How to freeze peppers for the winter for stuffing: instructions for preparing a tasty and healthy preparation

Bell peppers are considered one of the most famous and accessible sources of vitamin C among vegetables. Multi-colored, crispy, with a bright unique taste, rich in nutrients, it helps strengthen the immune system and allows you to prepare many dishes. It is stuffed and added to stews, soups, and salads.

Stuffed peppers are quick and easy to make. In winter, it is difficult to buy vegetables suitable for filling in stores or at the market. Therefore, we suggest that you prepare the ingredients for this dish in the summer and store them in the freezer. Freezing is the healthiest way to preserve vegetables.

Preparing for freezing

For storage in the freezer, the most fleshy, dense, healthy fruits without damage, traces of mold and mildew are selected from the harvested crop . The pods are selected to be the same size. The peppers are washed under warm running water, allowed to dry or wiped with a dry soft towel. After this, the stalk is removed and the seeds are cleared.

Important! Do not completely cut off the “hat” with the tail. The smaller the hole at the top of the pepper, the more filling will remain in it when stewing.

For freezing, choose a separate freezer compartment so that the peppers lie freely and do not wrinkle or break. You can store the harvest in ordinary plastic bags or containers.

Advantages of this storage method:

• when completely frozen, the bell pepper pods retain all the beneficial vitamins and minerals;
• confidence in the quality of your harvest and that it has not been subjected to repeated defrosting;
• saving the family budget: from the end of autumn, pepper is very expensive in markets and stores;
• The cooking time before guests arrive is significantly reduced.

Read about freezing other vegetables:

How to freeze zucchini for the winter

How to freeze tomatoes for the winter

How to freeze green beans

Freezing whole peppers

Unlike most vegetables, bell peppers freeze well, either sliced ​​or whole. This is possible due to the fact that it is hollow and has no core.

To ensure that the preparation does not take up much space in the freezer, the fruits need to be properly prepared:

1. When peeling the pepper, do not squeeze out the stalk, but cut off the top, as if removing the lid. You should end up with a nice “cup” with a smooth top wide edge.
2. Cut out the core with a sharp, suitable knife and wash the fruit.
3. Rinse and dry with paper towel as recommended above.

Next, to save space in the freezer, you need to stack the peppers on top of each other. To prevent them from freezing and subsequently being easily separated, the Miss Clean resource offers two methods of freezing.

The first method will require stealing space in your freezer for a while:

1. Carefully arrange the peppers on a flat plate or tray so that they are not touching each other, at least not tightly.
2. Place everything in the freezer for a couple of hours.
3. When the surface of the peppers becomes firm, remove them from the freezer.
4. Without wasting time (so that the peppers do not start to defrost), carefully stack the vegetables on top of each other, like glasses. Try not to force yourself: the more tightly you fold the vegetables, the more difficult it will be to separate them.
5. Place the resulting pyramids in a bag and store them in the freezer.

The second method is much more time-saving, but you will need several plastic bags and scissors:

1. Cut the plastic bags so that one pepper cup fits, leaving a small supply of cellophane. Round pieces with a diameter of about ten centimeters are suitable, but it all depends on the size of the peppers.
2. Wrap the outside of the peppers with the resulting pieces of cellophane and insert them into each other.
3. Place the resulting pyramids in bags one at a time so that the barrels do not stick together during the freezing process.
4. To get the required number of peppers, pull the edges of the cellophane layer.

How to freeze peppers for the winter for stuffing

The washed and peeled peppers are laid out on a cutting board or a special tray and placed in the quick freezing compartment for 20-30 minutes . After this time, the frozen peppers are taken out, packaged in bags or containers for long-term storage and placed on a pre-prepared freezer shelf.

Reference. At a temperature of -18 degrees you can preserve the crop throughout the year.

This storage method is also suitable for blanched peppers.
The pods are immersed in boiling water for 30 seconds, removed from the pan and immediately frozen. Heat treatment eliminates the bitterness of the fruit and preserves more beneficial vitamins and nutrients. Not only whole pods are suitable for stuffing, but also those cut in half lengthwise . They are also frozen fresh and after blanching.

Vegetables are also stored in the freezer compartment with peppers, which are subsequently used to fill pepper preparations:

• grated carrots;
• diced tomatoes;
• finely chopped greens.

Thus, the time of stuffing and preparing dishes from frozen preparations is saved , and the process itself brings only pleasure.

How to freeze peppers for the winter for stuffing | Freezing vegetables at home

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What benefits will we get from freezing fresh peppers?

