How to Keep Your Produce Fresh

No matter the season, it’s always a great time to Double Up on Michigan produce at our favorite stores and markets, but it can feel impossible to keep all these fresh fruits and veggies, well, fresh. Below are tips on how to store and freeze fresh produce.

This helpful article from FoodPrint shares how to prep fruits and veggies to stay fresh in the fridge:

Berries: Sort through berries when you get home. Pull out any moldy berries and eat any super-ripe berries right away. Store the rest in the fridge in a single layer, loosely covered with a paper towel or thin cloth, for up to five days. 

Celery: The trick to keeping celery crisp is wrapping it in tinfoil, covering it without bending the edges. Pro tip: If celery becomes limp, trim its base and place in a glass of water in the refrigerator until crisp again (try this with fresh herbs, too!).

Leafy Greens: Go through your leafy greens and pull out any greens that are wilted, discolored or slimy. Transfer greens to a large container with room for air circulation between the leaves. Line the container with damp paper towels or a thin cloth and store in the crisper drawer.

Root Vegetables: If you purchase root vegetables like carrots, beets, daikon, and turnips with their greens still attached, remove them as soon as possible. Store the greens like other leafy greens, and keep the roots in the crisper drawer.

Use your freezer to enjoy fresh veggies all year long with these tips from Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture & Natural Resources: 

Onions:

1. Wash, peel and chop raw onions into half-inch pieces.
2. Place onions flat into freezer bags and squeeze out all the air before sealing. Place bags in single layers until frozen. 

Peppers:

1. Wash peppers, cut out the stems and slice or dice into smaller pieces.
2. Freeze peppers in a single layer on a cookie sheet for about an hour.
3. Transfer frozen peppers to freezer bags and squeeze out all the air before sealing. 

Tomatoes: 

1. Wash, dry and remove cores from tomatoes. 
2. Freeze in a single layer, then transfer to airtight containers.

FoodPrint also has a few tips on freezing some of your favorite fruits: 

Bananas: 

1. Peel bananas and slice into 1” pieces. 
2. Freeze in a single layer, then transfer to airtight containers.

Berries: 

1. Rinse and dry thoroughly. (For strawberries, remove stem and leafy green top.) 
2. Freeze in a single layer, then transfer to airtight containers.

Stone Fruit (such as peaches, plums, or cherries): 

1. Remove pit, cut into 1” pieces. 
2. Freeze in a single layer, then transfer to airtight containers.

Double Up on fresh produce now and enjoy twice the fruits and veggies later. 

Find a participating Double Up location near you!