Can You Freeze Peas?

There’s nothing quite like that feeling of working all season on your garden and then, at harvest, reaping the rewards for all your hard work. So, of course you want to make sure you can preserve all those peas and not waste them. So, can you freeze peas?

Well, as a matter of fact, not only can you freeze peas, but it’s not difficult at all and will extend their freshness date up to a whole year! That means you can grow and freeze enough peas to last all the way up until your next harvest. And this method works with just about any type of pea. Green peas, English peas, Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet Peas, Snow peas, Purple Hull Peas, you get the picture.

Can You Freeze Peas?

Yes, you can easily freeze peas with a simple flash freeze and blanching process. All you need to do is pick them, shell them, wash, blanch, flash freeze, bag, and stick them in your freezer.

The methods we’ll discuss today will cover any type of pea you want to preserve.

Freezing Stats

Blanched	yes 1 to 2 minutes depending on size and amount
Time To Freeze	2 to 4 hours (flash freeze) 24 hours (deep freeze)
Time to Thaw	overnight in fridge no thaw when added to recipes
Uses	anything that calls for fresh peas
Freezer Life	up to 12 months

Why should you freeze them?

Peas have a lot of great health benefits. For one, they are naturally anti-inflammatory without the risk that comes with taking Ibuprofen. Peas are also loaded with a wide variety of vitamins (C, E, A, and B), antioxidants (zinc, catechin, and epicatechin), as well as a whole host of other nutrients to help boost your immune system, improve digestion, and protect your eyes from disease.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Freezer Life	Fridge Life
up to 12 months	3 to 5 days

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• peas
• 2 colanders (1 for for washing and 1 for blanching)
• large mixing bowl (for blanching)
• large stock pot (for blanching ice bath)
• kitchen timer
• cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
• Measuring cup
• Freezer bags or Silicon Freezer bowls
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer

How To Freeze Peas

Freezing peas is really simple. Some might even say it’s…

…easy peasy…(I’ll show myself out)

Seriously, though, this whole process really is not difficult, at all. And, it works with any kind of peas, no matter what kind you may have grown. Really the only thing that differs is the time spent blanching and that is more dependent on the size and amount of peas you are blanching. We make sure to not do more than a pound or two at a time. Here are a couple rough estimates on blanching times for:

• Sugar Snap Peas and Snow Peas - 1:00
• Green peas, English Peas, and Sweet Peas - 1:30
• Purple Hull Peas - 2:00

How to blanch

One of the most common questions we get about freezing food is can you freeze peas without blanching them first? Technically, yes. But you could also store them in the back of your toilet tank but we wouldn’t advise that either.

The reason it’s so important to blanch before freezing is because many fruits and veggies have a certain type of enzyme that causes them to continue aging even when they are frozen; albeit a little bit slower. Peas, like brussel sprouts, rhubarb, and okra contain this aging enzyme.

When we blanch, we are essentially cooking the peas for a short amount of time. That heat kills the enzyme, making the peas safe to freeze.

When we move from the boiling water to the ice bath, that stops the cooking process and leaves the veggie in a relatively uncooked state.

• Boiled a large pot of water
• While waiting for the water to boil, fill a large mixing bowl with ice water
• Dump your peas into a colander or vegetable steamer basket if your colander won’t fit in the pot
• With the water at a rolling boil, lower your peas into the pot
• Set a timer between 1 and 2 minutes depending on the size and amount of peas you are blanching at one time
• When the timer goes off, remove the peas from the hot water and lower them into the bowl of ice water
• Set a timer for the same amount of time you did for blanching
• when that timer goes off, remove the peas from the ice bath
• use a paper towel to pat dry your peas and remove as much moisture as possible
• move to the next step

How To Flash Freeze

When we flash freeze we are making sure the outer layer, or skin, of the peas are solid and do not have any moisture that can freeze to other peas in the freezer bag.

• wrap a baking pan or cookie sheet in parchment paper or aluminum foil
• spread a single layer of peas across the pan
• place them in the freezer and set a timer for 2 to 4 hours
• while you wait, label your freezer bags with the contents, freeze date, and use by date
• when the timer goes off, pull the pan from the freezer and move to the next steps

We use flash freezing with all sorts of different fruits and veggies like blueberries, blackberries, carrots, watermelon and cantaloupe chunks, and raspberries.

Freezing peas

Here are the steps to freezing peas.

• if need be, shell your peas and put them into a colander
• place the colander under some running water and wash any dirt from the peas
• start the blanching process
• you can start preparing the cookie pan for flash freezing while you wait for the water to boil
• after you finish blanching, start the flash freeze
• when you hav finished the flash freeze, measure out the peas by portion size and bag them in your pre-labeled freezer bags
• squeeze as much air out of the bags as possible
• place the bags in the freezer for 24 undisturbed hours so they can freeze completely