Not sure how to freeze okra? No worries, I’ve got you covered! Freezing okra for use later is a quick and easy way to keep this veggie on hand in the kitchen well past those hot summer months that okra loves so much! And this method of putting up okra in the freezer comes without the hot water blanching. Check it out!

How to Freeze Fresh Okra

Okra, the jewel of the southern garden, can get a bad rap for being… well, slimy. You’ll find that most people are either okra lovers or haters, and thankfully most of my family is in the lover category. (Particularly if said vegetable is fried, ahem.) If you’ve ever grown okra in the garden, then you know that once it starts coming in, it can be difficult to eat it all.

Once you begin to harvest okra (check out my post here on when to harvest) you have a few days to use it before it starts turning brown and soft in spots. Learning how to freeze okra for use later is easy as pie thanks to my granny.

Granny imparted her okra-preserving wisdom on me for this “recipe.” She doesn’t keep track of oven temperatures or how many minutes it should be in there, so there was a bit of testing on my end. But the result was non-slimy okra ready to go in the freezer in 15 minutes from start to finish. Voila! So if you’re having a busy week, and unable to cook okra before it goes bad, here’s an easy way to know how to freeze okra for use later.

Can you freeze okra without cooking it?

The short answer is yes, but I would advise against it. The process of baking (or blanching if you want to go that route) helps break down enzymes in the okra. Breaking these down helps preserve the flavor and texture of the okra itself. So though it’s an extra step, I highly recommend it!

Instructions for Freezing Okra

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash your tender okra pods in cool water and drain in a colander. Once relatively dry, move them to a cutting board, and decide how you’d like to cut them.
Cut okra and place on rimmed baking sheet. I like to cut mine into 1/2 inch pieces for easy use in smoothies and soups. (If you’ve never had frozen okra in a smoothie, you’re totally missing out. The Trim Healthy Mama book introduced me to this.)
Place baking sheet in preheated oven for 3-4 minutes. You just want the okra pieces warmed through, not cooked.
Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. The moisture that was on the okra has dried a bit after the short time in the oven, and once cool, they are ready for the freezer.
Place cooled okra in labeled freezer bags, and use throughout the fall and winter as needed!

Okra Freezing Options:

If you prefer fried okra (or “oven fried”) then you can go ahead and coat your cooled okra in cornmeal before putting it in the freezer bags.
For freezing okra whole, cut off the tops and warm the pods in the oven. Then freeze as usual.

These freezing instructions are great for those growing okra in your home gardens. But it also is perfect if you happen to grab some fresh okra from your local farmer’s market. Fresh is fresh, and buying local veggies in season is always better than shipped-from-who-knows-where out of season. So buy up (or pick) that okra now and “put it up” (as we southerners say) for use later.

How long does it take to cook frozen okra?

There really isn’t much difference in the time it takes to cook frozen okra versus fresh. A few more minutes in the oven or in the pot/skillet should do the trick. For my oven roasted okra recipe, I would add just a few minutes, or until the edges begin to brown.

I’d love to know what your favorite okra dish is. Comment below and let me know, because I’m always looking for news ways to use this super vegetable!

Freezing Other Garden Goods:

How to Freeze Tomatoes

How to Freeze Blueberries

How to Freeze Strawberries

How to Freeze Green Beans

Yield: One Gallon Bag

How to Freeze Fresh Okra

Learn how to freeze okra and extend your harvest well into the fall and winter. Preserving the harvest by freezing is a quick and easy way to have okra on hand!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Active Time 5 minutes

Additional Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Materials

Fresh Okra
Ziploc Freezer Bags

Tools

Sheet Pan
Knife
Cutting Board

Instructions

Begin by washing okra. Then slice okra into 1/2 inch thick discs. Try to keep them uniform.
Place sliced okra on a sheet pan and place in preheated oven for 3-4 minutes or until just warmed through.
Remove okra from oven and allow to cool.
Once cool, scoop okra into freezer bags and place in freezer.
Once okra is frozen, use as needed!

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Freezing fresh green beans is the quickest and easiest way to put aside some of your summer harvest for later. Whether you have rows and rows of slender beans or teepees full to the top with bright green goodness, you may need a way to preserve them. In our kitchen garden this year, we have two teepees full of Kentucky Blue Pole Beans leftover from last year’s seeds. (If you’re ever unsure about whether last year’s seeds are still good, try this quick test.)

My Granny always canned her green beans, and they were a treat straight from the jar, cold. True story. But canning takes time that I don’t usually have, so freezing saves time an space on my pantry shelves. If you’re growing beans, even in a small kitchen garden, then you know beans grow quickly. This means I may be able to freeze a quart bag a week, while still having them for dinner one night. That’s not too shabby for only using half of a 4×4 raised bed for growing beans.

And for those non-gardeners out there, this method also works for those grocery store or farmer’s market beans that just didn’t get used. Sometimes we have great intentions for dinner that just don’t pan out. You can easily freeze them and save them for later!

Harvesting Green Beans

I love to have the little gardeners help with harvesting green beans. They can’t reach the top of the teepees, but they can certainly cover most of the bottom. In fact, last week I sent Girly Gardener out with our Dollar Store Garden Basket and told her to bring in beans for dinner. She loved helping out, and I was thrilled at being able to continue working on the rest of dinner.

Try to pick your beans when they’re still a bit tender, and not overly large and tough. I have a whole post on how to harvest beans, so check it out! Now on to the instructions!

How to Freeze Green Beans

Pick your beans from the garden (or the Farmer’s Market), and wash them in a colander. Take beans one or two at a time out of the colander and snap off the ends. If a bean is particularly long, then go ahead and snap it in half.
Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove. I added a pinch of salt to mine, but that is completely optional. While the water is warming up, grab a large bowl and fill halfway with ice, then add enough water to cover the ice. Once the pot is at a rolling boil, add in snapped beans.
Set a timer for 3 minutes. As soon as the timer goes off, remove pot from heat. Quickly drain beans, and dump them in your ice water bath. This stops the cooking process. Your beans will be a beautiful bright green color, just from the few minutes in the pot.
Allow the beans to sit in the ice water for 5 minutes, or until cooled. Then drain beans and place on a clean kitchen cloth to dry a little before freezing.
The beans do not have to be “dry,” but I let them sit for ten minutes or so, usually while i’m doing something else. Then label and date quart-sized freezer bags and fill them with your blanched beans. Place bags in the freezer, and use whenever needed as a side dish or as an add in for those winter vegetable soups!

And that’s all there is to it to put some fresh green beans away for using later. From snapping to bagging, this may take 20 minutes, which is a far shorter time than canning. You can even put those snapped ends out in the compost pile or feed them to your chickens! You’ll feel like a homesteader with all of this resourcefulness! Have a great week and happy gardening!