Courgette flowers add colour and texture to various dishes, from soups and stews to more robust dishes like steaks or pasta. These flowers are only available for a short time in the summer, so you might want to freeze them. But is this possible?
Can You Freeze Courgette Flowers?
Yes, you can freeze courgette flowers for up to 5 months. To do this, place them on a baking sheet and do an initial freeze. Afterwards, transfer the frozen flowers to a freezer bag, pressing out the air, wrap the bag in a layer of foil, and freeze.
Do Do Courgette Flowers freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Courgette Flowers? No
How to Freeze Courgette Flowers
Since courgette flowers are typically fried whole, and often stuffed beforehand, we need to freeze the courgette flowers whole.
- Initial Freeze: Place the courgette flowers on a baking sheet, and spread out a little so that no two flowers are touching one another. Place the sheet into the freezer for the initial freeze – donāt let the flowers touch one another, as theyāll be tricky and delicate to separate.
- Bag Up: Once theyāre frozen, transfer the flowers from the baking sheet to a freezer bag, and be firm but gentle in fitting as many in a bag as possible.
- Seal and Wrap: Press out any excess air from the bag, before sealing and wrapping in a layer or two of protective foil. You need to do all you can to keep the air out.
- Label and Freeze: Label the courgette flowers with the date you froze them, and then transfer them to the freezer for up to 5 months.
3 Tips for Freezing Courgette Flowers
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing courgette flowers to have the best results:
Freeze Individually
Ensure that the courgette flowers arenāt touching – if theyāre touching, youāre liable to split or break the flowers themselves when you pry two frozen flowers apart.
Remove Excess Moisture
Make sure that the flowers arenāt damp when freezing – theyāll soak up water readily, which would be disastrous in a freezer – theyāre liable to burst when the water is completely frozen!
Freeze Without Other Items
Avoid storing anything else in the same freezer bag as courgette flowers – Storing something pungent in the same bag will likely lead to the flowers absorbing some of the flavours and odours of that other ingredient.
How Long Can You Freeze Courgette Flowers?
You can freeze courgette flowers for around four to five months. The reason itās no longer is that courgette flowers are very delicate and porous – this leads to a terrible combination for freezer burn.
To avoid freezer burn and ensure that you can keep the flowers for the full five months, we suggest that you press any excess air out of the bag youāre using, as well as avoid any space between courgette flowers in the bags themselves.
Once picked, pop them into your vegetable drawer in the fridge, where they will last for 3 to 4 days. They will then quickly wilt.
How Do You Defrost Courgette Flowers?
The best way to defrost courgette flowers is to slowly bring them to fridge temperature. The reason for this is that the weight of water melting quickly and weighing them down can damage the structure of the flowers.
To avoid this, transfer the courgette flowers you want to thaw to a plate and keep them in the fridge overnight. When you check on them in the morning, the flowers should be completely thawed and ready to use, as though theyāre fresh.
Can You Refreeze Courgette Flowers?
Itās not wise to freeze and refreeze courgette flowers several times over.
While it could technically be done, weād suggest avoiding it because each time the flowers are frozen, youāre liable to lose some element of the structure, due to the ice crystals damaging the structure of the flower.
Therefore, to ensure that theyāre as well textured as they can be, we would encourage you to freeze them in smaller batches, ensuring that youāll only need to thaw when you need to use them in your cooking.
Do Courgette Flowers Freeze Well?
Once frozen, courgette flowers freeze well and keep very well at that low temperature. The reason is that youāre stopping the ripening process in its tracks, allowing the flowers to be frozen in time for a little longer.
When the flowers are thawed, however, they tend to wilt very quickly due to the weight of the ice and water upon them. For that reason, we suggest against refreezing courgette flowers, as that drastically decreases how well they store.
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing courgette flowers or courgette flowers in general, then these may help:
Yes, you can freeze stuffed courgette flowers. Once stuffed and fried, allow them to cool and freeze them on a baking tray. Once frozen solid, you can bag them up. Be warned, however, that some fillings (such as ricotta) can become a bit grainy once defrosted.
Courgette flowers do not last long after picking, unfortunately. Once picked, you should use them up within 24 hours otherwise they will wilt.
