How to Blanch and Freeze Peas Fresh from the Garden

The straight up goods on how to freeze peas. You’ve worked hard to get those gorgeous shelled peas, so keep them tasting like they’re fresh out of the garden by freezing them properly.

Also Read: Guide to Blanching Vegetables , Cauliflower and Peas with Dill, Ham and Peas Mac and Cheese

gorgeous peas to freeze peas
Nothing beats the bright flavour of fresh garden peas!

Please don’t be tricked into thinking you can freeze peas without blanching. They may be okay for the first two to three months, but after that they’ll start to taste starchy and bitter. Have you ever eaten peas from a big, fat bumpy pea pod, like in the photo below?

too old to freeze peas
Overripe peas taste starchy and bitter.

Yuck, right? As peas age and become overripe, sugar turns to starch and they start to taste bitter.  They lose that sweet tender flavor we adore. That’s exactly what happens in the freezer if you don’t blanch them first. The aging enzyme continues to age the peas and even though they’re frozen, they turn starchy and bitter. You don’t want that.

So here’s what to do…

How to Freeze Peas to Capture Their Sweet Flavor

1. Harvest Time

freeze peas from the garden

Harvest peas when the peas inside the pod are a nice round form but aren’t so big that they’re crowding each other and straining the sides of the pea pod. When you’re checking your peas, compare the feel of a small, medium and large pea pod and then do a taste test to get a sense of the difference in flavor between the different sizes. If in doubt, err on the side of underripe rather than overripe. 

If you’re getting peas from a farmer’s market, have a good look at the pea shells and see what stage the peas are at. You want about 90% of them to be like the ones in the middle in the photo above. If there are a lot of shells that are tight and bumpy, leave them as they are overripe and will taste starchy not sweet. If there are too many that are too small, you’ll get good flavor, but you won’t get much volume – consider waiting until next week’s market.

In the photo below, notice how big the peas in the first pea pod are. Notice the color difference too, they’re a pale green compared to the juicy, sweet tender peas in the bottom pod. That top pod is overripe.

open pea shells freeze peas

2. Handling Time

teenage boy shells peas - watermarked

Shell,  and freeze your peas as soon after picking or buying as possible. Peas will continue to age once picked. They’ll also start to lose moisture and get limp. Process them right away to capture that fresh sweet flavor. 

3. Proper Processing

I wish I could tell you that you don’t have to blanch peas. But you do. Even if you find tons of internet sites that say you don’t have to – you really do! I know this both from my schooling as a Professional Home Economist and from first hand experience. Yes, despite knowing better, I was lured by internet posts that promised I didn’t need to blanch peas. I got suckered into freezing several bags of peas without blanching.  BIG MISTAKE! When I took those peas out several months later, their color and flavor were not pleasant.  The peas tasted starchy and bitter.  Just like my profs said they would, the aging enzymes in the peas continued to age the peas, even in the freezer. So my young, tender peas tasted as bad as those big fat peas we hate.

So please, DO NOT freeze peas without blanching first – no matter what you might find on the internet!

To stop the aging enzymes and properly preserve flavor, color, texture and nutrient loss, you need to blanch veggies first.

If you choose not to blanch your peas, use them within two to three months before the effects of aging become noticeable and your peas start to taste off.

How to Blanch and Freeze Peas

Step 1 – Shell & Wash

Wash shelled peas in a big bowl of cold water.  Simply swish about and scoop out with your hands.

wash peas to freeze peas
Wash peas.

Step 2 – Bring to Boil & Blanch

Bring a large pot of water to a hard boil.  Add peas to boiling water being sure not to overcrowd the pot.  There should be plenty of room for peas to move and the water should be able to come back to a boil within 1 minute.  If there are too many peas in the pot, some will get over-cooked and some will be under-cooked.

blanch peas to freeze peas
Blanch peas in a hard boil for 1 1/2 minutes.

Once the water and peas return to a hard boil, watch the timer carefully and boil (blanch) your peas for only 1 1/2 minutes.  That’s all you need for blanching, but only start the timer once the water has returned to a boil.

Step 3 – Cool in Ice Water

Immediately scoop out your peas and cool them instantly in an ice water bath. The ice water will help ensure the peas don’t continue to cook from their own heat. Overcooking the peas will leave them too mushy once you reheat them to serve later on. Once all the peas are cooled, drain the water well.

ice bath to freeze peas
Drop peas in an ice bath to cool quickly.

Step 4 – Freeze 

There are two options for how to freeze your peas – freeze as individual peas or freeze as a meal-sized bunch.

If you want to be able to open a bag and have individual peas roll out, you’ll need to freeze the peas individually by placing them in a single layer on a large tray. Place the tray in the freezer for 1-2 hours and then transfer frozen peas into a freezer bag or container.

freeze peas on trays
Freeze peas on trays to avoid clumping.

If you have a lot of peas, lack of freezer space, want to finish the job quickly or like freezing meal sized quantities, skip freezing the peas on a tray and put peas directly into a freezer container. Because of the water on the peas, they will stick together, but once thawed it won’t make a difference.

