Every year I plant 6-12 bell pepper plants in my backyard garden and I’m never disappointed with how well they grow here in our area. When I have an abundance of bell peppers, I like to chop them up and freeze them for later use. Unlike other vegetables, you don’t have to blanch peppers before freezing them. In addition, once you’re ready to use them, you don’t have to thaw them out which saves you a lot of time in the food prep department.
Once you’re ready to use them, they’re best in omelet recipes, fried quesadillas, baked burritos, various soups & stews, tossed into your meatloaf, into your taco meat filling, stir-fry’s, etc. You don’t want to thaw them out and toss them on a salad, because their texture is different than fresh. I don’t use them in potato salads, coleslaw or macaroni salads either.
Here’s How to Freeze Your Bell Peppers
Thoroughly wash them under cool running water and lay them on a towel while you continue washing the rest of them. I find it best to do all of my chopping on a glass cutting board, but you can use whatever board that you have.
Cut around the stem and remove it. Pull out all of the inside membranes and seeds. Rinse the inside with cool running water to help make sure all membranes & seeds have been removed.
Lay it onto your cutting board and slice it in half long-wise. You can then cut it into strips or chop them into small pieces. I do them both ways and label mine appropriately. Once done, pat them dry with a few paper towels to absorb any excess moisture that is on them.
Using a spatula or a large spoon, spread all of the strips or chopped pieces out in a single layer in a glass baking dish or on a baking sheet. Place into the freezer for 45 to 60 minutes. You want them to start freezing which will help them from sticking together after you place them into a freezer container or bag.
I remove mine from the freezer and measure out 2 cup portions. I then place those 2 cups into a plastic zipper closure freezer bag and label them with the contents. Example: 2 Cups Diced Bell Pepper or 2 Cups Bell Pepper Strips. I also mark the date that I processed them. Make sure you purge out any air that is in your freezer bag, seal and freeze. You can get into your bag or container and grab out as much that you need at that given time. You don’t have to use all of it at once!
Ready for the Freezer
Freezing Whole Bell Peppers
A lot of people tell you that you can’t freeze whole bell peppers, but I do! Sure, their texture is different once thawed, but I only use them when I make & bake stuffed green peppers. Here’s how I do them.
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Wash them thoroughly. Cut out the stem and remove the seeds and membranes. Rinse them under cool running water and pat them dry with paper towels. Place them in a glass baking dish and put them in the freezer for 1 hour to start the freezing process. Remove and pat them dry again with paper towels if you see any ice crystals forming. Place 6-8 pepper shells into a freezer bag or freezer container. Purge out as much air as you can. Label and freeze.
Bagged & Ready to Freeze
When I use the shells to make my stuffed green peppers, I remove them from the freezer and stuff them right away with my filling. I then start preheating my oven and once preheated, I then put them in to bake. I like them to sit for 15-20 minutes at room temperature with the filling in them before I start the baking process. While the slightly soft texture might bother some people, it doesn’t bother us since we’re baking & roasting them in the oven which softens them up too. With that said, if you do this…you do so at your own risk as I don’t want to be responsible if you don’t like the texture.
This is great advice! We always have leftovers after stir-fry and salads.
I love freezing my extra peppers! I add them to all kinds of recipes and I never have to worry about not having a pepper! Great ideas!!
Very timely information. Although I don’t have them growing in my garden, they are abundant and reasonably priced at the farmers market now so a good time to buy them and use them throughout the year.
After reading your method, I think I see where I’ve gone wrong in the past: I didn’t spread the pieces out to freeze individually before packing them in plastic bags. That will make all the difference! Thanks for sharing your how-to. (And yes, I’m very jealous of your lovely homegrown peppers!)
I am glad to learn about how to freeze bell peppers, even though I don’t have the abundance of peppers that you get from your garden. I don’t think I would mind the texture if I froze them whole for later baking them stuffed.
I wasn’t sure if peppers could be frozen or not, so I had never tried. I don’t think the texture would bother me, since, like you said, cooking them softens them anyway. I never eat them uncooked. But I can see how anyone wanting to eat them uncooked, with dip or on a salad, might want to go with fresh ones.
I never grew peppers in my garden and now I just eat the ones I buy. I have a juicer I use for any veggies I know I can’t eat up in time! I never through food away! My next frig will have a nice freezer, instead of just a colder slab, which I have now, lol.
I’ve never thought about freezing them before for later use. This could come in handy for next time I make chili. Thanks for giving the step by step!
Thank you for sharing how to Freeze Green peppers. It will put it to good use. We use a lot of Green peppers we love them. Now I can have them in my freezer ready for use!! Awesome 🙂 We like them all year around. We love stuffed peppers!!
Thank you so much for posting this one. I just threw away some bell peppers that I paid Way too much for but didn’t have time to use them before they went bad. I am going to start freezing them until I am ready to use them.