Recipe " How to freeze eggplants for the winter» offers one of the best ways save vegetables for long time. Deep frozen, they will not spoil for months, will retain their taste and most vitamins, and you don’t have to apply complex treatments to them. Of course, compared to sweet peppers or zucchini, freezing eggplants requires a more careful approach and additional manipulations.
Is it even possible to freeze eggplants? After all, this vegetable has a specific taste, which, if frozen incorrectly, can change in negative side. Yes, you can freeze eggplants, but not raw. But if, nevertheless, they are prepared raw, then they are stored at a temperature of -12 C and no more than 5 months. Eggplants themselves do not smell when frozen, but they are able to absorb foreign odors. For example, from fragrant dill, which even in the freezer can smell all neighboring products. Therefore, when freezing eggplants, they need to be hermetically sealed in a suitable container. It is not recommended to freeze eggplants together with other vegetables. Here, as in every culinary recipe, have their own small ones.
How to freeze eggplants for the winter is useful and correctly at home? There are three main ways to do this pre-treatment: Fry, blanch or soak. But it is advisable to use the third method with the first two options. Whatever method is chosen, it would be a good idea to first thoroughly wash the eggplants, cut off the stalks and cut them into convenient pieces (bars, cubes, mugs, straws, etc.). And the smaller or thinner the pieces are, the faster they will freeze. Afterwards, the pieces are transferred to salted water and kept in it, thereby removing the excess bitterness that these vegetables have. The soaked eggplants are laid out on a paper towel (it is better not to use linen, as the pulp may stick to it) and left on it until dry.
So, as mentioned above, the following options are possible “ How to quickly freeze eggplants for the winter»:
- fry the soaked eggplants in a frying pan in a small amount of vegetable oil and cool;
- blanch pieces of vegetables by dipping them first in boiling water and then in ice water, completing this procedure by drying (it is better not to put wet eggplants in the freezer);
- simply dry the soaked eggplant pieces and place them in a convenient container for storage in the freezer.
It is advisable not to use ordinary plastic bags for packaging eggplants. It is better to store vegetables for several months in plastic containers. In this case, you need to try to arrange the eggplants closer to each other, compactly; this way they will freeze faster and take up less space. But you don’t need to place them closely, otherwise in the future, for defrosting, in order to pull out a certain number of pieces, you will have to break them off from the total mass or break it.
On average, small cubes of eggplant take about 4-5 hours to freeze in the freezer. And you can defrost them in the microwave, directly in a frying pan, or simply by laying them out in one layer on a cutting board or other surface. But there is no need to defrost them in hot water and with other vegetables. It is important to remember exactly how the vegetables were frozen. If they were pre-fried, then too long processing is not necessary. But raw ones need to be properly fried, stewed, boiled, like ordinary vegetables. You can even label containers with frozen eggplants, because when frozen, it is quite difficult to distinguish the pieces and determine which one was used.
Compared to other vegetables, eggplants can be called finicky, having their own specifics and characteristics. And not every housewife succeeds in freezing them correctly the first time. But it’s not all that complicated if you look closely! The main thing is to disassemble recipes “How to freeze eggplants for the winter” in order and when preparing, strictly adhere to the recommendations of the recipes. Let's take a closer look at the following two methods.
Method 1 - freezing whole eggplants with pre-frying
First of all, only whole, ripe vegetables are selected for harvesting, without spoilage or bruised areas. They are then washed, the tails are cut off, and they are left to dry. The second step is to place the dried, clean eggplants in a dry frying pan without oil and fry them on all sides over low heat until they soften slightly. During frying, eggplants need to be turned regularly; this will remove excess moisture and bitterness from them. Next, the baked vegetables are peeled, and each of them is wrapped in cling film. Now they can be transferred to a suitable container for freezing and put in the freezer. The advantage of this method is that frozen eggplants can be taken from the freezer one at a time, avoiding defrosting excess portions.
Method 2 - freezing eggplants in pieces with preliminary blanching
The second method differs from the first in that the vegetables will be frozen in slices or cubes. So, washed eggplants are cut, sprinkled with salt and left for 30 minutes so that they “drain” and get rid of the bitter taste. Then the pieces are blanched: put in a colander and lowered into boiling water for 1-2 minutes, and then sharply into cold water. Next, the mugs or cubes are laid out on a paper towel (this will dry them faster) and then placed in airtight containers for freezing in freezer. Store these eggplants in small portions, making sure there is no unwanted moisture in the storage container.
