Easily Freeze Blueberries- a Step by Step Guide

If you bought too many blueberries, you can definitely freeze them! Here’s a step by step guide, as well as some delicious recipes!

One of my favorite things about Summer is enjoying all the fresh fruit and vegetables.

Give me all the strawberries, watermelon, zucchini… this is the perfect time to get in all your fruits and veggies!

Fresh blueberries are another favorite. Whether they’re from the grocery store or freshly-picked from a local farmers market. During blueberry season, I actually tend to buy a few pounds of blueberries and they go bad before I use them all!

Did you know you can actually freeze blueberries? Frozen berries can be cheaper at the store during off-seasons, but I also like buying them fresh when they’re in-season. And freezing blueberries is quite easy!

Keep reading to find the best way to freeze blueberries in a few simple steps, as well as delicious recipe ideas!

Blueberries- the juicy details

Blueberries are a common Summer fruit! Since they’re in-season during the Summer months, they’re at their freshest and cheapest.

These little berries are native to North America, with blueberry farms in 38 states. They’re high in antioxidants, which help protect your body and help lower cholesterol.

And they’re full of vitamins! They’re pretty high in the following:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin K
• Vitamin A
• Manganese

Basically, they’re an amazing fruit that’s delicious and can be used for tons of recipes during the Summer- and year round!

How to freeze blueberries

The freezing process is super easy. This is also similar to how I freeze strawberries and sliced banana!

Sort the berries

Take a look through the fresh berries and pick out any green ones (not ripe) or almost black ones. It’s a good idea to do this beforehand so you don’t end up with gross-tasting berries.

Rinse the blueberries- or not

Blueberries naturally have a protective coating on the skin. When they’re rinsed with water before freezing, they have a higher chance of sticking together and collecting ice crystals.

If you do choose to rinse first, do a quick rinse under cold water and lay them on a clean dish towel to dry COMPLETELY.

Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and lay out the blueberries in one flat layer. Separate them all if possible so they don’t freeze in one giant clump.

The size of the cookie sheet doesn’t matter much, but make sure you have the freezer space for it! I have a deep freeze in the garage so a standard sheet pan fits perfectly.

Freeze

Blueberries take 3-4 hours to freeze completely, but I typically leave them in overnight… mostly because I forget they’re in the freezer.

Transfer to a storage bag

As soon as the blueberries are frozen, add them to gallon-sized freezer ziploc bags or another freezer-safe airtight container. Make sure to label with the date that you froze them.

If you’re using a freezer-safe bag, make sure you squeeze as much air as possible out of it to prevent freezer burn.

How long do blueberries last in the freezer?

You can safely eat these within 6-12 months! Keep them far back in the freezer so they don’t get exposed to the warm air from opening the freezer door. This reduces the chance of freezer burn.

The longer you keep food in the freezer, the higher chance it has of getting freezer burn. Just keep that in mind!

How to use frozen blueberries

The best part of frozen blueberries is that you rarely need to defrost them to use them! A lot of recipes I use call for frozen blueberries, and folding them gently into the batter.

You can eat frozen blueberries by themselves as a snack, too! I suppose you could wait for them to defrost, but the texture changes and you end up with mushy berries.

Here are some delicious recipes and ideas you can try:

• Blueberry pancakes
• Banana Blueberry Muffins
• Blueberry Overnight Oats
• Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothie
• Baked Blueberry Oatmeal Cups
• Blueberry pie
• Blueberry sauce for pancake toppings
• Blueberry cobbler