How to Freeze Jalapeños Step by Step

Peppers of all kinds, and especially spicy ones, are known to most gardeners as one of the more difficult and problematic veggies you can grow: they have fussy and exacting requirements for good health, lots of pests, and they need lots of attention and care from you.

The trade-off is that many cultivars are highly productive, and perhaps none more than the classic, beloved jalapeño.

Pretty much the perfect pepper when it comes to a balance of flavor and heat, even a few small plants can leave you with more peppers than you’ll know what to do with. Rather than let them go to waste, you should freeze them.

Freezing is the perfect way to store jalapeños, too: not only is it a cinch, but it’s also ideal for preserving their flavor profile. I always freeze a couple of big batches to keep them ready for different recipes throughout the year. Keep reading, and I’ll tell you how to do it right.

What You’ll Need

You don’t need much to freeze jalapeños properly. Chances are you’ve got everything required in your kitchen right this moment:

Jalapeños: You’ll need jalapeños, obviously! But not just any jalapeños will do; you should only try to freeze ones that are perfectly ripe, fresh, and undamaged.

If they’re already shriveled, pruney, or starting to mold and rot, don’t even try it. It won’t save them, and they’ll be truly awful when coming out of storage. Note that any variety of jalapeños you prefer or have will work.

Freezer Bags: Proper freezer bags are important for good results here. Standard food storage bags, twist tie bags, saran wrap, and other food storage options are a no-go because they let too much air get to the peppers.

Air promotes freezer burn and greatly degrades quality, so we want to use thick freezer bags with good closures to prevent that. You can also use reusable silicone freezer-safe storage bags for the same purpose.

Paring Knife: If you want to chop or slice your peppers prior to storage, a paring knife will help you do that. Use a full-size kitchen knife if you prefer. Whichever you pick, make sure it is sharp.

Cutting Board: Just a cutting board. Wood, plastic, or stone, it doesn’t matter.

Baking Sheet: Used for freezing the jalapeños initially prior to storage. Flash-freezing them in this way will prevent clumping when we pack them into our bags and improve overall quality.

Vacuum Sealer (optional): If you have one, now is the ideal time to break out your vacuum sealer and the bags that go with it.

Getting all of the air out of the package with the jalapeños will produce a superior pepper once thawed. Again, not strictly necessary but nice if you are passionate about texture and flavor.

Food Prep Gloves (optional): Jalapeños are, no surprise here, quite hot. Just handling them will get some residue on your skin, and cutting them open will expose you to lots of fiery capsaicin.

Any injuries, broken skin, or irritation will be made orders of magnitude worse if you get that hot stuff on you!

Likewise, it’s easy to forget and wipe your nose, mouth, or eyes during the process, and that will burn you right up. Disposable food prep gloves will keep your skin and the rest of your body safe during preparation.

Paper Towels: It is crucial that your jalapenos going to the freezer are completely dry. Even a little bit of moisture on their skins will cause damage that will affect their texture and appearance once thawed.

Wiping them all down carefully with paper towels will get them as dry as you can make them.

Step-by-Step Instructions

The following instructions will take you through the process of processing and freezing your jalapenos step by step.

Step 1: Wash peppers. The first thing to do is give the peppers a thorough rinse under running water. If you have a produce cleaner that you like, now’s the time to use it, but you don’t really need to…

Step 2: Dry thoroughly. Once the peppers are washed, grab your paper towels and take some time drying each and every one of them thoroughly.

You want to get them as dry as possible since this will directly impact their quality when they go into the freezer. Any leftover moisture on their skin or around the stem will cause damage and pave the way to freezer burn.

Step 3: Stem, slice if desired. Put on your gloves if you are using them. Next, pop the stems off of the jalapenos. You can twist them off or snip them off. If you intend to leave the peppers whole, move on to the next step once this is done.

If you want to slice your peppers, place them on the cutting board, cut off the woody end near the stem, then slice them into rings or split them in half lengthwise so you can cut them into strips. Strips work a little better than rings for freezing.

If you are cutting your jalapenos into whatever shape, remove the seeds and white membranes.

Step 4: Lay out peppers on baking sheet. You can crowd them close together, but only keep them in a single layer and try to keep the pieces from touching. This will promote better, quicker freezing, but if they are touching each-other, no biggie.

Step 5: Freeze. Stick the baking sheet loaded with peppers into the freezer. Leave it there for at least an hour to freeze solid. Depending on the size of your peppers or pieces, it might take a little longer.

Step 6: Remove from freezer, transfer to freezer bags. After an hour or so has gone by, remove the baking sheet from the freezer and then transfer the peppers to your freezer bags. You can pack them in tightly now.

Step 7: Remove air from bags. This part is important. Squeeze as much air as possible from your bags prior to sealing them. Air is the enemy because it will lead to freezer burn and a big drop in quality over time.

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If you have a vacuum sealer, use it to vacuum pack the peppers for great results. Otherwise, do whatever you can to get as much air out as possible, then quickly seal the bags before it can get back in.

Step 8: Place in freezer. Stack the bags full of peppers in the freezer again. You can pack them in pretty tightly now since we pre-froze them and you won’t have to worry about them clumping up into unusable chunks.

Step 9: Done! That’s it. Your jalapeños are frozen properly and will be fresh, tasty, and plenty spicy when you are ready to thaw and cook with them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have to freeze jalapeños whole?

No, but you probably should. Whole jalapenos should hold up better to freezing compared to chopped or sliced.

Plus, once you thaw them, they will be a little crispier, too, which can be a big perk depending on what you are making with them. Plus, freezing them whole saves you time and effort!

But if you want to chop them thinking you’ll be using them soon enough, you can go ahead and save yourself some time when you’re ready to cook with them:

How long will jalapeños last in the freezer?

About a year, and they will stay in good shape assuming you don’t open and close the freezer too much. However, you’ll enjoy the best flavor and texture if you eat them within 8 months.

Remember that the better you pack them, the longer they will last before freezer burning.

How can you prevent jalapeños from clumping while frozen?

Always thoroughly dry and pre-freeze your peppers! Do that, and they won’t clump together in those awful little icebergs in your freezer bags. If they go in damp or you pile them into a bag and simply chuck them in the freezer, clumping is a lot more likely.

Do frozen jalapeños lose their heat?

No, they don’t! Trust me, when you pop your peppers out of the freezer, they will be plenty fiery. You don’t have to worry about any of your signature dishes losing their punch just because you are preparing them with frozen jalapeños.