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Can You Freeze Carrots?

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By Ross Young

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Where would we be without carrots? They make up the base of many sauces, dishes and meals. So how do you ensure you’ve always got a steady, ready-to-go supply of carrots?

Can You Freeze Carrots?

Yes, you can freeze carrots for up to 9 months. As carrots are an incredibly versatile vegetable, there is a range of ways in which you can freeze carrots. The simplest way is to cut them up, blanch them, flash freeze, and store them in a freezer bag.

Do Carrots Freeze Well? Yes

Can You Refreeze Carrots? Yes

How to Freeze Carrots

Freezing carrots isn’t as simple as bagging up a handful of whole carrots and tossing them into the freezer. Instead, here are the 4 steps I take when freezing them.

  1. Cut Your Carrots
    First, you’ll need to top, tail and peel your carrots before cutting them into your desired size. Try slices or batons, which are perfect portion sizes.
Peel Carrots
  1. Blanch
    Once you’ve done so, bring a large pan of water up to a rolling boil and place your carrots into the water for barely a minute. Drain and cool. Blanching is important when freezing most vegetables. It prevents the loss of flavour, colour, nutrients and texture.
Blanching Carrots
  1. Flash Freeze
    Once blanched, place your carrots onto a tray in one layer ensuring no pieces are touching one another. Place in the freezer for several hours until frozen.
Flash Freeze Carrots 1
  1. Final Freeze
    Remove from the freezer, place the pieces into a ziplock bag, and return to the freezer.

Soak In Salt

When you’re preparing to freeze your carrots, after washing and peeling, soak them in a saltwater solution (about 1tbsp of salt to a 950ml of water) for a few minutes before blanching. This can help preserve the colour and flavour even better.

Can You Freeze Raw Carrots?

To freeze raw carrots without blanching, thoroughly wash and peel your fresh carrots. Cut them into slices or rounds, or leave them whole based on your preference. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze.

Can You Freeze Julienned Carrots?

Yes, you can! After washing, peeling, and cutting your carrots into thin matchstick-sized strips, spread them out on a lined baking sheet. Once they’re fully frozen, pack them into freezer-safe containers or bags.

Can You Freeze Carrot Juice?

Freezing carrot juice is completely possible. Pour it into ice cube trays and place it in the freezer. Transfer the cubes into airtight bags or containers when they are completely frozen.

Can You Freeze Whole Carrots?

Yes, freezing whole carrots can be done but is generally less practical due to the space they take up and the time they take to thaw.Whole Carrots for Freezing

How Long Can You Freeze Carrots?

Carrots usually retain their flavour and nutrients for around 9 months in the freezer. As always, it’s a great idea to label your frozen carrots with the date they were frozen and/or the date you need to use them so they don’t go to waste.

This is the case if you have blanched them, of course. If you decide not to bother with blanching them then they will only keep at their best for a month or two in general.

How Long Do Carrots Last in the Fridge?

Whole carrots will keep for between 3 and 4 weeks in the fridge before they begin to go soft. Once cut, they will only last for a further week.

How Do You Defrost Carrots?

The great news is that you don’t need to defrost carrots to cook them.

They’ll work fine straight from the freezer. The go-to option is the microwave or boiling them in water, which works fine but often leaves you with overcooked, limp carrots.

Instead, I prefer to toss the carrots in some rapeseed oil with a pinch of chilli and salt, spread them out on a baking tray and throw them in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until brown and roasted.

If you’re using the soffritto then, as discussed above, you need to place the block of soffritto into a pan with some oil and let it soften over low heat. Don’t use high heat as you’ll end up burning the block before it has had time to thaw thoroughly.

Can You Defrost Carrots in the Microwave?

You can defrost frozen carrots in the microwave, just use a defrost setting or low power to avoid cooking them instead of just thawing. Check and stir them frequently to ensure even defrosting.

Can You Refreeze Carrots?

Like most vegetables, carrots can be refrozen.

However, there is likely to be a loss of quality. When you are defrosting anything, some moisture is lost. If you refreeze something and then defrost it again, you’ll draw even more moisture out of the vegetable.

This is the case with carrots. It can cause your carrots to lose some of their flavour and ruin some texture. They should remain perfectly safe to eat after refreezing, however.

Do Carrots Freeze Well?

If you spend time blanching and preparing your carrots before freezing, then you’ll be hard-pushed to tell the difference between fresh and frozen carrots in most instances.

I know I keep going on and on about it but if you fail to take time blanching your carrots beforehand, then they can slightly discolour and lose some of their flavour.

Does Freezing Carrots Ruin Them?

Freezing doesn’t ruin carrots, but it can change their texture slightly. If properly frozen (ideally blanched first), the taste of carrots should remain pretty much the same. However, the process can make them a bit softer

Why Are My Frozen Carrots Rubbery?

There are two reasons why your frozen carrots have become rubbery. Either you blanched them for too long and didn’t use an ice bath. Or, the carrots were soft and limp when you froze them in the first place. Freezing them won’t improve the texture, remember!

Sources

We have verified the information on this page using the following resources:

Fork in the Road

Food 52

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6 thoughts on “Can You Freeze Carrots?”

  1. Can you freeze carrot juice? After its been through a juicer raw not after cooking & pureeing. Also where is the search box on your site?

    Reply
    • You certainly can freeze carrot juice. You can use ice cube trays if you only need to freeze it in small quantities. Great idea with the search box! We’ll get one added soon.

      Reply
  2. alot of my carrots have BITS on them which could be cut out if I wanted a perfectly nice carrot, but I dont mind the odd blemish here and there !!!!…going to blance whole for 3 mins…dry out…put them all in a bag and frezze…thats my plan…have topped and tailed them

    Reply
  3. What happens if one washes, peels, tops & tails them & chop into small pieces but freeze (blanched or not blanched) them all together in a bag not spread out on baking sheet?

    Reply
    • Good question! The moisture of your carrot pieces will cause them to freeze together in a large chuck…which makes taking them out in the correct portion size very difficult. Freezing them spread out and then bagging them reduces this problem. Alternatively, you can bag them in the proper portion sizes and then freeze them. You’ll still end up with a large chunk of carrots frozen together, but they’ll come apart as you defrost them. Hope that helps 🙂

      Reply

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