How to freeze onions for the winter. Cooking secrets: is it possible to freeze onions for the winter in the refrigerator at home

Do onions freeze for the winter in the freezer? The answer, of course, is yes. But what kind of onion can be frozen: green or onion? Any onion can be frozen, but it is more advisable to freeze green onions, as onions are on sale all year round and do not frighten with their price in the winter months. I propose today to talk about freezing methods various kinds Luke.

Is it possible to freeze onions

There are situations when there are several onions left that were not useful in cooking. You can use the freezer to store them.

How to freeze raw onions

To avoid watery eyes when cutting onions, peeled heads are placed in cold water.

There are several ways to cut onions for freezing:

rings;
half rings;
cubes.

Chopped onions are laid out in bags for freezing, at the time of preparation, they release excess air, and put them in the freezer.

Raw frozen onions are best used when preparing hot dishes, as after the influence low temperatures it loses its color and becomes slightly watery.

Attention! Frozen raw onions exude a very strong aroma, so freezer bags should be kept away from foods that can absorb odors.

How to freeze fried onions

An excellent way to freeze onions is to fry them beforehand in crushed form in vegetable oil. You can also fry raw carrots with onions.

The frying is packaged in portioned packages and cleaned in the freezer.

Is it possible to freeze green onions

Green onions lend themselves very well to freezing and retain all their taste properties. Before freezing, onion greens are washed under running water, and then dried thoroughly on paper towels. It would be better if you put a bunch of onions in a jar and let them air dry on their own.

There are several ways to freeze green onions:

Freezing plain cuts in bulk. To do this, cut the onion with a knife or special scissors for greens. Then the greens are laid out in bags or containers, and put in the freezer.

Watch the video about the trick of storing onions in jars

Green onions can be frozen in oil. To do this, vegetable oil is added to the cut and everything is thoroughly mixed. The onion mixture is then placed in a zippered bag and made into a thin sheet. Frozen greens are broken off from the layer in the right amount, and added to the dish.
You can freeze onions in butter in ice cube trays. Softened butter is mixed with chopped onions, and then laid out in silicone molds. Onion frozen in this way is very good to add to hot fried or boiled potatoes.

Watch the video from Lubov Kriuk - Freezing green onions and arrows with olive oil

Green onions can be frozen in ice cube trays with pure water. The cut is laid out in forms, and then a small amount of liquid is poured on top. Frozen onion ice cubes are poured into one bag and stored in the freezer.

How to freeze leeks

Leek behaves well in frozen form. To freeze it, wash the stems, cut off the roots and clean the top contaminated layer.

Leek is cut into circles of the thickness that you are used to using it. Chopped onions are laid out on trays and frozen. After preliminary freezing, the greens are poured into one bag or container.

How long to store frozen onions in the freezer

The shelf life of onions varies from 2 to 6 months. It depends on the temperature that will be set in your chamber. But, in any case, onions should not be stored for more than six months, as they eventually lose their taste and aroma.

So, you can freeze the "extra" onion.

For freezing, only peeled, thoroughly washed onion. When peeling onions, I always put them in cold water, so they become less teary.

Put the chopped onion in a bag with a slider closure. We expel excess air from the package, be sure to sign our blank. Such a note is essential. The fact is that the onion retains its special taste and aroma for a short time - 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 date of freezing is an essential thing.

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

Make sure this container is suitable for freezing. To check if 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 onion in a dry and clean container, sign the freeze and send it to the freezer.

Thus, in just 10 minutes, we saved the currently unnecessary peeled onions and made ourselves blanks for future dishes. When you need to hastily cook or scrambled eggs with vegetables, it will be enough just to get the frozen onion in half rings. And send it frozen to the pan. When frying, you need to make sure that all excess liquid evaporates.

Information about the methods of harvesting green onions for the winter.

Green onions in our daily menu appear in the spring and do not leave our tables throughout the summer. But what about in winter?

Is it possible to freeze green onions for the winter and how to?