There is no doubt that there is nothing better than fresh vegetables! They contain microelements and vitamins... But what to do if the season ends and you have to say goodbye to them? Then “How to freeze eggplants for the winter” recipes will be a great help and help you stock up on a tasty and fresh piece of summer. Pickles, preserves and marinated foods are good for everyone. But, unfortunately, they are no longer of much use. Then there is only one way out - home freezing!
By freezing eggplants for the winter, you can enjoy the taste of your favorite dishes in the cool season. Thanks to the low temperature, they retain their original appearance and taste for a long time.
The only thing is that, unlike the vegetables we are used to, eggplants require a little processing before freezing. But, despite this moment, absolutely all vitamin composition they will be completely preserved.
Is it possible to freeze eggplants and is it worth it?
Today, freezing eggplants is news for many housewives. Not so long ago they began to practice it in cooking and it should be noted that every year it is gaining more and more popularity.
Eggplant is a vegetable that has a special taste and is completely odorless. But at the same time, like a sponge, he is able to absorb the odors of the products around him. If the freezing process is incorrect, it can completely lose its taste.
When frozen, eggplants must be stored in a separate hermetically sealed container, and then nothing can harm their taste.
You will ask yourself the question: is it worth freezing them at all? Here we can say with confidence that it is worth it. Just imagine what a delicacy dishes prepared in winter from fresh vegetables will seem to you.
We do everything right
How to freeze fresh eggplants for the winter - now we’ll figure it out. So, as we have already noted, vegetables must be prepared before freezing. There are three options for freezing fresh fruits. They can be soaked, blanched or fried (baked).
To ensure successful freezing, follow these tips:
Method for preparing fried blueberries for the winter in the freezer
And now about how to freeze fried eggplants for the winter in the freezer. Freezing such eggplants is one of the most basic and fastest options. To ensure tasty vegetables, follow these guidelines:
Recipe for preparing frozen baked eggplants for the winter
This freezing option is also quite simple, the only thing that takes a lot of time is the preparation process itself. To freeze baked blueberries for the winter you need:
In addition to this baking option, you can also prepare the eggplants as a whole. To do this, before placing whole vegetables in the oven, poke several holes in them with a fork. Bake for about 30 minutes.
After the fruits have cooled, you can remove the skins from them. In the same way, we pack them in bags and freeze them in the freezer.
How to defrost a product correctly
To ensure that the eggplant does not lose all its properties, it must be properly defrosted. You can use the microwave by turning on the defrost mode.
A second option would be to defrost in the main compartment of your refrigerator. Also, some housewives practice frying vegetables that are not completely defrosted.
The most important thing is to never defrost food using water. In such conditions, the vegetables will lose all their vitamins, and the pulp will become tasteless.
Each country has its own traditions, and this also applies to cuisine. The dishes of many countries include various vegetables, but eggplants are the basis of cooking southern republics and countries. Our kitchen appreciated the excellent taste of this vegetable not so long ago. Eggplants came to us from Italians, Chinese, and Americans. Blue ones go well with many vegetables: sweet peppers, tomatoes, onions, as well as zucchini, carrots, and potatoes. Eggplants go well with both meat and fish dishes. There are quite a few of them with fermented milk products- with cottage cheese or even yogurt. They are also delicious with cheese. But you can only see them fresh in the fall. And many housewives are interested in whether it is possible to freeze
Methods for freezing fresh eggplants for the winter
The quality of freezing eggplants will affect not only their taste, but also the preservation of vitamins and nutrients in them. Therefore, it is important to know how to properly freeze eggplants. To do this, it is better to choose medium-sized fruits. Wash them thoroughly warm water. To freeze vegetables, you do not need to peel them, but you do need to dry them thoroughly. You can use a paper or cotton towel. Then we start cutting. These can be not only circles, but also bars or slices, cubes or plates. It all depends on the wishes of the hostess. The blue ones have a slightly bitter taste. To remove it, you need to pour it into any container cold water and add a little salt. Then we send all the cuttings there for a few minutes, but no more than 15. Next, remove the water and dry the vegetables. We also use any towels for this. As much as possible! When they are dry, place the vegetables on a plastic sheet or baking sheet and put them in the freezer for a day. Then we take it out and put everything in a common bag or container - and again in the freezer, but this time for the winter.
Freezing fried eggplants
We saved fresh blue ones for the winter, but can they be fried? It is possible and very easy to do. Medium sized fruits will be required. We clean and wash them thoroughly. Cut the dried blueberries into circles. Pour oil into the frying pan, and after it warms up, place the circles. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Next, everything needs to be laid out on polyethylene in one row and placed in the freezer. The next day we take it out and place everything in one bag or in a special container.
