Whether it’s the bounty from your own garden or a sale you can’t pass up at the grocery store, freezing peppers is easy to do and makes for a quick no fuss addition to your weeknight meal prep. This technique works for all colors of peppers. Red just happens to be my favorite color. 🙂
What is it called? Sometimes you get a pepper that seems to be prego with another tiny pepper. That little pepper inside a bigger pepper is called an “internal proliferation.” Its form can vary from irregular and contorted to near-perfect.
A pepper growing inside a pepper is a type of parthenocarpy , which is the formation of fruits without fertilization or the formation of seeds. No one is sure what causes them.
Food for thought…right? Now you know what it’s called.
Back to the peppers. Cut the peppers how you would normally use them if you were chopping up a fresh pepper for a recipe. Place them on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet and pop in the freezer for 2 hours or so. Then add them to a zip top bag and put them back in the freezer.
Use the frozen peppers to make stir-fries or dice them while still frozen and add to soups and chilis.
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Heather is a recipe developer and content creator living in Vancouver, Washington. She started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006, almost 20 years ago, as a way to share recipes with friends and family. Heather is also the co-founder of Spiceology , a unique spice company, which she started in 2013. She shares family friendly recipes for easy everyday meals with a gourmet twist.
so you leave the skin on the red pepper? I have always been told to scald it off. However, when I eat them I leave it on. When I cook with them I do blister it off. But, when freezing leave the skin on? Just asking. I love to can and preserve. thank you for the info about the nub inside the pepper, or any vegetable/fruit, that was nice to know.
Thanks for your blog and visitors comments. Will be freezing peppers this afternoon!
Curious why to use parchment over the cookie sheet for the peppers? Is it a chemical reaction to the aluminum / metal?
parchement prevents them from sticking to the pan. As they freeze they will stick a little.
What a great idea for stir-fries! I hate buying that package of frozen veggies. It’s never as good as you think it will be!
I’m with you Lisa. I hate buying frozen veggies, especially when you can do them this way.
Great tip! I’m all about freezing and saving as much food before it goes bad!
Great idea! It’s always a good idea to have red peppers on hand.
You are so smart! Thanks for the link love too!
You may want to consider a quick blanching, in boiling water or steam, to destroy the enzymes before freezing.
I always have to freeze my peppers! Too many recipes call for just half or a portion of them and if I don’t have another recipe lined up which uses it, it’ll go to waste! I really need to eat salads more to solve this problem.
Haha Erin. You and me both!
I do the same thing but I roast them first!
That’s a great idea!!! Thanks for sharing.
Great info! Who knew that’s what a tiny mutant baby pepper was called!
I know right? When I opened up the pepper I thought “I need to research what this little nugget is called”. It’s always good to learn something new. 🙂 Thanks for commenting…now lets drink VODKA! haha
What a neat idea! I tried this with carrots – don’t. Mine were soft and ugly when I used them after freezing!
You might try blanching carrots first before you freeze them.
You’re right Mike! Such a smarty farty you are. 😉
Blanching does help, but I prefer to not freeze carrots either. I will dehydrate them to reconstitute in soups or chilis rather than freeze.
Interesting! We usually eat our peppers as soon as the land in the fridge. I’ll have to start stocking up when they are on sale from now on and freeze them!
Glad to inspire you Lauren. 🙂
What about eating raw after freezing…..will they be crunchy?
They are best used in cooking applications after being thawed. Freezing will make them not crisp any longer.