If you want green onions to be on your table all year round, then you have two options:

arrange an onion greenhouse in a city apartment
choose an acceptable method for harvesting green onions for the winter

For freezing, you need to choose juicy fresh herbs.

The first method will provide the whole family with fresh onion greens, and the second - with freshly frozen portion bags of greens

In the second case, greens can only be added during cooking (for soup, stew, roast).

Did you choose the second way? Getting Started Freezing.

The process of preparing onion greens for freezing includes several stages:

washing the onion greens and removing feathers that have lost their bright green color or with yellow tips (it is preferable to cut the onion before it shoots arrows)
root cutting
laying the onion on paper towels to drain the water
chopped onion feathers (if you prefer pre-chopped frozen product) and white onion roots (they can be frozen in separate containers)
if desired - blanching greens (pour the onion with boiled water and boil for 2-3 minutes, after which the water must be drained, the onion should be left for a while to cool)
compact packaging of greens in small bags or plastic containers (to use up a thawed bag in one meal)
maximum squeezing air out of the bags, signing them and placing them in the freezer

How long does frozen onion keep? Depending on what temperature was used during freezing, the greens can be stored for three months (if the temperature did not exceed 8 degrees) and up to six (if the freezing took place at a lower temperature).

Freezing will not take much time, and you will save the vitamins and minerals necessary for your body.

Is it possible to dry green onions for the winter and how to

Drying onions is a great opportunity to prepare vitamin greens for the future if you managed to grow a large crop of onions in the summer in the country. Do not throw away a useful product that can be used in full all year round!

How to dry onion greens? There are several ways to dry herbs:

natural air drying
in the oven
in air grill

Dried onions retain more useful trace elements than a frozen product. In addition, during the preparation of various dishes, dried onions reveal their taste better, while maintaining its inherent sharpness and spicy "acidity".

A dry mixture of onions is part of freeze-dried soups, seasonings, and is one of the ingredients in gravy.

Dried onions keep everything beneficial features fresh

Advantages of dried onions over frozen:

There are no microbes in dried onion feathers. By adding spicy spicy seasoning to soup or gravy, you provide reliable protection for households from disease-causing bacteria during the cold season.
Onion greens increase saliva production. But this feature is so important for better digestion of food and metabolism.
Vitamin C is completely preserved in dried onions (no wonder the ancient sailors stocked up on dried green onions before a long journey, which saved them from scurvy)

The first way to dry vitamin onion greens is in the air

If you have time, and in your country house there is a place in the shade and even with a draft, then the outdoor drying method is perfect for you. Decided to dry not in the country, but in a city apartment? Then lay out the onions for drying on the loggia

Drying process

Rinse the onion feathers under running water. Cut off the yellowed tips, remove the withered greens and coarsened parts of the feathers
Chop prepared onion feathers into pieces of 2-5 cm
On a large sieve or wooden board lay a layer of gauze and lay the greens evenly and in a thin layer. Top with white paper
Periodically shake the surface on which the greens are dried and mix its contents. Dry greens 5-7 days
Ready dry greens brittle. It is easy to crumble in your hands. Place dried herbs in a jar on a regular cabinet shelf and store at room temperature

The second way to dry onion feathers is in an air grill

According to the hostesses who have been using the air grill for cooking for a long time, it is also convenient to dry onion feathers in it.

Put the prepared and chopped onion feathers on the top grill of the device.
Set the temperature to 70 ° and in half an hour the process of harvesting greens will be completed

The third way is drying onion feathers in the oven

Everything is very simple here! Spread the prepared onion greens and set the required temperature (it should be 40-50 °). Drying in the oven will take 2-3 hours

Video: drying onions

Pickled onions for the winter, how to pickle?

For pickling, onion feathers should be selected fresh and juicy. Yellow feathers are not suitable for pickling
Trim the ends
Before pickling a sharp onion, it must be doused with boiling water, eliminating excessive bitterness. You can also put the onion in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.

