Preserving Fresh Broccoli in the Freezer

We love growing our own produce. It is convenient, healthy, fun and (can be) cheap.  However, when the harvest comes in and you are up to your ears in one kind of vegetable or fruit, it can also be overwhelming.

We’re working on learning to preserve each type of vegetable and fruit that we grow so that we can make better use of it, realize less waste, and enjoy the produce we grow for more of the year.  Last fall we took on water bath canning with our homemade applesauce and learning to properly store our bumper crop of winter squash.  Now I’m working on learning to effectively freeze vegetables, like broccoli, that don’t easily lend themselves to other types of preservation.  In this post, we will teach you about preserving fresh broccoli.

Properly Preserving Fresh Broccoli

Generally speaking, the best way to freeze most fresh vegetables is through blanching.  Each vegetable will have slightly different boil times, so be sure you are using the correct time to prevent overcooking. Overall, preserving fresh broccoli is relatively easy! 

Step 1: Harvest and wash the broccoli.

Step 2: Boil a large pot of water, add broccoli and boil for 2 minutes.

Step 3: After the 2 minutes, immediately immerse in a bowl of ice water for 2 more minutes.  (With most vegetables, the time they spend in the ice water should be equal to the time they were in the boiling water.)

Step 4: Spread the broccoli out on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer.  Freeze for 1-2 hours.

Step 5: Remove from the freezer, store and place back in the freezer.  Personally, we just put the broccoli in a Ziploc freezer bag with as much air removed as possible.  However, if you have a food saver Foodsaver FSFSSL2244-000 V2244 Machine for Food Preservation with Bags and Rolls Starter Kit, that would work beautifully.

See?  I told you!  Preserving fresh broccoli really is easy!

What about you?  What kind of produce do you plan to preserve? What are your favorite methods?