Can I Freeze Eggplants in the Freezer

How to freeze roasted eggplants for the winter in the freezer?

Frozen roasted eggplant is great for making vegetable stews or rolls with cheese and herbs. You can leave them in a warm place to defrost, reheat them in the microwave, or add them straight from the freezer to a pan with other ingredients.

How to freeze roasted eggplant for the winter

In winter it is very easy to prepare any dish with frozen roasted eggplants. After defrosting, you only have to fry the blueberries lightly. This dish will taste no less delicious than freshly made.

Preparing frozen roasted eggplant:

• As in the previous recipe, wash and dry the eggplants, slice into any shape and remove any bitterness. If you plan to make roasted vegetables into rolls or lasagna, slice the fruit lengthwise; for pizza and stews, dice or bar.
• In a frying pan, heat vegetable oil and place sliced eggplants in a single layer. Cook many vegetables in batches.
• Roast the fruit over medium heat on each side for a few minutes to brown.
• Use paper towels to remove excess fat and fried vegetables.
• Then place the eggplants in a single layer on a tray with clingfilm and put them in the freezer for a few hours. If you have a lot of vegetables, cover them with cling film and spread out the next layer.
• Sort the frozen eggplants into airtight trays and continue storage in the freezer.

Step-by-step instructions for freezing

First, you need to decide in the preparation of what dishes the vegetables will be used, that is, in what form it is more convenient to freeze. Let’s look at the most popular methods:

With pre-blanching

• Rinse them well under running water and peel them if you plan to cook them without skins (a vegetable peeler works well for removing hard skins).
• Cut into even slices about 1 cm thick.
• Make the preparations in one of the ways mentioned above.
• For a quick cooking (blanching) prepare two containers of water: one for boiling, the other for cold. If you want to chill faster after cooking, add ice to the water.
• Prepare two cloth or paper towels to get rid of excess moisture before freezing.
• To pre-freeze pieces, you’ll need a flat surface that will fit in the freezer. a tray, a large-diameter dish, a cutting board or a tray. Cover the surface with clingfilm or grease with any vegetable oil.
• If the freezer is small, prepare foil or wax paper for baking, folding it in several layers to accommodate the circles.
• Prepare clean bags or containers for filling and storing food.
• Boil the water and immerse the vegetables in it for 3 to 4 minutes (do not exceed the boiling time. the pieces can boil away and lose their shape).
• Drain the boiling water and immediately put the eggplants in a bowl with cold water. Let them cool completely.
• Place the slices on one towel and blot with another to remove excess moisture.
• Place the slices on the prepared flat surface so that they do not touch each other. If you double-layer them, use cling film or wax paper to cover them.
• Place the eggplants in the freezer for at least 12 hours, preferably 24 hours.
• Place frozen mugs in bags or containers and put back in the freezer for later storage.

The shape of the slices can be any shape, the blanching time depends on the size of the slices

Roasted or fried

When frying eggplants strongly absorb vegetable oil, so as a preliminary heat treatment, we recommend a more dietary method. baking:

• Cut the fruit into cubes (approximately 2×2 cm).
• Preheat the oven to 180 ℃, prepare a baking tray. cover it with aluminum foil greased with vegetable oil.
• Arrange the cubes on the baking tray, salt, stir and flatten. Preferably lay the vegetables in a single layer. for even heating.
• Cooking will take about 45 minutes, during this time you need to stir the eggplants several times.
• Allow the half-finished product to cool completely before freezing.
• Prepare a baking tray, large flat dish or tray.
• Spread the cooled cubes on the tray in an even thin layer (it is better if the cubes will not touch each other) and put them in the freezer for 24 hours. Once the product is frozen (within 12-24 hours), you can put it in bags or containers and put them in the freezer for storage.

Some housewives prefer to freeze the fruit, baked whole or in halves

Eggplant puree

To prepare the mashed eggplants you need to boil or bake them whole.

• Rinse the vegetables well. Cut the stalks and prick the fruit with a fork in several places.
• Place the eggplants on a baking tray, previously covered with foil (do not forget to grease it with vegetable oil), wax paper or a silicone mat of the appropriate size.
• Put the tray in an oven preheated to 180 ℃ for 40-45 minutes (baking time depends on the size of fruits. they will be ready when fully soft). Use a toothpick or a skewer to check if the eggplant is cooked through.
• Take the vegetables out of the oven and allow to cool completely.
• Cut the baked eggplants in half and spoon out all the pulp.
• If you want to get a lighter color puree. additionally strain the resulting mass through a sieve or colander.
• Spread the ready puree into portions for freezing. Keep in mind that the product is quite moist. When freezing, the water in it will expand, so do not fill containers and bags completely, leave at least 1-2 cm to the edge.

Frozen mashed potatoes will make a wonderful base for cooking vegetable caviar in winter

Whether or not to defrost the preserves before cooking depends on the recipe. Usually you do not need to defrost them before adding them to hot dishes.

