TOP 10 ways to properly freeze green onions for the winter at home
Green onions are an excellent seasoning for many dishes, which gives them a spicy and original taste. In summer, almost everyone has greens on the table, but in winter one can only dream about it. Therefore, in order to receive the necessary vitamins in winter, the seasoning can not only be dried, but also frozen. In order for the greens to retain their properties, you need to know how to properly freeze green onions.
Can green and onions be frozen for the winter?
Yes, and even necessary. Frozen greens retain all valuable vitamins, such as:
- vitamin B, which improves brain activity and HC;
- vitamin B1, which controls the acidity level of the human body and normalizes cholesterol;
- vitamin B5, which helps to accelerate metabolic processes in the body;
- vitamin A, which stimulates the growth of new cells;
- vitamin C - has a beneficial effect on the body as a whole;
- vitamin E - helps to improve the condition of the skin, hair follicles and nails.
Subtleties of freezing
Every housewife should know how to prepare green onions for the winter.
IMPORTANT! For freezing, it is better to take small portions, which is more convenient to use. If you freeze the greens again, then all of its valuable qualities are lost.
To preserve vitamins as much as possible, the feathers are placed in a metal sieve, dipped in boiling water and kept for no more than half a minute, and then poured over with cold water.
After defrosting, onions are best used in various dishes. It is advisable not to use it raw.
How to choose and prepare a product correctly
For freezing, you need to pay attention to the brightness of the product, juiciness and color. The darker the onion, the more nutrients it contains. Feathers contain less vitamins than the white part. It is very important that the greens are fresh. If the onions lie down for at least three days, they will lose half of their vitamins. Before freezing it must be washed, preferably with cold water, from the shower. But it is also possible in a basin or bowl, changing the water at least three times.
Important! You cannot scald the onion with boiling water - all vitamins will be destroyed, and the product will be half cooked.
Place the washed feathers in a colander. When the water drains, pour it onto a soft, well-absorbed cloth in one layer and wait 1-1.5 hours for the onion to dry. Cut the peppers into small pieces, as for salads. This way the cut product will go well with any dish.
After cutting the greens, lay them out again on a napkin (dry) to dry for 1.5 hours. Before freezing, the product must be cooled, because then it will retain all its richness of vitamins and will not stick together. To do this, transfer the onions to a tray and place them in the freezer for 3-4 hours. After that, you can freeze the product for storage.
Preparing the refrigerator before starting the process
Before freezing a product in freezers, it is necessary to empty one of the boxes from unnecessary products, wash and dry.
Place the bags or container of onions tightly in a well-dried box. If the refrigerator has a “Fast Freeze” function, set it to two hours. Freezing will be faster and vitamins will be better preserved. If the refrigerator does not have such a function, then the product is frozen at -10 - 15 degrees. This is the optimum temperature.
Ways to freeze onions at home
In order to make the harvesting of fresh herbs for the winter by freezing, there are very simple recipes available to everyone. You can freeze in different and universal ways. Let's take a look at some of them.
Freezing whole
If you have chosen this method, then you need to do the following:
- Carefully put fresh, carefully selected and well-washed onion arrows on a plastic bag or cling film, roll into a tube.
- Cut off the excess film, moisten its edges with water and fix.
- Freeze the finished tube in the freezer.
This method of freezing is more suitable for preparing salads.
Shredded in bags
A very convenient and good way to keep greenery for the winter. To prevent the onion from losing its useful and taste qualities, you need to follow the freezing rules:
- the washed and sorted onions are cut into small pieces, after which they are evenly distributed on the board to prevent sticking. Freeze the resulting cut in the freezer for about half an hour. After the specified time has elapsed, the cut product is taken out and transferred to a dry and clean bag;
- the resulting blank is flattened in the bag so that it takes up as little space as possible in the freezer. To do this, the bag is tied, and excess air is removed from it;
- after all these steps, place the freezer bag in the freezer.
And when you open the package in winter, your kitchen will be filled with a pleasant aroma and fresh greenery.
Fried in oil
It may sound unusual, but onions are frozen even fried in oil. To do this, you need to do the following:
- first you need to cut it into small pieces in the form of cubes or half rings;
- then fry it over low heat with the addition of vegetable oil;
- then you need to throw it in a colander and pack it in plastic bags, and then put it in a freezing chamber.
With this method, the product will remain not only fragrant, but also dense. Another advantage of this harvesting method is that such an onion will not completely freeze and harden, and this will shorten the cooking time, because it does not need to be defrosted beforehand.
Important! In this case, it is important not to overdo it, because foods that are overcooked do not tolerate temperatures below zero degrees very well. And yet, if there is not a lot of free space in the freezer, then the fried onions can be placed in a dense layer in a glass jar, screwed tightly with a lid, and kept in the refrigerator in this form.
Freezing in ice cube trays
Greens are also frozen in ice cube trays. It is necessary to cut the greens into small pieces and place them in ice-freezer tins. After the product freezes, it must be packaged in bags and placed in the freezer. You can store this freeze for about 6 months. Such a blank is very convenient to use for soup, borsch, okroshka.
Onions in a plastic bottle
Another unusual way to freeze greens for the winter.
- The product is thoroughly washed under running water using a cloth, preferably thick, and dried. You can dry the arrows of greenery in the sun, for about thirty minutes, as well as with a hair dryer, directing cool air to the greens.
- This blank requires certain rules - chopped greens and a plastic bottle must be well dried. This is the only way to easily empty the frozen onions from the plastic bottle.
- The next step is to fill the bottle with the chopped product and screw the cap tightly.
- It is advisable to use small plastic bottles with a volume of 0.5 liters, it will be convenient for further use.
How much to store frozen onions in the freezer
Housewives who first decided to freeze greens often wonder how long they can lie in the freezer without losing their taste and beneficial properties. The shelf life is different, from two months to six months, and depends not only on the temperature in the freezer, but also on the way the greens are prepared for freezing.
For example, if you froze an onion at -18 degrees, it will lie quietly all winter and when defrosted it will be no worse than fresh.
If the thermometer is -8 degrees, the shelf life is reduced by 2 times, and after three months it is no longer recommended to use it for cooking. Indeed, the greenery will no longer have the desired aroma and vitamins. It is even advisable to consume the product within 1-2 months. It is during this period that onions are maximally enriched with useful properties.
Important! If you decide to freeze onions for the winter, you should know that for the first two or three weeks they will have a strong smell, even though they are frozen. This smell can be absorbed by other foods, which may affect their taste. To prevent this from happening, packaged greens can be placed either at a short distance from other food products, or above them.
Experienced housewives recommend freezing onions in the freezer and even believe that greens can be stored for a whole year, until the next season. The beneficial properties and aroma of greens, of course, will be several times less than that of a fresh product, but, nevertheless, this is a good way to saturate the body with vitamins and diversify the diet.
Defrosting properly and using onions
You can defrost workpieces in the following ways:
- Just in the fridge. This is a lengthy process that takes about two and a half hours and sometimes more. But at the same time, the solid consistency of the product and a fresh, rich aroma are preserved.
- At a temperature of about 20-24 degrees (room temperature). You can leave the frozen workpiece on the table. Defrosting time will depend on how the product was stored and at what temperature. Frozen herbs will be watery and soft with this defrosting method. But it will retain its taste, and it can be used for cooking.
- In the microwave. This method will save you time. The whole process takes about 5-6 minutes. But the main thing is not to keep the workpiece in the microwave oven more than necessary, otherwise defrosting will go into cooking. To avoid this, you need to set the oven power to the minimum mode.
- Defrosting in water. Many people believe that if you put frozen herbs in a bowl of cold water before using them, they will taste exactly the same as fresh ones.
Important! You can do without defrosting at all if a blanched product is prepared.
Prepared frozen onions are used in the preparation of various dishes. Most often in vegetable stews, various soups, minced meat.Such an additive has not only a pleasant aroma, but also gives food a special taste, saturates it with vitamins necessary for the human body. But frozen greens require heat treatment, it is better not to eat them raw.
It is not recommended to re-freeze vegetables, including green onions, as it will become slippery, lethargic, with an unpleasant odor, and will lose its beneficial properties. If you want to consume summer foods all year round, then freezing is a great solution. Frozen green onions are not inferior to fresh ones in terms of their usefulness and taste. When properly frozen and stored, you can enjoy vitamin-rich meals all year round.
