Can You Freeze Oranges?

When life hands you a basket of lemons, you make lemonade. But what about oranges? If you find yourself with a bounty of our favorite sweet citrus fruits and you run out of orange desserts to make, you can stash your extra oranges in the freezer to enjoy later.

But, although you can keep oranges in the freezer, if you pop them right in, you're wasting your time. You'll need to do a few things first—follow these best practices to preserve the flavor of those beautiful oranges.

Why Freeze Oranges

There are hundreds of types of oranges, like naval, blood orange, and Valencia. They're packed with nutrients like vitamin C, potassium, vitamin A, and calcium. But they stop ripening once picked and will only last a week or so on the counter. While they can last about a month in your refrigerator crisper drawer, oranges can last up to six months in the freezer, making them the perfect fruit to stow away for a later-date sweet treat.

How To Prep Your Oranges

Although you can easily find oranges all year long, most varieties are in season from October through May, give or take a few months, so a winter trip to the market for oranges is in order. When picking oranges at the store or farmers' market, look for fruit that is firm in your hand and doesn't have any bruising, soft spots, nicks, or discoloration in the skin.

After you bring your fruits home, even if you're not planning on zesting your oranges (although you should!), it's a good practice to wash oranges before eating or freezing. Germs do live on the outsides of oranges—just imagine how many folks touched that orange before you—so give them a good scrub with a stiff-bristled brush under cold water and thoroughly dry before making any other moves.

Can You Freeze Whole Oranges?

Before you take a knife to your oranges, think about what you're after. Although the orange peel does add an extra layer of protection in the freezer (think of it as organic plastic wrap), it's not best to freeze whole oranges. Water expands as it freezes, and since oranges are up to 86% water, at best, their cell walls will rupture, and at worst, the fruits themselves could burst, like that bottle of wine you forgot about.

So yes, you can freeze a whole orange—put it in a freezer-safe bag first—but odds are the texture is going to be messed up when it defrosts. Plus, you'll have to wait hours for a rock-hard frozen orange to thaw before you can do anything with it. Save time by cutting before freezing.

How To Freeze Oranges

To keep juicy sliced oranges from freezing together in one big tremendous orange iceberg, it's best to cut them into halves or quarters or slices—think about what their future use will be and chop accordingly. This method will work on all orange citrus fruits, including mandolins and clementines, too. Here's what to do:

1. Wash and cut your oranges into slices. You can leave the peel on, if desired.
2. Arrange the slices or wedges in an even layer on a parchment paper or wax paper-lined rimmed sheet pan. (The acid in the orange juice could react with aluminum foil.) Then pop them into the freezer. If your freezer isn't big enough or is too full to hold a sheet pan, you can freeze the oranges in any freezer-safe dish; just separate layers with parchment or wax paper.
3. Freeze your oranges solid, which takes about two to three hours.
4. After the oranges are frozen, transfer the slices to a resealable freezer bag. They'll keep for months, but use them sooner for the best flavor. Label your bag, so you don't accidentally toss out your oranges in your next freezer clean-out.

How To Freeze Orange Zest

Zest from an orange's skin makes a great garnish for cocktails and baked goods, and citrus zest can freeze for about four months. Here's what to do:

1. Zest the oranges, or shave off the fruit's skin with a zester, grater, or peeler.
2. Gather the shavings—the zest—in a small airtight container and freeze.
   

Once you've harvested the zest, then you can peel (or not) and slice the oranges any way you like.

Can You Freeze Orange Juice?

If seeing frozen orange concentrate at the grocery store makes you wonder if you can freeze squeezed orange juice, the answer is absolutely! Here's how:

1. Zest the oranges first (if you want), then squeeze the cut fruit over a bowl or liquid measuring cup to capture the juice.
2. Pour the juice into ice cube trays, and freeze until solid.
3. Transfer to a resealable, freezer-safe plastic bag.
   

Thawing Frozen Oranges

Like other fruits, there are several methods to thawing frozen oranges. However, you should refrain from leaving your oranges to thaw out at room temperature, as that can attract bacteria. Here's what to do:

• Fridge: Place the bag of frozen orange slices in the refrigerator and let thaw.
• Cold water: Either run the bag of oranges under the tap or place it in a bowl of cold water for 10 to 15 minutes, or until thawed.
• Microwave: Separate the orange clump into individual slices and place them in a microwave-safe container, set the microwave to defrost for about three minutes, stirring or rotating the slices if needed. Cook immediately.

What To Do With Frozen Oranges

Although you can thaw your oranges to eat, you don't necessarily have to defrost them for use in recipes like sorbets, ice cream, cakes, and more. See some of our favorite orange recipes below.

• Orange Cream Granita
• Strawberry-Orange Fools
• Orange Chiffon Cake
• Luscious Orange Panna Cotta
  
• Orange Sherbet Punch