Do I need to defrost frozen beets before cooking. Is it possible to freeze whole beets for the winter

12.09.2020

Growing vegetables is not an easy process, but it is equally difficult to keep the harvest as long as possible. One of the root crops requiring special storage conditions is beets. Not every owner manages to keep it until spring. A simple way, tested and approved by housewives, is to freeze grated beets for the winter. In this form, useful and taste qualities, a rich burgundy shade will be preserved.

Is it possible to freeze beets

Winter is the time of the year when the body needs useful elements that are found in fresh vegetables and fruits. It is quite difficult to save the harvest without losses in order to use it for cooking. This is especially true for beets, which, even in cool conditions, quickly deteriorate - they become soft or dry out.

With the help of the freezer, it became possible to preserve root crops without loss. This storage method has many advantages:

  • you can freeze a boiled vegetable, which is added to ready meal, shortening the cooking time (boiled beets lose color a little, so it is recommended to add a little vinegar to the water);
  • when stored in the freezer, all useful elements are completely preserved;
  • frozen vegetable does not lose its taste for six months;
  • there are many ways to freeze beets, in winter it can be used for different dishes- borscht, salads, side dishes.

The main thing to remember is that you should try to freeze the beets immediately after removing them from the beds. Even short-term storage will reduce the amount of nutrients.

How to freeze beets for the winter

An important stage in the preparation of blanks is proper processing and preparation. Freezing beets for the winter at home can be done using different recipes... The easiest way is to send a pre-prepared vegetable to the freezer without any preliminary heat treatment. Harvesting from a raw product is not very popular with housewives - when defrosting, the burgundy shade is significantly lost.

When starting to harvest a vegetable, you should remember a little trick - more delicious frozen winter beets. It is better to use early roots only fresh - for long-term storage, even in freezer, they are of little use.

Preliminary preparation of the vegetable

Before you send the root vegetables to the freezer, you will have to do simple process, without which you can not do - sorting. Remove soft or rotten vegetables immediately, and if dry spots are visible, use immediately for cooking. Carefully examine each root crop - if thin roots resembling hairs are visible on the surface, it is better not to use them for freezing, the raw materials are tough and tasteless. You should also not store vegetables that are too light - they have an insufficiently rich taste, which will almost disappear in the freezer.

Freezing containers

Regardless of what kind of beets will be used for freezing, chopped on a grater or cut into cubes (cubes), it is better to store them in a plastic container. First, you need to make sure that the containers are designed for operation at sub-zero temperatures.

You can use plastic bags or containers for storage - they are compactly located in the freezer and take up little space. It is better to take a small container designed for one preparation of a dish. If you freeze a lot of raw materials, it will be difficult to take the amount of product required for borscht or salad.

How to freeze raw beets

The easiest way to harvest a root crop is to freeze it without preliminary heat treatment. There will be no particular difficulties here:

  1. Chop the washed and peeled vegetables at random (cubes, slices, bars).
  2. It is not recommended to pack the prepared raw materials into packages (containers).
  3. Close the container tightly, tie the bags.

Send the prepared root vegetable to the freezer immediately after packing in a container, because even a short stay at room temperature can affect the quality of the product. The freezing of the beets is over, but if the container is large, it is better to stir up the straws or bars a little after an hour - this will not allow them to freeze into one lump.

Some housewives use not only root vegetables in their dishes, but also leaves, which can also be stocked up for the entire winter season. Freezing the tops is simple - rinse the greens thoroughly, let the water drain and lay them on a napkin. Try to remove moisture as much as possible, so dry the raw materials for an hour. Chop with a sharp knife, put in bags or containers, send to the freezer. Defrosting the tops is not recommended - it is better to add the required amount of raw materials to an almost finished dish.

How to freeze boiled beets

Cooking a dish from a raw frozen root vegetable is quite long in time - you will need to defrost the raw materials, then boil or fry. The cooked product is much easier to use.

Step-by-step procurement boiled beets:

  1. Boil the whole root vegetables in water, in which you first add a little vinegar.
  2. Peel the vegetables, chop the boiled beets (cubes, grater, bars).
  3. Fill in a clean, dry container, send to the freezer.

You can freeze not only grated or chopped beets, but also mashed potatoes. Usually they use such a preparation for borscht, but you can turn it into a tasty dish for the baby - send it to a saucepan and heat it over low heat, stirring it, until it boils. You can add a crushed apple, boiled potatoes, carrot.

Making beetroot puree is easy - boiled vegetables rub through a sieve or interrupt with a blender. You can grind it with a meat grinder, but such beets will have to be used only for borscht, after sending them to a pan with onions and carrots.

Freezing beets is not only a great way to preserve all the qualities of this vegetable, but also an opportunity to shorten the time for preparing dinner or lunch. Vinaigrette, herring under a fur coat, borscht, mashed potatoes - a small part delicious dishes, which can be easily and time consuming to prepare from this wonderful and simple blank.

Beetroot has long been one of the first places in cooking, cosmetology and folk medicine... This root vegetable rich in vitamins and minerals is directly associated with borscht and vinaigrette. It contains almost all B vitamins, as well as A, E, C and many minerals: potassium, sodium, phosphorus, chlorine, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron and zinc.

