The 3-Step Process For Freezing Fresh Okra

Summer's bounty of fresh produce is the best time to stock up and store your favorite fruits and veggies long-term to last through the upcoming cold winter months. Canning veggies or cooking fruits down into sweet jams and preserves helps to keep the flavors of summer crops available in your kitchen all year long.

One underrated crop that grows in surplus this time of year is okra. The southern staple is often found in soups, gumbo, succotash, and more thrives in the hot sun of late summer into fall, so you are bound to see piles of the green, pepper-looking pods in farmers' markets and grocery stores over the next few weeks. 

If you happen to find yourself saddled with more okra than you know what to do with, there is a super simple three-step process (wash, freeze, and pack) to store the vegetable for use in your kitchen all summer long with the help of your freezer.

Though some cooks might prefer to pickle their okra for long-term storage, keeping okra in your freezer makes it easy to throw into any stews, braises, or gumbo you might want to make outside of okra's short harvest season, and it only takes three easy steps to prepare.

First, you want to take your okra haul and thoroughly clean it by rinsing it under cool running water. There is sometimes a delicate, peach-like fuzz that grows on the outside of older pods that can easily be rubbed off with your finger or a towel, but this is optional as it does not affect the taste and does not tend to grow on young, freshly harvested pods. Ensure your okra is fully dried before freezing by patting it dry with a towel.

After your okra is washed and dried, step two is arranging the okra on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a flat, even layer. You can optionally slice off the woody stems at the top of the pods and cut the okra width-wise into coins to save yourself some prep time when you are ready to use it. Then all you need to do is pop all the okra into your freezer for a few hours. After it is all frozen, step three is to throw it all in a plastic bag or storage container to use in all your future okra endeavors. 

With your okra prepared and ready to go, it will be a cinch to throw into any recipe. The slime that many people associate with okra is actually a great thickener that gives better texture and body to your soups, stews, and gumbo, so why not throw a bit of okra in the pot the next time you make some? If you took the time to slice your okra before freezing, you can even coat the pieces in flour, eggwash, and breadcrumbs and fry them off in a pot of hot oil to achieve the crispy southern delicacy of fried okra.

Okra is not just used in American cuisine — it is also a major crop in India and is used to thicken curries like bhindi masala, which uses okra as a base ingredient. Keep a batch of frozen okra on hand and set out to use it in as many dishes as you can think of.