Once my little Rayna asked me, mummy why are they called eggplants? Do they have eggs inside them? I just burst out laughing and said its just a name honey. Nevertheless, we still enjoy eggplant every now and again. When we have more than we can eat, I have since learnt how to freeze eggplant.

The freezing process is quite simple. There are two separate methods that you can use depending on how you intend to use your eggplant. You can either freeze slices or puree. Since I never really know what I will eventually use mine for, I tend to just use both methods.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• fresh eggplant
• wax paper
• ziploc bags
• baking sheet
• scoop
• fork

Eggplant needs to be cooked before you can freeze it. If you are freezing slices for later use in sandwiches, eggplant parm, or a dish that uses whole pieces off eggplant then you can bake the one inch thick slices at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes. You want the slices to be tender. Allow to cool and pack in between wax paper before placing and storing in ziploc bags in your freezer.

The second method is a puree for dips, sauces, soups, stews and spreads. You do not have to slice your eggplant for this one. Simply poke with a fork then roast in the oven for at least 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. Remove from the oven once it starts collapsing and allow to cool. All that is left to do is cut in half, scoop out the flesh and store in ziploc bags in your freezer.

You can follow step by step instructions on The Kitchn blog, here…

How To Freeze Eggplant

You can watch the video below on how to to prepare, cook & freeze eggplant…

You can watch the video below on eggplant blanching/freezing…

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