The uniqueness is that even after heat treatment, it retains all its benefits. In addition, boiled beets are absorbed by the body much better than raw beets. There are many recipes for delicious homemade beetroot products: canned borscht, salad, and so on. But is it possible to freeze grated beets for the winter in their original form without any additional processing? We will talk about this in detail.

Freeze Boiled Beetroot Recipe

Ingredients

Servings: - + 5

  • beet 1 kg
  • vinegar 9% 1 tbsp. l.

Per serving

Calories: 49 kcal

Proteins: 1.92 g

Fats: 0.11 g

Carbohydrates: 10.55 g

15 minutes. Video Recipe Print

    We wash the beets, cut the tops. We leave the tail, otherwise it will lose too much juice during the cooking process.

    Peel and grind the boiled and cooled vegetable. Can be cut into cubes, wedges, or simply grated as a video recipe. It depends on your preference. For convenience, divide the vegetable into several parts and cut each in a certain way.

    We lay out the crushed workpiece in a plastic container or plastic bags. It is important to remove air from them in order to freeze the beets efficiently.

    We send it to the freezer along with other blanks.

    Recipe for freezing whole beets

    This version of the preparation is convenient because in the future the vegetable can be used in different ways, cutting it as required by the dish you have conceived. The only thing to remember is that it will have to be completely defrosted.



    Cooking time: 10 minutes

    Servings: 4

    The energy value

    • calorie content - 42.0 kcal;
    • proteins - 1.5 g;
    • fats - 0.1 g;
    • carbohydrates - 8.8 g.

    Ingredients

    • beets - 1 kg.

    Step by step process

  1. Wash the fresh beets and peel them.
  2. Prepare packages. We lay out the vegetables in such a way that each has one root vegetable. This is done so that they do not get frozen with each other. Look at the photo for another packaging option.
  3. We remove the workpieces into the freezer.

Freezing grated beetroot recipe

The convenience of this method is that it is not necessary to defrost the vegetable before use (cooking, frying, etc.).


Cooking time: 15 minutes

Servings: 5

The energy value

  • calorie content - 42 kcal;
  • proteins - 1.5 g;
  • fats - 0.1 g;
  • carbohydrates - 8.8 g.

Ingredients

  • beets - 1 kg.

Step by step description

  1. Wash the beets and peel them.
  2. Then grind on a coarse grater (if desired, you can also on a fine one, but there will be a lot of juice).
  3. We pack it in portions in plastic containers or plastic bags and put it in the freezer for storage.

With fresh vegetables sorted out. Is it possible to freeze boiled beets and how to do it correctly, we will find out now.

Freeze tops recipe



Cooking time: 15 minutes

Servings: 1

The energy value

  • calorie content - 19.98 kcal;
  • proteins - 1.7 g;
  • fats - 0.27 g;
  • carbohydrates - 9.6 g.

Ingredients

  • beet tops - 1 bunch.

Step by step description of the process

  1. We thoroughly wash the beetle leaves under running cold water. We delete the damaged ones.
  2. Then you need to dry well. It is important that not a drop of moisture remains on them. Can be hung over a sink or left to drain in a colander until dry. Use napkins or paper towels to speed up the process. Put the tops on them in a thin layer and leave for a while.
  3. Cut the leaves with an ordinary knife. Large or small - you decide for yourself, whichever you like best.
  4. We put it in bags, remove all the air and put it in the freezer.

Freezing secrets

It is better to harvest beets in small portions, as re-freezing is highly discouraged. After all, getting several servings of beets is not a problem, but reducing the amount, provided that the product is frozen in one mass, it will not work. If you have a lot of blanks in the freezer, then stick a label with the name of the vegetable and the date on the container with the beets. This will help you track storage times.


How much can you store

Home freezing can be stored for 3-4 months on average. But with a good camera and the correct preparation process, the period can be increased to 1 year. At the same time, do not forget that the longer the beets lie, the less vitamins and mineral substances, and also taste worsens. The optimum temperature is -18 degrees. After a year, it is better to discard the vegetables.

In what container to store

Plain plastic bags are more often used. Their convenience is cheap and easily accessible. But for storage, special ones with a zip fastener are more suitable. They are durable, hermetically sealed, look neat and do not take up much space. Plastic containers are also suitable, both reusable and disposable. It is more convenient to sign them and move them around the camera during the search. the desired product or scheduled defrosting of the refrigerator.

Approaching the process with a soul, you can cook a lot healthy dishes with beets. And the blanks will become good helpers for the hostess, who strives to make the family's food useful and varied. After all, freezing vegetables is so easy!

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  1. Wash the sweet fruit thoroughly under running water.
  2. Boil the beets until tender.
  3. We take the boiled vegetable out of boiling water and cool it.
  4. Peel the cooled root crop. It should be easy to remove, without much effort. If the skin is difficult to remove, it means that the beets are poorly cooked.
  5. Grind the boiled beetroot using a fine (if you need to make a preparation for a salad) or a coarse grater (if the vegetable will be frozen for borscht).
  6. We lay out the grated beets in containers or ordinary plastic bags, and then put the product in the freezer.
  7. In winter, we take out the frozen vegetable from the refrigerator, give it time to melt and use it in cooking various dishes.

