How to Easily Freeze Fruit for Your Smoothies
One of the top reasons that I don’t get to make smoothies is that I buy the fruit and forget to use it quickly enough and it goes off. Drives me nuts but I sometimes forget. And some fruit doesn’t have a long shelf life. But there is an easy way to prolong the life of fresh goods – by sticking them in the freezer. So here are some tips to easily freeze fruit for your smoothies and cut down on food waste.
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Can you freeze fresh fruit?
You can easily freeze fruit of all different kinds with some general preparation. Other fruits need a little special preparation.
For things like apples and pears, this means coring, peeling and slicing or quartering them. Remove pits from apricots and cherries while berries don’t need any preparation. Spread the fruit on a tray ensuring that all of the fruits are separate and don’t touch then put the tray in the freezer. It can take an hour or two or leave overnight to be sure.
Once it is frozen, remove it into freezer bags. Pop the date on them to keep track of how long they have been in the freezer. Try to get out as much air as possible and put it back into the freezer. Most fruits will last six months in a normal freezer, longer if it isn’t opened and shut a lot.
How to freeze banana
Banana is at the heart of many a smoothie recipe and warrants a category of their own on my smoothie Pinterest board. I asked my Dad (who used to work in fruit and veg) if you could freeze bananas and he was sceptical because you get brown spots on them.
The good news is you can freeze them, and the process is simple. Peel them, chop them up and put them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Let them freeze then pop them in a freezer bag. That stops the air from getting to it and turning it down. Pull them out and they will look just fine and can be used straight into the blender from frozen. You can keep the parchment paper between them too if you want to be able just to pull out a few at a time.
How to freeze kiwi
Kiwi is inexpensive to buy (a bag of six cost me just 90p at the supermarket) but getting through six is quite hard unless you are a big kiwi fan. Luckily, freezing them is also pretty simple.
Cut off the tops and bottoms so they stand then cut off the furry skin. Chop them into quarters or slices. Cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper (parchment paper if you like) and spread the fruit on it. Cover with cling film and pop in the freezer overnight. Next morning, take them out, off the paper and into freezer bags ready for use.
You can also use this same process for other fruits such as mango.
How to freeze berries
When you have too many blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or strawberries and don’t know what to do with them all. Freezing is an easy solution that allows for bulk freezing of these fruits so they can be used later without the fuss! Overripe berries will not get any better in the freezer but peak freshness produce freezes well when stored properly.
For best results freeze fruit at its prime-time flavor which varies by type (blueberry = summer; raspberry=winter). When frozen there are two ways to store them: separate types on a rimmed baking sheet or mix together in one container before storing them in freezer bags.
How to freeze citrus fruits
Freezing lemons and other citrus fruits whole is the easiest, straight-forward method. To do this, simply put the whole fruit in a freezer-safe container, and remove as much air as possible to avoid any bacterial infections that might occur while they are frozen for up to 6 months!
When you freeze these fruits it actually makes zesting them EASIER because of how soft they get when thawed out – meaning your hands don’t have to deal with all those tough fibers from peeling away at an already hard exterior shell-like usual. That means healthy lemonade can be made year-round if needed!
How to freeze orange slices
If you know that your recipe will require orange slices later on, then cutting the citrus into rounds and freezing them in a freezer bag is an easy way of ensuring they’re ready when thawed. This option works well if sliced oranges are needed for recipes like lemon and herb sheet pan chicken, where the chunks go under the skin before roasting in the oven! It also works well for smoothies and as a garnish for cocktails.
Can you freeze fresh citrus juice?
If you have too much orange juice after you made a smoothie or something is nearing its use-by date, you can freeze citrus juice. Plus this works with juice fresh from the fruit.
Juice the fruit like you normally would – with a powerful juicer like this one or in an average juice machine. Then, freeze it into ice cube trays and keep them stored for later. These can ideal for fruit smoothies that call for the citrus but also for some ice cubes – use the flavoured ones instead.
Go beyond freezing just fruit for smoothies
There are lots of other ingredients that are recommended for smoothies but that can go off quite quickly. As well as easily freezing fruits, you can also freeze many of these.
Freezing fresh ginger
Fresh ginger root is the best way to take in the spice but often comes in big quantities that are hard to use. It doesn’t have the longest shelf life either. But once it is frozen, you can easily grate it and it often grates easier than when fresh.
To freeze ginger, peeling is optional, depending on your preference. Leave it in big chunks and pop it in a freezer bag. You can also make easy servings by slicing it thinly and putting the slices in an ice cube tray. Put the tray in the freezer and pop it out as needed.
Freezing fresh spinach
Frozen spinach isn’t ideal for salads but works really well for smoothies and retains all of its goodness. Wash the spinach to remove all dirt then remove the stems if you want.
Rip into pieces around 1-2 inches in size and blanch in boiling water for two minutes. Then soak in icy water for the same length of time. for the best retention of goodness, steam them in a steamer basket for a couple of minutes. After the ice water, dry them with a paper towel and put them into freezer bags.
Using frozen fruit in smoothies
Lots of smoothie recipes actually state to use frozen fruit. For others, it is optional depending on your preference. Make sure you have a blender that is strong enough to blend frozen fruit, otherwise you might need to defrost the night before. And watch some fruits like bananas might not be great if left to defrost – using a fresh one might be the best bet in this situation.
Another tip is to add something solid with the liquid before the frozen fruit is added. Nuts, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, this kind of thing is ideal. Mix it with the liquid then add the frozen fruit. This makes a more traditional texture of the smoothie.