Pickled Onion Recipe - Classic:

Ingredients:

1 kg green onion
200 g dill
salt and vinegar to taste
pepper

Cooking method:

Sort the onion greens and rinse. Chop dried onion on a paper towel. Prepare a brine from 120 g of salt and a liter of water. Pour the chopped onion with brine and leave for 2 days. Drain the brine
Prepare the dill: blanch 200 g of dill in boiling water for a few minutes. Mix the onion with dill and prepare the marinade. To do this, take 80 ml of 6% vinegar, two grams of dill seeds, 4-5 peppercorns, sugar and salt
Wash the jars thoroughly and place onion greens with dill in them. Pour the onion with hot marinade and sterilize for 10 minutes. Then everything is as usual: roll up the lids and under the covers!

You can cook unusual pickled onions with wild garlic, which tastes like garlic, but not as spicy.

Recipe for pickled onions with wild garlic

Onion feathers and wild garlic you need to finely chop and pour the pre-prepared marinade (sweet and sour or cooked to taste)
After boiling a little greens, it must be decomposed into jars and placed in the refrigerator for storage.

Pickled onions are a great addition to meat or stews of meat and vegetables. A significant disadvantage pickled onions is that it cannot be stored for a long time (but only two weeks).

How to pickle green onions for the winter?

Pickled onions will enrich the taste of any dish, whether it's a salad, stewed vegetables for a side dish or soup.

Green Onion Ingredients:

1 kg green onion
200 g salt

Cooking method:

After preparation (washing the onion greens, removing the tips and drying on a paper towel), chop the greens and mix with salt
Pack tightly into jars and tamp until juice is released. Pour in vegetable oil and cover with lids. A cold place is suitable for storing pickled onions

Green onions for the winter in vegetable oil

Onion feathers in vegetable oil will retain their juiciness and aroma. In winter, you only need to open a jar to dress your favorite salad or other dish.

Ingredients for green onions in vegetable oil:

onion feathers (only freshly cut)
salt
vegetable oil
table vinegar

Cooking method:

Prepare half-liter jars: wash with soda, pour over with boiled water. Sterilize the jars in the usual way for you: in the oven for 10-15 minutes or hold for 3-5 minutes on the spout of a kettle with boiling water. Boil the lids in a separate bowl
Prepare onion feathers: wash and remove excess damaged or limp stems, cut off the tips, put on a dry towel
Chop the onion. Pour 1/3 teaspoon of salt into each jar. The second layer after the salt will be an onion layer 1.5 - 2 cm thick. And again, pour 1/3 tsp. salt
Periodically tamp the onion with a pusher until the juice begins to stand out. So fill the jar up to your shoulders
For filling, you need 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon (9%) vinegar. Pour all the ingredients into a container and put on a small fire.
Hold on the stove until the contents begin to boil, and add the vinegar. Stir and remove from stove. Pour oil into jars and immediately roll up the lids.

Green onion pasta for the winter

Cooking green onion paste is not difficult. The main thing is to have time and desire. Winter is just around the corner, and it is better to meet it with a variety of conservation.

Green Onion Paste Ingredients:

water 300 ml
8% vinegar - Art. l.
2 tbsp. l. salt,
50 g sunflower oil

Cooking method

Washed onion greens (you can add other greens for a richer taste), grind with a blender or meat grinder to a paste-like state. Transfer the resulting mass to jars
Pour sunflower oil on top. Shake the jar well to evenly distribute the oil. Add more oil (its layer should be about a finger thick)
Close the jar with a lid and put the paste in the refrigerator. The shelf life of such a paste is several months.

How to use the paste? Add fragrant green pasta to your favorite dishes, sauces.

Harvesting green onions for the winter

We take a fresh, not sluggish onion with medium-sized arrows, wash and remove the tips. If there is a rough skin at the lower end, then we cut it off too
Having immersed the greens in a colander, it is blanched in boiling salted water (250 g of salt per liter of water) at maximum heat. After 3 minutes, remove the onion arrows from the water and cool under running cold water.
After the water has drained, we put the onions in jars of a small volume, for example, a liter. Add spices to taste: bay leaf, a mixture of peppers
We lower the cans filled up to the shoulders into a large pot of water (water temperature - 85 degrees). Pasteurize for 15-20 minutes, roll up the lids and lay upside down under a warm blanket

Video: how to save onion greens for the winter?

