very pretty looking after. However, I don’t care, especially when I am trying to throw a meal together quick and can just grab what I need already cut up. This really isn’t a concern for onions, but for peppers, if you want nice looking chunks, you end up with a hodgepodge in the food processor
- Second, create a layer of the peppers or onions on a cooked sheet that is covered in wax paper. Try to make the layer as even as possible with a spatula.
- Freeze overnight.
- Then pull them off the wax paper and dump into a gallon size ziploc bag.
- If there are any chunks, break them up so that all of the pieces are separated
- Then place in your freezer for long-term storage.
- When a recipe calls for chopped peppers or onions, just open your bag and grab the amount you need.
I pulled my bags of peppers and onions out of the freezer to show you! As you can see, there is a hodgepodge of sizes on the pieces of peppers from the food processor, but it saves me loads of time, so who cares Also, our peppers bag is filled with green, red, orange, yellow and even purple bell peppers. We were blessed to find them for .25 each and stocked up and froze a bunch! It is a beautiful pepper rainbow!
Do you have any tips on how to freeze onions and peppers? What was your experience?
Don’t forget to check out our growing list of Building Better Breakfasts for Less.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
You’re right, I’ve been getting the five pound bags from the local restaurant store and doing this with everything from onions and peppers to fruit when they have it marked down to half off.
I haven’t used your method of laying them out though, I just put them in the baggies and break them up before they get completely frozen.
Like minds!! I saw a great breakfast recipe the other day on the Disney site that had 4 eggs, 1/4 cup half and half or milk and a dash of favorite seasonings poured into 6 non stick muffin tins – add frozen veggies like this and bake for 20 mins for quick fritatas on the go. I’m going to add a bunch more healthy things like chia and flax and quinoa to make it more filling too.
When ever I have tried this I end up with the entire refrigerater/freezer smelling like onion…how do you prevent this? The ice maker was never the same again and we’ve had oniony ice ever since.
Hi Jennifer, We haven’t noticed too much of a problem, but you could try baking soda. Just place an open box in your freezer – even next to the onions and it should soak up all of the smells coming from your freezer. It’s funny because we have the opposite problem. I HATE cutting up an onion and using part of it and storing the rest in the fridge as it makes everything stink, even in an air tight container.
Now a couple of other things, when you are freezing the first 24-hours on the pan. I actually cover the onions with a sheet of wax paper and place the pan of peppers on top. I didn’t mention this, I do it for practical reasons to stack them as I don’t have enough room in my freezer to lay each of them separately, but this would help the smells by suppressing them in the wax paper and pan. Second, when storing for long term, choose high quality ziploc bags so that they will seal very well. Maybe those things will help, but I have sympathy for you – but from the onions from the fridge
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