How To Freeze Peppers – The Complete Guide

To freeze chilli peppers: wash and dry thoroughly, spread on a baking tray in a single layer and freeze for 2 hours until solid, then transfer to airtight freezer bags removing as much air as possible. Label with variety and date. Frozen chillies keep for at least 12 months and can be used straight from the freezer in cooked dishes.

Freezing peppers from the garden is one of the easiest and most effective ways to preserve your chillies, allowing you to enjoy your homegrown peppers throughout the winter, and if you are lucky right through until next year’s crop is ripe.

All varieties of both sweet peppers and hot chillies freeze well so long as you follow some simple advice.

Why Bother To Freeze Your Peppers?

If you are growing peppers in a relatively cool climate like me (Northern Europe) you will be only too aware that the growing season is limited. Slower growing varieties such as Habanero, Naga, Scotch Bonnet etc take several months to grow to maturity. The fruit take several weeks to ripen. As a result many of us chilli growers end up with a large glut of ripe fruit near the end of summer.

Freezing them reduces waste and ensure we have a supply of chillies to use throughout the rest of the year. Freezing is easy to do and preserves much of the nutritional value of the fruit.

I’m ashamed to say that in the first year or two I wasted quite a few peppers by either not picking them when ripe (which stimulates the plants to grow more) or simply not using all of the fresh chilies I had picked. The key then is to pick preserve your chilli peppers so you can use them throughout the year.

There are many different ways to preserve them but in my opinion frozen peppers taste the freshest in cooking and the nearest you’ll get to a fresh pepper in the winter. So if you want to try and retain that fresh pepper taste year round freezing is your best option.

How To Freeze Chillies

1. Wash and Dry Your Chillies

The first and most crucial step in freezing any vegetable is cleaning them properly. Here’s how to prepare your chili peppers:

Rinse: Wash the peppers thoroughly under cool, running water to remove dirt.

Dry: You can help them to dry quickly by spreading them out and lightly patting with a tea towel or paper towels. Residual moisture can cause freezer burn, so it’s essential that the peppers are completely dry before freezing. I leave them to air dry for a couple of hours to be safe.

2. Decide Whether to Freeze Whole or Sliced

There seems to be a lot of debate about whether you should slice your chillies prior to freezing or not.

For larger varieties or some crops that have large internal membranes with loads of seeds you can opt to slice them in half and de-seed them prior to freezing. The choice of de-seeding or not is purely yours, I tend to do what I would do if i were using the chillies fresh.

When freezing your peppers they can sometimes freeze together inside the freezer bags or containers into a big solid chilli ball which is rather unhelpful. To avoid this I first lay out the chillies on a baking tray and place in the freezer for 2 hours.

Once frozen I remove them and bag them up into sealable freezer bags or tupperware containers before popping back in the freezer. Be sure to label the freezer bag with the variety of peppers/chillies and the date you froze them.

3. Decide Whether to Remove the Seeds Prior to Freezing

We get a lot of questions about whether you should take the seeds out of chillies before freezing them. There isn’t a right or wrong answer to this one. Personally I let the size of the pepper dictate what i do.

For regular sized varieties like cayenne, habanaro etc I tend to just freeze them whole. Seeds can usually be removed easily if you slice them when frozen prior to cooking.

For larger chillies and sweet peppers I tend to remove the seeds and pith prior to freezing. If you leave them in I find this can leave a bitter taste behind even if you remove them prior to cooking.

4. Blanching (Optional)

Blanching is a quick process of boiling and then rapidly cooling vegetables. This stops enzyme activity, which can cause flavour and texture changes over time. While chilli peppers don’t necessarily require blanching before freezing, it can help preserve their colour and texture, especially if you’re planning to freeze them for over 6 months.

Here’s how to blanch chili peppers:

1. Bring a Pot of Water to Boil: Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Prepare Ice Water: Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice.
3. Prepare the peppers: Slice and de-seed the peppers
4. Blanch the Peppers: Drop the peppers into the boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Cool Quickly: Immediately transfer the peppers into the ice water to stop the cooking process.
6. Drain and Dry: Remove the peppers from the ice water and dry them thoroughly.

To be honest I only blanch larger varieties when my intention is to roast them at a later date. As mentioned above this helps them to keep their texture and colour. When I’m going to use them in soups, stews etc find there is no need.

Freezing Different Chilli Varieties — What Changes

The basic method above works for all varieties, but there are a few variety-specific things worth knowing:

Thin-walled varieties (Cayenne, Bird’s Eye, Ring of Fire)
These freeze particularly well whole — they’re small enough that a single pod is a usable cooking quantity and they go straight from freezer to pan with minimal fuss. Blanching is not necessary. They keep their colour exceptionally well for 12 months or more.