You can cook anything you want from frozen vegetables. But no matter what you decide to make from root crops, never forget about the simple rules for freezing and defrosting them. It is these simple culinary recommendations that will help you maintain freshness and beneficial features product.

There are several ways to grind fresh beets. It all depends on the individual preferences of the hostess and the purpose of the workpiece itself. However, it is better to still cut the beets into strips, cubes or just grate them.

Sometimes, the root vegetable is mashed using a blender or food processor. Even in this form, beets can be stored for a long time if they are properly frozen.

Freezing containers

Correct freezing of beets for the winter involves placing the chopped beet mass in separate containers or bags, that is, so that the product is initially laid out in portions.

Do not freeze and then defrost the root crop again. From this, he will lose his taste and almost all useful properties. You need to defrost as much as you can cook at a time.

Defrosting

It is very important not only to freeze the beets correctly, but also to defrost them correctly. The latter should preferably be done slowly.

It is better that the product begins to gradually melt while still in the refrigerator. To do this, take it out of the freezer and place it on the middle or even bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

You can defrost beets in another way. To do this, simply leave the container with the crushed root crop indoors, at the optimum room temperature. This will only speed up the defrosting process, but it is important not to take the root crop out of the bag or container at this time.

It is not advisable to reheat frozen vegetables in a microwave oven. There is a risk of overexposing the product in hot conditions. This will lead to the fact that the sweet root is simply unsuitable for cooking.

Raw beets for the winter: homemade freezing recipe

It is customary to freeze not only boiled beets, but also raw ones. Frozen fresh root vegetable is no worse in taste and useful properties than frozen cooked product.

Its only drawback is the time that the hostess will have to spend in winter preparing (cooking, stewing, etc.) of the vegetable for the cooking process.

How to freeze raw beets

  1. We wash vegetables under running water.
  2. We clean them from the skin.
  3. In any way (three on a grater, cut with a knife, scroll in a blender, etc.) chop the root crop.
  4. We lay out the beets in containers (containers, plastic jars or bags) and put them in the freezer.

There is nothing complicated about freezing beets for the winter. This is a very simple procedure that takes little time, moreover, it does not require special skills and abilities.

The product is stored for a long time, it is present on the shelves all year round, so there seems to be no point in specially preparing it for the winter. But if the harvest has grown up a noble one, but for not, there is nothing left but to try to freeze the root crop. It turns out that there are many ways to do this at home.

Are the beneficial substances preserved when frozen?

Perhaps the most rewarding way of harvesting vegetables for the winter. Firstly, it is very simple and fast (as opposed to conservation associated with long standing at the stove). Secondly, no additional resources are wasted, because your refrigerator works in one way or another all year round. And thirdly, in this case, almost all the nutrients that this or that plant product is rich in are preserved. In this regard, beets are no exception.

Important! For maximum preservation in all "riches" you need to try to freeze it as soon as possible after removing it from the garden- the faster the better!

Of course, it is not entirely correct to say that vitamins in frozen vegetables are completely preserved. For example, the loss of vitamin C in frozen beets will amount to about 25%, vitamin B1, which is also rich in it - almost the same. However, as they say, depending on what to compare.

Undoubtedly, a vegetable plucked from the garden is much healthier than thawed. But in winter there is nowhere to get fresh vegetables in the literal sense of the word. What we eat - in any case, was somehow stored, and not for one day. In order for vegetables to last until winter, they are usually harvested ahead of time and treated with special preparations that prevent decomposition and the formation of mold. This does not always give the expected result, so on the shelves you can often find fruits with signs of rot, fungus, and black spots indicating improper storage. So it turns out that a freshly frozen vegetable from our own dacha, with all its vitamin losses, is much healthier than one bought in a supermarket or at the market in the middle of winter.

And if we take into account that the beets stored in unclear under what conditions after the onset of cold weather also grows significantly in price, it becomes clear that freezing this root crop is not the worst way out!

Preparing beets for freezing

There are many recipes for frozen beets, however, in any case, for long-term storage, the vegetable must be properly prepared. First of all, you need to select root crops that are suitable for harvesting for the winter. For these purposes, only young, fresh, hard, fully ripe and preferably not very large specimens of a maroon color, without the slightest signs of lesions, rotting and other defects, are uniquely suitable.

Important! Early varieties of beets do not have very high taste, their cultivation has a different purpose.- saturate the market after a long period of vitamin deficiency. Such beets are not suitable for freezing!

In addition, you should avoid using roots for freezing, on the surface of which there are hairs, these vegetables are usually too tough.

We cut off the selected beets from two sides: where the tops were - under the base, the lower side - leaving part of the spout.

Wash thoroughly cold water and clean well with a brush. Now it remains to remove the peel, trying to grab only the uppermost layer with a knife (it is better to use a potato peeler, the so-called "housekeeper" instead of a knife).

The preliminary procedures have been done, now we are acting depending on the chosen procurement method.

Freezing methods

There are several ways to freeze beets.- raw or boiled, whole or in pieces, alone or as part of vegetable mix etc. You can use several in parallel different options, because each of them is suitable for its own dish: you can't make a vinaigrette from grated beets, and you can't put boiled beets in borscht.

