Is it possible to freeze fresh onions? How to freeze green onions. Is it possible to freeze onions without heat treatment?

Flowers 28.03.2022
Flowers

In the summer, when there is an abundance of seasonal greens, many housewives wonder how to properly prepare green onions for the winter, and whether they can be frozen at home. Not only is it possible, but it is necessary! Recipes with photos for beginners from an experienced hostess with useful tips, will be a reliable answer and visual aid.

It is important to take into account that greens grown in greenhouse conditions in cold and less sunny seasons are poor in the nutrients and vitamins that are inherent in a seasonal harvest. And the price issue is not always in last place. Profitable and economical: collect feathers on the plot, buy and store green onions for the winter at the beginning of summer.
Fortunately, today this is not at all difficult to do, and if the space in the freezer allows you to place supplies there, then why not preserve the fruits of the summer harvest by stocking up for future use.

One of the simple, quick and universal ways to prepare greens (not only green onions, but also dill or parsley) is the freezing method. Due to the fact that the product cannot be cooked, fermented, or salted, but is prepared in its natural form, it retains all the useful components.

To prepare fresh green onions for the coming winter, by freezing them in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, you only need to know three things: best recipes and simple techniques.

You can freeze either whole or sliced. For liquid dishes, it is best to chop the onion arrows in advance and put them in the freezer. In winter, all you have to do is take out a bag, take the required amount of chopped herbs for hot dishes and a jar of sorrel.
But for salads, it is best to save green onions for future use in their whole form, without chopping them.

Let's take a closer look and look at the intricacies of each method.

For this we need:

  • Large bunch of green onions
  • Small plastic cups - 4 pcs.
  • Cling film or thick cellophane
  • Packages - T-shirt - 1 pc.
  • Plastic bottle - 500 ml
  • Paper napkins - 10-15 pcs. You can also use a hairdryer to dry the greens.
  • Water.

Yield of the finished product: from one and a half kg of green onions, taking into account the fact that the white part of the arrow is cut for freezing, you get one package of chopped onions, 4 plastic cups with the preparation, one full plastic bottle and five whole onion preparations, preserved in cling film.

Preparation
Sort the onions, rinse thoroughly under running cold water and shake off any remaining water or remove excess liquid using paper napkins. Separate 5-7 onion arrows for further slicing.

The first recipe with a photo will show ways to preserve a feather for future use in a bag, cellophane, or in the freezer:

how to freeze green onions for the winter, whole and chopped


The second method is even more practical and does not require much time from the housewife.

  1. Bow arrows washed under running water are laid out on cellophane or cling film and rolled up into a tube.
  2. The excess film is cut off, and its edges are moistened with water and fixed.
  3. These are the blanks of bow feathers with arrows in their entirety that can be obtained at home, as in the photo below.

Another option, which is more time-consuming and space-consuming in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, but at the same time very convenient, is how to prepare green onions for the winter in plastic cups.

Preparation in this way is perfect for further use in soups or borscht. Just take out a frozen mold of onions with ice and put them in the boiling broth a couple of minutes before it is ready.
Chopped green onions are placed in plastic cups.

Fill with cold water to the edge and cover with cling film so that the greens do not absorb and transfer the smell to other nearby products.

Transfer to the freezer until the water is completely frozen.

When ready, that is, frozen, the cups are removed from the cold and placed under running warm water for half a minute. After this reception, the contents of the ice and onions are easily removed from the plastic glass. Such portioned preparations can be put into a bag and sent back to the freezer.

We also share one simple, but requiring compliance with certain rules, method of preparation -

freeze green onions for the winter in a plastic bottle

  1. Before cutting the onion, you need to rinse it well and dry it using thick napkins. You can dry the bow arrows in the sun for at least half an hour or direct the cold air of a hairdryer onto the greens.
  2. The cut and the bottle must be completely dry - this is the most important rule for this method of preserving greenery. Only in this form will frozen onions spill out of the bottle without any problems, and not turn into a wet mixture that will have no use.
  3. The bottle is filled with chopped onions and closed with a lid.

