How To Store Vegetables and Keep Them Fresh for A Long Time

Most of us probably shop for several days’ worth of groceries at a time, which means facing the issue of making sure our fresh vegetables stay fresh for as long as possible. Not all vegetables are alike, which means there are many different ways to store them according to their qualities and seasons. Fresh greens like lettuce can’t be handled the same way as your root vegetables like potatoes or carrots. Additionally, certain practices like peeling or washing can lengthen or shorten their life depending on various factors. Storing certain vegetables together can also affect how long they last. Here’s what you need to know to store your vegetables for maximum freshness.

Cool, Dry, Dark Place

Some veggies stay fresh longest in a cool or room-temperature location away from moisture, heat, and light. In some cases, this might be a kitchen cupboard not situated directly next to your oven, or it might mean a dedicated pantry. Did you know the reason for keeping your pantry dark is that if these veggies are exposed to light, they think they’re outside and will start to sprout? Veggies to store in your pantry include onions, shallots, garlic, hard squash like winter, acorn, spaghetti, and butternut, all types of potatoes including yams and sweet potatoes. These items you can keep for at least a week in your pantry, and even longer (like a month or longer) if the temperature remains between 10-15 C. Practicing careful climate control in your home all year long is beneficial and recommended for your veggies when stored in the pantry to have a longer shelf life, and they will generally last longer in the cooler months than when it’s hot. Potatoes sprout faster if they are stored near onions; avoid storing them next to each other.

In the Fridge

Does your refrigerator have crisper drawers, bins that offer a more humid environment than the rest of the refrigerator interior? Most do, and some of them even allow you to adjust the humidity, generally by opening (less humidity) and closing (more humidity) small air vents on the drawers. Even though the low humidity setting is best for some fruits, you should opt for high humidity by closing the vents when it comes to veggies. The temperature in your fridge shouldn’t be more than 4 C.

Asparagus has a fairly short shelf life even when refrigerated. When the tips of the stalks start to look dry and withered, that’s when your asparagus is starting to go. Keep your asparagus for 2 to 3 days in the crisper.
Vegetables such as eggplant, celery, peppers, peas, artichokes, zucchini, and cucumber will last up to a week in the fridge.
Summer squash, yellow squash, and green beans: 3 to 5 days.
Broccoli will last between 3 to 5 days.
Brussels sprouts will last between 3 to 5 days.
Cauliflower will last for a week.
Carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, and radishes can be stored in a plastic produce bag and will last for 2 weeks.
The same goes for lettuce and other leafy greens, which will last from 3 days up to a week depending on how delicate the leaves are.
Mushrooms will last 3 to 5 days and should be refrigerated in a paper bag.
Ears of corn should be stored in their husks. They will last between 1 to 2 days on the counter.

Countertop

While there are countless fruits such as stone fruits, citrus, and bananas that should be stored on the countertop, the only vegetable you should keep there are tomatoes. You’ve probably heard that tomatoes are technically fruit, right? Indeed they are, and technically so are peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, corn, and eggplant. It is better to keep your tomatoes on the countertop out of direct sunlight. The fridge will turn their texture grainy.

Keep Vegetables and Fruits Separated

Did you know you can ripen an avocado by storing it in a bag with an apple? Well, apples and pears and many other fruits produce a gas called ethylene, which accelerates the ripening process of other fruits and vegetables that happen to be nearby. And while you might sometimes want your fruit to ripen faster, that isn’t the case with vegetables. With veggies, ripening just means spoilage, spotting, wilting, yellowing, and generally breaking down. That means making sure that you store your veggies away from your fruits. If you have two crisper drawers, it’s better to reserve one for veggies and the other for fruits. In addition to apples and pears, kiwi, nectarines, apricots, plums, and peaches are high producers of ethylene. Anything whole will last longer than anything cut, and anything cut or peeled should be stored in the fridge.

Storing Tall Stalks

We’re referring to asparagus and green onions in particular. A quart-sized glass jar is perfect here. With asparagus, remove the rubber bands, trim an inch off the bottoms, and stand them up in a glass jar. Avoid crowding them; you might have to split a bunch across two jars. Fill halfway with water, then cover the stalks with a plastic produce bag and secure with a rubber band. Asparagus will stay fresh this way for at least a week. You can use this technique with green onions as well, but don’t trim the bottoms. Be on the lookout for tiny white roots at the bottom; if they begin to grow, you can plant the stalks in your garden where they’ll provide free green onions for up to two years. Once they’re planted, just snip off however much of the green shoots you want (you won’t get to use the white parts at the ends without digging them up).

Lettuce

Like many vegetables, lettuce needs humidity/moisture to remain fresh for as long as possible. In addition to moisture, lettuce also benefits from air circulation. This means simply storing it in a plastic bag or in the crisper drawer will not maximize its life. Storing your lettuce there isn’t necessarily bad for it; it just won’t last as long there as it would if it has a moist environment with good air circulation. The way to achieve that is to use the same technique restaurants use to keep their lettuce crisp and fresh, which is to wash it, spin it dry, and then store it in a perforated container like a colander in the refrigerator.

Mushrooms

As mentioned above, mushrooms should be stored in a paper bag in the refrigerator rather than in a plastic bag because they have high water content, and as that water evaporates, it can become trapped in a plastic bag causing them to turn slimy. A paper bag lets them breathe.

Bell Peppers and Fresh Chilies

Bell peppers (whether green, red, orange, or yellow) may be kept for up to two weeks in the fridge with very little intervention. Just put them in a plastic bag and put that in your crisper drawer. The same goes for hotter chili pepper from your habaneros to jalapenos. If you want to store them for longer, you can freeze peppers pretty easily. Try this technique: wash peppers, slice them into whatever size you prefer, remove the seeds and membranes, and then freeze them flat on a baking sheet. Once frozen, you can put them in a freezer bag and stash them in the freezer for up to six months.