Getting home after a long day and finding time to marinate and cook yourself something interesting can be difficult. It would be great if you could plan and prep your food ahead of time. Veg is the perfect food to marinate but is this a type of food you can prep ahead of time?
Can You Freeze Marinated Vegetables?
Yes, you can freeze marinated vegetables for up to 6 months. Simply marinade your veg, pack them into freezer bags and freeze. Just make sure you divide the veggies into portions first.
Do Do Marinated Vegetables freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Marinated Vegetables? No
How To Freeze Marinated Vegetables
Before you get to freezing your marinated vegetables, you need to prep your veggies and get them marinated. As you can imagine, there are two parts to this and we’ve gone through a few options below:
What Vegetables to Use
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to picking vegetables to marinate. In fact, nearly all vegetables will work well. The best thing to do is to consider what you normally eat together.
You could create a root vegetable mix including beetroot, onions, carrot, swede and parsnip. You could create a Mediterranean mix by combining peppers, tomatoes, courgette, onion and garlic. You could keep things classic and use broccoli, Brussel sprouts and green beans.
What Marinades to Use
When it comes to marinades, the possibilities really are endless. Again, consider the vegetables you’ve used and try to match a marinade accordingly. Try these if you’re struggling:
Lemon, Thyme and Garlic – For a classic combination, try mixing lemon juice and zest with fresh thyme leaves and a clove of crushed garlic.
Harissa and Sumac – Head to the Middle East by combining harissa paste with a pinch of sumac. You may need to loosen this with a little oil to help it coat your vegetables but it’ll be delicious.
Cumin, Coriander and Chilli – Turn your boring veggies into an Indian feast by combining cumin, coriander seeds and chilli flakes with a little oil.
Fennel, Oregano and Garlic – If you want to give you vegetables a bit of an Italian flair then try mixing fennel seeds, dried oregano and garlic oil for a punchy and delicious marinade.
How to Freeze Marinated Vegetables
Freezing your marinated vegetables couldnāt be any easier. You can make a whole batch upfront and marinade in different flavours to ensure you have a good mix of different veg and flavours ready to eat.
- Marinate: Marinate and prepare your veg. If you prefer your veg cooked, you can do this too but they will freeze perfectly fine raw.
- Cool: Ensure the veg are completely cooled before freezing.
- Portion: Divide the marinated veggies into portions and pack them into freezer bags. Try to ensure you have an even distribution of vegetables. You don’t want one bag full of courgettes and another full of onions.
- Seal: Squeeze out as much air from the bags as you can and then seal them tightly.
- Label: Label with the date and contents – donāt forget to write the flavours too so you can grab out the right veggies from the freezer.
- Freeze: Put the vegetables into the freezer and freeze for up to six months.
3 Tips for Freezing Marinated Vegetables
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing marinated vegetables to have the best results:
Batch Prep
If you want to be well prepared you can cook up a big batch of all the different types of vegetables you like and marinade them in different sauces and flavours. Batch cooking is a fantastic way of ensuring you have a good mix of healthy veg and delicious flavours for weeks and months in advance.
Airtight is Key
In order to ensure your vegetables taste as fresh as possible, you need to ensure the packages are airtight. If you are struggling to squeeze out the air you can use the straw method. You just pop a straw into the bag and suck out the air and then seal the bags.
Freeze Individually
If you prefer to choose your mix of veg on the day then instead of mixing up the veg in your portions freeze in large freezer bags with one type of veg in each bag. Then you can grab out a little of each type of veg you want when it comes to prepping your meal.
How Long Can You Freeze Marinated Vegetables?
Marinated vegetables will keep for quite a while in the freezer. You should try to use them within a 6 month period to avoid the flavour and texture degrading.
Having said that, beyond 6 months, your marinated vegetables should remain safe to eat but you may just find them a little less tasty.
Marinated vegetables will keep for several weeks in the fridge but the marinade will become stronger over time. We recommend marinating and using the vegetables within 3 days.
How Do You Defrost Marinated Vegetables?
When it comes to defrosting your marinated vegetables, the answer is simple. You don’t need to. Instead, you just need to use one of the following techniques below to get those vegetables cooked.
Sauteeing Your Marinated Vegetables – Allow your frozen marinated vegetables to thaw slightly at room temperature before tipping into a large frying pan over low heat. Once the vegetables have begun to thaw, turn the heat up high until all the vegetables are cooked through.
Roasting Your Marinated Vegetables – Preheat your oven to around 190c. Tip your marinated vegetables into a large roasting tray so that they all sit in one layer then roast, in the hot oven, for around 30 minutes. This will need to be adjusted depending on the vegetables you have used. For example, broccoli will cook far quicker than potatoes.
Can You Refreeze Marinated Vegetables?
We would avoid refreezing most foods and the same can be said for marinated vegetables. It will probably be safe to do so but you’ll find the texture breaks down a lot if you were to refreeze them.
Instead, try to grab the amount you need at a time from the freezer.
Do Marinated Vegetables Freeze Well?
Yes! Marinated vegetables do freeze very well!
By the time they are reheated and cooked you will probably find that you donāt notice any difference between your veg from when they were fresh. Delicious and an easy method to get your five a day!
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing marinated vegetables or veggies in general, then these may help:
If you’ve marinated and then roasted your vegetables then the good news is that yes you can freeze them! Once cooled, portion them out into individual packs so that you have one portion per bag. Seal them up and then freeze.
If you’ve made a little too much marinade then portion it out into an ice cube tray and freeze. Once the cubes are solid, pop them out into a freezer bag.
