How to freeze zucchini for the winter at home

In summer, the garden is full of fresh vegetables and herbs. They are present in different dishes every day. And in winter, people lack vitamins, so they rush to the shops to buy something. As a rule, fresh vegetables, including zucchini, “bite” in winter.

If you have grown a lot of zucchini, then you can freeze them, thereby preserving all the nutrients and vitamins. Our article will be devoted to how to freeze zucchini for the winter at home. We will offer you different options and ways to avoid mistakes.

What vegetables are suitable for freezing

For freezing, you can use zucchini at any “age”. Vegetables should have a healthy peel without damage and rot. Many housewives are interested in whether it is possible to take zucchini plucked in advance for freezing. No, this cannot be done, because they have already wilted, lost their elasticity.

Vegetables with a hardened skin are also not suitable, since the pulp in them is rough and does not store well in freezing.

General rules for preparing vegetables

Regardless of how you freeze fresh zucchini in the freezer of the refrigerator, the preparation rules are always the same:

1. Since the fruits lie on the ground, they will definitely have dirt on them. Therefore, first they are washed in several waters directly with the peel. Then remove the stalk and the place where the flower was.
2. Lay the vegetables out on a clean paper towel to dry.
3. When asked whether it is possible to freeze zucchini with seeds, the answer is no. Vegetables need to be cleaned not only from seeds and pulp, but also cut off a tough and dense peel.

Here, perhaps, is all you need to know about preparing zucchini for freezing for the winter.

Freezing Rules

Freezing zucchini for the winter is an ideal option for preserving fresh vegetables. They can be used to prepare various dishes, including baby food. After all, zucchini has long been considered a dietary product.

Important rules:

1. Washed zucchini is cut in a certain way.
2. Remove excess liquid.
3. Blanch if necessary.
4. They are laid out in different containers – plastic containers, plastic bags for freezing zucchini, from which excess air must be removed.

Cutting methods

You can cut a vegetable that looks like a barrel in different ways. Everything will depend on what you will cook from zucchini in the winter.

1. If you will fry, make complex sandwiches or cook pizza, then it is better to cut the zucchini for freezing into rings. They should be no more than 1 cm thick. You don’t need to cut too thin.
2. If you dream of vegetable stew or cooking caviar, cut into cubes.
3. Pancakes, caviar, baby puree are more convenient to cook from frozen zucchini, grated.

Now let’s see if it is possible to freeze zucchini for the winter without blanching. As a rule, this is the decision of the hostess. But to see when vegetables look more attractive and “edible”, experiment.

Prepare a small batch of zucchini, cut them in the same way. Just put one batch in the freezer, and the second after blanching. After a day or two, take out the freezer and taste it. This is the most reliable choice.

Freezing methods

circles

If you want to surprise your guests in winter, fry zucchini. They turn out just as tasty and appetizing if the vegetables have been frozen correctly.

How to freeze zucchini for the winter in circles:

• Sliced ​​u5buXNUMXbzucchini pieces are dipped in boiling water for XNUMX minutes, then they are thrown into a colander so that the liquid is glass. The cooled dry circles are laid out in one layer on a plank or immediately in a bag and sent to the freezer. When the workpiece freezes, you can quickly put it in a container or freezer bag. It is not recommended to put all the zucchini in the container at once, otherwise they will stick together.
• If you do not use blanching, then you can expel excess liquid from zucchini with salt. Spread the circles on a plank and lightly salt. Wipe off any moisture with a towel. Place the slices in containers and freeze.

Cubes or cubes

Freezing zucchini in cubes is an ideal semi-finished product that can be used in winter for cooking first and second courses.

Having cut the zucchini of the desired shape, you can simply send it in a container to the freezer. Fast and simple. But in winter, housewives are often disappointed because the vegetable becomes rubbery and tasteless. What is wrong?

It turns out that when freezing a vegetable at home, it is necessary to remove excess moisture. Let’s figure out how to freeze zucchini for the winter in cubes or cubes:

1. Put the workpiece in a container and sprinkle with ordinary table salt. Per kilogram of chopped zucchini – 2 tablespoons. After a quarter of an hour, liquid will appear on the pieces. It is blotted with a clean, dry napkin, cubes or sticks are put in bags and frozen. Do not rush to stack the cubes, if they are poorly dried, they may stick together. But it is best to freeze the zucchini fresh for the winter so that each cube is separate. To do this, lay the blanks on a baking sheet and send them to the freezer. After freezing, the zucchini is laid out in a container or bag.
2. Of course, this method is more time-consuming, but reliable. The cubes are blanched for about three minutes, then dipped in a colander in very cold water. You can get it with ice cubes. Blanched zucchini is dried and cooled on a towel. After that, they put it in the freezer. If you freeze zucchini in the freezer, cut into cubes or sticks, you can add chopped greens or other vegetables (peppers, carrots, tomatoes).

Freezing shredded vegetables

We figured out how to freeze zucchini for the winter in the freezer for cooking first and second courses. But our readers are interested in whether it is possible to freeze pancakes, if so, how.

This freezing of zucchini is the simplest. Just take the prepared fruit and rub it on a grater. Leave for a while and squeeze out the liquid well. It remains only to decompose into bags and in the freezer.

Zucchini puree

At home, you can cook zucchini puree. Diced vegetables need to be boiled until fully cooked. Throwing the boiled pieces into a colander to glass the water, grind with a blender. After cooling, the finished zucchini puree is put into plastic containers.

Such freezing is very convenient if there are small children in the family. Zucchini puree is recommended by doctors. In stores, it is sold in jars. Why buy vegetable puree at a high price when you can cook it for free at home!

Get convenient mini-portions at a time.

Zucchini frosts:

Use cases

As we have already said, home-frozen vegetables can be used to prepare all kinds of dishes, such as zucchini caviar.

Vitamin and low-calorie food will be ready within 30-40 minutes. Therefore, it can be prepared immediately before dinner or the arrival of guests. The appetizer is prepared without vinegar, since it is not supposed to be stored.

What you need to cook zucchini caviar:

• frozen zucchini slices – half a kilo;
• fresh carrot – 1 piece;
• onion – half;
• green sour apple – 1 piece;
• tomato paste – 1 large spoon;
• garlic – 1 tooth;
• salt and sugar to taste.

Instructions for cooking:

1. Having taken out a portion of zucchini frozen in circles, pour boiling water over them directly in the bag and immediately put the workpiece in a colander to drain the liquid.

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2. Grate onion with carrots and lightly fry them in oil for no more than five minutes.
3. Add zucchini, grated apple without peel and seeds, pasta and minced garlic to the pan. You need to simmer over low heat without a lid while constantly stirring the mass.
4. After a third of an hour, salt and sugar. Taste it.
5. Take a blender and beat in ready-made zucchini caviar, prepared from freezing.

Conclusion

We tried to talk in detail about the different options for freezing zucchini for the winter in the freezer. Of course, to say that these are all ways would be dishonest to housewives. After all, each of them is looking for their own options for preserving vegetables for the winter, so that the family is with vitamins.

We hope that they will share their secrets with us and you. We are waiting for feedback and wishes.