What’s the first method you think of when it comes to at-home food preservation? If you said canning, you aren’t alone. But I’m here to tell you that freezing is usually where it’s at when it comes to pure convenience and quality.
Tougher veggies, especially, hold up much better when frozen and maintain better flavor and texture compared to other methods.
Carrots, for instance, freeze wonderfully well if you follow the right procedure, and shredded carrots, in particular, are just about as convenient as it gets when it comes to cooking…
They‘re ready to use in soups, sauces, casseroles, stir-fries, pasta, and even desserts like carrot cake and various pureed fruits.
And yes, you can just shred carrots and then stick them in the freezer, but they will brown and be a little tough and bitter when you pull them out.
Follow my procedure below, though, and your carrots will be bright, nutritious, and delicious. Sound good? Great, let’s get right into it.
Kitchen Tools and Supplies
The great thing about this procedure is that, chances are, absolutely everything you need is in your kitchen right this second. Gather all of the following, and we will be ready to get started.
Carrots: You can use any carrots you want for this recipe as long as they are fresh and in good shape.
Don’t mess with carrots that are rotted, have dark spots, or are badly withered. The results will be very disappointing, trust me!
You can go with your classic orange carrots or more exotic varieties like purple or white carrots if you prefer, and the results will be just as good.
Veggie Peeler: Your carrots must be peeled for the best results and flavor. Any common vegetable peeler will make short work of the task.
Paring Knife (optional): If you don’t have a veggie peeler, don’t want to get one, or just prefer to use a paring knife the old-fashioned way to remove the skins from your carrots, that’s just fine.
Grater: A standard box grater is the ideal tool for shredding your carrots to the ideal consistency. That is, you want the larger flakes, a coleslaw kind of consistency.
You can finely grate your carrots into a floss texture if you are sure you’re going to be adding them to desserts or sauces, but understand that they will be significantly softer when thawed.
Stock Pot: A large stock pot is required for blanching your carrots.
Cooking Spoon: For stirring the carrots in the pot.
Large Mixing Bowl: As part of the blanching process, you will also need to quench your carrots in ice water to stop the cooking process. Any large mixing bowl will be fine, but you are best off using a metal or glass one rather than plastic.
Colander: A colander is just the ticket for quickly and painlessly quenching your carrots once we’re finished blanching them.
Once again, metal is best, but you can get by with plastic. In either case, your colander must be able to fit completely into the large bowl above to ensure all of your carrots get cooled at once.
Cutting Board: A cutting board comes in very handy for peeling and grating your carrots, and later on for drying them out after the blanching process is completed. Wood or plastic is just fine.
Paper Towels: A good supply of paper towels will be needed to thoroughly dry out your carrots immediately prior to putting them in the freezer.
The more moisture they have on them when going into the freezer, the more likely they are to get freezer burn, and the shorter their shelf life will be.
Water: Plenty of water is a requirement for this procedure—for washing, blanching, and quenching. Use filtered tap water if you can.
Ice: Chances are the coldest water coming out of your tap won’t quite be cool enough to rapidly halt the cooking process, something that is important considering how thin and small our carrot flakes will be. Add a few handfuls of ice to the water to bring it down to the desired temperature.
Freezer Bags: The very best way to store your shredded carrots in the freezer. Using freezer bags will allow you to flatten them out into a thin layer, promoting even freezing and minimizing the formation of ice crystals. That means better carrots overall!
And that is really all you will need. I told you it was easy… I’ll take you through the process step by step in the following section.
Preparing and Freezing Your Carrots, Step by Step
Properly shredding and freezing your carrots is quite simple, but nonetheless, you should read over all of these steps in detail before you begin.
There are a couple of steps that require you to move quickly from one to the other for the best results, so you don’t want to waste time reading instructions when you get to them.
Step 1: Select fresh carrots in good shape. Getting awesome results when shredding and peeling your carrots begins with picking the best carrots you can get.
As mentioned, throw out any that are withered, discolored, or have rotted spots. Avoid the temptation to cut off bad spots and keep the rest; the process of decay has likely already begun, and this can spoil a whole batch.
Step 2: Wash, prep, and peel carrots. Thoroughly wash your carrots, cut off the tops if present, cut off the woody end, and then peel the carrots using your peeler or paring knife.
