June Xie is the former Senior Food Producer for Delish, where she hosted recipe videos and the wildly popular YouTube show, Budget Eats. She previously worked in numerous restaurant kitchens throughout NYC before first joining Delish as our Test Kitchen Assistant and chief baking expert with a passion for bread dough, peanut butter, whipped cream, and gluten free cookies. She also loves staring at alpacas.
Summertime is synonymous with fruit heaven time—everything is in season, and you can smell the fragrance of peaches and strawberries everywhere you turn. If you're eating them as fast as you can, as much as you can, and still have so much delicious fruit left over, the best thing to do is to freeze them.
There are foods that you should never preserve by freezing, but thankfully, strawberries are the perfect thing to keep frozen until you're ready to use them in a refreshing berry smoothie or cook them into a syrupy compote for homemade strawberry cake. Because freezing moisture-rich, juicy strawberries will cause the water content to crystallize as it turns to ice, strawberries will not hold their shape well after defrosting and will be much softer once they come to room temperature. This means that frozen strawberries will be perfect for turning into homemade jams, baking into upside cakes, and blending into frozen drinks, but not so great for use in recipes where they don't undergo a transformation of sorts. (You're better off using fresh strawberries for recipes like our strawberry shortcake layer cake and strawberry Champagne trifle—which, if you have an abundance of strawberries, you should totally make.)
Whole, halved, or quartered?
If you know what you want to use your strawberries for in the future, you can cut them into whatever size would serve your purpose best. For example, if you know you'll be blending them into a smoothie and don't want your blender to struggle too much, quarter your strawberries for a faster blend. Depending on the size you cut them into, freezing times will vary: the smaller they are, the faster they'll freeze.
Parchment is crucial.
The goal when freezing any fruit is to make sure they lie flat in a single layer without touching, so that you can place them all more compactly into a resealable plastic bag once they're fully hardened and frozen all the way through. Make sure that your baking sheet will fit inside your freezer first, then be sure to line it with either parchment paper or a nonstick silicone mat to ensure your frozen berries will release from the sheet tray without too much of a struggle.
Use within a year.
Yes, when kept properly sealed in the freezer, ingredients can last indefinitely. But just because they won't "go bad" does not mean they will still taste good after four years of hibernation. My rule of thumb for frozen items is to consume within 2 to 3 months of freezing date for best flavor; each month thereafter will get you a little more freezer burn and a bit more disappointment.
Got thoughts? We'd love to hear your experience with freezing strawberries! Write, comment, and leave a rating down below to share your feedback.
- Yields:
- 3 c.
- Prep Time:
- 10 mins
- Total Time:
- 2 hrs 10 mins
Ingredients
- 1 lb.
strawberries, rinsed well and patted dry
Directions
- Step 1Using a paring knife, make a small circular cut around the stem to remove hulls. Cut large strawberries into quarters and halve medium strawberries; keep small ones whole.
- Step 2Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then lay strawberries in a single layer, making sure they are not touching each other. Freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
- Step 3Transfer frozen strawberries into a resealable plastic bag, pushing as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing it. Keep frozen until ready to use.