That's all the secrets of home recipes: how you can quickly and easily prepare green onions by freezing, preserving their freshness and aroma throughout the winter.

For more on the topic, check out:

Green onions are an excellent product, they are actively used for preparing first and second courses, for pickling and marinade, and also add a unique taste to cold appetizers, salads, sandwiches, fried meat, fish and sauces. You can grow green onions in your garden plot, in a garden bed near your house, and even at home on a windowsill or loggia. To preserve the beneficial properties of the vegetable, green onions are frozen for the winter.

How to freeze green onions for the winter

Green onions are delicious both fresh and frozen. To freeze this product, you need to remove the earthen dirt from the base and rinse under running water, cut off the roots (if any). Then the green feathers must be cut into large or small ring pieces, placed in sealed plastic bags or containers and placed in the freezer.

Important! We freeze only clean, green feathers without signs of dirt or rot.

Green onions can be frozen with vegetables by placing them between vegetable layers. It goes well with carrots, beets, cabbage, and not a single special event or party can do without it.

How to freeze green onions for the winter (video)

About the benefits of green onions

Beneficial properties of green onions:

  • improves digestion;
  • helps cleanse the body;
  • has preventive properties;
  • increases immunity;
  • antiseptic, kills most pathogenic bacteria;
  • strengthens the structure of hair and nail plates;
  • normalizes work internal organs;
  • strengthens tooth enamel and prevents bleeding gums.

Negative effects of green onions on the body

You should not overuse green onions if you have gastrointestinal diseases. Best used as a seasoning or food additive, preferably boiled.


Frozen green onion feathers retain all their beneficial qualities and have the same effect on the body as fresh onions. Therefore, we listen to our body, because everything is good in moderation and the use of green feathers in dishes also requires the norm. Don't overdo it, your health is in your hands!

Green onions can be purchased at a grocery store, market, gardening associations, and specialized food stores. But more often it is grown in personal plots, vegetable gardens or at home. Undoubtedly this is very useful product. It is actively used in cooking as an addition to a dish or as an independent dish, only by adding mayonnaise sauce to it.


Storing green onions and using them in cooking depends on your taste needs and characteristics.

Harvesting greens for the winter (video)

Reviews and comments

  • Nadezhda 03/13/2017

    I started freezing greens about five years ago. First, I used the freezer capacity of the refrigerator and froze the berries first. The next year I bought a special chest-freezer and that’s where it all came into play. Including green onions. Considering the price of a bunch of onions on the market in winter, this is not only a tasty help for various dishes, but also a significant savings. And the process, as you can see, is not at all complicated and does not require much time.

    Add a comment
  • Of the foods beneficial to the body, onions are one of the best natural immunostimulants, with strong bactericidal properties, and among the most affordable. Keep onions, prepared for the winter, at home for a long time and without waste, knowledge of some techniques and simple rules will help.

    How to store onions

    Representatives of later species are better preserved until February and March (sometimes longer). In addition, for long-term storage of onions, it is important to harvest them on time and correctly, taking into account the characteristics of each variety. The ripening of the crop is determined by the yellowing and lodging of the feathers.

    The collection is carried out on a sunny day, carefully digging up the heads (preferably with a pitchfork), pulling them out by the leaves and laying them out to dry in the open air. The remaining soil on them is removed with your hands without hitting them: if they have even small “bruises”, they are unsuitable for long-term storage.

    Onion sets and onion sets for planting are stored differently. Future planting material to become collateral good harvest, requires special conditions:

    • the first option is to dry it well and store it at a temperature no higher than 18-20°C;
    • the second - after drying, they are put away in the cold (-1...+2°C), but before spring planting they are warmed up at room temperature for two weeks.

    If storage conditions are not met, the seeds dry out or subsequently shoot.

    Keeping quality

    This is one of the important characteristics of the product; it expresses the ability not to lose commercial quality and weight for months. In addition to storage conditions, the keeping quality of onions in winter is influenced by the choice of variety, the agricultural technology used, and the timing of harvesting.

