How to Freeze Brussels Sprouts? Several ways

When asked whether you can freeze Brussels sprouts, the answer is: yes, you can freeze Brussels sprouts. All vegetables can be frozen. The question behind that is what you should pay attention to when you are going to freeze Brussels sprouts and whether this should be raw, blanched or cooked. In this blog, you will find several options for the question: How to freeze Brussels sprouts and how.

How to Freeze Brussels Sprouts?

Boil a pot of water and clean the sprouts. Toss the sprouts into the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and let the sprouts cool in ice-cold water. Dry the sprouts, you can now freeze them.

In short, this is how you can freeze Brussels sprouts. There are several ways to store Brussels sprouts. Read this also in our blog about preserving sprouts.

How to Freeze Sprouts?

There are several options for freezing sprouts. You can freeze the sprouts raw in the freezer, but blanched sprouts also do well in the freezer. And if there are sprouts left over from the meal and you want to freeze them, you can certainly do that too.

It is true that prepared or blanched sprouts are slightly more tender than freshly cooked sprouts, fresh from the land, so to speak. I would stir-fry cooked or blanched sprouts from the freezer. They then go into the wok frozen and you can stir-fry them. Delicious!

You can cook raw frozen Brussels sprouts in a layer of boiling water without thawing them. Keep the cooking time of about 10 to 15 minutes and taste if these are al dente. If you want them really soft boiled, cook the Brussels sprouts longer.

Freezing Brussels Sprouts Without Blanching

What should you pay attention to when raw Brussels sprouts go into the freezer? Fresh sprouts must be stripped of their ‘butt’ and the yellow leaves must be removed. If you want to cook the sprouts, after freezing, do so frozen. You throw the uncooked and blanched (ie raw) sprouts in a layer of boiling water and cook them (or you steam them) until tender.

You can therefore no longer remove the ‘butt’ and the yellow leaves after freezing. You can also put the sprouts cut in half in the freezer and stir-fry the halved frozen sprouts. Fresh and cleaned sprouts can be stored in the freezer for 3 months.

Sprouts Blanching Freezing

You can also freeze blanched sprouts. Blanching is nothing more than throwing a cleaned sprout (ie the ‘butt’ off and the outer leaves) into boiling hot water, boil for three minutes and remove it with a slotted spoon. This is blanching.

If you want to freeze the sprouts, the sprouts must immediately be placed in ice-cold water to cool (otherwise they will continue to cook). After 5 minutes you can remove the cooled sprouts from the ice cold water. Drain and let the sprouts dry on kitchen paper. Pat them dry.

The blanched sprouts can then be placed in a freezer container or bag. If you have a larger amount, you can freeze it per portion. Put a sticker on the container with the best before date. Blanched sprouts have a longer shelf life when frozen than fresh sprouts. All (or many) bacteria are killed during their three minute cooking time.

Blanched sprouts can be kept in the freezer for a year when it is at least -18 degrees. It is true that the longer you keep vegetables in the freezer, the more the taste deteriorates. But they probably won’t make it to the end of the year. I would say: Eat well and don’t keep it too long!

Freeze cooked Brussels sprouts

When you are going to freeze cooked Brussels sprouts (boiled or steamed for 10 minutes), you ‘just’ do that in a deep container with a sticker on it with the best-before date of 3 months.

Keep in mind that cooked or stir-fried Brussels sprouts that are frozen will become limp and soft when you start heating them up. You can stir-fry prepared, frozen Brussels sprouts. Straight from the freezer into the wok or frying pan and heat it up. They don’t look really fresh anymore, but they certainly still taste good. It is a shame to throw away sprouts that are good. I’m a big believer in freezing vegetables when this is ‘over’.