How to freeze beets for the winter in the freezer at home

Frozen beetroot retains a maximum of vitamins and other useful substances. Such a preparation saves the hostess time when preparing first courses, not only in winter, but also in summer. The advantage of a frozen product is that you do not need to dirty your hands and dishes again. It is enough to grate a lot of beets once, arrange them in bags and send them to the freezer. But at the same time, you need to know how to properly freeze beets for the winter.

Can I freeze beets for the winter?

Beetroot can be stored for a long time in the refrigerator or cellar, but despite this, housewives often freeze it.This saves housewives time for cooking first courses and minimizes the amount of dirty dishes. When rubbing beets, the juice flies to the sides, falling on clothes and furniture. So why not grate a lot of vegetables at once and send the semi-finished product to the freezer?

It is worth immediately reassuring housewives who believe that there are no useful substances left in a frozen vegetable. With this method of storage, vitamins and minerals are preserved in their entirety.

Freezing details

Freezing beets is allowed raw and cooked.

In order for the product to retain useful substances, follow these recommendations:

Vegetable is frozen in portions, in bags or plastic boxes. The amount of product needed to prepare one dish is placed in the bag.
Do not re-freeze the product, as all useful properties are lost.
You can also freeze whole boiled beets. In this case, it is recommended to set the "Quick Freeze" function.
The vegetable should be stored no more than six months.
Vegetables are stored separately from meat and seafood.
When freezing whole vegetables, they are pre-washed and peeled.

For freezing, you should take varieties of beets with dark pulp. Vegetables should be fresh and firm.

Preparing the refrigerator before starting the process

Before freezing vegetables, the freezer drawer is freed from excess food, washed and dried. Packages with beets are tightly packed in a dry box.

If the refrigerator is equipped with the Quick Freeze function, then set it for a couple of hours.

In this case, the vegetable is frozen quickly and useful substances are preserved in it. If the refrigerator is not equipped with such a function, then the product is frozen at 10-15 degrees below zero. This temperature is considered optimal.

Plastic containers are often used to freeze shredded vegetables.

Ways to freeze beets at home

You can freeze the root crop in different ways. It can be frozen whole, grated, diced or cut into strips.

Fresh beets

Many housewives store fresh beets in the freezer, previously grated or cut with a knife:

Young dark-colored beets are washed with a brush, dried with a paper towel and peeled.
Grate the root crop or cut into strips.
Spread into small bags or containers and place in the freezer.

On bags with a semi-finished product write the date of storage. You can do this with a marker or stick pieces of paper with the date on the packages with tape. This will allow you to use the product in a timely manner.

When choosing a beet for freezing, they prefer root crops with one tail. If a vegetable has a lot of roots, then it is hard.

Boiled beets

Medium-sized table beets are washed and boiled until tender in their skins. Drain hot water, rinse vegetables with cold water and cool. Peel, grate or cut into cubes. The finished product is divided into portions and each is placed in a tight plastic bag. Place the bags in the freezer and store at a temperature of 12-14 degrees below zero.

Experienced housewives recommend freezing both a grated vegetable and a diced product. Such semi-finished products are used for different types of salad.

Freezing leaves

You can also freeze beet tops. Such a product is used to prepare green borscht and vitamin salads.Only young leaves of light green color are suitable for freezing. They are tender and without hard veins. The tops are washed with running water, dried, laid out on a towel, and finely chopped. Greens are packed in bags, tied and sent to the freezer. It is recommended to store beet tops no more than 8 months.

Beet puree

For the preparation of first courses and side dishes, you can freeze beets, grated on a fine grater. For harvesting, choose young, strong root crops, with one root. Vegetables are washed with a brush, dried with a towel and peeled. Rub on a fine grater, squeeze the juice a little and put it in small bags or plastic containers.

Beetroot puree is allowed to be stored for six months, after which the vegetable loses its beneficial properties. It cannot be re-defrosted, so the product is laid out in portions.

Beets are not recommended for people with diabetes, as the root contains a lot of sugar.

Preparation for borscht

You can freeze a semi-finished product for borscht for the winter. For cooking, you need to prepare the following products:

beets - 2 kg;
carrot - 2 kg;
sweet pepper - 700 grams.

Beets and carrots are washed with a brush and cleaned, peppers are cleaned from seeds. Root crops are rubbed on a coarse grater, the pepper is cut into cubes. Vegetables are mixed and laid out in portions in small bags.

When preparing borscht, vegetables are fried in a frying pan along with a tomato, after which they are poured into a saucepan.

Methods of storage

Store frozen vegetables in plastic bags and small plastic containers. But it should be borne in mind that the packages fit in the freezer drawer more compactly.It is recommended to store beetroot puree in plastic containers. Vegetables in the freezer should be folded by type. Do not load everything together in the freezer drawer. Starting to look for one blank, you will have to pull out the rest, but putting them back together is hard.

Defrost Rules

If frozen beets are used for cooking first courses and side dishes, then it is not necessary to defrost them. In this case, the semi-finished product is poured into the pan, a small amount of vegetable oil is added and simmered under the lid for 15 minutes.

Boiled vegetables should be defrosted gradually. To do this, the bag with the workpiece is taken out of the freezer and placed on the shelf of the refrigerator. It is advisable to do this in the evening, then in the morning the product can be used to prepare second courses.

Beetroot puree is also defrosted gradually, putting the desired portion of the product in the refrigerator. Speed up the process by placing the bag of grated vegetables in a bowl of warm water.

Vegetables frozen whole are thawed at room temperature. If you get them in the morning, then in the evening they can be used to make salads. Beets are a storehouse of nutrients. You don't have to keep it fresh. The product is grated, cut into cubes and cubes, and then frozen.