How to Freeze Cherries
Here I will show you how to freeze cherries using 2 methods: fresh or in a sugar syrup. They can be used for baking, smoothies, elegant desserts and more.
Servings: 4
Calories: 43kcal
Ingredients
Method 1 - Fresh Cherries
- 2 cups cherries cleaned, pitted and stems removed
Method 2 - Cherries In Light Syrup
- ½ cup water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups cherries cleaned, pitted and stems removed
Instructions
Method 1 - Fresh Cherries
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper. At this point you can leave the cherries whole or slice them if you prefer.
- Spread the pitted cherries out in a single layer on the baking sheet, making sure they aren’t touching each other.
- Place in the freezer until frozen solid, about 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove the cherries from the freezer and place them all together in a freezer bag.
- Place the bag of cherries back into the freezer for up to 6 months or up to 1 year in the deep freeze.
Method 2 - Cherries In Light Syrup
- In a medium saucepan, add the water and sugar.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, carefully add the cherries and give them a gentle stir. Bring back to a full boil.
- Boil the cherries for 1 minute (you don’t want to cook them too long so that they retain their shape and texture). Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Place the cherries with the syrup in air-tight containers and into the freezer for up to 1 year (it's ideal to use a couple of containers with a 1 cup capacity so that you don’t have to thaw them all at once when ready to use).
Notes
- The time and nutrition information is for the fresh cherries (Method 1) per ½ cup serving.
- This method works for all sorts of cherries: sweet like bing or rainier, dark or light, sour/tart, etc.
- Make sure you put a date on the freezer bag/container so that you know how long they have been in the freezer.
- If using tart/sour cherries for the cherries in syrup, you may want to add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of sugar.
- For the cherries to completely freeze solid, it can take 4 hours or more. It's best to leave them overnight if you can.
- Freezing fresh cherries is an excellent option for healthy and low sugar recipes such as smoothies or adding to overnight oats and yogurt. You can use them in pies, tarts and galettes like in this cherry galette recipe.
- Freezing cherries in syrup works best for making sweet sauces or as a topping for yogurt, ice cream, cheesecake or other desserts. There are countless ways to use your frozen cherries.
Nutrition
Calories: 43kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 44IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg
