NMR: Freezing zucchini

[arch01]

I don't think my family will tolerate much more zucchini at the moment and we have a TON.

Can I grate, drain and freeze for later use? Or if I made, say, zucchini ravioli, will that freeze ok?

[Deleted]

Zucchini freezes well, but if you plan on keeping in in the freezer for a while, I would blanch it first. Aside from grating, I also like to dice it up and freeze it on a cookie sheet, and then put the chunks in a bag for stir fries and stuff.

[lurknomore]

I did that to make zucchini muffins and they weren't good after freezing the zucchini. Now I make the muffins and freeze those. Much better. In fact I made 4 batches of bread/muffins today.

[arch01]

Jul 21, 2014 18:06:23 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

Zucchini freezes well, but if you plan on keeping in in the freezer for a while, I would blanch it first. Aside from grating, I also like to dice it up and freeze it on a cookie sheet, and then put the chunks in a bag for stir fries and stuff.

Oh good idea for the stir fry, thanks!!

I will plan on blanching-who knows when it'll be used.

[gardengal]

If you can at all, I've seen recipes for zucchini relish & zucchini pickles

[pamela]

Jul 21, 2014 18:06:46 GMT -5 lurknomore said:

I did that to make zucchini muffins and they weren't good after freezing the zucchini. Now I make the muffins and freeze those. Much better. In fact I made 4 batches of bread/muffins today.

I think the muffin failure is the short shelf life of moist muffins so they probably went bad during thawing. Plus the formation of ice crystals can ruin the texture and the more moisture, more ice.
I currently have grated drained zucchini in my freezer that I hope works out.

[soozy87]

Jul 21, 2014 18:06:23 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

Zucchini freezes well, but if you plan on keeping in in the freezer for a while, I would blanch it first. Aside from grating, I also like to dice it up and freeze it on a cookie sheet, and then put the chunks in a bag for stir fries and stuff.

Yeah, this is what we did last year. It worked well.

[dexteroni]

Jul 21, 2014 18:24:49 GMT -5 pamela said:

Jul 21, 2014 18:06:46 GMT -5 lurknomore said:

I did that to make zucchini muffins and they weren't good after freezing the zucchini. Now I make the muffins and freeze those. Much better. In fact I made 4 batches of bread/muffins today.

I think the muffin failure is the short shelf life of moist muffins so they probably went bad during thawing. Plus the formation of ice crystals can ruin the texture and the more moisture, more ice.
I currently have grated drained zucchini in my freezer that I hope works out.

I think she's saying freezing just the zucchini made for bad muffins, but making muffins with fresh zucchini and freezing those worked. That has been my experience as well. I froze shredded zucchini once and it was soggy after thawing (I hadn't blanched it though), but zucchini bread/muffins freeze and thaw wonderfully.

[katlizabeth]

I've made zucchini bread with frozen, grated zucchini and it turned out well.

Love freezing cubes of zucchini idea!

[lemon360]

This is good to know, overnight several monster sized zucchini showed up on our one plant. I swear they were tiny yesterday!

[lurknomore]

Jul 21, 2014 19:35:41 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Jul 21, 2014 18:24:49 GMT -5 pamela said:

I think the muffin failure is the short shelf life of moist muffins so they probably went bad during thawing. Plus the formation of ice crystals can ruin the texture and the more moisture, more ice.
I currently have grated drained zucchini in my freezer that I hope works out.

I think she's saying freezing just the zucchini made for bad muffins, but making muffins with fresh zucchini and freezing those worked. That has been my experience as well. I froze shredded zucchini once and it was soggy after thawing (I hadn't blanched it though), but zucchini bread/muffins freeze and thaw wonderfully.

Yup. Thanks dexteroni!!!

[Lilac]

Jul 21, 2014 19:41:44 GMT -5 katlizabeth said:

I've made zucchini bread with frozen, grated zucchini and it turned out well.

Same here. I've never had an issue with grating zucchini, freezing it and then thawing it to make muffins. I love zucchini muffins with raisins and walnuts. yum!

[Deleted]

Ditto previous success grating and freezing zucchini for later use. I have a grater attachment for my KitchenAid and that makes it go pretty quickly. I'll use it to make zucchini bread over the winter, as well as just toss in a soup.

Of course, chocolate zucchini bread is usually well recieved too

[arch01]

Jul 21, 2014 22:22:59 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Ditto previous success grating and freezing zucchini for later use. I have a grater attachment for my KitchenAid and that makes it go pretty quickly. I'll use it to make zucchini bread over the winter, as well as just toss in a soup.

Of course, chocolate zucchini bread is usually well recieved too

I'm making a chocolate cream cheese zucchini bread tonight. It looks amazing. 

Thanks everyone-I have 7 cups grated right now to use for my favorite recipes this week and will grate and freeze more. I'm also going to do the stir fry idea...yum!

[CloudBee]

I would make dishes containing zucchini, and freeze those. Breads, sauces, cakes, stuffed zucchinis, etc.

[Deleted]

I have frozen shredded zucchini and it worked out well. I just thawed in in a colandar.