Medium varieties (Jalapeño, Serrano, Fresno)
Excellent frozen whole or sliced. Jalapeños frozen whole are particularly useful — they can be sliced straight from frozen with a sharp knife in seconds. If you pickle a lot of jalapeños, freeze any surplus whole for cooking use. See our pickled jalapeño recipe for another way to preserve these.

Large hot varieties (Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Fatali)
We freeze these whole without deseeding. The heat is concentrated in the membrane and seeds — removing them before freezing reduces the usefulness of the frozen chilli in cooking. One frozen habanero taken straight from the freezer and finely chopped is a perfect cooking quantity for most dishes.

Superhot varieties (Naga, Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion)
Freeze whole in small individual portions — a ziplock bag with one or two pods is ideal. Label clearly. The fumes when chopping frozen superhots are intense — open windows and consider wearing eye protection.

Sweet peppers and bell peppers
Unlike hot chillies, sweet peppers benefit from deseeding and slicing before freezing as they’re almost always used that way in cooking. Flash freeze sliced peppers in a single layer before bagging — this way you can pour out exactly the quantity you need rather than dealing with a solid block.

What to Store Frozen Peppers In?

The simple rule is to use airtight containers. I usually use one of the following options:

Freezer/Zip Lock Bags: These are great for smaller quantities. Be sure to remove as much air from the bags as possible to avoid freezer burn.

Tupperware boxes: Air tight plastic or glass containers are perfect for larger quantities. Use good quality plastic containers as some cheaper ones can degrade and breakdown in low temperatures.

How Long Do Frozen Chillies Last?

Again a tough one to answer. Consult the manual of your freezer and it will probably say fresh fruit and vegetables should  be used within 3 months of freezing. Personally I have used frozen peppers that have been frozen for over a year or two and have not had any problems or experienced any loss of taste.

To maximise their life be sure to dry them thoroughly prior to freezing and use airtight containers.

To use them simply take them out of the freezer and chop them as if they were fresh. Once finely chopped you’ll find they defrost in a couple of minutes.

A Quick Tip: Use Ice Cube Trays

If you always tend to use finely chopped chillies when cooking then it can make a lot of sense to chop them prior to freezing them and split them into portions of similar size to what you use in cooking.

One great way of making frozen chillies easier to cook with is to put freshly chopped chillies into an ice cube tray with enough water to cover them and freeze. Next time you are cooking and want some chilli just pop in however many chilli cubes you need.

This method doesn’t really make sense if you have a lot of pepper to freeze however it will save you time when cooking later on!

Freezing vs Other Preservation Methods — Which is Best?

We’re often asked whether freezing is better than drying, pickling or making chilli oil. Honestly, each method suits different uses:

Freezing is the closest to fresh — frozen chillies taste almost identical to fresh ones once cooked. The downside is they go soft on defrosting, so they’re not suitable for fresh salsa or dishes where texture matters. Best for: cooked dishes, soups, stews, curries, sauces.

Drying concentrates the flavour significantly and completely changes the character of the chilli — dried chillies taste different from fresh, not just more intense. Shelf-stable without refrigeration. Best for: chilli flakes, chilli powder, long-term storage without freezer space. See our guide to making chilli flakes.

Pickling adds acidity and completely transforms the flavour. Pickled chillies are a condiment in their own right rather than a replacement for fresh. Best for: sliced jalapeños for topping dishes, serving alongside. See our pickled jalapeño recipe.

Chilli oil infuses the flavour into oil for a completely different product. Best for: drizzling, cooking oil, finishing dishes. See our chilli oil recipe.

Chilli chutney and preserves are the best use for a very large harvest glut — a single batch of chutney uses up a significant quantity of fresh chillies and produces something that keeps for a year. See our chilli chutney recipe.

For most UK growers the practical answer is: freeze the bulk of your harvest immediately, use some for chutney if you have a very large glut, and dry any thin-walled varieties that aren’t needed fresh or frozen.

FAQ

More Ways to Preserve Your Chilli Harvest

How to Make Chilli Flakes — dry and grind your own chilli flakes from homegrown or bought chillies. Simple, satisfying and the result is far better than shop-bought.

Chilli Oil Recipe — infuse dried chillies in oil for a versatile condiment that keeps for months. Drizzle over anything that needs heat.

Chilli Chutney Recipe — the best way to use a very large harvest glut. Rich, complex and gets better with age. Stores for up to a year sealed.

Chilli Jelly Recipe — sweet, spicy and beautifully clear. Makes an excellent homemade gift.

Pickled Jalapeño Recipe — quick, simple and keeps for months. Works with any medium-heat fresh chilli.

How to Freeze Fresh Curry Leaves — if you grow curry leaf plants alongside your chillies, the same flash-freezing technique applies perfectly.

How to Preserve Chillies — Complete Guide — our overview of every preservation method available, helping you decide which suits your harvest best.