How to Freeze Carrots

Freezing carrots is one of the best ways to preserve the carrots natural flavor, color, and nutrients. We will show you how easy it is to freeze carrots for future use in those weeknight meals!

Carrots are one of those veggies that seem to multiple in my fridge. I am not really sure how it happens, but it happens, but it inevitable does.

When this happens, there is only one thing to do, freeze carrots.

Why Freeze Carrots

Freezing carrots is an easy way to preserve this sweet root veggie. It takes only a few minutes and minimal equipment to save carrots for future use.

I love to can, but sometimes I just don’t want to lug out the pressure cooker for a small batch of preservation. In those instances, I prefer to preserve my food in alternative ways.

Freezing and dehydrating are great options for preserving most foods, and lucky for me carrots are super easy to freeze and dehydrate!

What dehydrated carrots?! Yep, but that is for another day and another post my friend.

Today we are talking about how to freeze carrots.

The number one reason to freeze your carrots is because it is a great way to preserve the nutrients found in this powerhouse root veg! We want to minimize food waste here on the Hill, so we work to ensure we save every last bit of food, or have an alternative use for it like compost or feed.

How to Freeze Carrots Step by Step

Freezing carrots is super simple and only take a few steps.

Typically if I am cooking with fresh carrots, I leave the skin on and just give it a good scrub.

For frozen carrots however, I peel them. I find the skin gets tough if you don’t. That leads us to step one

Step one- Peel the carrots.

I give all the carrots a good scrub and then take my veggie peeler to them. If you don’t have a peeler you can always use a knife, but the veggie peeler definitely keeps the waste to a minimum.

Your discards are great for the compost or chickens though! So don’t throw them out, just reuse them!

Step two- Cut the carrots

I like to cut my carrots into little medallions. I find this is the most universal way to use them in the recipes that I use.

You can really cut them into any shape you desire to use them in, I just wouldn’t leave them whole. They should all be pretty uniform in size as well for blanching and cooking.

Step three- Blanch the carrots

Next up is blanching.

You will need a pot of boiling water, a bowl of ice water, and a slotted spoon.

Once your water is boiling, drop carrots, a cup or two at a time into the boiling water. Do not over fill as it will drop the temperature of the boiling water.

Boil for 90 seconds, removed from boiling water with slotted spoon and place in ice water.

Repeat this process until all the carrots have been blanched.

Step four- Package and Freeze carrots

Remove the carrots from the ice water and allow to drain in a colander. Once drained you have a decision to make. You can either flash freeze the carrots by placing them on a sheet pan lined with parchment and placing them in the freezer until solid or you can portion them out into a food saver or ziplock bag.

I don’t worry about flash freezing because I typically use these carrots in long cooking soups or stews. If you plan to use them differently, flash freezing may be your best method.

How to use Frozen Carrots

Frozen carrots are super versatile. I use them a ton in slow cooker soups and stews, but there are so many uses for them!

• Add to soups or stews like our Refrigerator Soup or Beef Stew
• Give your breakfast smoothy an extra healthy kick
• Stir into curry or fried rice
• Blend and add to cakes or muffins in place of oil (similar to applesauce!)
• Make sweet glazed carrots
• Add to pasta salad with peas!
• Put into casseroles
• Blend and add to pasta sauce for extra flavor and thickness
• Roast them in the oven for a tasty side dish

The possibilities are really endless!

Preserve Your Harvest!

We hope this has inspired you to start preserving the food you grow or acquire! If you ever find yourself in an abundance of something, it is likely it can be preserved in some way.

Cut down on food waste today by preserving your foods for tomorrow!

You can follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more tips and tricks on preserving food, great recipes, and so much more!

Other Posts We Think You Will Love

We really enjoy preserving our food here at the farm. Every year we grow a big garden so it is only natural that we preserve that food for future use! Check out some of our favorite things to preserve.

• How to dehydrate food
• How to Can Venison
• How to Can Green beans

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