Freezing Peppers and Tomatoes

Maybe you are wondering what to do with all the sweet and hot peppers you have been collecting. I have been freezing peppers for years, but I decided to look it up to see how it is supposed to be done. I really like freezing some of both the hot and sweet peppers because during the winter I will often decide to make something that requires one or both and rather than having to run out to the store, I can just pull what I need out of the freezer.

For sweet peppers, remove stem, seeds and membrane, cut up the way you would like to use them, place in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen, place in a plastic bag or container. The peppers will get soft, but when you cook them into chili or stew, they are cooked until soft anyway.

For hot peppers, just leave them whole.

As for tomatoes, they also freeze really well. Remove the stem and cut out any blemishes/bad spots. Place whole in a large plastic freezer bag and freeze until ready to use in sauce, stews, soups. The skins will slip right off as they start to defrost.