Did you know? In the ancient Russian chronicles, beets began to be mentioned from the X-XI centuries. According to legend, the heroes believed that she not only heals many ailments, but also gives strength.

Fresh

So, before us is beetroot already peeled from the skin. It can be frozen whole. To do this, each root vegetable is placed in a separate plastic bag and placed in the freezer. The disadvantage of this method is that before using such a root vegetable, you will first need to completely defrost it, while chopped beets can be added to certain dishes (for example, in the same borscht) without defrosting. But there is also an advantage: you have many more possible directions for using such a product.

And yet, more often beets are frozen for the winter in a chopped form. You can cut the root vegetable into rings, chop into small cubes or grate - depending on which option for cutting vegetables is more familiar to you (for example, in the famous "herring under a fur coat", almost every housewife has her own form of cutting beets - someone loves grated, someone chopped, and there are lovers of very large slices). If you like fine grinding, you can use a blender and freeze almost puree.

Now we put the prepared pieces (slices, grated mass) in plastic bags or special food containers and put them in the freezer. If your refrigerator has a “quick freeze” function - great, if not - that's okay too. The main thing is not to let the juice of the beets!

Important! Instead of special containers for freezing, you can use ordinary plastic cups, tightening them on top with cling film and securing it on the sides with an elastic band.

Raw beets are used as a preparation for borscht (cut into small cubes or grated on a coarse grater). Alternatively, you can freeze the beetroot mix and, since the rules for harvesting these root crops for the winter are absolutely identical. It is enough to pack the vegetables in such a way that one portion corresponds to the required amount of ingredients that you usually use when cooking your signature dish, and then during the cooking process you will only have to add them to the borscht without defrosting. But this method also has a drawback. What you cook, borscht can only be called very conditionally.

Therefore, it is better to prepare the preparation for borscht in another way, we will describe it below.

Boiled

Boiled beets, like raw beets, can be frozen whole or chopped- it all depends on whether you prefer to tinker with slicing at the stage of preparation or before the final use of the product.

Important! It is better to cook unpeeled beets, so they will retain their color. For the same reason, you should not cut it off at the rhizome.

Bring the water to a boil, put the root vegetables in it and cook until tender. Beets are cooked long enough, it all depends on the variety and size of the vegetable, you can check the degree of readiness either by puncturing the root vegetable with a knife (the knife should easily enter the pulp) or, for more experienced housewives, carefully so as not to burn yourself by squeezing the beets with two fingers (boiled root vegetable loses its original hardness).

Cooled boiled beets are much easier to peel than raw beets. Now you can put whole root vegetables in packages, or, as in freezing raw vegetable, cut in any desired way. The prepackaged workpieces are sent to the freezer, preferably with the “quick freeze” mode.

Turn on this mode, if you have it, should be a couple of hours before loading the beets, in this case the desired effect will be achieved.

Boiled beets are used for vinaigrette, salads and other cold snacks.

Important! When boiled, beets lose their unique color. To preserve it in borscht, there is only one way: pre-stew the root vegetable with the addition of acid - citric or acetic.

Pour raw beets, grated on a coarse grater, into a cauldron with preheated vegetable oil... Add a teaspoon of sugar (based on one medium-sized root vegetable), a tablespoon of vinegar 9%, fill with water so that it barely covers the vegetables, bring to a boil, remove the heat to a minimum and simmer for 20 minutes. Let it cool, put it in glass jars in portions based on your usual borscht pan (about one medium beet for 3-4 liters) and freeze it along with the brine. On the eve of use (preferably in the evening) we take it out of the freezer and move it to the bottom shelf of the refrigerator so that the liquid melts.

With such a dressing, the borscht will have a rich red color and piquant sourness. Only beets should be vinaigrette, that is, a bright burgundy color: fruits that have a pink color in a white strip on the cut will not give such an effect!

Puree

Beetroot puree is often frozen if the family has small children. However, adults can also love this dish. For this recipe, the beets boiled in the above way are interrupted in a blender in mashed potatoes, laid out in small glass jars (one portion at a time) and sent to the freezer, preferably using superfreezing.

How to freeze beet tops

Oddly enough, not only the roots, but also the tops are good for beets, so this is a truly priceless product.

Did you know? If it is impossible to imagine ordinary borsch without beet root vegetables, then from the tops, which few people know about, you can cook green, and it will be no worse than the well-known version of sorrel. Moreover, both herbs can be used both fresh and frozen.

Freezing technology is as follows:

Leaves should be sorted out, carefully inspected and damaged and too hard removed. Then the greens are washed under running water, laid out on a dry towel and allowed to dry completely (periodically turning over to ensure uniformity).

Dry leaves are not cut very finely with a knife.(actually, just like you cut sorrel when making green borscht).

The prepared tops are packed in portioned packages and frozen in the above described way (the deeper and faster the freezing, the better).

How long can you store frozen beets

There is no consensus on this matter. Some experts say that frozen vegetables are stored for only 3-4 months, others are sure that they can be consumed at any time during the year. In any case, you should try to fully use your blanks until the young beetroot ripens in the beds. Having eaten enough of it, you can make fresh supplies for next winter, and there is no point in occupying the freezer with vegetables until next summer.

