How to Freeze Carrots

If you have a lot of carrots that won’t be eaten in a short time, you can consider freezing them for long-term use. You must cut and blanch in boiling water to kill harmful bacteria before you put it in the freezer. Luckily the process is pretty easy, and soon you’ll have carrots to freeze!

Table of Contents

Prepare carrots for freezing

Use fresh carrots. Choose fresh carrots that are young, soft, and free of bruises. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Medium length carrots are usually the best. “baby” carrots are a small variety and don’t retain much of their flavor during freezing, but they can technically be frozen. ^{[2] X Research Source}
If possible, choose freshly harvested carrots. If freezing cannot be done immediately after harvest, you should store it in the refrigerator until it is ready to freeze.
Do not use wilted or dried carrots.

Wash carrots. Wash or rub the carrots under running water to remove any dirt. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

If it’s carrots harvested in your home garden, you may need to use a vegetable brush to scrub the soil away.
If using store-bought carrots, you can wash them under cold or lukewarm water.

Cut carrots into smaller pieces. Use a knife to cut carrots into slices about 0.5 cm thick. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the outer skin, revealing the bright orange interior underneath.
Cut off the two ends of the carrot. Use a knife to cut about 0.5 cm from the ends of the carrot and discard.
Cut the rest of the carrot into 0.5cm chunks. You can also cut carrots into long thin strips or small pieces, but slicing in circles is usually easiest.
No need to chop baby carrots

Blanch carrots

Boil water in a large pot. Fill the pot about 2/3 full with water and bring to a boil over high heat.

The water needs to reach a strong boiling point.
If you don’t have a pot large enough to blanch the carrots, blanch them in batches. Finish blanching one batch at a time before starting the next batch.

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Prepare a basin of ice water. The ice bucket should be at least the same size as the pot of boiling water. Put a small ice tray of about 12 ice cubes in the pot and fill it with cold water 2/3 full.

Be sure to have a bowl of ice water ready before you begin the blanching process.
If blanching multiple batches, you may need to add more ice if the first batch begins to melt.

Blanch the carrots in boiling water. Pour chopped carrots into boiling water and cook quickly. ^{[5] X Trusted Source National Center for Home Food Preservation Go to Source}

Sliced carrots should only blanch for 2 minutes, whole baby carrots will take 5 minutes. ^{[6] X Research Sources}
The blanching process inhibits certain enzymes and bacteria in the carrots, thereby preventing the carrots from discoloring, losing flavor or losing their nutritional value.
The carrot blanching water can be reused up to 5 times, but after a while you may have to add more hot water to the pot.

Quickly pour the carrots into the bowl of ice water. As soon as the blanching time is up, use a spoon with a hole to scoop the carrots out of the pot and put them in the ice bath. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Soak carrots in ice water as long as blanching in boiling water. Generally, sliced carrots need to cool for 2 minutes and baby carrots need to cool for 5 minutes.
Cooling the carrots is essential as it will prevent the carrots from ripening further. You should not let carrots ripen thoroughly.

Cut water. Pour the carrots into the basket and wait a few minutes to drain.

You can also use a spatula with holes to scoop out the carrots and place on several layers of clean paper towels to dry.

Frozen carrots

Spread the carrots on the baking tray. Arrange the carrots on a baking tray in a single layer, making sure that the carrots do not touch or overlap.

If stacked, carrots will stick together when frozen. This step is intended to prevent the carrots from sticking together in the freezer, making it easier to measure and defrost later.
If the baking tray doesn’t have enough room to spread all the carrots, you can use multiple baking trays or make batches.

Pre-freeze carrots. ^{[8] X Source} Place the baking tray in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until the carrots are frozen solid.

This step is not required. If you plan to use a whole bag or can of carrots at once, you don’t necessarily need to separate individual chunks of carrots to freeze. But if you don’t want to use the entire batch at once, the pre-freezing step will help prevent the carrots from sticking together when stored in the freezer for a long time.
Once the carrots are frozen, they cannot be broken or cut with a knife.

Place the carrots in a freezer-safe container. Use a spatula to scoop carrots from the baking tray into a freezer-safe plastic container or zippered plastic bag. ^{[9] X Research Source}

If using a plastic container, be sure to leave 1cm space above the carrot and the top of the box. ^{[10] X Trusted Source National Center for Home Food Preservation Go to the source} Food will expand as it freezes and the space above the can will allow the carrots to expand.
If using a plastic bag, be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing the bag. Use a vacuum cleaner if available.
Glass containers are not recommended as they often crack and break when placed in the freezer.
Put the freeze date on the label on the outside of the box so you know later how long the carrots have been frozen.

Freeze until needed to use. Carrots will stay good for about 9 months in a regular freezer and in a plastic container or zippered plastic bag. ^{[11] X Research Source}

If you use vacuum bags and deep freeze, carrots will usually keep for 14 months without loss of quality.
Frozen carrots are better for cooking than raw.

Things you need

Vegetable scrub brush
Kitchen knife
Vegetable knife
Pan or pot
Pot
Spoon with hole
Baskets
Tissue
Baking tray
Box or bag that can be used in the freezer
Labels
Markers

Steps

Prepare carrots for freezing

Blanch carrots

Frozen carrots

Things you need

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