How To Freeze Strawberries
Posted by Katie Straw on Sep 5, 2013
So you want to enjoy delicious strawberries all year round? We hear you loud and clear (we think that strawberries make every season better too). And we’re quite happy to report that freezing them is seriously super easy!
To get the process started, you’ll want to clean your strawberries first. Most germs, including scary E. coli, can survive just fine in a wide range of environments…including the one located in your freezer. That said, it’s a good idea to wash them and remember to be gentle. Strawberries are actually pretty delicate and since you want them to last a while, it’s best to keep them in tip-top shape before they make their way to the freezer.
Once they’ve been washed, pat them dry and then let them relax in a colander for at least 10 minutes. (If there’s too much water in them when they freeze, they’ll be hard and not really pleasant to eat.) Remove any that look mushy, bad, or questionable, hull the keepers (remove the stems), and then begin the freezing process:
If you plan on using them all at once:
Freezer bags to the rescue! This is the easiest way to freeze strawberries, but often times, the berries clump together, making it difficult to just thaw a few at a time for use. But, if that’s not an issue for you, this is the way to go. All you do is take strawberries and put them in freezer bags. (Simple enough, right?) Just be careful not to crush them by forcing too many into a single bag. When you’re about ready to seal them up, remove as much excess air as possible to prevent freezer burn and then into the freezer they go.
If you plan on using them one at a time:
If you only want to enjoy single berry here or there, a frozen clump of them can pose a real problem. So, instead of sealing them all together in a bag, freezing them separately may be more convenient. Line a cookie sheet with paper towels or waxed paper and then place the hulled strawberries used-to-be-stem-side down onto it, so that they lay flat and don’t touch one another. Put the strawberries in the freezer, wait until they’re frozen, and then store them all together in a sealable plastic bag.
If you don’t have much room in your freezer:
Hellllloooo, ice cube trays. Strawberry ice cubes are the perfect way to dress up lemonade, punch, or sparkling water. All you do is put the strawberries in an ice cube tray and fill it with water (and stick it in the freezer of course). If your ice cube trays aren’t deep enough to fit a whole berry, go ahead and cut them into smaller pieces – the strawberries, that is. To spruce them up, feel free to add in all sorts of additional ingredients, like sugar, mint, basil, and other fruits, for a totally unique treat. And after they’re frozen all the way through, transfer the berries to a plastic bag (or use them) to free up your ice cube trays.
No matter which of these three methods you choose, make sure that you label what day they went into the freezer. They’re best when consumed within 2 months.