Dietician Urges People to Do This One Thing Before Storing Fresh Produce in Freezer: "It Saved Me..."

Buying fresh produce to cook nutritious meals throughout the week has been all the rage among health-conscious consumers. But as life takes a toll on your time and energy, your efforts in daily meals may drop, leaving your fresh vegetables rotting in the freezer. Refrigeration may prolong their shelf life only to some extent. But dietitians now have a favorite technique that enhances preservation making the fresh produce last longer. In a viral TikTok video, Steph Grasso (@stephgrassodietitian), a registered dietitian, called attention to an ingenious hack that includes the process of boiling fresh-cut vegetables and then putting them in an ice-cold bowl of water, called blanching. 

Grasso suggested the meal prep hack was a blessing in disguise that significantly cuts down on food waste and saves money at the same time. “It truly saved me so much money and it sped up my cooking process,” she said. Detailing the process, the expert got to preparing her vegetables for blanching. She snipped a couple of beans into small bits, placed them in boiling water followed by a plunge in ice water. Then, she bagged them in a Ziploc freezer bag and finally stored the veggies in the freezer. Grasso revealed that this helps to lock in the nutrients in vegetables and also reduces the bitterness in others. However, she advised it was best to use seasonal vegetables for optimum taste and affordable prices. 

The dietitian, who boasts 2.2 million followers on TikTok, opened up about her reliance on blanching. "It helps keep veggies nutrient-rich by stopping enzymes that cause nutrient loss and breakdown over time," she told HuffPost. The process of boiling and cooling in ice water inhibits the enzymatic reactions that cause degradation and helps maintain the color, quality, and texture of the produce. “Instead of wilting in your fridge after a few days, they can stay fresh for months in the freezer,” she added. Furthermore, she suggested freezing the blanched veggies in portions to limit leftover wastage and best utilize the produce. 

Another dietitian, Katherine Metzelaar, RD, weighed in on the brilliant hack as a way to utilize maximum nutrients from the produce while also preserving them longer. If skipped, the enzymes in the vegetables will get to work, leading to nutrient loss after having stored them in the freezer, regardless. Blanching is reportedly used by frozen food companies supplied to supermarkets and grocery stores. However, the homemade frozen vegetables will be kept ready to use for months, given they were already cooked during the process. Dietitian Shana Spence, RD, also talked to the outlet about the smart technique of produce storage. She said that frozen vegetables last for about eight months in the freezer until a noticeable freezer burn may be observed. Then you simply “toss them out,” she added.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind before blanching fresh produce and stuffing them in the freezer. The duration of boiling the produce depends on the kind of vegetable used. For light and delicate green produce like spinach, a minute or two of boiling is sufficient however, heavier veggies like carrots and broccoli will require three to four minutes, Metzelaar noted. Besides, over-blanching will greatly impact the taste and texture of the vegetables, or adding too many veggies in the ice pot at once will warm the water, thus negating the whole effect of ice.

You can follow @stephgrassodietitian on TikTok for more healthy hacks and food tricks.