Freeze Your Snow Peas and Sugar Snap Peas Easily

Learn to harvest and preserve these tender garden delights the right way for best flavor!

by Farmers' Almanac Staff Updated: September 18, 2023

An abundance of sugar snap peas are in gardens everywhere this month, so you may need to freeze some to enjoy later. Even if you’re a proponent of home-canning, you probably agree that the way to preserve fresh peas from the garden should be freezing instead of canning. Most freezer preserving guides don’t include sugar snap or snow peas, so we’ll provide the easy how-to-freeze directions here.

Harvesting Peas

Both snow peas and sugar snap peas have edible pods. Pick ripe pea pods from the vine every few days to ensure tender, crunchy freshness. Harvest snow peas when the peas in the pod have just begun to form and the pod remains tender and flat. Harvest sugar snap peas from the vine once the peas have begun to fatten, causing the pod to round.

Preparing Peas to Eat, Cook, or Freeze

Pinch off the ends and pull to remove the strings along the seams of the pods before eating or freezing. The fresh peas can now be eaten raw, stir-fried, steamed, stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for two weeks or frozen.

Blanch First

boiling water to blanch peas, then ice bath — First peas must be blanched for 1.5 minutes, then plunged into an ice water bath.

The peas must be blanched before storing in the freezer. To blanch, add 4 quarts of water to a pot and bring to a boil. While water is heating, prepare the pods as instructed in the previous paragraph. Add 2 to 3 cups of pea pods to the boiling water and cover. Time for exactly 1.5 minutes and remove promptly from heat. Drain off the water (save it and water plants with it after it has cooled!) and place the pea pods immediately in a bowl of ice water for 2 minutes to stop the cooking process.

Remove from bowl and dry the pea pods on paper towels. Place snow peas or sugar snap peas into freezer bags or containers, seal, label, and store in the freezer.