Remove as much air from the freezer bag or container as possible. Use a straw to suck out air of freezer bags.

That’s it. You now have delicious peas that will last until next year’s pea crop!

What’s your favorite way of using your frozen peas? A pat of butter? A sauce? In soups?

We like putting frozen peas in hot chicken noodle soup. We don’t even thaw them, we just add them at the very end just before serving. By the time we get eating, the peas have heated up and the soup has cooled down just enough.

Sign up to get seasonal recipes, preserves and tips by Getty delivered to your inbox.  Getty is a Professional Home Economist,  speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas.  She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener.

38 Comments

  1. First time at this site. I am enjoying the questions and answers. Now I know what to do with the dying snap pea plants. Even my dog likes these peas so I will share a few. I froze a couple of bags today using your method of blanching etc. Looking forward to future posts.
    Sharon from Salinas, CA

    1. Hi Sharon, thanks for stopping by and commenting! Glad you’re finding the site useful. Let me know if there’s ever anything I can help with.

  2. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I just found you and hope this will mean I have subscribed to your website,

    1. Hi Judi! So glad you find my site helpful and thanks for your comment. I’ve added you to the newsletter list so you can get all the latest tips and recipes. Let me know if you have any questions!

    1. They are technically edible, but they are very tough and fibrous compared to snap or sugar peas. I usually compost them, but you could likely use them to make a pea puree. Let me know if you try – I’m intrigued!

  3. I blanched and froze about a bushel of lady cream peas I purchased pre shelled at the farmers market. Now when cooking them I am unable to get them tender. what is wrong? and can I fix it?

    1. Hmm, that’s odd. Not sure what would cause that. If any readers have any ideas for Sharon, please leave a comment and let us all know.
      Sorry I can’t provide any further help with this.

      Getty

      1. I have found that the longer peas are in the freezer, the longer it takes to get tender. Cook really fast when fresh.

        1. Thanks for your feedback, Marian. I’ll have to pay more attention to see if I experience the same thing.

    1. They have to stay in the freezer. For best quality freezer temperature should be consistent at 0° F (-18° C).
      If you want to preserve peas to store on the shelf they must be canned using a pressure canner.

  4. I have always wondered why the blanching water changes color. It’s not dirt. It is actually purplish.

    1. I think it has to do with the chlorophyll and other elements leaching out of the peas. Why it turns purplish instead of green, I can’t explain. Good question though!

  5. Can you freeze zipper cream peas the same way? My Mom used to blanch then, but let them cool, and put in bags with water from the bath. They were good, but I like the idea of having them loose, so you can pour out as many as you’d like.

    Thanks for sharing!!! I could almost smell them in your pictures…. lol

    1. Zipper cream peas are totally new to me – I must try them! I bet you could freeze them without the water from the bath, but like your mom, you should blanch them first. If you don’t want to risk a whole season’s worth of peas, try a couple of bags using the new method and freeze the rest the way you’ve always done it. Good luck.

  6. I bought some shelled peas on Wednesday (before Thanksgiving Day. I didn’t have time to blanch and put them in the freezer and I forgot about them until today (Saturday). What is the maximum days they should be in the frig before blanching?

    1. Hi Becky. The sooner the better of course, but I would say if you still find them in good shape to eat today you can still blanch and freeze them. Good luck.

    1. Hi Leslie Ann

      They’re at their best if you eat them within six months, but they certainly will last much longer. The longer they’re in the freezer the more ice crystals you’ll see and you may see some freezer burn. Still great for soups, stews and casseroles. We often have some for a year – until next year’s peas are ready.

  7. This is exactly what I was looking for! My only question is how do you recommend reheating the frozen peas so I can make sure I don’t over cook them after they have already been blanched and frozen. Thanks!

    1. Hi Sara,
      Glad you found the site and the information you were looking for. To cook your lovely frozen peas and prevent overcooking, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and then add your frozen peas. Boil for no more than 3-4 minutes, remove right away with a slotted spoon and add a pat of butter. For extra flavor try some herb butter. Oh so yummy.

  8. Do you dry the peas (either for planting or making soup etc) that aren’t good for freezing (like past their sweet stage)?
    Thanks for the reminder on how to blanche peas!

    1. Hi Viv,
      Yes, I leave peas that are past their prime for eating on the vine and let them dry thoroughly for use as seed next year. Only when they are brown, hard and thoroughly dry do I pick them off the vine. They’ve always worked great as seed and you end up getting the best peas for your garden through natural selection.

  9. Hi Getty
    I just picked some of my sweet peas[ because I had too ,the leaves all went brown and the plants was dying] the second row of peas are perfect like last year.Do you have any idea why they went brown?

    1. Hi Gus,
      Ugh, that’s so frustrating! It’s hard to know what’s going on with your peas. Peas really do prefer cool weather and will stop producing flowers and turn yellow then brown in the summer heat. But your second row is fine, so that may not be the case in your situation? It could be a fungus, wilt or root rot. It could also be a virus spread by aphids. Hard to tell. Just in case, I would remove the plants from the garden and put them in the trash, not the compost. And, be sure to plant your peas in a different spot (crop rotation) next year. Good luck!

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