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.
JL
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.
Jennifer
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.
Cassie
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 🙂
LB
I’ve been buying the ones in the frozen veggie section at HT. My husband keeps throwing away the fresh ones when he cleans out the produce drawer.
Cassie
Yes, I actually wait in case I want to use fresh and then before they spoil will cut them up and freeze them. Unless I hit a super sale where I got a whole bunch for cheap! Then I will freeze most of them right away! It saves money so you don’t have to throw it out 🙂
jennifer
Well, I gave it a go again and my husband is not happy with me, our brand new basement fridge (both freezer and fridge) wreaks of onion. I’m hoping the baking soda will zap out the smell, if not will have to clean it all. may have to give up the possibility of frozen onions which is a shame, I get tired of cutting them and also throwing them out when they spoil…I tried this time by putting directly into a freezer bag and the smell completely permeated through it, the whole plastic baggy smells through the outside and this was a quality well sealed FREEZER bag…
robin
place your ramps onions etc in freezer bags and place inside canning jars with lids and place in your freezer to help with smells use wide mouth jars so you will be able to remove you items with ease.
Michelle J
love this! I also freeze the leftover chicken broth I have when boiling chicken. I use ice cube trays (mine holds 1 1/2 Tbsp) and muffin pans (I pour 1/3 cup into each muffin cup, 1/2 cup overflows). I came up with this myself, but later saw something similar to it on a blog post somewhere, but cannot remember. Feel free so share.
QueenPiglet
I love this idea. I always end up throwing mine out and then wishing I had it when making a dish that calls for it.
QueenPiglet
I slice and dice my peppers and onions and then place them in snack size bags to freeze. Then when its time to use, I just dump the whole little baggie in dish. I also do a pepper and onion mixed bag as well.
aceo
I learned to do this years ago from my mom. Food processor chopped and dried parsley (no stems) freezes beautifully as do sliced carrots and mushrooms. This saves a lot of prep and cleaning time.
Susan
I use frozen onions and peppers on potato salad, peppers on cole slaw and bean salad. Once they’re rehydrated you can’t tell the difference.
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Use a sheet of foil to control the smell of onion. Since a friend gave me this tip, II started wrapping an open onion in foil and no smell!
Dan
I find after chopping my onions and peppers, putting them in muffin pan then flash freeze. Once frozen, remove from pan and place in freezer bag. Able to select amount ( one or more premeasured) to add to recipe.
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Jennifer, Many years ago I had a very bad smell in my Refrigerator and freezer. Someone told me to crinkle up newspapers and put it in the refrigerator and freezer overnight. It really worked for me.