Wondering if you can freeze apples? If you’ve got too many, the good news is that it’s relatively easy to freeze and store your fruit to use at a later date. Our guide will take you through all the steps of freezing this delicious fruit.
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Why Freeze Apples?
Your apple tree has produced a glut this year and has left you with apples as far as the eye can see. Or perhaps you’ve been out foraging and found an abundance of wild apples?
Sounds idyllic, but often you are realistically left with more than you can ever eat quickly enough. Don’t despair at the potential waste because there doesn’t need to be any. Instead, you can freeze apples to use later.
Is Freezing Apples Easy?
The process of freezing both fresh and cooked apples is very straightforward.
Whether you want to make some apple sauce, an apple pie, healthy smoothies, or some scrumptious apple muffins, the freezer is the perfect way to store them until you are ready for them to be eaten.
Our guide on using up a glut of apples has more ideas on cooking, baking, and preserving that harvest!
Preparing Apples For The Freezer
Give your apples a wash and then allow to dry. You can then peel, core, and slice your apple how you would like it. You can keep apple skins on before freezing if you prefer.
Slicing Apples
If your apples are for a pie or crumble then sliced will be best. If they are for cake recipes then you will find cubed apples will make more sense.
You can also opt for making your apples into a purée prior to freezing if they will be used for sauce or smoothies.
Top Tip – Freezing Apples Whole?
You can also freeze apples whole, which might be useful in some instances.
Simply leave the peel on, ensuring you get the entire benefit of your healthy snack. You just need to core it in preparation for freezing. You can then prevent the exposed fruit from browning by using saltwater or lemon juice.
How To Freeze Apples
There are 4 main ways to freeze apples.
The method you choose will depend on what they will be used for. Once frozen, apples can remain in the freezer for 6 to 12 months so it’s a perfect way of preserving your glut.
Freezing Apples In Syrup
If you’d like to prevent your sliced apples from browning once frozen then you can preserve their colour by using a liquid. If you want to use a sugar syrup a 40% syrup should work. Use 3 1/4 cups of sugar to 7 cups of water and simmer. Allow to cool completely before use.
- Peel, slice, and core your fresh apples.
- Give the slices a quick rinse under the cold tap and allow to drain.
- Put together the syrup, lemon juice, or saltwater concoction while the fruit is air drying.
- Once ready, pour the liquid into your choice of storage – freezer bags with zips will be perfect for this.
- Add your apple slices into the filled bags and label.
- Pop in the freezer ready to enjoy at a later date.
Dry Packing Apples
Dry packing apples means you don’t need to freeze them with any liquid and then can be frozen dry.
- Peel, core, and slice your apples to your desired shape and size.
- Rinse well in water and leave to drain well.
- Make up some water with lemon juice added to it, add the sliced apples, and let soak for a minute or two.
- Then retrieve your apples and cover them in some sugar.
- Line a baking tray with some parchment paper and line your slices on the tray.
- Pop in the freezer for around 4 hours before retrieving.
- Pop in a tub or bag and label before popping in the freezer again.
- Ensure you squeeze any excess air out of the bags prior to freezing.
Freezing Apples Whole
For a really quick way of freezing you can opt to freeze your apples whole until you decide what to do with them.
- Wash the apples thoroughly.
- Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Pop in the freezer, taking out once completely frozen.
- You can then transfer the apples to freezer bags and place them back in the freezer.
Freezing Apple Purée
Making apple purée or applesauce? Either of these will freeze just fine so this is a great way to prepare and store apples for later use.
- Once you’ve cooled down your purée or sauce it is ready for freezing.
- If the cooked apples are for your baby you can pop them into ice cube trays for perfect portion sizes.
- Otherwise, simply choose a container suitable for the freezer and pop the sauce in.
- There should be excess room in the container as the sauce will expand once frozen.
- Label your sauce and it will last around 4 months once frozen.
- It may brown while frozen but will still taste super yummy.
You can also freeze apple pie filling, or make and freeze apple crumble to enjoy later.
Further Reading
- Our guide to freezing fruit gives an overview of how easy it is to freeze fruit to use later. Find out what the easiest fruits are to freeze!
- You might also like to learn how to freeze pears to use later. Many recipes contain both apples and pears, making them excellent freezer buddies!
- Apple pressing – you can make your own apple juice to store in the freezer. It can be used to make jam during the long winter months. Delicious.
Apple Freezing FAQ’s
Apples can be frozen to use at a later date for juicing and the process does not affect their taste. It’s easier to lay them out on several flat trays and pop them in the freezer for a couple of hours as this speeds up the process. It also stops them all clumping together into one big lump once frozen. You can then separate them into handy portion sizes and freeze the apples in bags with their date.
Nothing beats an apple pie on a chilly winter’s day and, even better, cooked apple pie freezes really well. This is good to know if you are left with a portion of the pie unfinished. With the pastry, the apple pie will be fine in the freezer for a maximum of 6 months. Freezing the apple filling on its own can be stored in the freezer for up to 12 months.
Apple cider freezes well and will not affect the taste of it once it’s been defrosted either. It’s important to let it cool down fully before freezing and also leaving room in the container. Once it freezes, apple cider can expand so it’s necessary to leave enough space to allow this. You can freeze apple cider for a long time, but taste-wise you’ll probably want to use it within a year.
Surprisingly, you can literally pop whole apples in the freezer and they will be fine. However, they will take longer to freeze and will take up a lot of room if you have a glut. It’s more practical to slice them and flash freeze them before transferring them to containers. You can thaw them overnight in the fridge before use.
