Can you freeze figs? Absolutely! In fact, freezing figs is a great way to preserve figs during their harvest season for using all year long. 

Learn how to freeze figs three different ways to get the most out of your fig harvest.

Because figs have a short season and a short shelf life, it’s hard to find them in a grocery store. However, you might be able to find them at your local farmer’s market.

They’re easy to grow in most climates and average fig tree will produce a glut of figs. In fact, many climates will have two short fig seasons, one in early summer, usually June or early July, and one in early fall, usually late September or early October. 

For even the most devoted lover of figs, there will be too many for just enjoying fresh figs. There will be plenty to put up for future use, you can make fig jam, fig preserves and still have enough left over for frozen and dried figs. I think freezing figs is the best way to preserve a bunch of figs very quickly.

How Freezing Affect Figs

Like other foods, freezing will change the texture of figs a bit. The water in the figs will form ice crystals and expand causing the cell walls of the fruit to breakdown. 

They’ll go from being plump to being somewhat mushy. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and honestly, it won’t make any difference for fig recipes that are cooked in some way. Obviously, you probably won’t want to eat thawed figs like you do fresh figs. But they’re great for smoothies, cakes, muffins, sauces, jams and preserves. 

How to Freeze Figs

Selecting Figs for Freezing:

If you’re growing figs, you’ll want to pick figs every day or every other day. Figs ripen pretty fast and can go not-quite-ripe to mushy in just a couple of days. I’m not super picky about which figs I freeze, I don’t eat fresh figs so whatever figs we pick and my family doesn’t eat gets frozen. 

Since the texture of the frozen figs will be on the mushy side when they thaw out, it really doesn’t matter if they figs are a little mushy before being frozen. However, over-ripe figs can sour and almost taste fermented, so avoid those.

Prepping the Figs:

Wash the figs with cool water and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. Cut the stem off and cut the figs in half or in quarters. You can also freeze figs whole but you’ll get more in each bag if they’re cut. 

The peel on figs is edible, so there’s no need to peel them. However, some people don’t like the texture of the fig skin. If that’s you, then peel the fig with a small paring knife or vegetable peeler before cutting them.

You can also toss the figs in a little lemon juice or little ascorbic acid and water (3/4 teaspoon of ascorbic acid in 3 tablespoons cold water) before freezing them to help them retain their color. I’ve never done this, but you certainly can if that’s important to you. 

There are three different ways to freeze figs once they’ve been prepared.

Dry Pack Figs for Freezing – Option 1:

The most simple freezing process for figs is to just toss them into freezer-safe bag or other freezer-safe container and put them in the freezer. If they’re still whole, they’ll be fairly easy to take apart but if they’re cut, it will be harder and you’ll end up with a clump of frozen figs.

A better way to freeze figs is to flash freeze them by laying the cut or whole figs in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper. Put the filled baking sheet in the freezer for a few hours. When the figs are frozen or almost frozen, remove the baking sheet from the freezer and transfer the frozen figs to a ziplock bag or airtight container. This will keep the figs from sticking together in a clump.

Sugar Syrup Pack for Freezing – Option 2: 

 The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends that figs be packed in a simple sugar syrup for best results.

Use 40 percent syrup. For a better product, add 3/4 teaspoon (2250 mg) ascorbic acid or 1/2 cup lemon juice to each quart of syrup. Pack figs into containers and cover with cold syrup, leaving headspace. Seal and freeze.

National Center for Home Food Preservation

I have never packed figs in a sugar syrup since they won’t be as versatile once they have syrup all over them. 

Sugar Pack Figs for Freezing – Option 3:

You can also consider lightly coating the figs with sugar before freezing. Simply toss the washed and dried figs in a light layer of granulated sugar. The sugar helps to preserve the figs’ natural sweetness and enhances their texture when thawed.

That being said, this also makes the figs less versatile.

​Label and Store Frozen Figs:

Make sure to label the freezer bags or containers with name and date before putting them in the freezer. It’s amazing how similar foods will look once frozen! 

Squeeze out as much air as possible from the bags before sealing to prevent freezer burn. If you cutting the figs in smaller pieces or using the sugar syrup pack, you can safely freeze in glass mason jars. I wouldn’t use them for whole or halved dry packed figs because there will be too much air left in the jar and it will be more susceptible to freezer burn.

Some people recommend using frozen figs within 6-8 months, however, according to the University of Utah, frozen figs can last up to a year. I’ll say that I’ve used frozen figs that got overlooked in the freezer and were almost 2 years old and they were just fine. If you package them correctly and get all the air out, they’ll last. 

How To Use Frozen Figs

Frozen figs are an incredibly versatile fruit and can be used in a number of ways. They are a great addition to smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for a burst of natural sweetness. They’re also fantastic in baked goods like muffins, cakes, and pies. You can even blend them into a velvety fig sauce to serve over homemade ice cream or use them in savory dishes like salads and meats. Or mix them with other fruit to make homemade fruit leather.

Freezing figs is a fantastic way to extend the fig season and enjoy this delicious fruit all year long. With a little preparation and organization, you can have a stash of frozen figs, which is almost like extending the short fig season.

How to Thaw Frozen Figs

For some things, like smoothies, you won’t need to thaw the figs. If you’re making a cooked syrup, you can also use frozen figs because they’ll thaw our in the cooking process. 

​But for other things like baked goods, you’ll want to thaw the frozen fruit first. I like to just put the number of figs I need for the recipe in a bowl and put it in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. You can also use the defrost function on your microwave to thaw frozen figs. 

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Freezing Figs to Can Later

Yes, you can freeze figs to can later. This is what I usually do because we’re picking figs almost every day during the short fig season. This way I can wait until I have time to can full batches of figs instead of small batches. 

To freeze figs for canning later, use the dry pack method above. 

There are lots of ways to preserve figs, so be sure to make the most of the harvest!

Thanks for sharing with your friends!