Fresh veggies that I want to make sauce and freeze, do I need to blanch?

Question

I had some lovely tomatoes given to me, and I was ready that if you freeze tomatoes you must blanch in boiling water to remove the skin? I'm confused because I'm using these to make spaghetti sauce, so isn't having them cooked before freezing enough? I think once you blanch things they tend to be mushy. Also was given some bell peppers that I was also going to put in sauce, do those need to be blanched? One last question, how long will it keep in a good tight plastic container if in a freezer?

Answer 1

Blanch the tomatoes and peel as the skin tends to dry out and become very tough after freezing.

No need to blanch the peppers. You can seed and slice or freeze whole if you like. They will remain flavorful for cooking with. When you are going to prepare, just slice or cut up to the appropriate size while still frozen as they will become soggy when they thaw.

We routinely store frozen peppers for up to two years in plastic containers but normally can all of our tomatoes for sauces.  

Answer 2

If you're just using tomatoes for sauce, just freeze them.  When removed from the freezer for use the skin will come off easily.

Bell peppers don't require blanching.

Both will last for months frozen.

Answer 3

MMT is right.  These other folks aren't reading your question.  If you make the sauce first the tomatoes and peppers are already cooked.  No worries.  Garlic and Italian seasonings will change flavor a bit after being frozen very long but straight tomato sauce can be frozen for up to a year.  I think your sauce would be fine for a couple or three months but some folks freeze just the tomato sauce and add the seasonings after thawing.  

Answer 4

If you're making sauce with all the veggies, nope, you don't need to blanch.  Blanching is reserved for raw produce that is going to be frozen and not cooked before it is frozen.  

If you want to remove the tomato skins, then blanching until you see a crack in the skin is a good, easy way to to that.  Then remove from the boiling water, cool and the skins will pull right off.