Is it possible to freeze beets for the winter: how to properly freeze fresh beets at home, recipes Russian farmer

Is it possible to freeze beets for the winter?

Although beets can be stored fresh for a long time in the cellar, on the balcony, or simply in the refrigerator, freezing beets at home is not only possible, but also necessary . And at the same time, you don’t have to worry that it will lose all its beneficial substances.

The main thing is to properly prepare the vegetable. Proper cleaning of the beds is no less important. Read about this in separate articles, but in this one we will tell you what rules exist for freezing beets.

How to defrost beets

To prepare soup or borscht, the product does not need to be defrosted at all. Raw beets are placed in the pan in the middle of cooking, and boiled beets are placed before the end. In such cases, it can be very useful to freeze vegetables in portions necessary for one-time preparation of a dish.

And for salads, boiled vegetables must be thawed. This should be done slowly, for which it is best to defrost the product on the middle or lower shelves of the refrigerator. You can do this at room temperature, but you should not use a microwave oven for defrosting to avoid overheating the product.

Important! Repeated freezing of vegetables is unacceptable, as this will deprive them of all their beneficial qualities.

How to freeze beets for the winter: rules!

Freezing beets for the winter can be done either raw or boiled.

Key points to know:

It is better to freeze beets in small portions, which are usually required for preparing borscht, vinaigrette and other dishes.

Containers can be used for portioning

When re-frozen, beets lose all their beneficial properties.
When freezing whole food, use the Quick Freeze function, if available.
The “quick freeze” function freezes food at -18 degrees Celsius. If there is no such function, then the beets should be frozen at a temperature of -10 to -14 degrees Celsius. This range is considered the most optimal.
Frozen vegetables can be stored for 8 months.
You need to boil whole, unpeeled beets to preserve color and taste.
If you want to store whole raw root vegetables, you need to rinse them well under the tap and completely peel them.
For freezing, it is better to use table varieties. In this case, the vegetable must be young and fresh.

Small and juicy root vegetables are ideal for freezing

Freezing is a great way to store not only beets, but also many other vegetables. Read detailed materials on how to freeze pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower, hot peppers, bell peppers, zucchini, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, onions, and garlic.

Subtleties of preparing borscht dressing

There are several points that are worth clarifying before you start creating a gas station:

Vegetables are not prepared boiled; they are not suitable for soup.
You should not defrost the product if you are not going to cook it - the dressing will lose its quality characteristics and the consistency will change.
To prevent the beets from losing their color, they need to be sprinkled with citric acid.

Frozen borscht dressing will retain beneficial vitamins and minerals. The taste of soup prepared in this way will be no different from the usual dish.

Peculiarities

Beetroot for borscht.
The beets for borscht need to be boiled and grated on a coarse grater. Place in one serving the amount needed to prepare the pan itself. There is no need to defrost it before cooking, but you can immediately throw it into hot water.

Grate beets for borscht on a coarse grater

Beets for vinaigrette.
To prepare the vinaigrette, you will need already cooked frozen beets, cut into cubes. It must be defrosted before adding. at room temperature so that it does not lose its color and taste.
Do not use quick defrost! The dish will turn out tasteless and bland, because... beets lose all their beneficial and taste properties.

Beets for vinaigrette cut into cubes

Freezing whole beets.
Both freezing methods are suitable for whole beets.. Each peeled beet should be placed in a separate bag and placed in the refrigerator. Before use, such beets should be thawed, because... If frozen, it will be impossible to cut or grate.
Ice will inevitably form inside frozen whole beets, so you won’t be able to use such beets for beautiful serving and slicing .

Both boiled and raw beets need to be peeled before freezing.

Freezing beet tops
It is known that beet tops contain many useful elements, so it is advisable to freeze them for the winter.
Sequence when freezing tops:
- Rinse well with running water and select good juicy leaves.
Cut into small pieces.

Cut the tops into small pieces

Place portions into bags.

Place in bags and place in the freezer

Place in the freezer.
Combined freezing of beets and carrots
The processes for freezing beets and carrots are absolutely identical., which allows you to freeze these two vegetables together. This portion can be used in preparing borscht.
Vegetables also need to be washed, peeled and chopped. Then mix and place in plastic containers or bags.

Beets with carrots for freezing

In the video you can also see recommendations for freezing beets and carrots together:

Freezing boiled beets

Freezing the raw product has one drawback - the rich beetroot color is lost during cooking. Therefore, you can also prepare boiled beets for the winter. At the same time, the root vegetable can also be prepared in whole or chopped form.

The process of freezing delicious boiled beets for the winter is as follows:

Prepare the root vegetable washed with a brush.

Attention! It is better to cook the vegetable unpeeled, without cutting off the rhizomes and “tail”. Thus, it will retain its rich color and taste.

Place root vegetables in boiling water and cook until tender. Cooking time can vary from 40 minutes to 2 hours depending on the size of the beets.

Attention! You can check the readiness of the vegetable by piercing it with a knife. If the knife easily penetrates the pulp, you can remove the beets. You can also determine the degree of readiness of the product by squeezing the root vegetable with two fingers (the main thing is not to get burned). The finished product loses its hardness.

Remove vegetables from pan and cool.
Peel the cooled beets with a knife, cut off the rhizomes and “tails”.
Now you can put the product into bags whole and freeze it.

You can also chop the vegetable into cubes, strips, rings, grate it and freeze it in this form, packing it in bags or containers.

Attention! To prevent the beet slices from freezing together, use the “quick” freezing method by placing the vegetable cubes and slices in the freezer for several hours. And only after that, put the preparations into bags and place them in the freezer compartment.

Beetroot puree

By grinding pieces of boiled peeled beets in a blender, you can prepare the basis for baby vegetable feeding for the winter. It is enough to spread the pulp into small containers or bags and place it in the freezer.

Recipes

In addition to the standard freezing of beets, there are other recipes: freezing fried beets and carrots, frozen borscht preparation, vegetable cocktail, frozen vegetable frying, etc.

You can safely combine beets with other vegetables and come up with your own recipes for preparations.

Recipes for fresh beets and carrots:

Wash and peel fresh carrots and beets well.

Wash and peel vegetables

Grate on a coarse grater and mix both vegetables.

Grate on a coarse grater

Divide the resulting mixture into portions.
Place in prepared containers or bags.
Place in the freezer.

Roasted vegetable recipe:

Peel a small onion and chop finely.
Wash the carrots and beets, peel and cut or grate.
Fry the onion in sunflower oil.
Add beets and carrots, reduce heat and simmer until fully cooked.

Roasted vegetables

Place the resulting mixture in a bowl on a paper towel to absorb excess oil and allow to cool.
Place the roast in containers and put it in the freezer.

Place in portions in the freezer

Vegetable cocktail recipe:

You will need: beets, carrots, red and green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms.

Preparation:

Wash beets and carrots, peel and cut into cubes.
Wash and cut peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Dry all vegetables.
Freeze each ingredient separately.
Mix in the required proportions and store in the freezer in portions.

Vegetable mixture for freezing can be anything