    The most durable varieties are the sharp varieties with dense scales, but they usually do not have the highest yield due to the small size of the heads. On an industrial scale, they are stored at -2...+3°C, providing air humidity up to 70-80%, and sweet and semi-sharp ones - at 0...+1°C. It is important that the onion storage temperature and humidity remain constant: if they change, untimely germination of the vegetable and the development of diseases are possible.

    Storage rules

    Compliance with the following rules will help you winter onions comfortably:

    • well dried after harvesting in a well-ventilated place at +25...35°C, the root crop produces a minimum of waste during storage. If it is possible to then warm it up for 10-12 hours at a temperature ten degrees higher, its shelf life will increase even more. You need to turn it over periodically;
    • if weather conditions do not allow drying the vegetable outdoors, this can be done indoors by braiding it. An important condition is that the foliage is completely dried to avoid the development of neck rot. Bulbs with thin, dry tops are woven using twine or another type of rope;
    • Nets, bags, vegetable boxes made of wood or cardboard with a sufficient number of holes are suitable as storage containers. The main thing is the possibility of free air circulation. Wooden containers and parts are not painted to protect against mold and mildew (the smell of the paint will be absorbed into the vegetables), but are whitened with lime;
    • When storing onions, dry tops are cut off, leaving a stem 3-4 cm long. The bulbs are carefully inspected so that slightly rotten ones do not become a source of infection for others;
    • Medium-sized heads last the longest - 6-8 cm in diameter. Large ones do not last long; they are best consumed as food after small and spoiled ones;
    • the vegetable layer should not be more than 30-50 cm;
    • if root crops become damp during storage, after inspection and drying you need to transfer them to another, dry container;
    • an attic in a private house while maintaining a temperature of 0-2°C - best place for storing vegetables. If it is difficult to maintain a low level of air humidity in a basement or cellar, natural sorbents in the form of ash or sawdust, which absorb excess moisture, will help correct the situation;
    • onions stored for storage must be periodically - once every one and a half to two months - sorted and inspected, promptly removing spoiled or dried out ones.

    Thus, with a little effort, you can preserve root vegetables until the appearance of spring onions, green sets and young leeks.

    How to store peeled onions

    Modern onion varieties of Dutch, German, English selection (not only the most popular Stuttgarter Risen, but also its heterotic hybrids Centurion and Sturon, as well as Orion from Great Britain and others) have excellent keeping quality.

    However, with long-term storage of onions of any kind, spoilage of more or less of it is possible. Slightly rotten stored heads are cleaned of scales, damaged areas are removed to produce healthy pulp.

    • grease the sections of the bulbs with vegetable oil or fat and place the root vegetables in plastic bags or glass or plastic containers;
    • place on a layer of salt;
    • place in a saucepan with water, changing it every 2-3 days;
    • Wrap thoroughly in cling film and store in the vegetable compartment.

    In this way, you can store peeled onions for at least a week.

    Storage at home

    Fully ripened, thoroughly dried onions, in a state of deep physiological dormancy, can be stored in an apartment for a long time if certain rules are followed. The temperature and humidity differ from those in storage, attics or cellars, but the principle remains the same - maintaining onions correctly will help to maintain these parameters at the same, stable level. The temperature range is +18…+22ºС, air humidity is from 50 to 70%.

    Using traditional drying methods, you can tie the bulbs into braids, or, as they are called, fagots. For strength, twine is used in weaving. Subsequently, the bulbs are cut from the bundles as needed. In winter, at home, such a braid is a source of phytoncides, disinfecting the air in the house.

    Whether onions can be stored in the refrigerator depends on the shelf life. Not long - up to two weeks - quite. Then, without access to air, it becomes soft and moldy. IN small apartments in the absence of a pantry, the only option - storing onions on the balcony - is possible if the temperature on the glazed loggia in winter does not fall below -6°C. It is impossible to predict how long onions will last in balcony conditions.

