If you have more carrots than you can use in the short term, you can freeze them for long term use. To freeze carrots, you must trim them and cook them briefly to kill any harmful bacteria before placing them in the freezer. Luckily the process is fairly easy, and you'll be able to freeze carrots in no time!
Step
Part 1 of 3: Preparing Carrots
Step 1. Use a good carrot
Choose fresh carrots that are new, tender and flawless.
- Medium-sized carrots are usually best. Baby carrots, which are actually small carrots and their taste will change in the freezing process, but technically, can be used in this freezing process.
- Whenever possible, choose carrots that have just been harvested. If you can't freeze carrots right after they're harvested, you'll need to refrigerate them until you can freeze them.
- Do not use mushy or dry carrots.
Step 2. Wash the carrots
Wash or brush carrots under running water to remove dirt.
- When using carrots harvested from your own garden, you will need to brush them with a vegetable brush to remove soil.
- When using store-bought carrots, rinsing with cold or room temperature water is usually sufficient to clean them.
Step 3. Cut the carrots into smaller pieces
Use a knife to cut the carrots into 0.6 cm thick coins.
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the outer layer, revealing the crisp, bright orange flesh underneath.
- Trim the ends. Use a knife to cut both ends 0.6 cm. Discard the pieces.
- Cut the remaining carrots into 0.6 cm thick coins. You can also cut carrots in Julianne-style thin strips or smaller, but coin shapes are usually the easiest to make.
- If you use Baby carrots you don't need to cut them again.
Part 2 of 3: Boiling Carrots
Step 1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan
Fill the pot with water to 2/3 full and boil on high heat.
- The water should be bubbly boiling.
- If you don't have a large enough pot to boil all the carrots, boil them in batches. Complete the blanching process for one group of carrots before starting the next batch.
Step 2. Prepare ice water in a large bowl
The ice water bowl should be at least as big as the pot for boiling water. Place at least one ice cube rack, about 12 squares in a bowl and fill 2/3rd with cold water.
- It's important to have some ice water ready before you start blanching the carrots.
- If the process is divided into groups you will need to add ice cubes when the ice starts to melt.
Step 3. Boil carrots in boiling water
Transfer carrots to boiling water and cook briefly.
- Chopped carrots only take 2 minutes. Whole baby carrots will take 5 minutes.
- Boiling briefly will destroy the natural enzymes and kill certain bacteria in the carrots, thereby preventing the carrots from discoloring, losing flavor, or losing their nutritional content.
- You can use the same water to safely boil up to five stews, but you will need to add more water as the amount will decrease.
Step 4. Quickly transfer the carrots to the ice water
After the time required to boil is complete, immediately use a spoon to transfer the carrots from the pot to the bowl of iced water.
- Leave the carrots in the iced water for the same amount of time as in the boiling water. So the cooling time is about 2 minutes for sliced carrots and 5 minutes for whole baby carrots.
- Cooling the carrots is important as it will stop the process. Carrots of course should not be cooked until fully cooked.
Step 5. Dry the carrots
Transfer the carrots to a colander and let them dry for a few minutes.
Alternatively, you can remove the carrots from the cold water with a slotted spoon and place them on a thick paper towel to dry
Part 3 of 3: Freezing Carrots
Step 1. Spread the carrots on the baking sheet
Position the carrots in a single layer, making sure not to touch each other or pile up.
- If the carrots are piled up, they will stick together when frozen. This step is only done to prevent the carrots from sticking together in the freezer, making them easier to pick up and melt later.
- If there isn't enough pan to hold all the carrots, use several or do this process several times per bunch of carrots.
Step 2. Perform an initial freeze
Place the carrot tray in the freezer for 1 or 2 hours, or until the carrots are firm.
- Pre-freezing is the optional step. If you plan to use all the carrots in a bag or a container at a time, you don't need to freeze them individually. If you don't plan on using one bag at a time, pre-freezing will prevent the carrots from sticking together when frozen for a long time.
- Hard carrots freeze when you cannot chop or break them with a knife.
Step 3. Transfer the carrots to a freezer-safe container
Remove the carrots from the pan with a spatula into a freezer-resistant container or sealed plastic bag.
- If using a plastic container, leave at least 1.25 cm of free space between the carrots and the top of the container. Food expands when frozen, so extra space is needed for carrots to have enough room to expand.
- If using a plastic bag, let out as much air as possible before sealing the plastic. If you have one, use a vacuum sealer.
- Glass containers are not recommended as they tend to crack and break in the freezer.
- Label the current date on the container so you'll know later how long the carrots have been in the freezer.
Step 4. Allow to freeze until ready to use
Carrots can last for about 9 months in the freezer and in plastic bags or regular plastic containers.
- When using a bag that is sealed with a vacuum sealer and stored in a cooler freezer, carrots can usually last up to 14 months without any loss of quality.
- Frozen carrots are best used in cooked dishes rather than raw.
