TOP 10 recipes on how to properly freeze eggplants for the winter at home in the freezer

People often wonder about how to properly freeze eggplants, since the season for these vegetables is not as long as we would like. To preserve the taste of this vegetable until winter, first of all, you should understand that you cannot freeze them raw. That is why methods have been invented to help deal with their preservation for a long time.

Is it possible to freeze

The little blue ones can be frozen; to do this, the fruits should at least be soaked. They cannot be placed in the freezer in their raw form. Don't forget about the freezing time. This product can be stored in the freezer for no more than 1 year. In this case, the temperature should be no higher than -18 degrees.

Speaking of re-freezing, this is not recommended.

Selection and preparation of fruits for freezing

In order for freezing eggplants to be successful, first of all, you should pay attention to the fact that when purchasing the vegetables, they are fresh and without signs of spoilage.

Other selection rules include the following:

1. The peel of vegetables is even and smooth, without visible damage.
2. When pressed, the vegetable should quickly regain its shape, which will indicate elastic flesh.
3. Fresh fruits are always heavy. A vegetable 15-17 centimeters long weighs about 500 grams.
4. An ideal eggplant would be one whose flesh is white in color and retains its appearance when exposed to air for a long time. At the same time, the seeds should not have an unpleasant odor and be dark. If there are no such signs, the freezing will most likely fail.
5. For such purposes, it is better to give preference to small fruits, since large specimens contain more corned beef, which gives a bitter taste.
6. It is also worth paying attention to the stalk. In fresh vegetables it is green and without wrinkles.
7. Under no circumstances should you use overripe fruits, as evidenced by wrinkled or dry skin.

Once the vegetables have been selected, it is worth thinking about proper preparation.To do this, you need to chop them and then make sure that they are rid of excess water, otherwise there is a chance that they will turn into mush.

The next step is to carry out heat treatment, this can be baking, blanching, frying or stewing.

How to properly prepare a refrigerator

Preparing the refrigerator consists of providing free space in order to freely lay vegetables. If a non-sealed container is used, the temperature in the freezer should be maintained at -18 degrees. When using sealed containers, -12 is sufficient.

The best recipes for freezing eggplants at home

Today, housewives use quite a few ways to store blueberries in the freezer. Afterwards they can be consumed as a main product or added to salads. Regardless of the freezing option, it is worth taking into account even the most minor features of the process, since otherwise there is a high probability that the vegetables will lose their taste or shape.

Whole fruits

To preserve whole eggplants in the freezer, buy young and unspoiled vegetables. Next, the raw fruits should be washed well, without tearing off the stem, and placed in the peel in a frying pan. At the same time, it is recommended to set the heat on the stove to the minimum value so that the vegetables do not burn.

When they are cooked, be sure to remove the bitter skin and wrap them in cling film after cooling. Next, the blanks can be placed in a container and sent for freezing.

This method is considered one of the most convenient, as it allows you to get the fruits at any time, and, since they are whole, to prepare delicious dishes from them. In most cases, eggplant caviar is prepared from such frozen fruits.

Another common option is to add them to tomatoes for a summery flavor.

Blanched

To prepare preparations using blanching, you should prepare a pan with water, salt and lemon juice. When the water boils, salt it and add one tablespoon of lemon juice. Then you can put the eggplant pieces in there and boil for no more than 5 minutes.

Afterwards, you can begin to take them out and dip them in ice water. You can put fruits in containers and in the freezer only when they have completely cooled and dried.

Freezing in strips or cubes

To prepare vegetables cut into strips or cubes for the winter, you should buy firm, but ripe eggplants. You can cut them into pieces approximately 2 by 2 centimeters in size. If, after freezing, they are used to prepare a stew, it is worth peeling the fruits.

If it is needed freeze a vegetable, cut into strips for rolls, peeling is not necessary. When it comes to freezing raw eggplant, you can start by soaking it, then dry it well, place it in an airtight container and freeze it.

Freezing eggplant baked in the oven

To successfully freeze stewed eggplants and still preserve their flavor, it is advisable to cut the vegetables into cubes. Next, preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Grease the mold, baking sheet or pan with vegetable oil. Now you can place the eggplant cubes here and simmer for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

At the same time, it is not at all necessary to salt the vegetable. This can be done as desired. After the specified time has passed, the eggplants can be removed from the oven and allowed to cool to room temperature.

