Love them or hate them, Brussel Sprouts are one of those food items that are iconic during autumn and winter. If you have found yourselves with leftovers or have too many sprouts to eat in one go, then you are probably wondering, “Can I freeze brussels sprouts?”
Can You Freeze Brussel Sprouts?
Yes, you can freeze Brussel sprouts for up to 12 months. You can freeze them uncooked and blanched, or you can choose to roast them before freezing.
Do Do Brussel Sprouts freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Brussel Sprouts? No
How To Freeze Brussels Sprouts
The best way to freeze fresh Brussels sprouts, especially if you are unsure how you want them cooked is to blanch them first. This is almost like freezing them raw. They wonāt be cooked, which leaves it open for you to choose what to do with them at a later date.
Letās get started and learn how to freeze Brussels sprouts properly.
- Clean Your Sprouts: Trim and prep your sprouts first by removing them from the stalk. You will also want to wash them and let them dry completely. If you are worried about insects, you can soak the sprouts in cold water with a tablespoon of salt.
- Blanch: Set a pan of water to boil and prepare a large bowl of ice water next to the stove. Add your sprouts to the boiling water. Add the largest ones first and the smallest last. You should boil the largest sprouts for 4 minutes and the smallest for 3 minutes.
- Cool: Once the time is up, remove the sprouts from the boiling water and plunge them into the ice bath to stop the cooking process. Don’t have ice water? Place them under cool running water for one minute instead. Once the sprouts are cool, you can drain and dry them.
- Freeze: Place the dry, blanched brussels sprouts on a baking sheet in a single layer and then set it in the freezer.
- Bag Up: Once fully frozen (about one hour for small sprouts, 90 minutes for medium ones, and 2 hours for large ones), remove from freezer and place in freezer bags labeled with the name and date.
Tip
The single-layer freezing helps keep your sprouts from sticking together during freezing and allows you to easily place them in appropriately sized bags regardless of how large, or small, your family is.
How to Freeze Roasted Brussels Sprouts
If you know you want to have your sprouts roasted or you are freezing leftover roasted sprouts, then the great news is you can freeze roasted Brussel sprouts too. Here is how:
- Roast Your Sprouts: Roast your Brussel sprouts with your favourite herbs and spices. Be bold and brave with the seasonings you use, as sprouts are particularly good at taking on flavour.
- Cool: Once cooked, allow them to cool completely. You do not want to seal hot food in containers as the condensation can lead to freezer burn.
- Flash Freeze: Grab a baking sheet and lay out the sprouts in a single layer. Make sure the sprouts are not touching. Freeze for an hour or two.
- Bag Up: Take the baking sheet out of the freezer and transfer the sprouts into freezer bags.
- Final Freeze: Label the bags with the date and the contents and put them back into the freezer.
The best way to freeze Brussel sprouts is uncooked but briefly blanched. This will prevent mushy, flavourless Brussels but will also give you options when it comes to cooking them in future.
3 Tips for Freezing Brussel Sprouts
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing sprouts to have the best results:
Blanch Them
We know it takes a little extra time. We know it’s time-consuming. But blanching Brussel sprouts will make a huge difference in the eating experience. It will ensure they retain their flavour, texture, colour and nutrients.
Freeze in Portions
Place one portion of sprouts into each freezer bag. That way, when you want to defrost some, you can grab one bag at a time without the risk of thawing too many at once.
Mix with Other Vegetables
There’s nothing to stop you from creating ready-to-go mixed vegetable bags. Try mixing sprouts with blanched broccoli, kale, carrots , cabbage, or swede.
How Long Can You Freeze Brussel Sprouts?
Brussel sprouts are perfect for freezing, and you can keep blanched sprouts that have been frozen correctly for up to twelve months! If you love sprouts, this is great news, you can have your favourite vegetable all year round!
If you have cooked your sprouts first, it is recommended to use them up within about 6 to 9 months. They should be safe for up to twelve months, but the taste and texture can start to change a little.
When kept in a sealed bag or a bowl covered with cling film, Brussel sprouts will last for around 5 days in the fridge before they begin to soften.
How Do You Defrost Brussel Sprouts?
The best way to use frozen sprouts is not to defrost them! Just cook them from frozen. You can boil or roast frozen Brussel sprouts. Just remember to adjust your cooking times. It might take a little longer to cook frozen sprouts.
If you want to thaw the sprouts out before cooking or heating, pop them into a bowl and put them in the fridge to defrost slowly.
Can You Refreeze Brussel Sprouts?
You shouldnāt refreeze Brussel sprouts. There will be a change in the sprout’s structure during freezing, which can affect the texture. If you tried to refreeze the Brussels, this texture and structure would be changed even more.
Plus, when refreezing foods, there is a danger that the food can spoil and make you sick.
If you doubt whether your sprouts are still good to eat, it is best to be safe and throw out any that look spoiled.
Do Brussel Sprouts Freeze Well?
As long as you cook or blanch the sprouts first, Brussel sprouts do freeze very well.
There might be some texture change, and the sprouts can become a little softer, but it shouldnāt change the taste, and if you roast your sprouts, you shouldnāt even notice too much of the texture change.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing Brussel sprouts or sprouts in general, then these may help:
You can… But you shouldn’t. Blanching will help your sprouts to retain their nutrients and vibrant green colour when you freeze them. There really isn’t an excuse to avoid blanching them for the little effort it takes.
Yes, you can freeze Brussel sprouts that have been cooked in any way. This includes steamed, boiled, roasted and pan-friend Brussel sprouts. Once cooled, bag them up and freeze.
Yes, you can freeze prepared, bagged Brussel sprouts from the supermarket but you will need to remove them from the bag and blanch them first before freezing them.
Sources
We have verified the information on this page using the following resources:
