Popular for their spicy, crispy, and zesty flavours, radishes are a delicious addition to salads. While they’re undoubtedly best enjoyed when fresh, you might be wondering how best to preserve radishes for slightly longer, mainly if you’ve bought more than you can use?
Can You Freeze Radishes?
Yes, you can freeze radishes for up to 3 months. To preserve the unique taste and texture of radishes, you will need to prepare and blanch them before placing them in a sealed bag and freezing them.
Do Do Radishes freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Radishes? Yes
How to Freeze Radishes
While radishes freeze well, you need to prepare them for the freezer, as opposed to just bagging them up and tossing them in the drawer.
Below are the steps you need to follow to freeze radishes without any issues:
- Prepare: Begin by washing your radishes in the sink. Run them under the cold tap and scrub them to remove any dirt and residue.
- Cut: When your radishes are clean and blemish-free, you’re ready to slice them. First, cut each end off and remove the top and bottom of all of your radishes. You should then cut your radishes into rings.
- Blanch: Next, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add your radish slices to the boiling water and blanch for around 1 minute. Remove the radishes from the pot and place them in an ice bath for a few minutes.
- Dry: Leave your radishes out at room temperature until they have dried sufficiently. You can dab them dry with a paper towel to speed up this process.
- Bag Up: Drop your radish medallions in a freezer-safe bag and push out as much air as you can before sealing.
- Label and Freeze: Write today’s date, as well as the use-by date of the radishes on the front of the bag, before placing them in the freezer.
3 Tips for Freezing Radishes
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing radishes to have the best results:
Don’t Peel Radishes
The skin of a radish is vital during the freezing process. It helps to maintain the flavours of the vegetable during freezing and shouldn’t be removed.
Use the Greens
Radish greens can be used in a variety of ways. They can be sauteed and enjoyed as an accompaniment to your main meal or transformed into a delicious pesto. Whatever you do, don’t throw them away!
Use From Frozen
Depending on how you plan to enjoy your radishes, you might be able to use them from frozen. For smoothies, juices, or even in certain cooked recipes and sauces, you can toss your frozen radishes straight into the mix to save you from having to defrost them.
How Long Can You Freeze Radishes?
You can freeze radishes for around 3 months.
The blanching part of the process is really important, as it will preserve the taste and nutrients of your radishes for several months. If you don’t blanch them, they will lose a lot of their flavour and should only really be frozen for a couple of weeks.
When kept in a paper bag, radishes will keep for around 2 weeks in the fridge when left whole. If sliced, they will only last for 48 hours.
How Do You Defrost Radishes?
As mentioned, it’s possible to use radishes in certain recipes straight from frozen. However, if you want to thaw them, you should remove your radishes from the freezer and defrost them in the fridge for a few hours.
Alternatively, you might find that running your radishes under the cold tap and thawing them in water will speed up the process significantly. Either way, radish medallions shouldn’t take too long to thaw.
Can You Refreeze Radishes?
Although it’s perfectly safe to refreeze radishes that have been stored correctly, we wouldn’t recommend it.
Perhaps the best thing about radishes is the fact that they’re zesty and crispy, something that is a unique feature of these spicy little veggies.
If you refreeze radishes, they’re likely to lose their crunch and may even turn mushy, which is something that you almost certainly want to avoid!
Do Radishes Freeze Well?
Providing you take the time to prepare and blanch them, radishes freeze extremely well. Just like other vegetables, freezing radishes is an excellent way of keeping them for several months into the future.
So, no matter how you plan to use your radishes, freezing them is an excellent way to preserve their taste and texture.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing radishes or radishes in general, then these may help:
Yes, you can freeze radish greens. Remove the greens from the radishes, wash them thoroughly, and then dry them fully. Line a freezer bag with paper towels, then place the leaves into the bag. Seal the bag up and put it into the freezer.
Although radishes will freeze without being blanched, you’ll find that they only last a few weeks before their flavour and texture degrades. Blanching is a good idea, but not vital.