After all, everyone will want to add a piece of summer to the soup in winter and feel its aroma.

In addition, during freezing, vegetables and fruits retain 90% of vitamins and minerals.

Procurement process

Everything is very simple and fast.

Ingredients:

Green onion feathers - any amount.

Pick in the garden or buy in the market.

It needs to be sorted out, the yellowed parts of the feathers removed. Wash. Pull out of the water. Place in a colander when most of the water has run out, place on a spread towel and let the onion dry completely.

I put it on the windowsill, on the sunny side. It dries up in a short amount of time.

Cut very finely.

Put everything in a regular clean plastic bag and tie. Send to the freezer for further storage. You can of course use freezer bags. If you have you can put in them. I didn't have them at the time. And there was no time to run to the store.

other methods

Can be frozen in trays. Place in tray. Cover with a lid, send to the freezer.

If you want it not to stick together, and each onion ring was separate. Spread evenly over the surface, for example, on a plate, lid, cutting board and send in this form to the freezer. When green onions freeze. Just put it in a bag.

Can be made in batches in ice cube trays or silicone cupcake liners.

Green onions, fold as tightly as possible into the shape.

Pour boiled (cold) water and send it to the freezer. When it freezes, put it in a bag and tie it.

How long does frozen green onion last?

This blank is stored at a temperature of minus 18 degrees. Its shelf life is from 2 to 6 months. At this time, most of the vitamins are preserved, and that wonderful spring aroma remains.

It can be stored without problems until a new harvest, this will not affect the taste. Storage for several years is not recommended. If you have a little of this workpiece left, it is better to throw it away and cook fresh.

If possible, use blast freezing.
Greens for harvesting must be completely dry.
Use only young feathers, they are tastier, juicier and have more vitamins.
Pack in small batches.
So that the contents of the freezer (for example, berries) do not absorb the smell of onions, put the onions in several plastic bags. Wrap in foil to keep odors out.

How to defrost green onions

For hot meals, no defrosting is required. Throw an iced piece straight into a pot of hot soup or potatoes.
If there is such a need, but get the right amount of the workpiece and put it in a tray with a lid and refrigerate. In a few hours, he will open himself there.
No need to defrost in water.
I categorically do not recommend it in the microwave, because all the vitamins will be lost, for the sake of which we made this blank for good.

What can be cooked from frozen green onions

All those dishes that you are used to cooking with fresh onions: soup, potatoes, borscht, toppings for pancakes and pies, scrambled eggs, casserole.

The only thing is that it is not suitable for salads.

Now you know how to freeze green onions for the winter in the freezer, how to store and what to cook, do not miss the opportunity to prepare vitamins for the future.

Of the products useful for the body, onion is one of the best natural immunostimulants with strong bactericidal properties, and among the most affordable. Keeping onions harvested for the winter at home for a long time and without waste will help knowing some tricks and simple rules.

How to store onions

Until February and March (sometimes longer), representatives of late species are better preserved. In addition, for long-term storage of onions, it is important to clean 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 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 earth remaining on them is removed by hand, without hitting: having even small “bruises”, they are unsuitable for long-term storage.

Onions and sets for planting are stored differently. Future planting material, in order to become the key to a good harvest, requires special conditions:

the first option - it is well dried and stored at a temperature not higher than 18-20 ° C;
the second - after drying, they are cleaned in the cold (-1 ... + 2 ° C), but before spring planting they are heated at room temperature for two weeks.

If the storage conditions are not observed, 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 marketability and weight for months. The keeping quality of onions in winter is influenced, in addition to storage conditions, by the choice of variety, the agricultural technology used, and the timing of harvesting.

The sharpest varieties with dense scales are the most keeping, and 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 ° С, providing air humidity up to 70-80%, and sweet and peninsular - at 0 ... + 1 ° С. It is important that the onion storage temperature and humidity remain constant: if they change, the timeless germination of the vegetable and the development of diseases are possible.

