Whether you are wondering what to do with green chillies because you bought too much or are simply looking for ways to store green chillies to increase their shelf life, I hope you find this post useful. Because in this post I’ve shared 2 ways of storing and freezing green chillies.
How to Store Green Chillies in Freezer
The best way to store green chillies for months is by freezing them. You can either freeze them whole or make green chilli paste and freeze the paste.
Either way you should first, de-stem the green chillies, wash them, and then dry them completely. And ideally not use bruised chillies for freezing. Those are best used as soon as possible.
- De – Stem the chillies
- Wash them properly
- Dry them off completely
Freezing Green Chillies Whole
Some prefer to only freeze green chillies whole, while some prefer to make a paste of all the green chillies and freeze it. I like to have both on hand. So I can use them as needed – whole chillies for tadkas etc, and the green chilli paste for things like curries.
Steps to freeze whole chillies
- Place the washed and dried whole chillies on a plate.
- Cover the plate with plastic cling wrap & place it in the freezer.
- Once the green chillies are frozen solid, transfer them into a freezer safe airtight bag.
- Seal the bag, after taking all the air out, and place it in the freezer for storage.
How to Preserve Green Chillies Paste
Even though I freeze whole green chillies as well, it’s the chilli paste that I seem to need more often, on a daily basis actually. So I usually make a bigger batch of that. Which is easy enough to do, because all you need to do is to make a paste, mix in salt, and freeze in portions of your choice.
Steps to freeze green chilli paste
- Crush the washed and dried green chillies in a mixer till it forms a coarse paste.
- Mix in a little salt to help preserve the paste better.
- Make small portions of the chilli paste on a plate (I use the 1 teaspoon measure).
- Cover the plate with plastic cling wrap & place it in the freezer.
- Once the green chilli paste chunks are frozen solid, transfer them into a freezer safe airtight bag.
- Seal the bag, after taking all the air out, and place it in the freezer for storage.
How to Thaw Frozen Green Chillies
You can either thaw the green chillies in the fridge or on the counter top. Though with whole green chillies, I’d say don’t thaw them in the fridge.
Just take out as many whole chillies as you need to use, and run it under cold water to thaw it and use immediately, or thaw it on the counter top at room temperature for a few minutes.
The green chilli paste can be thawed in the fridge. Take out as many chilli paste chunks as you think you’d need over the next few days or the week, and place them in a glass container in the fridge.
You can also thaw the chilli paste chunks on the counter top, but they can take 15-20 mins to thaw, so take them out a little ahead of time.
More posts on food preservation and storage
1. How to Make & Freeze Ginger Garlic Paste
2. Freezing Coriander Mint Green Chutney
As always, I hope you found this recipe useful. If you did, please let me know your rating ⭐️ and feedback 📲 in the comments below, or simply rate the recipe right on the recipe card. I’d really appreciate it. ❤️
How to Freeze Green Chillies | 2 Ways to Store Green Chillies
Ingredients
- 50 whole green chillies
- salt as required
Instructions
- Cut off the stems of the green chillies.
- Properly wash them, and dry them off completely.
- Then depending on whether you want to freeze the green chillies whole or make and freeze green chillies paste, follow one of the two methods outlined below. Though I recommend doing both, so that you have whole chillies as well as chilli paste as and when you need it.
Freezing Whole Green Chillies
- Place the washed and dried green chillies on a plate, wrap the plate with plastic cling wrap, and freeze them till they are frozen solid.
- Then transfer the frozen whole chillies in a freezer safe ziplock bag, and seal the bag, after ensuring to remove all the air out.
- Label & store the bag in the freezer.
Freezing Green Chillies Paste
- Crush the washed and dried green chillies in a mixie till it forms a coarse paste.
- Add a little salt to the green chilli paste to help preserve it better. Mix it in well.
- Make small portions of the green chilli paste, and place it in a plate (I use the 1 teaspoon measure).
- Cover the plate with plastic cling wrap, and freeze it till the paste is frozen solid.
- Then transfer the frozen chilli paste chunks into a freezer safe ziplock bag, and seal the bag, after ensuring to remove all the air out.
- Label & store the bag in the freezer.
Notes
- Do not use bruised green chillies for freezing. It’s best to use such chillies immediately.
- It’s really important to ensure to completely dry off the green chillies before freezing them.
- I recommend storing / freezing green chillies in both forms. Because then you will have ready availability of both, whole chillies for tadkas etc, and chilli paste for things like curries.
- Thawing green chillies: You can either thaw green chillies in the fridge or on the countertop at room temperature. But with whole chillies it’s best to remove as needed and thaw by running under cold water and use immediately. Green chilli paste can be either thawed in the fridge or on the countertop, but they take 15-20 mins to thaw at room temperature, so best to take them out a little ahead of time.
Please note: The nutrition values are best estimates provided as a courtesy. The exact values can vary depending on the exact ingredients or brands used. If you rely on them for your specific diet and/or health issues, please consult a registered dietician or nutritionist.
Nutrition
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Tg
What are some ways you use the green chile paste?
The Love of Spice
It can be used for many things. I most commonly use it for curries.
jerry
Thanks.
Vinodini
I never thought about freezing green chilies. We do make and store ginger garlic paste at home with green chilies added in but never only green chilies. I am sure it helps in places where green chilies are not easily available.
Shantala's Kitchen
Yeah it especially helps now, during this pandemic, when fresh grocery supply is uncertain. :/
Damyanti
This is really handy! Especially now…
Shantala's Kitchen
True. Right now, the chillies are almost getting extinct around here. So I am glad I made a big batch for the blog post / photos etc.