When you pay a visit to a strawberry farm, you inevitably end up with more strawberries than you can eat. Getting a lot of strawberries when they are available is a good idea as they are in season only for a short time. It might be difficult to use them all before they go bad, so you can simply freeze them for using later.
Though they have a much longer shelf life, frozen strawberries cannot be used for garnishing or making a fruit salad. But there are still lots of things you can do with them, and we have shared a list of ideas below in the article. Here are the steps for freezing:
Wash them well because freezing does not kill the germs that might be there, and you won’t be able to clean them later. Pick out and discard overripe squishy ones as you want to store only the firm freshly-picked ones. Get rid of the caps, as it may be difficult to remove them later, and it won’t let you use the berries directly from the freezer. Let them dry on a paper towel.
Freezing the strawberries immediately after preparing helps prevent them from turning too mushy. 
Arrange whole strawberries on a dry baking sheet in a single layer, and flash freeze for about 2 hours. This will keep them from sticking together later when you store them. Now, place them in zip-lock freezer bags, press lightly to let the air out, seal, and then put them back in the freezer. Avoid filling the bags over three-quarters of the whole way. 
Tips: Do not blanch, and do not soak strawberries in water as it might affect their flavor and nutrient content.
Frozen strawberries do not get sweeter over time, so if you like your strawberries sweet and want to eat them as a snack, it is better to freeze them with sugar. You can make a syrup or simply use granulated sugar.
Storing them in sugar syrup keeps their shape and texture intact instead of turning too mushy. Make a syrup with 4 cups of water and a cup of sugar, cool it in the refrigerator and pour over the cleaned, hulled berries. Place the whole thing in glass jars and simply freeze. It will be frozen solid overnight. Use around one cup of syrup per liter of the jar you are using.
To freeze strawberry slices with granulated sugar, just mix the sugar with the slices in a large container and wait for 5 minutes so the sugar can dissolve somewhat. Half a cup of sugar is enough for about 4 cups of strawberries. Fill into airtight glass containers or mason jars and freeze.
Yes, you can. For this, set your freezer on fast freeze a couple of hours before starting mashing the strawberries. Once the purée is done, put it into a glass container, airtight freezer bag, or plastic bag and freeze immediately. It comes especially handy for storing overripe strawberries.
Frozen strawberries are best used within 6 to 8 months, as after this they may start to lose their flavor and develop freezer burns.
Their high water content makes strawberries soft when thawed. But their flavor remains intact, so they are perfect for jams, shakes, ice creams, pies, and smoothies. Just put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to thaw before using. Here are a few recipes for you to try:
Another simple idea can be to mix them with whipped cream and serve as a dessert topping with shortcakes, waffles, and cheesecakes. So it is pretty clear that frozen strawberries are good for most of the things you can do with the fresh ones.
Get email updates about what's new for gardeners this season
