Blanching means boiling or steaming vegetables briefly, and then cooling them rapidly.
Why blanch vegetables?
Some enzymes in vegetables keep working at freezing temperatures, and may continue to ripen and spoil unless they are ‘blanched’. Blanching means vegetables will retain their colour, flavour and tenderness for much longer.
What vegetables don’t need blanching?
The only vegetables that don’t need to be blanched are onions, capsicums and herbs. Luckily, tomatoes are a fruit, so you can just cut them in half and pop them in the freezer as is. Pumpkin and potatoes should be fully cooked, not just blanched, before freezing.
Different types of vegetables, and different sized pieces, need to be blanched for different lengths of time. Cookbooks or cookery websites will give suggested times, for example:
- around 1.5 minutes for peas
- two minutes for spinach
- three minutes for broccoli and cauliflower florets.
Six easy steps to blanch your vegetables
How to blanch vegetables by boiling:
- get a big pot of water boiling on the stove
- set aside a large bowl filled with cold water and a lot of ice
- prepare your vegetables by washing them and cutting them to the size you think you’ll want for cooking later
- drop the vegetables quickly into the boiling water. If you can, it is great to use a wire basket or heat-proof mesh bag so you can get the vegetables out easily, and keep the water boiling for the next lot
- set your timer for the number of minutes needed (generally between one and ten)
- when the time is up, quickly remove the vegetables from the pot and plunge them into the iced water. This will halt the cooking process quickly, and stop the vegetables getting overcooked. Leave them in for the same length of time that you cooked them for.
You can also blanch vegetables by steaming them. You’ll need to allow about 1.5 times longer for steaming, keep the lid on tight, and also give the vegetables a few shakes to make sure they all get a good amount of heat.
Preparing blanched vegetables to freeze
If you want easy free-flow frozen veges, just like those you buy from the supermarket, what to do is:
- spread the cooled, blanched vegetables out on a tray and freeze for about 1 hour
- bundle them into a freezer bag, ziplock bag or airtight container – these can all be re-used – they may even have been already
- label the bags with the contents and date
- get ready to enjoy them whenever you like.
Tips:
- it is a good idea to freeze several smaller amounts, rather than one big lot, so it is easy to thaw just the amount you need
- you can even make up your own mixed vegetable bags, with only the vegetables that you and your family like – how handy is that for a stir fry on a busy day?
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