Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce add great heat and flavor to recipes, but few recipes will use the whole can. Can you freeze chipotle peppers you have leftover?
Whether you’re going to cook up a pot of Barbacoa Beef for Tacos or stir up a batch of Homemade Chipotle Mayo, rest easy that nothing will go to waste when you freeze chipotle chiles.
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Ripe jalapeño chiles that have been smoked and dried are called chipotles. Often sold canned in adobo sauce, they add delicious heat to any number of southwest dishes.
While canned foods are generally shelf-stable for years to come, once you open a can, you’re on the clock to use up the contents before they spoil. Thankfully, you can freeze chipotle peppers.
Why Do This
Flash freezing the rest of the chipotle chiles in the can will not only extend the life of your purchase and help you avoid food waste, but you’ll have the peppers already portioned and recipe-ready when you need them.
Ingredients
Hotter than your standard green chile, chipotle peppers (also spelled chilpotle) are fully ripened jalapeños that have turned red on the vine and then dried and smoked. They are a moderately hot chile, ranging from 2,500 to 10,000 on the Scoville scale, on par with their fresh jalapeño counterpart.
You can buy chipotle chiles dried, pickled, or canned in adobo sauce. The canned variety is the one that you may want to freeze, as once you open the can, you’ll need to use them up in about a week.
The standard 7- to 8-ounce can holds 9 to 11 chipotle peppers and accompanying adobo sauce. At $1-2/can, you can really stretch this small purchase for many meals by freezing the leftovers.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to freeze chipotle chiles:
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, plastic wrap, or waxed paper. Distribute the individual peppers and a bit of sauce on a lined sheet pan and freeze until firm.
- Once solid, transfer the frozen peppers to packaging and return to the freezer.
- To use: add to recipe from frozen, chopping first if desired.
Alternatively, divide the chipotle chiles into ice cube trays with their sauce and freeze until firm. Keep in mind this may stain the ice cube tray.
If you know you will use the chiles chopped in recipes, you can chop them all prior to freezing to make them even more convenient to use.
FAQs
Chipotle chiles are fairly spicy. They land between 2500 and 10,000 on the Scoville scale, on par with their fresh jalapeño counterpart. By comparison, a bell pepper is between 0 and 100 while an Anaheim green chile is 1,000 to 2,500.
There are 9 to 11 chipotle chiles in the standard can.
Freeze chipotles leftover in the can so that you can use them up in future recipes.
Uses
How to Freeze Chipotle Peppers
Instructions
- Divide the chipotle peppers into ice cube trays with their sauce and freeze until firm. Keep in mind this may stain the ice cube tray.
- Alternatively, to freeze them loose, distribute the individual peppers and a bit of sauce on a lined sheet pan and freeze until firm. Once solid, transfer the frozen peppers to packaging and return to the freezer.
- To use: add to recipe from frozen, chopping first if desired.
Karen
Since I always want my chiles chopped, I blitz the sauce and peppers in the food processor first. Dump whole thing in a quart zip lock bag, press out air, and smooth flat to freeze. When you need some zing, just break off the amount you need. (now that your food processor is dirty, use it to chop the onions for whatever you needed the chipotle for initially!)
Jessica Fisher
Fantastic idea, Karen. Thanks!