Cooking with Chef Jo: Freezing Fresh Strawberries

Well, the decision was made to keep thirty of the most viable strawberry plants. They are sitting in a flat awaiting transplanting this week down in the orchard. Another twenty seeds will be ordered later. The wild strawberry patch is gone.

Even so, I'm hoping for some strawberries to dehydrate and freeze this year. I'm crossing my fingers and praying. So to continue my strawberry recipes, today I'm offering a tutorial on how I freeze my strawberries.


I choose to freeze whole berries. If the strawberries are really large (over 2" in diameter), I may cut them in half.

To Freeze Strawberries
(this works with any berry)

• Be choosy about choosing your berries. They will lose some of their texture when thawed. Pick only the firmest, ripest berries to freeze.
• Wash the berries. I use 1 Tbs of salt dissolved into half a sink basin of water (about 3 gallons of water).
• After washing, I lay the berries on a thick towel to dry. Picking off stems and greenery as I go.
• I'll core the strawberries.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place the berries in a single layer. Leave about an 1/8" space between them.
• Place filled baking sheet in the freezer.
• Freeze for 30 minutes.
• Place 1 cup of berries into vacuum seal bags and seal.
• Mark the contents and date on the bag and put the bags into the freezer.

Remember, FIFO (First In First Out) when pulling anything from your freezer. Enjoy your spring and summer berries all year long.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Jo