Blanching times for vegetables (chart)
How long to blanch each vegetable, from the National Center for Home Food Preservation's water-blanching table, with the kitchen notes that make it work. Times start when the water comes back to the boil.
| Vegetable | Cut or size | Minutes | Kitchen note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asparagus | small / medium / large spears | 2 / 3 / 4 | Sort by thickness before the pot. |
| Green or wax beans | trimmed | 3 | Bite one at 2 minutes. |
| Broad, butter or lima beans | small / medium / large | 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| Broccoli | florets about 4 cm across | 3 (steamed: 5) | Split thick stalks to match the heads. |
| Brussels sprouts | small / medium / large heads | 3 / 4 / 5 | Halve large ones rather than boiling longer. |
| Cabbage | shredded | 1½ | Spread thin to drain. |
| Carrots | diced, sliced or batons / small whole | 2 / 5 | |
| Cauliflower | florets about 2.5 cm across | 3 | |
| Celery | pieces | 3 | |
| Corn on the cob | small / medium / large ears | 7 / 9 / 11 | Kernels cut after blanching: 4. |
| Aubergine | slices | 4 | |
| Greens | collards / all other greens | 3 / 2 | Spinach and chard collapse fast; check early. |
| Kohlrabi | whole / cubes | 3 / 1 | |
| Mushrooms (steamed) | whole / buttons or quarters / slices | 5 / 3½ / 3 | Steam, not water. |
| Okra | small / large pods | 3 / 4 | |
| Onions | whole, until the centre is hot / rings | 3–7 / 10–15 seconds | |
| Mangetout and sugar snaps | edible-pod peas | 1½–3 | Mangetout at the bottom of the range. |
| Peas | shelled green peas | 1½ | Have the ice ready first. |
| Peppers | halves / strips or rings | 3 / 2 | |
| New potatoes | small, whole | 3–5 | |
| Swede | cubes | 3 | |
| Courgette and summer squash | slices | 3 | |
| Turnips or parsnips | cubes | 2 | |
| Jerusalem artichoke | pieces | 3–5 | |
| Globe artichoke | hearts | 7 |
Water blanching unless marked. Beetroot, pumpkin, winter squash and sweet potato are listed as "cook" (cook fully, don't blanch). UK names are given where they differ from the US source: aubergine for eggplant, swede for rutabaga, mangetout for edible-pod peas.
What these times are for
The published times are written for freezing, where the job is to stop the enzymes that dull colour and flavour in the freezer. For a service blanch, where you want crisp-tender vegetables you will finish in a hot pan later, treat each time as the outer limit. Start checking at the shortest time and lift when a piece bites the way you want it to.
The method in four lines
- Plenty of water. The NCHFP method uses about 1 gallon of water per pound of prepared vegetables, roughly 8 litres per kilo. With less water the pan takes too long to come back to the boil.
- Back to the boil within a minute. If it takes longer, the batch is too big for the pot. Start the clock when it boils again.
- Shock it straight away. Iced or very cold water (16 °C or below), about 1 kg of ice per kg of vegetables, and roughly the same time in the ice as in the pot.
- Drain and dry. Spread on a rack or a clean cloth, then chill. Wet vegetables steam instead of browning when you finish them.
Sources
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia), Blanching Times, accessed 9 October 2026.
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, Blanching Vegetables (water quantity, return to the boil, cooling), accessed 9 October 2026.