Freezing fresh eggplant in cubes or slices

If you want to freeze fresh eggplants, you should proceed as follows:

• Wash the vegetables well, cut off the green tails;

• Cut the eggplants into cubes or slices, the choice of cutting depends on your taste and the list of dishes that you plan to cook from frozen vegetables.

• Prepare the salt solution: pour cold water into a pot, add salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon (take with a slide) for each liter of water. Stir the water to dissolve the salt;

• Pour the prepared solution into the sliced eggplants, let stand for a couple of hours;

Eggplant 101-How to Freeze Eggplant

• Drain the eggplants in a colander, gently squeeze them and dry them. Spread the eggplants in thick freezing bags, evacuate the air from the bags and close them tightly. Place in the freezer.

How to freeze eggplants fresh

How to prepare the eggplants for freezing? Here are some general rules for freezing that will help preserve the vegetable’s flavor:

• Choose correctly. For freezing we need small, dense and slightly unripe fruits without spots and dents. They have less solanine, which gives the food a bitter aftertaste.
• Treat the vegetables before freezing. wash and remove stalks. The author of the book “Eggplant, Zucchini, and Patissoni Dishes” N. Putyatinskaya recommends soaking the eggplants in salted water to eliminate bitterness.
• Use airtight containers or bags to store produce. They will prevent air from getting inside, thus avoiding oxidation and product spoilage.

Eggplants are often frozen raw to preserve maximum vitamins and minerals. How to freeze fresh eggplants for the winter? Make it like this:

• Wash the eggplants, remove the stalks.
• Cut the vegetables into slices, cubes, or strips. Once defrosted, the sliced eggplant is ready to be cooked.
• Sprinkle with salt. After 2 hours, rinse them in water. Place on a paper towel to remove excess liquid.
• Place the vegetable slices in a container or bag with an airtight closure and place in the freezer.

What’s the best temperature to freeze eggplant?? As culinary expert Galina Kizina states in her work “Preserves for Winter. The best recipes for those who value their time” to create unfavorable conditions for microorganisms, to suspend the activity of enzymes, it is enough to bring the temperature of the product to.18 °C.

How to freeze eggplants in whole? The instructions are not complicated:

• Prepare the vegetables: wash, peel from the stalks, leaving the skin.
• Place in a salt solution (1 tbsp. л. salt per liter of liquid) for 3-4 hours.
• Take out, dry, pack in containers and send to the freezer.

Eggplant has a shelf life of no more than 12 months in the freezer, they should not be refrozen.

Frozen roast eggplant in circles

Cut the washed fruits into small circles 5-7 mm thick.

Place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Leave it for 20-30 minutes to remove the bitterness.

Then rinse the slices from the salt and dry them.

Heat oil in frying pan. Fry on both sides. Place on a sieve or paper towels to drain excess oil.

Only place completely cooled eggplants in bags. Tie it up and put it in the freezer.

How to freeze eggplants

When freezing eggplants, it is worth considering a few important rules to get a tasty vegetable after defrosting. I now have about two kilograms of properly prepared eggplants stored in my freezer. Even at New Year and Christmas, when the price of eggplants is sky-high, I always have them on the table. How to freeze eggplants correctly?

Total cooking time. 2 hours 40 minutes Active cooking time. 1 hour Cost. very economical Calories per 100 grams. 24 kcal Number of servings. 10

How to freeze eggplants and zucchini

Zucchini, like eggplant, should be of medium size, because they have fewer seeds in the flesh. There must not be any skin defects on the skin surface. Prepared vegetables can be frozen at once. in portions, but then it will be necessary to put parchment between the layers, so that the pieces do not freeze.

• The carefully washed vegetables may be sliced at will. in slices, dices, slices or circles The thickness of each slice should not exceed 1 cm.
• The blueberries are soaked in a salt solution, dried together with zucchini. this will prevent them from freezing into a clump.
• Cool the slices by spreading them in a single layer on a baking tray, tray or cutting board, and only then pack them in a common bag or other container.

To simplify and accelerate the preparation, you can use small bags in which the zucchini and eggplant will be frozen. In this version, the vegetables should be evenly distributed in a thin layer. no more than 1.5-2 cm. But each such bag must contain the amount of courgette-baclage mixture which you can use in one go. The vegetable mixture is not subject to refrigeration after thawing.

How to defrost eggplants properly (briefly)

Preparations can be defrosted by any available method, except one: you can not dip them in water from the freezer. The result will be achieved. the vegetable will defrost, but at the same time it will soak up a lot of liquid and become unfit for cooking.

If you don’t have time to wait and the preserves have already been sliced correctly, you can throw them in the pot frozen; they will defrost as you cook the main dish. Defrosting time for whole fruits at room temperature 2 hours.