How to Freeze Summer Berries

Elizabeth Burt—the Test Kitchen’s fittest specimen—is a marathon running pip-squeak of a woman who practically radiates healthfulness.

She is a registered dietitian and has a master of public health degree so it sort of comes with the territory. Besides testing recipes and providing nutritional analysis of all of the Better Homes and Gardens recipes, Elizabeth is always coming up with practical ideas for the rest of us—ideas that make it easy make our diets more healthful without breaking the bank.

Which brings us to berries.  This month, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are rolling into grocery stores at the cheapest prices we will see all year.

And according to Elizabeth, now is the perfect time to capture berries’ potent nutritional punch in a place that keeps them affordable all year long—the freezer.

Here is how she does it:

1. Gently wash berries and pat them dry with paper towels
2. Arrange berries in a single layer on a baking sheet
3. Put the baking sheet in the freezer; freeze berries until solid (about 24 hours)
4. Remove baking sheet from the freezer and place the frozen berries in small freezer bags.  Store berries for up to a year—or until inexpensive fresh ones are available again!