A container is used directly for freezing.For convenience, it is advisable to place a sticker on it with an inscription indicating exactly how the vegetable was processed and the date of cooking. Frozen stewed fruits are good for making vegetable crumble.

Freezing stewed fruits

If the goal is to freeze stewed vegetables, you should follow the same scheme as when baking in the oven. Whether or not to peel the fruits can be decided at your own discretion. It all depends on what kind of dishes a person is going to cook after defrosting.

If the cook has not yet decided on this, it is still better to peel the eggplants, since in this case you can cook anything from them, and not be afraid of the bitter taste, which will not always be appropriate.

Boiled eggplants

To prevent frozen vegetables from becoming bitter in the future, they should be pierced deeply with a toothpick in several places. Next, you can begin to boil the fruits whole. Compared to cooking in pieces, they need to be in boiling water 3 times longer. Before doing this, do not forget to salt the water. When the eggplants are ready, take them out and leave to cool completely.

After that, you can start cutting them into pieces, and at the same time dry them well with a towel.

Fried in a frying pan

Pan-fried eggplants are frozen according to the following scheme:

• First you need to choose fresh eggplants. Before cooking, they are washed well, cut in the required way and soaked in water;
• Afterwards, drain the water and dry the vegetables well;
• then pour vegetable oil into the frying pan, heat it up a little, and then lay out the eggplants for thorough frying;
• To prevent too much fat from being absorbed into the vegetable in the future, it is better to place the finished product on a paper towel that absorbs moisture well;
• when the fruits have cooled, they are laid out on a flat wooden surface and wrapped in film. Afterwards they are ready to be sent for freezing;
• if there are a lot of vegetables, they can be stacked according to the same principle in several tiers. After a couple of hours, when the fruits are well frozen, they can be taken out of the refrigerator and placed in a container with a tight lid or in a sealed bag.

Storage periods and rules

As mentioned earlier, it is not recommended to store eggplants in any form in the freezer for more than 12 months. In order for them to retain their taste, if whole vegetables are sent to the freezer, they should be removed from the stalk.

Frozen vegetables retain their properties best in containers that can be closed as tightly as possible. If air gets inside, the shelf life will be shortened.

It should be understood that the success of freezing directly depends on how correctly the fruit was prepared. If mistakes were made during the drying or soaking process, in the future this will result in the eggplants being spoiled and becoming unfit for consumption.

How to defrost a product correctly

In some cases, frozen blueberries can be cooked immediately, without any defrosting. Another commonly used option is to move them into the refrigerator, where they will thaw gradually. Sometimes it is more practical to place them on a flat surface and leave them to defrost at room temperature.

It is not recommended to use a microwave for such purposes. This is explained by the fact that it can have a detrimental effect on the structure of the vegetable, after which it will become loose.

What can you cook after defrosting?

The most common dishes prepared from frozen eggplants are:

1. Caviar. To prepare it, you can use fruits that have been previously heat-treated, and at the same time cut into completely different pieces. In this case, no recommendations are provided, since the blue ones are crushed during the cooking process to the consistency of puree.
2. Rolls. To do this, baked or fried fruits are defrosted and a mixture of cheese, garlic and herbs is wrapped inside.
3. Roast in pots. For this dish, it is better to cut the fruits into small cubes. They are placed in pots with meat, as well as other ingredients, and then placed in the oven.
4. Towers of tomatoes, blueberries and grated cheese. To prepare this dish, vegetables are cut into rings. Before cooking, they should be completely defrosted and warmed to room temperature. Next, you can place the tomatoes on them and sprinkle grated cheese on top.

In most cases, you can cook the same things from thawed blueberries as from fresh ones. If freezing was done correctly, it will not affect the taste of this fruit in any way.

Useful qualities of eggplants

The blue ones contain a large amount of various minerals and vitamins. That is why eggplants should be present in the diet of any person who wants to be healthy. Thanks to potassium salts, the fruits have a positive effect on blood vessels and heart performance.

Doctors advise people who have metabolic problems to eat these vegetables. They will also be useful for pain in the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and liver. The fruits are also rich in fiber, which has a positive effect on intestinal function.Eggplants will also be beneficial for people who are on a diet, as they contain only 28 kilocalories.