Can the fruit salad be frozen? - The best way

Preparing a fruit salad is very simple, and it gives you a healthy treat that you can eat for breakfast or dessert, or even as a snack! If you want to make a fruit salad with the fruit you have in the fridge, you may end up with a larger batch than you can eat in a few tries.

If you leave it in the fridge, the fruit will become mushy and watery after a few days, and then you won’t be looking forward to finishing it.

To keep the fruit in better condition for longer, can you freeze fruit salad?  There are a couple of different ways to freeze fruit salad. If possible, before making the fruit salad, decide how long you want to keep it frozen. There are some differences in the way you make the fruit salad if you are going to freeze it for a few weeks or if you are going to freeze it for a longer time.

Below we explain how to prepare your fruit salad for both cases, and how to freeze it successfully.

How to Freeze Fruit Salad: A Few Weeks or Less

If you plan to freeze the fruit salad for a few weeks, you can prepare the fruit salad normally, using your favorite recipes or using all the fruit you have in the fridge.

To start, you can cut up the fruit, such as blueberries, grapes, and apples, and make a light syrup to add to the fruit, such as a mixture of water and sugar.

The syrup added to the fruit helps protect it during freezing and prevents freezer burn.

To freeze the fruit salad made with syrup , you need a rigid, freezer-safe plastic container. It is better to use a deep container than a wide one.

First, add the fruit to the container , and then pour in enough syrup to cover the fruit to the top.

To further protect the fruit, you can roll up some plastic wrap and place it on top of the syrup to ensure the fruit stays submerged under the syrup as it freezes.

Having the fruit frozen while submerged in the syrup helps to better maintain its quality for longer in the freezer, but fruit salad should only be frozen this way for a maximum of 8 weeks.

If it goes on any longer, ice crystals will start to form which will break down the cell walls of the fruit, making the fruit soft when thawed.

You can also choose to freeze the fruit salad in smaller containers , so you have a few servings on hand that you can enjoy without having to thaw the entire batch.

To avoid eating mushy, mushy fruit, you can eat the fruit salad when it still has some ice crystals on it. Think of it like a frozen dessert!

How to Freeze Fruit Salad: Long Term Storage

If you want to freeze the fruit salad for a longer time, it is best to freeze the fruit separated from the syrup.

Freezing the fruit alters the texture , but freezing it without syrup helps it keep longer in the freezer.

To do this, you must anticipate freezing the fruit before making the salad with syrup. Thus, you will prepare the fruit salad that you want to consume with the syrup, and then you will save the rest of the fruit to freeze and use later.

You can choose to freeze all the fruit together, or separately, following a simple method.

Remember that excess moisture and air can reduce the quality of frozen food, so keep that in mind when freezing fruit.

1. Wash and dry the fruit well, removing dirt and germs.
2. Remove the skin, if the fruit has it, and get rid of the pieces that have bruises, spots or cuts, by carving them.
3. Cut the fruit into pieces of uniform size that are suitable for a fruit salad.
4. Pat the fruit dry with a paper towel or kitchen towel, trying to remove as much moisture as possible, remembering that excess moisture can destroy the quality of the fruit when frozen.
5. Arrange the cut fruit pieces on a tray covered with parchment paper. Make sure the fruit is spread out in a single layer and not piled on top of each other. Cover the fruit tray with plastic wrap and take it to the freezer.
6. Let the fruit tray freeze for several hours.
7. When all the fruit has frozen, remove the tray from the freezer and place the fruit in plastic freezer bags. Squeeze as much air as you can out of the bag before sealing it.

Freezing the fruit on the tray before placing it in a plastic freezer bag prevents the fruit from clumping when frozen. This allows you to pick a handful of fruit at a time without having to thaw the whole thing.

By freezing the fruit this way, it will keep in the freezer for up to 9 months. Afterwards it can be eaten, but the quality will deteriorate and you will be left with a watery and mushy fruit.

Defrost the fruit salad

Whether you freeze the fruit salad with or without syrup, you will defrost it just the same. Of course, you can’t heat the fruit salad to thaw or put it in hot water to thaw, as you don’t want to eat the hot fruit salad.

An option to defrost the fruit salad is to leave it at room temperature for a few hours until it thaws.  This is fine, but it carries a higher risk of bacteria growth if the fruit salad is left out too long and reaches a temperature that favors bacteria growth.

You just have to leave the fruit salad at room temperature until it thaws. With ice crystals it’s even better!

The safest way to defrost the fruit salad is to leave it in the fridge overnight.  You’ll need to plan ahead and you won’t be able to eat the fruit salad right away, but this method ensures that the fruit salad stays at a constant temperature and doesn’t experience any rapid growth of bacteria.

Fruit salad is also delicious if eaten while still partially frozen , as the fruit will be slightly soft when thawed.

If you have frozen the fruit salad without the syrup, you can add the syrup once the fruit has partially thawed.

Can fruit salad be refrozen?

The general rule of thumb for refreezing food is that it should not be done. It is not safe to freeze food a second time, and the quality of the food will deteriorate further and become inedible after a while.

When it comes to fruit, you shouldn’t refreeze it at all .

Although it may be quite safe to refreeze food if there are still ice crystals, and although it is technically safe to do so with fruit, its quality will deteriorate so much if frozen a second time that you more than likely won’t even want to eat it. fruit once thawed.

The ice crystals in the fruit break down the cell walls and make the fruit mushy and doughy, and freezing it a second time will only make the situation worse.

Related questions

Is it necessary to blanch the fruit before freezing it?

While most vegetables need to be blanched (cooked briefly in boiling water, then cooled in ice water) before freezing, fruit doesn’t need to be blanched before freezing.

You just have to make sure you wash the fruit well and dry it properly before freezing it.

How long does the fruit salad last in the fridge?

If stored correctly in an airtight container, fruit salad can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. However, you should try to consume the fruit salad within 3 days for the best quality.

The fruit salad that is not going to be consumed in that time must be frozen so that it can be preserved for a longer time.

Does lemon juice help keep fruit salad fresh?

Lemon juice contains citric acid, which helps protect cut fruit from oxidation, which causes the fruit to turn brown when exposed to air. Lemon juice can also help enhance the flavor of the fruit salad.

Adding lemon juice to your fruit salad can help it stay fresh for longer.

Freeze fruit salad

You can freeze fruit salad quite easily, and it is suggested that you do so to keep your extra fruit salad fresh for longer.

It’s also a good idea to make some fruit salad to freeze so you have a few servings on hand for an easy breakfast, snack or dessert.

You just have to take the fruit salad out of the freezer and leave it in the fridge until it thaws. Frozen fruit salad is also a great summer treat.