Storage rules

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

well dried after harvesting in a well-ventilated place at + 25 ... 35 ° C, the root crop gives a minimum of waste during storage. If it is possible after that to warm it up for 10-12 hours at a temperature of ten degrees more, its keeping quality will increase even more. You need to turn it over periodically;
if weather conditions do not allow drying the vegetable in the open air, this can be done at home by braiding it. An important condition is the complete drying of the foliage in order to avoid the development of neck rot. Bulbs with thin dry tops are intertwined using twine or other 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 fungus (the smell of paint will be absorbed into vegetables), but whitened with lime;
when laying onions for storage, dry tops are cut off, leaving a 3-4 cm long leg. The bulbs are carefully inspected so that slightly rotten ones do not become a source of infection for others;
medium-sized heads are stored the longest - 6-8 cm in diameter. Large ones do not lie for a long time, it is better to use them for food after small and spoiled ones;
the vegetable layer should not be more than 30-50 cm;
if the root crops are 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 on it, is the best place to store a vegetable. If in the basement or cellar it is difficult to comply low level air humidity, natural sorbents in the form of ash or sawdust that absorb excess moisture will help to correct the situation;
onions stored for storage should be periodically - once every one and a half to two months - sorted out and inspected, removing spoiled or dried ones in time.

Thus, with a little effort, you can save root crops until the appearance of batun, green sevka and young leeks.

How to store peeled onions

Modern onion varieties of Dutch, German, English selection (not only the most popular Stuttgarter Riesen, 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, damage to more or less of it is possible. Slightly rotted stored heads are cleaned of scales, spoiled places are removed to healthy pulp.

grease the slices of the bulbs with vegetable oil or fat and place the root crops in plastic bags or containers made of glass or plastic;
lay on a layer of salt;
place in a pot of water, changing it every 2-3 days;
Wrap tightly in cling film and store in the vegetable compartment.

In this way, peeled onions can be stored for at least a week.

Storage at home

A fully ripe, thoroughly dried onion, which is in a state of deep physiological rest, can be stored in an apartment for a long time, subject to certain rules. At the same time, the temperature and humidity differ from those in storage facilities, in attics or in cellars, but the principle remains the same - keeping these parameters at the same, stable level will help to store onions correctly. The temperature regime is +18…+22ºС, air humidity - from 50 to 70%.

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

Whether it is possible to store onions in the refrigerator depends on the shelf life. Not for 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 - to store onions on the balcony - is possible if the temperature on the glazed loggia in winter is not lower than -6 ° C. It is impossible to predict how long onions will last in balcony conditions.

A short-term drop in temperature will make it tastier, sweeter, but it will quickly freeze out during prolonged frosts.

Alternative storage methods

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

Freeze

Small parts of the onion after its revision and trimming of the spoiled parts, as well as the remaining chopped pieces, can be placed in the freezer. The technology of how to freeze onions for the winter has a nuance: first, a 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, frozen onions are not thawed, but immediately added for thermal cooking. There are no options for freezing onions in other ways.

Drying

This method allows the vegetable to retain its properties and useful material, reducing the volume occupied by it by 10-15 times. It is suitable for owners of small-sized housing, in which it is difficult to find a place even for a not very large supply of root crops.

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

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

salting

This in a simple way you can harvest for the winter and green onions, and onions. Young green onions are washed, dried and cut into pieces of the desired size. Fill them with a sterilized jar, pouring plenty of salt every 2 cm and kneading until the juice is released. From above, 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.

For salting onions, they are peeled, washed and, if necessary, crushed. Putting in a container, add salt, pepper, bay leaf to taste and pour 10% saline solution. Put under oppression for 10 days, packaged in jars, covered with plastic lids and stored in a cool place (refrigerator, cellar).

Conservation

Similarly to the previous method, onions can be harvested for a longer shelf life using vinegar in marinades. To prepare the filling of heads and slices about 2 cm in size per 1 liter of water, take:

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

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