First of all, it must be said that freezing any vegetable implies preserving all its beneficial substances, which you definitely won’t find on supermarket shelves in winter.

And even if you manage to find the right product, it is unlikely to be fresh or natural.

Most likely, you will be “lucky” to find a limp pepper stuffed with chemicals, and besides, you will definitely not be happy with the price.

Advantages of preparing frozen bell peppers:

✔ Thanks to direct freezing, our pepper retains all its beneficial properties.

The thing is that by freezing a fresh product, we avoid heat treatment, which kills most of the vitamins of the vegetable.

✔ “Winter” pepper, which you can find in a supermarket during the cold season, has a fairly high price, and it is unlikely to be justified by at least one of its properties.

✔ The pepper we prepare at home will have beneficial qualities, which we can be sure will be preserved.

✔ One of the stages of preparing pepper for freezing involves peeling the vegetable from seeds and tail, not to mention slicing it.

This way, when preparing a dish in winter, you can save some time that you could spend on the same cleaning.

✔ We can be sure that our vegetable was frozen only once, which means it still contains all the vitamins we need.

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After all, ready-made frozen vegetables that we can find in the store most often do not differ in quality.

You cannot be sure that only fresh vegetables were used for freezing; moreover, they can be frozen more than once.

Which pepper is suitable for home freezing?

You need to choose only fresh vegetables, and they should be of high density.

Only dense peppers can contain a large amount of juice, in which most of the vitamins will be concentrated.

Did you buy a couple of kilograms of pepper? Don't delay, and immediately start freezing it while it's still suitable for freezing.

Of course, no one says that slightly wilted peppers cannot be frozen, but we want to eat fresh product in winter, right?

But if it so happens that you started looking for fresh vegetables late, and only slightly limp peppers are left on the market, then this is also not a problem.

Such a product has simply lost some of its moisture, but this does not mean that its vitamins have left the vegetable along with it.

Therefore, immediately after purchasing or collecting your pepper, you need to start preparing it for freezing, especially since it will not take too much time, like, for example, canning.

How should the process of freezing peppers proceed?

Well, there is no secret or secret ingredient that will help our peppers “overwinter.”

There are two ways to prepare such a vegetable, which differ only in the presence or absence of slicing.

You can freeze peppers either whole or in small pieces. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, which we will definitely look into.

Preparing a dish from frozen ingredients

When preparing a Lenten dish, vegetables are added to the peppers.:

• eggplant;
• carrot;
• cabbage;
• parsley;
• dill;
• cilantro;
• celery.

Both raw and stewed vegetables are suitable for the filling..

Pork, turkey, and beef are used for stuffing meat . Mushrooms and rice are an excellent addition to both vegetable and meat fillings.

The prepared semi-finished pepper product is taken out of the freezer and immediately filled with filling . The pods are placed in a saucepan or stewpan in a vertical position with the spout down. The container is filled with water. Add salt, spices, and tomato paste to taste. The dish is cooked over medium heat for 20-30 minutes.

Reference. Frozen peppers hold their shape well and do not become soggy when stuffed.

The filling is selected according to taste preferences or based on the specifics of nutrition and diet.

Stuffed peppers with pork and rice

To prepare the filling, mince pork is made with the addition of lard to make the dish juicy.
Rice, boiled until half cooked, is added to the meat and lard minced in a meat grinder. The mixture is supplemented with carrots and onions. Vegetables are first cut into small cubes or grated on a coarse grater. For stuffing you will need :

• 200 g rice;
• 0.5 kg pork;
• 0.2 kg lard;
• 200 g carrots;
• 100 g onions;
• salt and spices to taste.

The prepared minced meat is placed in seeded peppers , the pods are laid out on a tray so that they do not touch each other or stick together, and they are sent to freeze.

To make the dish more colorful , peppers of different colors are frozen: red, yellow, green, orange.

Primary freezing lasts 30-40 minutes . After this, the pods are taken out and placed in bags for storage. Complete freezing time is three hours.

It is recommended to store the dish in the freezer for no more than a year . Using this harvesting method, you will provide yourself with pepper until the next harvest. By freezing already stuffed pods, you save time when preparing the dish later.

Reference. Bell peppers fill the entire freezer with flavor. Therefore, it is recommended to store it in tightly closed containers or in 2-3 tied plastic bags.

How to freeze rice with vegetables - a simple semi-finished product

Rice and vegetables make an excellent side dish or meal on its own. If you don’t want to overpay for a simple product, then you can prepare a frozen semi-finished product yourself.

You will need seasonal vegetables to freeze:

• carrot;
• zucchini;
• green pea;
• corn grains;
• leek.

Cut all the products into small cubes and blanch in salted water. Dry well on a towel and freeze, spreading in a thin layer on a cutting board.

First you need to figure out how to freeze rice. First of all, you need to cook it so that it turns out crumbly. The easiest way is to cook in plenty of water and then rinse.

Cool the finished cereal to a uniform temperature. Place in a special bag, release the air and put it in the freezer for 5 hours. Take out the bag of cereal several times and gently knead it so that you don’t get a monolithic lump. When the rice is frozen, mix it with frozen vegetables and pack it into portioned containers.

Be sure to prepare several servings of frozen stuffed peppers or rice with vegetables for the winter. These simple products will keep you warm and cozy on winter evenings.

Winter is not a reason to deny yourself the pleasure of eating an occasional portion of stuffed bell pepper. And you don’t have to buy expensive greenhouse fresh; you can get by with cheap frozen ones. True, if these “sleighs” were prepared last summer. The only condition is that the house must have a spacious freezer or, even better, a huge chest freezer, because whole peppers, no matter how sparingly you arrange them, take up quite a lot of space. You can also freeze pre-stuffed peppers.

How to stuff frozen peppers, recipe for 4 servings:

How to cook:

Photo 1.

Peeled from the seed pods, the peppers fit perfectly into each other, the main thing is to choose the right size. In winter, it is enough to slightly defrost and disassemble these shelves.

Photo 2.

Prepare the filling in exactly the same way as for stuffing fresh bell peppers. The rice is boiled with a piece of butter, cooled and mixed with chopped onion (half of what is given in the recipe). All this is added to the minced meat and mixed. You need to stuff frozen peppers while the fruits are still strong.

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Photo 3.

Next, raw frozen peppers are prepared in the same way as fresh ones. Either steamed, or slightly fried, go into the oven with the tomatoes, or like this: Chop the onion, fry in vegetable oil, add frozen tomatoes and frozen bell peppers in strips, grated or chopped carrots, chopped garlic. All this is fried a little and

Peppers are stuffed with rice porridge with vegetables and spices, carrots and cabbage stewed in tomato sauce, but the meat filling is the most popular. To prevent it from falling out, you need to add an egg to the minced meat. Pre-soaked rice is boiled until half cooked.

For stuffing, you need to select medium-sized fruits of the same size. Peppers of different colors look very appetizing when prepared

Its stalks should be removed very carefully so that longitudinal cracks do not form.

The stuffed vegetables are frozen, laid out on a small board so that they do not touch each other.

Do I need to defrost?

Stuffed pods in the required quantity are taken out immediately before starting to prepare the dish .
Without defrosting, they are placed in a pan of cold water and placed on the stove. To obtain an aromatic and tasty broth, add finely chopped tomatoes, onions and carrots, salt and spices to taste. Some housewives recommend covering the hole at the top of the pepper, into which the minced meat is placed, with a thin slice of potato before starting to stew . This way the pepper filling will not fall out during stewing. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the peppers over low heat for 30-40 minutes.

Without defrosting, the prepared pepper halves are placed on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil and filled with filling. Top each serving with grated hard cheese. Place the tray in an oven preheated to 150 degrees and bake for an hour.

Attention! Take out of the freezer only the number of peppers that will be cooked. When re-frozen, the fruits lose their taste, appearance and nutrients.

In order not to subject the preparations to constant defrosting, it is recommended to freeze the pods in small portions in separate containers and bags.

Should we defrost or not? Which is correct?

• cubes and strips of fruit . They are added to soup, borscht, and stew, immediately taken out of the refrigerator.
• For pizza and omelettes, rings and slices should be kept a little at room temperature to get rid of excess moisture.
• Peppers for stuffing also need to be defrosted a little to make it easier to place the filling in it. Frozen peppers should be stuffed with semi-finished filling, since frozen vegetables cook faster than fresh ones.
• Frozen stuffed peppers are quite easy to prepare. In principle, it only needs to be subjected to heat treatment, since all the preliminary stages have already been completed. To cook frozen stuffed peppers, without defrosting, place them in a saucepan, add just a little water or tomato juice and put on low heat. During the cooking process, it will defrost and “give up” its own juice, which will be enough for a complete stew. Ready-made stuffed peppers can also be perfectly stewed in a slow cooker. In this case, you don’t have to add water to the bowl at all.

• It takes a little less time to stew and cook frozen peppers than fresh ones.