Discard the peels, but you can reuse the greens in another recipe if you want.
Step 3: Fill pot and bowl with water; place colander in sink. Once the carrots are peeled and prepped, fill up the pot and the bowl with water. Add a few handfuls of ice to the bowl. Make sure you leave room for displacement in both.
Step 4: Set pot to boil on stovetop. Place your stock pot on a burner and set it to high. Get the water going toward a rolling boil. Turn your attention back to the carrots.
Step 5: Grate carrots. Set your box grater on the cutting board and start grating the carrots. You’ll get the best results all around if you shred to a larger “slaw” size versus a fine size. Once all of the carrots are grated, check on the water in the pot.
Step 6: Boil carrots for two minutes at a rolling boil. Once the water is at a rolling boil, dump all of the shredded carrots into the pot and give them a quick stir with your spoon to make sure they are fully submerged. Keep an eye on the clock: you want to boil them for 2 minutes exactly.
Make sure your colander is in the sink at this point, and the bowl of ice water is set nearby.
Step 7: Pour carrots into colander; quench in ice water. As the final few seconds run out on your timer, very carefully pour the carrots into the colander. Let them drain for a few seconds, pick up the colander and give them a few shakes, then immerse the colander in the ice water.
You’ll let the carrots sit in the ice water bath for the same amount of time that you blanched them: 2 minutes. This is enough time to completely halt the cooking process.
Step 8: Remove colander, shake off excess water. Once the carrots are quenched, lift up the colander and give it some vigorous shakes over the bowl or over your sink to help drain the excess water. Set the colander aside and make sure you have paper towels over a clean cutting board.
Step 9: Dump carrots onto towel-lined cutting board. Dump the shredded carrots out onto some paper towels, and carefully spread them out into a uniform layer.
Step 10: Press and pat carrots dry. Using extra paper towels, gently press the excess water out of the carrots.
Repeat this process with fresh, dry paper towels until barely any moisture is coming out of them. Take your time and be thorough; you want them to be as dry as possible when they go into the freezer.
Step 11: Load carrots into freezer bags in a single layer. Start scooping your shredded carrots into freezer bags until the bags are full but not packed tightly. Ideally, you want them to be laid out as thinly as possible, and the sides should not be bulging.
Step 12: Adjust headspace, squeeze out air, and seal. You want to make sure there is a half-inch of headspace between the carrots and the edges of the bag and the zipper.
Like all frozen items, the water in the carrots will expand, and if your bags are packed too tightly, this can lead to a broken seal or a ruptured bag.
Make all necessary adjustments for each bag, then carefully press out the excess air and seal the zippers.
Step 13: Place bags in freezer and you’re finished! Once you’ve the shredded carrots packed and properly sealed, it’s time to stick them in the freezer.
Standing the bags upright will help keep them from sticking together as the carrots freeze. With that, you are all done!
Thaw Frozen, Shredded Carrots in Fridge for Best Results
Taking the time to properly prepare and blanch the carrots makes a huge difference when it comes to overall quality in terms of color, flavor, and even nutritional value.
But you can lose some of that taste and texture if you take a shortcut when it is time to thaw. Leaving them on the counter at room temperature or, worse, popping them in the microwave will lead to spongy and unappealing carrots.
Luckily, it’s easy to thaw them gradually and gently for ideal flavor. Simply stick them in the refrigerator a day before you need them. They will thaw overnight, and be crisp and tasty when it’s time to prepare them!
How Long Will Shredded Carrots Last in Freezer Storage?
Prepared correctly, your shredded carrots will last at least 9 months in the freezer with great flavor and texture, but they can last a year or even a little longer if you are judicious about keeping the temperature and humidity stable while they are stored.
If you constantly open and close your kitchen freezer, and that’s where you have your shredded carrots, the accumulation of moisture will lead to freezer burn in time and shorten their storage life.
A better bet for long-term storage is to keep them in your garage freezer or chest freezer until you need them. That will maximize shelf life and quality alike!
Get your gift and learn things like:
- how to make this really quick pest spray
- how to prevent egg waste
- two cheap automation devices that will make your life easier
Tom has lived and worked on farms and homesteads from the Carolinas to Kentucky and beyond. He is passionate about helping people prepare for tough times by embracing lifestyles of self-sufficiency.