One of the many reasons that people love parsnips is how versatile they are: You can serve them boiled, fried, mashed or even roasted! But what do you do if you have extra parsnips available?
Can You Freeze Parsnips?
Yes, you can freeze parsnips for up to 9 months. You can freeze them in cubes, wedges, chunks or rounds. We would highly recommend blanching parsnips before freezing to lock in their flavour and texture.
Do Do Parsnips freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Parsnips? Yes
How to Freeze Parsnips
If you’ve decided to freeze fresh parsnips that haven’t been cooked then you just need to follow these simple instructions for freezing parsnips:
- Clean: As soon as you get your parsnips from the supermarket or fresh from the garden, place them in a bowl of cold water for an hour. Then, wash the parsnips thoroughly to remove any dirt.
- Peel: Remove the tough peel from the vegetables and chop into your chosen shape and size.
- Blanch: Next, you will need to blanch them. Boil a pot of water. Once boiling, drop your parsnips into the boiling water for 60 seconds. Lift the parsnips out of the water, immediately submerge them in the ice water for a moment and then take them out.
- Dry: Allow the parsnips to drain and dry thoroughly before putting them in a freezer bag and labelling them with the name and date.
- Freeze: Put them in the freezer carefully to avoid breaking the parsnips before they have frozen solid.
If you want to prevent the parsnips from sticking to one another, you can also freeze them individually on a baking sheet. Once frozen solid, you can bag them up (as above). This will make it easier to grab a few parsnips at a time.
Can You Freeze Parsnips Without Blanching Them?
You can, but it’s not something we would advise. Blanching parsnips is a great way to guarantee their texture doesn’t change as much as they would without blanching. Blanching will also lock in flavour and nutrients. There aren’t any negatives.
How to Freeze Parsnip Dishes
That’s how you go about storing parsnip raw, on its own, in the freezer. But what do you do if you want to have ready to eat dishes in the freezer? Below we’ve explained how to freeze a couple of popular parsnip dishes:
How to Freeze Roasted Parsnips
This has to be the go-to side dish for any roast dinner. Crisp, crunchy, sweet parsnips that are perfectly roasted in the oven – perfect! But how do you go about freezing them in advance?
- Cook: Prepare and cook your parsnips how you normally would. Some people like to blanch them beforehand, others roast them with thyme, and many people drizzle them with honey. Just use your standard method.
- Allow to Cool: Let the parsnips cool to room temperature. You don’t want to freeze them when they’re still warm.
- Bag Up: Once cooled, bag them up into portions. When you have a portion in a bag, seal the bag up tightly, ensuring you remove as much air as possible.
- Freeze: Finally, label them up and place them in the freezer.
You can then grab a portion from the freezer, place it onto a preheated baking tray and roast for 20 minutes or so until hot through.
How to Freeze Parsnip Mash
You can freeze parsnip mash. However, if you make your parsnip mash with cream then there is a chance that the texture can become quite grainy as the fats split from the liquid in the cream.
Instead, we would recommend freezing your parsnips using the method above, then defrosting and finally making your mash afterwards.
If you’re looking for a dairy-free parsnip mash recipe that’s likely to freeze well, give this one a go. All you need to do is portion it out into bags, seal the bags up, so they are airtight and freeze.
How to Freeze Parsnip Soup
Like most vegetables, parsnips make for a wonderful soup. But can you freeze parsnip soup? The great news is that, yes, you can freeze parsnip soup. We’ve written a complete article about freezing soup in general which you’ll find useful.
Ultimately, the method is simple. Allow your soup to cool, pour into thick freezer bags (you don’t want any leakages!) and then store in the freezer until you’re ready to eat it.
3 Tips for Freezing Parsnips
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 4 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing parsnips to have the best results:
Always Blanch Them
Blanching can be a faff, but it can also be a great way to maintain your parsnip’s texture whilst also locking in its flavour and nutrients. Take the time to blanch before freezing.
Peel and Prep
Do all your prep work before freezing. This means you need to give them a good clean, peel and chop. This will save you work down the line.
Opt for Big Chunks
Small, perfect cubes of parsnip might look great on the plate, but they won’t freeze as well as large pieces. The texture will deteriorate at a much faster rate so, instead, opt for larger chunks.
How Long Can You Freeze Parsnips?
Parsnips are one of those veggies that last quite a while in the freezer and as long as you have peeled, blanched and frozen them correctly.
You should be able to keep parsnips in the freezer for up to 9 months – perfect to have a healthy stash of root vegetables available whenever you need.
How Long Do Parsnips Last in the Fridge?
Parsnips can be kept in the fridge for around 2 weeks. Beyond this, they will begin to turn limp and soft. At this point, they can still be used to make soup, however.
How Do You Defrost Parsnips?
When it comes to defrosting your parsnips to use then, you have a couple of options. You can take them out of the freezer and put them in a bowl which can then be put in the fridge for a few hours to allow them to thaw.
If you want to use them in a stew or soup, you can throw them in the pot frozen and cook them along with the rest of the dish. This works best for slow-cooked foods so if you are a fan of slow cookers, then these are fab veg to have available.
Can You Cook Parsnips From Frozen?
Yes, you can cook parsnips from frozen. Frozen parsnips can be tossed into soups or stews. You can also put frozen parsnips into a baking tray and then roast with your favourite herbs and spices.
Can You Refreeze Parsnips?
We would rarely advise refreezing any foods, but parsnips are an exception to this rule. They tend to hold up pretty well to being refrozen.
If you have frozen raw parsnips and then cooked them, then you can also refreeze these cooked parsnips. The texture may change a little, but it will not be highly noticeable.
Do Parsnips Freeze Well?
If you donāt blanch them first, parsnips do not freeze well. Their texture changes and they become soft and mushy – very different from the parsnip texture you are used to!
That is why it is recommended to blanch them first. If you follow the blanching and freezing process fully, you should be absolutely fine.
Even with this, there may be some texture change, but this shouldnāt be too much of a problem for most recipes and cooking methods.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing parsnips or parsnips in general, then these may help:
Can You Freeze Cooked Parsnips?
Yes, you can freeze boiled and roasted parsnips. You can even freeze cooked parsnips that are in a complete dish such as parsnip soup or parsnip mash.
How Long Do You Blanch Parsnips for Freezing Them?
Parsnips do not need to be blanched for long if you want to freeze them. You should only blanch them for 50 to 60 seconds in boiling water.
I would like to know how to freeze honey covered parsnips.
Hi Susan, we would recommend freezing them without any glaze. Then, once you’ve defrosted them, glaze them with honey as you normally would and roast.