As you know, the start of many dishes – like a pot of red beans – begins with the Holy Trinity of onions, bell peppers, and celery. But what if you purchased too many or your garden has supplied an abundance and you fear they’ll go bad before you can use them? Can you freeze the Holy Trinity before it all goes to waste?
Yes! And it’s a simple process!
What is the Holy Trinity of Cajun and Creole Cooking? Here is a more in-depth article on how the name came about along with their friend da Pope.
Recently I purchased everything I needed to make my Monday Red Beans and Rice recipe – including ordering Camellia beans online since they still don’t sell them anywhere near me. We went grocery shopping and grabbed everything else that I needed from the ingredient list including the onions, bell peppers, and celery. Plus, smoked turkey necks. They have been the game changer for me! The red beans have been coming out so amazing and smoky since I started using them.
We had a group of friends coming over and I was looking forward to making the beans, but something came up. I didn’t have time to cook the pot from scratch and I started to worry about all of the fresh vegetables and meats that we purchased.
Sound familiar?
It’s happened to me plenty of times. There is no need to worry. All you need to do is freeze the onions, bell peppers, and celery so there is no waste. The next time you need them, just grab the frozen batch in your freezer.
How Do You Prepare Onions, Bell Peppers, and Celery to Freeze?
You’ll prepare the Trinity just as you would if you were going to use them right away. Peel the outer layers of the onion away so you can dice it. Wash the bell pepper and celery.
PRO TIP: Set the bell pepper and celery aside so that they can air dry, or use a paper towel and give them the Bourbon Street shakedown… This can help prevent some ice crystals from forming.
Dice the onions, bell peppers, and celery.
Place the diced Trinity on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet in as much of a single layer as possible. Carefully place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 6-8 hours.
Diced green bell peppers can also be added to the tray. They were not available for the photo shoot due to prior commitments.
PRO TIP: This step will help ensure that the pieces are individually frozen and not stuck together in one giant clump.
Once the diced Trinity is frozen, you can go one of two ways:
- Add all the onions, bell peppers, and celery to one large freezer bag. This can be helpful if you know that you are going to use the Trinity again in the future.
- Place the onions, bell peppers, and celery in different freezer bags. This can be helpful if you just plan on grabbing what you need (like if you just need some onions for a recipe, or just onions and bell peppers for an omelet, etc). Freezing the vegetables in a single layer on the cookie sheet before bagging them makes it easier to scoop out little bits as you need them.
How Long Can You Freeze the Holy Trinity in the Freezer?
The vegetables should last about 10 months in your freezer – so don’t forget to label the bag with the date. If you do this multiple times throughout the year, rotate the bags so the oldest one is always on top.
The key to getting them to last the longest is to get as much air out of the freezer bag as possible before sealing it.
How Do You Use Frozen Onions, Bell Peppers, and Celery?
There is no need to thaw the onions, bell peppers, or celery. This is the easy and simple part: you just take the bags out of the freezer, use the amount that you need, and add them right to the recipe.
For the best results, you’ll only want to use these in stews, soups, beans, or recipes that will cook the Trinity down. I wouldn’t recommend adding any of these to any recipe that calls for fresh ingredients like a salad.
The bonus is that the Holy Trinity is just as good and nutritious as if they were fresh from the market or your garden.
So, can you freeze the Holy Trinity? As you can see the answer is yes and it can be a helpful step in not only making sure food does not go to waste, but it can also help reduce meal prep time for future recipes!
Recipes that use the Holy Trinity:
Other Recipe Ideas:
- Crispy Red Beans and Rice Eggrolls
- Greek White Bean Soup – Fasolada
- Crispy Chicken Wings in the Oven
Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. And if you’ve had a chance to make this, please let me know in the comments and rating below. And take a picture of it! Please share it on social media and tag me! I’d love to see it!
Freezing the Holy Trinty
What if you purchased too many onions, bell peppers, and celery, or your garden has supplied an abundance and you fear they'll go bad before you can use them? What can you do before it all goes to waste? It's simple: you can freeze them.
Ingredients
- 1-2 large onions diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 2-3 stalks celery diced
Instructions
-
Peel the outer layers of the onion away so you can dice it. Wash the bell pepper and celery. (see notes)
-
Dice the onions, bell peppers, and celery.
-
Place the diced Trinity on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet in as much of a single layer as possible. Carefully place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 6-8 hours. See notes.
-
Once the diced Trinity is frozen, either add all of the onions, bell peppers, and celery to one large freezer bag ( this can be helpful if you know that you are going to use the Trinity again) or place each one in different freezer bags (this can be helpful if you just plan on grabbing what you need. Freezing the vegetables in a single layer on the cookie sheet before bagging them makes it easier to scoop out little bits as you need them).
Recipe Notes
- After washing, set the bell pepper and celery aside so that they can air dry, or use a paper towel and give them a dry. This can help prevent some ice crystals from forming on the celery.
- Freezing the onions, bell peppers, and celery in a single layer on the cookie sheet will help ensure that the pieces are individually frozen and not stuck together in a giant clump.
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KEEP THE RED BEANS COOKIN’!
ERIC
Eric Olsson is the food blogger of RedBeansAndEric.com. He publishes new recipes and interviews weekly. He has developed recipes and written articles for the famous Camellia brand in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been mentioned in Louisiana Cookin‘ magazine and has had recipes featured in Taste of Home magazine – with his Creole Turkey recipe being runner up in their annual Thanksgiving recipe contest. He lives outside of Detroit, Michigan, with his wife and four children.
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