Considering that harvesting is usually done in early autumn, and young vegetables appear on the shelves by June, it is safe to say that the optimal period for using frozen root vegetables is 7-8 months. And during this time they will perfectly retain their qualities, unless, of course, you try to freeze them again.

How to defrost properly

Correct defrosting of beets is just as important as correct freezing.

Important! Freeze vegetables as quickly as possible and defrost as slowly as possible. These two conditions give the maximum preservation of all useful properties in the product.

The best option- the day before, take out the required amount of prepared vegetables from the freezer and transfer to the upper (or lower, if you want faster) shelf of the refrigerator. An accelerated option - defrosting at room temperature - is allowed as a last resort, but neither hot water nor microwave oven it is categorically impossible to use.

Another option is to send the root vegetables to the dish without defrosting. This method is suitable for raw frozen and pre-cut beets if you want to add them to a soup or sauce. It should be borne in mind that for the final readiness it will take much less time than a fresh product, so usually such a piece is added at the very end of cooking or stewing.

Did you know? The "fast freezing" (or "super freezing") mode is an additional bonus of modern expensive refrigerators. Its meaning is that you can manually turn off the thermostat, forcing the compressor to run continuously, cooling the chamber to the lowest possible temperature. In this case, the products that have got into the "freezer" are frozen not gradually, starting from the upper layers and gradually going deeper (this is exactly what happens in ordinary refrigerators), but almost entirely, which ensures the maximum safety of all nutrients in them.

But boiled beets, which are usually used in salads, must be defrosted beforehand, otherwise it will let the juice right in the dish and ruin your whole holiday.

All the most important tips have already sounded one way or another, but we will repeat them to consolidate:

  1. Any vegetables must be prepared in separate portions, just as much as needed to be used at a time.
  2. Under no circumstances should a thawed product be re-frozen. Figure out how to use it, or, if you are a really bad housewife, just throw it away, but do not poison yourself or your family with unsuitable food.
  3. If your equipment provides such an opportunity, use the “super freeze” function (it can also be called “fast” or “deep”). In this case, the product is "canned" immediately, as if freezing "alive", in the form in which it was originally.
  4. For proper freezing, a temperature of at least minus 10 ° С is required, the optimal temperature is minus 18 ° С.
  5. If you are going to harvest boiled beets, do not peel them before boiling.
  6. You can freeze only table varieties of beets, the early one is unsuitable for these purposes.
  7. Only fresh, young and undamaged root vegetables should be selected.
  8. The less time has passed between removing the beets from the garden and placing them in the freezer, the more useful properties will be preserved in the workpiece.
  9. If the harvesting is carried out several times per season, it is advisable to mark the date of the bookmark on each portion, so that you can use the earlier vegetables first, and leave the fresher ones until the next time.

Frozen beets are not a very common harvesting option for our ear for the winter. However, in this way, much more nutrients can be stored in a vegetable than if it is improperly stored somewhere in a cellar or in a vegetable warehouse. It is only important to know the basic rules and strictly adhere to the technology, then delicious and nutritious dishes with this most valuable root vegetable will be on your table all year round!

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Beets are a healthy product. And therefore, it must be included in your diet. And especially in winter, because at this time of the year the body receives much less vitamins than in summer or autumn.

But not every housewife loves to tinker with this vegetable, especially if boiled beets are needed. After all, it takes so long to cook! Yes and workplace after it you have to wash.

But beets can be frozen. What is the advantage of this harvesting method?

  • You just need to devote time to the beets once, preparing them for the winter, and after that washing everything in the kitchen. But then you can just take a bag of beets, which have already been cut, as required by the recipe, and add to the dish. As they say, with one movement of the hand!
  • Almost all nutrients are preserved in frozen beets. But if there is no special room for storing root crops (cellar, basement), then it is unrealistic to store beets in an apartment for a long time. It will still start to sprout, rot or deteriorate.
  • In winter, beets on the market are much more expensive than in autumn. And it is not a fact that it will be of high quality. Very often in winter, beets are sold either frozen or with black spots, indicating that the beets have begun to deteriorate.

Preparing beets for freezing

Beets are frozen both raw and boiled.

But in any case, beets intended for freezing must be flawless. The root crop should be smooth, strong, dark burgundy in color.

Do not freeze very large beets, as well as those with a lot of hairs (thin roots) on the tail. It is believed that such beets are very tough, which can affect the quality of frozen products.

The base of the tops of the beet is cut off, part of the tail is left.

Root crops are thoroughly washed with a brush.

How to freeze raw beets

Although it is believed that frozen raw beets changes in color during cooking, this preparation method is very popular due to its simplicity.

The washed beets are peeled and washed well again.

Spread out on paper towels and wait for all the water to drain and the beets are dry.

Method 1... Beets are cut into cubes, strips or slices. It depends on the preferences of the hostess and on what dishes the vegetable is prepared for.

The chopped beets are placed in small bags, preferably intended for freezing food, and sealed or tied, not forgetting to make a note that the beets are raw.

If you want the slices not to be frozen to one another, the beets are frozen in two stages.

First, the chopped beets are laid out in a thin layer on a tray, covered with foil and put into the freezer for 1-2 hours. During this time, the beets will freeze.

Then it is laid out in small bags, air is pumped out of them and well closed. The bags prepared in this way are placed in the freezer.

Method 2... Rub the beets on a medium or fine grater and put them in bags, giving them a flat shape. Or placed in plastic containers. The container is well closed, signed and put into the freezer.

How to freeze boiled beets

Method 1... Washed root vegetables are baked directly in the peel in the oven until soft.

Peel and cool well.

Beets are cut according to their preferences. For example, for a vinaigrette, it is better to cut it into small cubes, and in an appetizer, beets will look better if cut into strips.

So that the chopped beets do not turn into one large lump during the freezing process, they are frozen in two steps.

To do this, the beets are laid out in one layer on a flat dish and placed in the freezer for 1-2 hours. During this time, the beetroot pieces will be covered with an ice shell and will no longer stick to each other.

After that, the beets are packaged in portioned sachets, hermetically sealed, signed, indicating that the beets are boiled, and put into the freezer.

Method 2... Washed but not peeled beets are placed in a saucepan, poured with cold water and placed on the stove.

Cook until tender.

To prevent the beets from losing their color, you need to monitor the boil - it should be barely noticeable. Some housewives add a little vinegar to the water, which helps to preserve the color of the beets.

Boiled beets are immediately dipped in cold water and then peeled.

The beets prepared in this way are cut into cubes or otherwise.

Freeze according to the same principle as in the first option.

Some housewives are interested in whether it is possible to freeze beets cooked without a peel.

Of course. But in such beets there will be a little less nutrients, although this will not affect the appearance of the vegetable.

So that the beets do not lose their rich color, they are boiled at a low boil, and the boiled beets are quickly rinsed with very cold water and placed in the refrigerator until they cool completely. This technique returns the original color to the beets. Tested in practice!

Method 3... Boiled and chilled beets are grated on a medium or fine grater and placed in small plastic containers or thick plastic bags.

They are well sealed, closed or tied and put into the freezer for further storage.

How to freeze beetroot puree

This puree is prepared for baby food.

Washed beets, without peeling, are boiled until tender.

Rinse with cold water and peel.

Cut into pieces and grind in a blender.

Place in small plastic containers or bags, close well and put in the freezer.

Such mashed potatoes are added to the dish at the very end of cooking, both frozen and thawed.

The shelf life of frozen beets in any way is 8-10 months.

How to defrost beets

Beets are thawed in the plus compartment of the refrigerator or at room temperature, for example, grated beets that they want to use for salad.

Raw frozen beets require further heat treatment. But remember that frozen beets cook much faster than fresh beets. It can be added to a dish during cooking without defrosting in advance.

And beets, frozen in boiled form, are placed in the cooking dish at the very end of cooking.

Foreword

We all regularly eat dishes and various preparations that contain beets. This vegetable is available in almost every kitchen. We are so used to it that sometimes we don’t even know how useful it is for our body! And in order to get all the vitamins we need all year round, we will figure out how to freeze beets for the winter.

1 Benefits available to everyone - beets against diseases

This vegetable is recommended for people who have an iron deficiency in the body. To replenish it with useful trace elements constantly, you should think about freezing at home. It is also able to significantly improve the condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Children who are allergic to any product should definitely eat this root vegetable.

In addition, it can cure various diseases of the thyroid gland, improve the functioning of the heart muscle and brain. Beets are even credited with preventing the formation of malignant tumors. People suffering from high blood pressure should definitely include this vegetable in their diet - the pressure will gradually return to normal.

It is worth noting that it is necessary to exclude the vegetable from eating for those who are sick diabetes mellitus... It contains a large number of sucrose.

This should also include people who have been diagnosed with urolithiasis and have low blood pressure (from the use of a root vegetable it will decrease even more). Now let's figure out how to freeze beets for the winter in the freezer to enjoy their taste and health all year round.

2 Harvesting beets for the winter - freezing recipes in different forms

Having touched on this issue, one cannot fail to mention one more - is it possible to freeze raw beets for the winter? Undoubtedly! This unique vegetable is frozen both boiled and raw. So, first we will consider a method of harvesting already boiled root crops.

Boiled frozen beets for the winter are good because you will save time later - they will not need to be boiled, they are already ready for use. The recipe is simple: first, cook pre-washed vegetables. Then, when they have cooled, peel them. A well-cooked vegetable should peel off easily.

Once you have cleaned the root vegetables, you need to grind them using a regular grater. Some hostesses prefer to cut it into small pieces or strips. Then we lay out the prepared vegetable slices in plastic bags and put them in the freezer for storage. And what did not fit into the camera, you can or piece by piece - on our website you will find the necessary recipes.

3 Raw beets for the winter in the freezer - cooking method

Raw vegetables must be rinsed under running water and then peeled. The next step is grinding. There are many options: you can grate the beets on a fine or coarse grater, cut into strips, rings or cubes, or even make mashed potatoes with a blender. Put the chopped beets in bags. You can use plastic jars or small containers as containers.

