How Long Can You Store Jalapeños In The Freezer Without Losing Their Bite?
Let's set the scene — you're at the farmer's market and you spot a beautiful pile of fresh jalapeños. You decide to buy a couple of pounds to use in your cooking throughout the week. After bringing them home, you slice some up for dinner that night. They add the perfect kick to your tacos, chili, or homemade salsa. You have a few jalapeños left over, so you store them in the refrigerator to use later in the week.
A few days pass, and you notice that your beautiful peppers have started to go bad. They're soft and wrinkled and have lost their appetizing sheen. To avoid this, you may be wondering if you can store jalapeños in the freezer. After all, freezing is a great way to preserve food and extend its shelf life. Well, it turns out you can freeze your jalapenos. In fact, Fine Dining Lovers states that peppers are great to freeze raw, even without blanching, which is the process of barely boiling your vegetables in hot water before shocking them in an ice bath.
However, one important question remains: How long can jalapeños last in the freezer before they lose their flavor and texture?
Jalapeños can last eight to ten months in the freezer
MasterClass notes that jalapeños last around eight to ten months in the freezer (and sometimes up to a year). However, it is important to remember that the minute you freeze any vegetable, the water content in the vegetable becomes frozen, breaking down the fibers and altering the texture, per the University of Minnesota Extension. So even if you decide to freeze jalapeños for a few days, they will become soggier once thawed.
Still, the change in texture doesn't mean that your jalapeños have gone to waste! According to Spicy Trio, peppers (like jalapeños) stay spicy after being frozen because the capsaicin that gives them their heat is not affected by the freezing process. This is because capsaicin is an oily substance resistant to heat, cold, and most solvents, which means that it won't break down or evaporate easily, per Serious Eats. Sure, the flavor of the jalapeños may change slightly after being frozen, but the heat from the capsaicin will remain present after thawing.
So while they might not be suitable for a fresh pico de gallo, frozen jalapenos can be pureed for hot salsa or thrown into soup for a kick. As long as you properly freeze them, they'll be good for up to a year.