Now you know how to freeze eggplants. The photo shows how best to cut them and place them in a container. All that remains to do in winter is to take it out and heat it up.
Dishes with frozen eggplants
Many people know whether it is possible to freeze eggplants for the winter. There are also many recipes for dishes using them. Here's one of them.
You will need: meat - about three hundred grams, a couple of tablespoons of butter, onions, salt, frozen eggplants. Place the meat cut into pieces, chopped onions, and thawed eggplants into the pots. Add salt to taste and place in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove and serve with any sauce. Bon appetit!
“Why do people ask how to freeze eggplants for the winter? Look how many there are in the store, all year round are on sale. Now I’ll go, buy it, cook it!” This is what the housewife who didn’t ask the price of vegetables in winter thinks so.
Only now the vegetable turns out not to be blue, but golden. It's very difficult. And I would like to pamper my family...
What is the problem? Nobody canceled conservation. Bored... I wish I could get some fresh ones... Pfft, even easier. Long parking at kitchen stove and tedious sterilization of jars are eliminated. It’s decided - let’s freeze the eggplants!
Preparation
Where would we be without her? Advance preparation is always necessary. You can't just take a vegetable and stick it in the freezer. No, in principle it is possible. Only then will it be unfit for food. Have you ever tried bitter rubber? Freeze whole eggplant- try it.
First you need to wash the vegetable. Or a berry? We won’t go into botanical details, just wash the blue ones thoroughly in clean water. Be careful, the stalk has very sharp spines!
Then wipe dry. Remove the skin with a vegetable peeler. That's it, the eggplant is ready for further adventures.
Advice. If the fruit is young, then the peel can be left.
Three pre-treatment options
What did you want? Washed, cleaned and that's it? Noooo. As you trample, so shall you burst. Who will remove the bitterness? The rubberiness must again be removed. There are three options for subsequent actions:
- roasting
- blanching
- baking
And for the laziest, there is a little secret written below.
For all methods, you will need to cut the eggplants in a convenient way. For stew - in cubes, for pizza - in rings, for hot salad - in strips. The next step is to remove the bitterness. Either add salt in a bowl for 20 minutes, or pour cold salted water in a saucepan for the same time. The bitter liquid is poured out; it is unsuitable for further use.
While the vegetables are giving their byaku, choose a suitable tray or cutting board. Even thick cardboard or plastic will come in handy. Cover it with thick film. You can take a special one that summer residents use to cover their greenhouses. It is thick and durable. Then they look at their own discretion - whichever is more convenient.
- Roasting. Suitable for packing in rings. Prepared vegetables are quickly fried in a frying pan with a small amount of vegetable oil. Place on a sieve. As soon as it cools down and the excess oil drains, the last stage begins, common to all three options.
- Blanching. Good for cutting into strips. Boil water in a wide saucepan. Place the eggplants in a colander or sieve and place them in boiling water for 4 minutes. Take it out and cool it.
- Baking. Ideal for cutting into cubes. Pour the eggplants onto a baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with your favorite vegetable oil. Place in the oven for half an hour at 170°C. It is advisable to stir the cuts at least once to ensure even baking. Cool.
Advice. Cooled vegetables can be sprinkled with spices, crushed garlic or herbs. Then subsequent cooking will take even less time.
The final stage
The processed fruits are placed on prepared baking sheets or boards in one layer. Place in the freezer for two hours first. This time is enough to form a hard top crust, so that later the eggplants do not stick together into one monolithic block. Your family will be surprised to see you with a hammer or hatchet going into the kitchen to make eggplant caviar.
Once the top layer has set, you can freeze it in convenient portions. These eggplants should be stored in special plastic containers or bags with clips. The main thing is to close the workpieces very tightly. Eggplants themselves do not smell, but they absorb extraneous aromas remarkably well.
To be completely safe, place an old, unnecessary towel under the film in advance. It will allow you to quickly pour vegetables without fear of tearing the bag.
Advice. In winter, it is better not to defrost eggplants so as not to lose the remaining vitamins and useful substances. They immediately begin to cook as soon as they are taken out of the container.
The exception is plates for preparing rolls. You will have to defrost them to put or spread the filling and wrap them. But there is a little trick here: add the filling in advance, roll the rolls and freeze them entirely.
In winter, no worries at all - prepare the sauce, take out the preparation, lay out the eggplants in one layer, and go about your business. After 40-45 minutes we returned to the kitchen, put the resulting delicacy on the plates and that’s it.