    A short-term drop in temperature will make it more tasty and sweet, but it will quickly freeze in prolonged frosts.

    Alternative storage methods

    Thrifty owners come up with, in addition to traditional ways storing the bulbs in braids or in large containers are other options for storing a valuable vegetable at home.

    Freezing

    Small parts of onions after inspecting them and trimming spoiled parts, as well as the remaining chopped pieces can be placed in the freezer. The technology for freezing onions for the winter has a nuance: first, the finely chopped vegetable is laid out on a board or flat plate, placed in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, then poured into a bag that is constantly in the freezer.

    Subsequently, the frozen onions are not thawed, but are immediately added for thermal cooking. There are no options as to whether it is possible to freeze onions in other ways.

    Drying

    This method allows the vegetable to retain its properties and nutrients, reducing the volume it occupies by 10-15 times. It is suitable for owners of small-sized homes, in which it is difficult to find space for even a small supply of root vegetables.

    The only drawback of the method is the onion aroma that accompanies the process. It is not suitable for people with allergies or those who simply react strongly to strong odors. For the rest, it is enough to constantly ventilate the room in which the drying takes place.

    The heads are cleaned, finely chopped and placed in an electric dryer or on a baking sheet in the oven at a temperature of 40-50°C. During drying, you need to stir the pieces periodically. After 3-4 hours they can be poured into any closed containers.

    Pickling

    This in a simple way You can prepare both green onions and onions for the winter. Young green onions are washed, dried and cut into pieces of the desired size. Fill a sterilized jar with them, sprinkle plenty of salt every 2 cm and knead until the juice is released. The top of the mass in the jar is also covered with salt.

    Covered with a plastic lid, such onions can be stored for up to 8-9 months in the refrigerator.

    To pickle onions, they are peeled, washed and, if necessary, chopped. After placing it in a container, add salt, pepper, bay leaf to taste and fill it with a 10% saline solution. Place under pressure for 10 days, package in jars, cover with plastic lids and store in a cool place (refrigerator, cellar).

    Conservation

    Similar to the previous method, you can prepare onions for a longer shelf life by using vinegar in marinades. To prepare the filling of heads and lobes measuring about 2 cm per 1 liter of water, take:

    • 1 table. a spoonful of salt;
    • 2 table. spoons of sugar;
    • 3 cloves;
    • 2 sprigs of parsley;
    • 50 ml vinegar 4% strength.

    For larger cloves and bulbs 3-4 cm wide, twice as much vinegar is required. The marinade is boiled, the contents of the jars are poured and sealed with boiled metal lids. When storing onions for the winter in this way, they are stored in a cool cellar for a year or longer.

    Juicy, tasty, green onions are known in cooking all over the world. People learned about its beneficial properties many years ago. Today this plant is rightfully considered one of the most useful for boosting immunity, normalizing digestion and increasing appetite.

    Green onions are rich in vitamins A, C, B1, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium. And also sulfur, which gives the plant a unique smell. Supporters traditional medicine claim that daily consumption of fresh green onions helps improve the condition of hair and nails, and helps people with anemia and vitamin deficiency.

    The plant is very unpretentious. It can be seen in almost every garden or at home on the windowsill in special pots. At home, onions “do not act up” and grow quickly. However, not all housewives have the opportunity to grow it. In that case best option Preparing plants for the winter - freezing in the refrigerator. There are many recipes posted on the Internet with photos and video instructions on whether it is possible to freeze green onions and how to do it correctly.

    Modern housewives prepare green onions for the winter in several ways: they freeze the whole plant, chopped in a bag or in a bottle. At the same time, the onion retains everything beneficial properties and vitamins. Therefore, in winter you can pamper yourself and your household with lush green herbs.

    Recipe for freezing chopped green onions

    Ingredients

    Servings: – + 1

    • green onions 300 g

    Per serving

    Calories: 19 kcal

    Proteins: 1.3 g

    Fats: 0 g

    Carbohydrates: 4.6 g

    20 min. Video recipe Print

      Choose fresh, bright green onions. We clear it of debris and yellow leaves. We cut off the tails. We wash the feathers in cool water.