Is it possible to freeze beets while preserving their benefits

Many housewives often have a question, is it possible to freeze beets, preserving their benefits until the next harvest? After all, this root vegetable is rightfully one of the most popular vegetables.

Let's find out in more detail why beets are so useful for humans, and whether it is possible to freeze them for the winter. Well, first of all, let's pay attention to the color of this vegetable. It has a bright red color because it contains betaine, which is able to warn the human body against cardiovascular disease... In the old days, people treated many diseases of the circulatory system with this root crop.

In general, beets are most often used for making borscht and salads. Therefore, it will have a corresponding cutting shape.
Have you decided on the shape and size? Then let's get started.

A. Harvesting raw beets in strips or straws.
Cut the peeled beets into thin strips of equal length. There are many chopping options, you can cut it with a knife, on a special grater, chop in a combine with the appropriate attachment.

Fold the straws in a bag (it is better to do it with a spoon) with a Zip-Lock, release as much air as possible, sign the label, be sure to indicate that the beets are RAW and set the freezing date.

How to freeze raw beets for the winter?

Such beets are best suited for making borscht.

Armed with a grater, grate the beets as much as you like. Personally, I rub most of the whole lot of beets for freezing, because I cook borscht in a week, and such a frozen preparation helps me a lot.

The process of rubbing beets is not quick, so you can resort to additional help - use a food processor. The technique will grind the vegetable many times faster, and there will be much less splashing.

By the way about them. If you rub beets by hand, then you can hardly avoid them. Therefore, in order not to wash the kitchen and other appliances from the beet spots after hours, put on an apron and cover with a cloth or towel those kitchen appliances to which spray can fly. Your hands from working with beets will be stained; medical or plastic gloves will help to avoid this.

And in order to remove beet juice from the surface of the skin and kitchen appliances there is a simple folk remedy- mix lemon juice With salt. Rub a cutting board with this mixture, and then wash with any detergent. Rub your hands with this mixture in the same way, and then wash with soap.

Freezing whole beets

Is it possible to freeze whole beets for future use? Of course, this is how you can prepare fresh and boiled root vegetables.

Fresh root vegetables should not be peeled from the rind, tail and tops with the remaining tops. Vegetables, without defrosting or cutting, are dipped in water or broth, not forgetting to acidify the liquid. When the beets are cooked, they take them out and cool. Peel off the root vegetables and chop them, giving the shape required by the technology of the dish being prepared. In this case, the color of root crops, slices and broths will be saturated.


Boiled beet cubes can be used to make salads such as vinaigrette.

It's very simple: cut, transfer to a bag, release the air and freeze by signing the label. Be sure to defrost these cubes before adding them to the salad.

Put the boiled beets in cold water for 10-15 minutes. Then peel and cut into strips or cubes. Dry on sieves, spread out in a thin layer, at a temperature of 70-80 ° C. Store in a tightly closed container.

The main " Seafood Dishes " Is it possible to freeze whole beets for the winter. Frozen beets for the winter - a recipe with step by step photos how to freeze in fresh at home

In frozen form, beets retain a maximum of active nutrients and vitamins, which are then well absorbed by the human body. Storing fresh vegetables in a cool basement does not have the same positive effect on the nutrient retention of the fruit as if it were frozen for the winter season.

Beets contain a large amount of useful vitamin C. In frozen vegetables, this vitamin remains in 90% of the original volume.

The easiest way to freeze beets is in a regular refrigerator or its freezer. To prevent harmful fungi and bacteria from settling in the food, and also so that the product does not lose its natural appearance, it should be properly processed. You can rinse the vegetable, chop it, or even boil it. For each of these methods, the principle of freezing will be the same.

Choose the hardest, strongest beads that appeal to you in appearance. Do not take large ones - they will be difficult to freeze, since a large volume takes longer to cool and is more difficult to store in small containers. For deep cooling, it is necessary that there are minimum fibrous veins inside the beets. Wash the vegetable under running water and dry thoroughly. Do not use special devices for drying, natural air drying will be the most useful and correct.

For storage at home, both transparent bags and professional containers and boxes are used. Do not use containers with large volumes - they take up a lot of space, and you will also need to consume all the beets in the container on the day of defrosting.

Keep in mind that if you defrost a product for cooking, then it should be processed on the current day. Otherwise, you will get the taste, but you will lose the beneficial properties.

Storing boiled beets in the freezer


To boiled vegetable retained all its nutritional properties, you need to find specimens in your harvest that are whole in shape and always with a tail. In no case should the vegetable be deformed or cut into pieces before cooking. Also, the tops remain intact. For cooking, vinegar will be needed to preserve the rich shade of the root crop and extend its useful life.

After cooking, you should decide in what form it will be convenient to freeze the beets for the winter in the freezer and store them in the future. You can chop finely, rub on a coarse grater, or leave it intact. If you chose the chopping option, then you first need to peel the fruit. In the size of the slices, be guided by your own taste preferences.

If you plan to use the product for cooking beet soup or use it in salad recipes, you need to finely chop it on a grater. This will make it convenient to prepare the dish after defrosting.

If you are going to make a traditional Russian vinaigrette or other similar salad from beets, it is recommended to shape the slices into stars or regular squares. After processing the root vegetable, you need to place it in a deep-freeze mold.