The promised secret for the lazy
You will need kitchen foil, fresh tomatoes, cheese, sharp knife, salt water. Washed eggplants are peeled. Vertical cuts are not made completely. These kind of plates come out on a thin substrate. Place the workpiece in salt water for 20-25 minutes. During this time, cut hard ripe tomatoes and cheese into thin slices.
Take out the eggplants and dry them slightly. Now - the fun part! Place prepared slices of cheese and tomatoes into the cuts, alternating. You should get a bright caterpillar. Wrap it in two layers of foil and put it in the freezer.
In winter, when the notorious laziness prevents you from fiddling with dinner, they simply pull out the caterpillar. Do not remove the foil, put it in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Willingness to identify simply: “You recognize her by her smell...”
Simply put, if they feel a stunning aroma, they take it out and carefully tear the foil on top. They put a slice butter or sprinkle with olive oil. Ready!
Advice. The thickness of the plates when cutting should be 3-5 mm, no more.
Tricks
- Each microwave comes with a stand for heating two dishes at the same time. We place this stand on one board with freezing, and place the second one on top. Voila! Speeding up the process twice!
- Is there no such thing? Great trouble! Four upside-down identical glasses in the corners - why not an improvised stand?
- For baking, it is better to use siliconized paper rather than parchment paper. Or a silicone mat. Then the vegetables will not stick and will be easily removed from the baking sheet.
- There are recommendations to bake the blue ones whole, then remove the skin and freeze. This is a tip for lovers of bitter dishes. With this method of preparation, it will all remain in the vegetable.
- The fruits contain little moisture, so you can put aside the fear of getting watery rags after defrosting. They retain their shape perfectly in prepared dishes.
- In order not to confuse frozen bags, always sign them with a permanent marker. Or they put a piece of paper inside with a description and date of bookmarking.
- Don't want to look for an old towel or suitable freezer film? Then, if you are lazy, you probably have flexible or folding cutting boards in your kitchen. We pre-freeze them, then pour them easily and quickly into permanent packaging. As a rule, such boards are made of food-grade soft plastic; it is difficult to freeze anything to them.
- Frozen blue ones can be stored for 5 to 7 months. Vegetables cannot be re-frozen. Categorically. There is a risk of getting mush instead of vegetables, which is unpleasant in taste and appearance.
- Special bags for freezing are very convenient. They have a sealed “zip fastener” or a special clip. In addition, there are no micropores in such bags, which will allow you to store vegetables for a long time without fear of mixing odors with other frosts.
- After all the manipulations, the vegetables decrease slightly in size and darken. This is normal. There is no smell of botulism here. Otherwise we have seen such “literate” ones. They claim that this is the beginning of spoilage of the product. They really forget that botulism is a sin of canned food, not freezing. By the way, freshly prepared eggplants in the fall also do not shine with whiteness. They acquire a noble brown tint.
- The spouse is not told about the autumn frosts. We spent the day enjoying ourselves, in the evening we quickly took it out of the freezer and cooked it. As soon as the beloved comes home from work, we immediately declare - I’m so tired, so tired, I spent the whole day with these eggplants, soaked, boiled, baked... Well, and further on the list, there’s enough imagination for what.
- Frozen blues are not salted during cooking! They have absorbed a sufficient amount of “white poison” even at the stage of getting rid of bitterness.
How to freeze eggplants for the winter? It turns out it's easy! Now, walking with a friend in the winter shopping and hearing from her - blue expensive... And I want so much, you can safely say - come to me, I’ll treat you to some fresh ones.
Video: preparing eggplants for the winter
When freezing eggplants, there are several things to consider: important rules to get a tasty vegetable after defrosting. Now I have about two kilograms of properly prepared blueberries stored in my freezer. And even under New Year and Christmas, when the price of eggplants is sky-high, there are always dishes with them on my table. How to properly freeze eggplants?
Total cooking time – 2 hours 40 minutes
Active cooking time – 1 hour
Cost - very economical
Calorie content per 100 g – 24 kcal
Number of servings – 10
How to freeze eggplants
Ingredients:
Eggplants – 2 kg or any amount
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp.
Vegetable oil– to taste for frying
Preparation:
1. Before I tell you how to properly freeze eggplants, I will tell you how not to do it. The first year I experimented with the freezer, I simply cut the eggplants into cubes and placed them in freezer containers. In my naivety, I thought that freezing would destroy the bitterness that fresh eggplants contain. Nothing like that - the eggplants remained bitter even after freezing. Threw it away.