      Place on a clean kitchen towel. The plant must dry completely.

      Using a sharp knife, cut the onion: both the green feathers and the white part, provided that it is a fresh plant.

      Place the greens in a ziplock bag. Close tightly. The air must first be released from the bag.

      We stick a piece of paper and write the date. Place the plant in the freezer.

      Recipe for freezing whole green onions



      Number of servings: 1

      Cooking time: 10 minutes

      Energy value

      • calorie content – ​​19 kcal;
      • proteins – 1.3 g;
      • fats – 0 g;
      • carbohydrates – 4.6.

      Ingredients

      • green onions – 200 g.

      Step-by-step preparation

    1. Wash the feathers of the plant in cold running water. We clean each one of dirt. Throw away the yellowed leaves. We cut off the tails.
    2. Place the greens on a dry cloth towel. Let it dry thoroughly.
    3. We put it in a bag or special container. Close the lid.
    4. We glue a piece of paper with the date on top. Place in the freezer.

    Freezing secrets

    Housewives often wonder whether it is possible to freeze green onions without a bag or a special thermal container. No, we do not recommend it, as it will stick to the walls of the freezer. You can store onions in this form, however, its specific smell will be distributed throughout the freezer and the feathers will be saturated with moisture. After defrosting, the greens will be watery and not very tasty.

    Advice: In order for the product to retain its juiciness, the plant must be properly dried. Excess moisture can reduce the shelf life of the product.

    How long can you store onions in the freezer?

    Onions can last six months in the freezer. In this case, the temperature should not exceed -15 degrees.

    In what container should I store it?

    The plant is stored in any convenient form: plastic and plastic containers, plastic bags, cups with lids, tight bags with zippers. The main thing is that the container closes well and does not allow excess air and moisture to pass through.

    Freezing green onions in a bottle

    Housewives have come up with another quick and interesting way to store green onions in winter - freezing the plant in a bottle. The recipe does not require a lot of effort, and a plastic bottle will be an excellent and practical container for storing greens during the cold season. Washed and dried onions must be cut into small pieces.

    Important: the bottle must also be completely dry. Only if these two conditions are met will the greens spill out of the mold and not stick together inside.

    Fill the bottle with chopped onion and close it tightly with a lid. We put it in the freezer. The preparations for the winter are ready.

    During the cold season, frozen green onions will be a godsend. It goes perfectly with a homemade dinner of potatoes, butter and herring. It is in order to supplement dishes with juicy summer greens in winter that housewives need to take care of supplies in spring and summer.

    Did you like the recipe? Save it to yourself on Pinterest, FB, VK, OK, G+, Instagram so as not to lose it!



    So, you can freeze the “extra” onions.

    Only peeled, thoroughly washed onions are suitable for freezing. When peeling onions, I always put them in cold water, so it becomes less tear-producing.



    Place the chopped onions in a ziplock bag. We expel excess air from the bag and be sure to sign our workpiece. Such a note is absolutely necessary. The fact is that the onion retains its special taste and the aroma does not last long - about two months. It, of course, can be stored for up to six months, but the onion begins to change its structure and lose its specific smell. Therefore, a sticker indicating the freezing date is an extremely necessary thing.


    The remaining onion can be chopped in the usual way - into small cubes. You can use the freezer bag again, or you can pour the chopped onion into a food container.

    Make sure that the container is suitable for freezing. To check whether food can be frozen in this container, you need to look for a snowflake icon on it - this will mean that the food container can withstand low temperatures.

    So, put the onions in a dry and clean container, label them frozen and put them in the freezer.


    Thus, in literally 10 minutes we saved the currently unnecessary peeled onions and made preparations for future dishes. When you need to a quick fix To cook or scrambled eggs with vegetables, you just need to take out the frozen onions in half rings. And when frozen, send it to the frying pan. When frying, you need to make sure that all excess liquid evaporates.

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