In the future, to prepare meals, you will need to prepare the vegetable in advance for gradual defrosting. However, if you decide on a hot dish like soup or borscht, then defrosting is optional. When processed with temperature, beets will already retain their taste properties, so you can add it in frozen grated form to boiling water.

Freezing raw beets


Raw vegetables are also stored in the freezer, only the peel is pre-cut from them. Peeled beets need to be grated, chopped in a blender or food processor. Can be cut into small pieces with a knife. The small pieces are then packed into containers or bags you have, sealed tightly and placed in the freezer.

If frozen as a whole, you will need to defrost it correctly:

  1. Place the whole vegetable in water with a little acid (acetic acid is fine).
  2. Cook until tender and then chill gradually.
  3. The next step is to cleanse the shell.
  4. The cleaned product is cut and cut in such a shape that is needed to prepare the selected dish. At the same time, the original color of the beets remains the same bright, since we pre-treated them with acid.

After defrosting, the mass of the beets will become slightly different and lose their elasticity. When frozen, water penetrates deep into the mass between the fibers of the vegetable and thereby damages its original integrity.

If a refrigerator is used to store a fresh product, you should not deprive the vegetable of its natural shell, since it is this shell that allows you to preserve useful properties and prevent microbes from entering. The same applies to the tops. It retains nutritional properties that will help keep the product fresh.

How to store beets properly?


It is better to harvest vegetables in several versions for different dishes. Finely chopped beets that have been stored in a container will resemble a single mass after defrosting. In this case, it will not be possible to use it for salad, it will lose its shape. However, it can be easily added to soup or borscht, so this storage option is preferable for further cooking.

If you plan to cook salads, it is necessary to properly prepare so that initially the root vegetable slices are not closely pressed against each other:

  1. Find a large tray in the house and arrange the pieces so that they do not fill the entire container tightly.
  2. Wrap with cling film.
  3. This tray must then be placed in the freezer. If the tray won't fit, try a large bowl.
  4. Then set the fast freeze mode and count one hour. If your refrigerator does not have this function, then the time will increase slightly.
  5. Then the slices are removed from the bowl and packed into bags and containers. In this case, the water that gets inside the fiber will not be able to combine with each other, and the pieces will retain their shape.

Fresh frozen beets gradually turn pale. If the root vegetable is subsequently cooked, it acquires an unappetizing brown appearance, and the dishes are insufficiently colored. The problem is solved by adding a small amount of vinegar during cooking.

Freeze the vinaigrette in the freezer


You can freeze a half-finished salad, but you should defrost it only once and eat it right away. Perishable food and dressing are not suitable for deep freezing. Onions, for example, lose their properties very quickly; it makes no sense to freeze them. Pick out the most basic ingredients in your salad and prepare them for storage in the freezer.

Beets for vinaigrette are boiled, peeled, diced and frozen. Before adding, it is thawed at room temperature so as not to lose flavor and color. It is categorically impossible to use quick defrosting, otherwise there is a risk of getting a tasteless and bland dish without useful properties.

Inna
Is it possible to freeze grated beets for the winter? How to do it correctly?

It has become a tradition to freeze fresh vegetables and fruits for the winter. Stocky owners purchase refrigerators with separate freezers for these purposes. Sometimes they have a question: is it possible to freeze this or that product, whether it will retain its qualities. This also applies to vegetables such as beets. Will its taste and color change if you freeze grated or cut into pieces fresh beets at home? We will try to answer the question, as well as tell you how to do this correctly in order to prevent the loss of vitamins contained in fresh fruits.

In winter, our body lacks vitamins, which must be eliminated, for this you need to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Nowadays, this has become possible with home freezing of fresh seasonal fruits in refrigerators and freezers. For many years, people have been using this method of preserving food, there are many proven facts of its effectiveness:


Frozen beets retain their beneficial properties
  • useful substances and microelements are preserved by 90%;
  • the safety of the product is higher than where the beets can dry out or become moldy;
  • for cooking, you have an almost ready-made ingredient, chopped, grated or whole, depending on how the product was frozen.

Attention! After defrosting, the beets have a rich color, but the subsequent heat treatment makes it lighter. To avoid this, vinegar should be added, even fresh beets have the same properties, they largely depend on the variety and quality of the frozen vegetable.

Freezing beets at home

You may have a question: which beets are better to freeze, fresh or boiled, and opinions differ here. Some purveyors advise freezing only fresh vegetables, while others - boiled ones. All the pros and cons, you can experience it yourself. We recommend both methods.

Freezing method for fresh beets:


Freezing boiled beets. Boiled beets are most often frozen for fast food vinaigrette and salads. The method is identical to freezing fresh vegetable, only at the very beginning, the beets are boiled until fully cooked in the peel, then peeled.

The shape of the product to be frozen depends on the dish in which you will use it, for borscht - grated on a coarse grater or cut into cubes, for vinaigrettes - in the form of cubes. You can freeze whole beets, the main thing is to remove the skin.

The frozen product is stored in the freezer for at least 5-8 months. It will satisfy your body's need for the necessary useful substances during the long winter.

How to freeze beets for the winter: video