The second time I decided to be more cunning. Before freezing, I kept the eggplants in salt water for half an hour and only then froze them. Yes, they stopped being bitter. But after defrosting they turned into a gelatinous, unappetizing mass. I couldn’t figure out what to do with this mush and threw it away too.
The conclusion is simple. Before freezing, you need to get rid of not only the bitterness, but also the excess water in the eggplants. All you need to successfully store blue ones is heat treatment– any (blanching, frying, stewing, baking). After all, such processing destroys enzymes in eggplants, which lead to spoilage and rotting of vegetables in the freezer.
To successfully store eggplants, it is worth considering the size and age of the vegetable. Young eggplants are ideal. Their skin is not as dense as that of well-ripened ones, and the seeds are light and small. Very young and small blue seeds do not have any, and this, of course, is only a plus.
The type of eggplant does not matter. The usual dark purple ones and eggplants with pink, white and even striped colors are suitable for freezing. The main thing is that the vegetables are not spoiled, fresh and elastic.
2. How to freeze whole eggplants. Place the eggplants directly in the peel and with the stalk in a frying pan with a thick bottom and fry over very low heat until soft, first on one side, then on the other. No need to use oil.
Then peel the eggplants and wrap in cling film.
After that, I put them in a freezer container and place them in the freezer. This method is very convenient: as needed, you can take out the eggplants one at a time and prepare the desired dish from them. It is optimal to cook from such defrosted vegetables. Chop them finely and add them to the tomatoes. The taste will be like a summer dish - with a slight smoky aroma. 
3.Freezing fried eggplant slices.
Cut the washed vegetable into slices no less than 5 mm thick. If you cut it too thin, then during frying the skin may separate from the core and the integrity of the circle will be damaged. 
In vegetable oil (in a frying pan, preferably with a non-stick coating), fry the circles on both sides until light golden brown. 
Lay out a few napkins or paper towels on a flat bowl or board. Place the fried eggplants on napkins with a fork so that excess oil can be freely absorbed into them. 
When the eggplants have cooled completely, you can freeze them slightly in the freezer. To do this, take a flat dish or cutting board and cling film. Wrap the film around the board several times. If there is no film, you can wrap the board in a thick plastic bag. Place fried eggplant circles in one layer on such a board in cling film.
Place the board with the batch of eggplants in the freezer for an hour and a half. The temperature should be minus 18 degrees, but it can be lower.
After about an hour, you can look at the vegetables and assess the degree of freezing. If they have frozen sufficiently and are no longer soft, then you can put them in bags. 
Take high-quality, thick plastic bags. I always prefer Zip-lock bags.
Place the mugs in a bag and remove as much air as possible. The fastest and affordable way You can remove the air from the bag using a drinking straw. Insert it into the bag, close it almost completely and draw the air from the bag into yourself. When the bag sticks tightly to the eggplants, all that remains is to quickly remove the tube and finally close the bag.
I don’t pack eggplants in large quantities. It is better to then defrost 2 or 3 bags (depending on the required portion) than to constantly open and close it, collecting the required amount of vegetable.
Be sure to attach a label with the date and method of processing of the eggplant.
Such lightly fried eggplants can be used for cooking. Once frozen, you can lay them out in towers and put them in the oven. You can also do this (immediately place the eggplants with other ingredients in a pot). 
4. Freezing stewed eggplant cubes.
Cut the eggplants into equal cubes, the same as you are used to seeing them in stews. I chose the size 2 by 2 cm.
I don't remove the skin from them. If you do not want to see it in the stew, then remove the skin from the vegetable. 
Preheat the oven - the temperature should be between 180-200 degrees. Grease a mold, baking sheet or pan with vegetable oil. Lay out the cubes. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring them occasionally.
You can salt the eggplants, but it is not necessary.
Remove the vegetable from the oven and cool it completely. 
Stewed eggplant cubes can be placed in a freezer container. For convenience, weigh the cubes in the container so you can then indicate the weight on the label. Don't forget to also write the date and method of processing and cutting the eggplants.
Place trays of eggplant cubes in the freezer.
This preparation is perfect for cooking and. 
5. Freezing fried eggplant strips.
To serve them in winter, you need to freeze them in the form of strips. 
You can fry it either in a regular frying pan or on a grill pan. 
Place the fried, golden eggplants, completely cooled on paper towels, onto a board and freeze in the freezer, just like the mugs from point No. 1.
Next you need to put them in bags, expel the air, and sign the label. 
6. Freezing blanched eggplant slices.
Peel the eggplant with a knife or vegetable peeler.
Cut into circles no less than 5 mm wide.
At the same time, boil water, adding a little salt and adding a tablespoon of lemon juice. 
