How To Freeze Carrots

Do you have extra carrots you can’t use? Learn how to freeze carrots the proper way so they are just as tasty after freezing as before!

Whether you have bought or harvested surplus carrots and you are trying to figure out ways to preserve them, regardless of the reason, carrots can be frozen and thawed again at a later point in time. 

Freezing Carrots: Requirements

• Use only flawless vegetables for freezing: carrots with bad spots are not suitable.
• The carrots should be fresh and crisp.
• In terms of taste, blanched carrots are best for freezing.

Freezing Carrots: The Preparation

Carrots can be frozen with or without the skin. If you decide to leave the skin,  it is advisable to wash it thoroughly, preferably with a vegetable brush.

Since the carrots are usually a little softer after thawing than before, the peel is a little more difficult to remove when thawed. 

This is why it is most advisable to peel the carrots first. This means they can be used more quickly, even after thawing.  

The peel of the root vegetables is indispensable as the basis for any good stock, so you can also freeze the skin in a separate container to add to your stock.

Only flawless carrots with no black spots should be used. Unsightly, carrots become mushy due to water retention and are significantly less tasty after thawing.

Carrots can be frozen whole, but they will take longer to thaw. On the other hand, carrots can still be cooked frozen in the pot and processed into a puree.

Steps to prepare the carrots for freezing:

• Thoroughly clean and peel the carrots, or scrape them off with a knife. Then cut off the two end pieces. Tip: You can also freeze unpeeled carrots. But if you peel them beforehand, you will save yourself work later. 
• If you want, you can cut the carrots into small slices. So you can prepare them immediately when you take them out of the freezer.
• Blanch the carrots before freezing them. This destroys certain enzymes, which in turn extends the shelf life. To do this, place the carrots in unsalted, boiling water for about two to three minutes. Of course, you can also freeze raw or uncooked carrots, but these will not keep that long.

• Meanwhile, fill another bowl with ice-cold water. Place the carrots in the ice water for about two minutes. As a result, the carrots do not continue to cook and stay nice and crisp.
• If you have cut the carrots, place the pieces next to each other on a flat surface (for example, on a baking sheet) and put this in the freezer for about an hour. This will prevent the pieces from freezing together.
• It is often recommended to use freezer bags as containers for frozen vegetables. However, to avoid unnecessary plastic waste, we recommend that you avoid it. Instead, you can use resealable plastic jars. These are easy to wash off and can be used over and over again. 
• Alternatively, you can also use thick-walled glasses or cotton bags for plastic-free freezing. Don’t overfill the jars, or they may burst.

The frozen carrots can be kept in the freezer for up to nine months.

Freeze Carrots Raw Or Blanched

If you want it to be quick, the raw root vegetables can be put in a freezer bag and then placed in the freezer. 

Due to the reaction with oxygen and water, the color of the peeled carrots often fades and looks a little less flavorful after being thawed. 

If you continue to cook afterward, this is not a big problem. Blanching beforehand is preferable to freezing raw carrots. 

This short cooking method has the advantage of extending the shelf life of the carrots by a few months in freezing temperatures. 

In addition, their bright orange color is retained without the nutrients being lost. For blanching, a saucepan with unsalted water is brought to a boil.

Depending on the size of the carrot pieces, they are partially cooked for about two to four minutes. It is important to ensure that this is a preparatory cooking process and that the carrots should not be cooked until soft. Immediately afterward, the carrot pieces are placed in a basin with cold water and ice cubes. 

This ensures that they do not continue to cook and that they retain their color and consistency. Now the cold carrots can be put in a freezer bag or a plastic box.

If you don’t want the individual pieces to freeze together, you can put them individually on a tray or large plate and place them in the freezer to freeze. 

After about one to two hours, the carrots can then be put together in a bag. While raw carrots can be stored in the freezer for about three months, the shelf life for blanched ones increases to up to nine months.

More Tips And Tricks

Accidentally grated too many carrots for a carrot salad? Grated carrots save space and can be frozen together.

After thawing, however, they will accumulate water, which is why they collapse a little and taste less fresh.

In this case, they may no longer be suitable for a raw carrot salad; but they are great for further processing into puree or soups. 

Speaking of soup: to prepare delicious dishes with carrots in no time after defrosting, ready-cooked carrot puree can also be frozen; if it is thawed again, it can be processed immediately into potato and carrot puree or carrot soup without additional cooking time. 

By the way, carrots do not necessarily have to be thawed if they are intended for warm food. They can be poured directly into the pot in frozen form and cook without any loss of taste.

Conclusion: Freeze Carrots for a Longer Shelf Life

Carrots can be frozen raw or blanched without any problems. However, both methods should be noted that the carrots change their consistency slightly when they are frozen, depending on the thickness and length of storage. 

Thawed carrots are usually less crunchy than raw carrots. So they will not be suitable as raw carrot sticks, but they will be great for stewing or boiling.

More How To Freeze:

• How To Freeze an Avocado?
• Freeze Green Beans?
• How To Freeze Garlic?
• Freeze Onions?
• How To Freeze Apples?
•  Freeze Strawberries?
• How To Freeze Cauliflower?
•  Freeze Kale?

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