Believe it or not, frozen fruit can be even better than fresh.

Blend up a smoothie or smoothie bowl, Turn it into jam, Make a pan sauce, Bake a pie , Shake up a shrub cocktail

Freshly picked fruit is a pure joy when it’s in season. Every bite is like an explosion of intensely packed, concentrated fruit flavor. During the summer, I’m constantly processing extra fruits and vegetables from my farm in Vermont to capture the flavors of the season. But there are days when I simply can’t process or can another batch of produce. That’s when I throw it into the freezer.

If you don’t grow your own fruit, turn to the bags of fruit in your grocery store’s freezer aisle. In addition to being more affordable, frozen fruit can actually be a better choice for certain recipes. Frozen fruit is picked at the height of ripeness and frozen using the individual quick freezing method, also known as IQF. This allows for each individual berry or fruit to be quickly frozen using blast chillers, which results in no clumping and an optimal texture and flavor. Here are a few ways to make the most of frozen fruit year-round.

Blend up a smoothie or smoothie bowl

This might seem like an obvious choice, but frozen fruit is truly a better pick than fresh for blending into a smoothie. Since the fruit already has frozen ice crystals, you don’t need to add ice, so are less likely to dilute your smoothie. Use frozen bananas and pineapple as the base of this Green Smoothie Bowl, or frozen berries for this vibrant Açai Smoothie Bowl.

Turn it into jam

Fresh fruit might be available year-round, but berries in the winter don’t taste like berries in the summer. When I have a surplus of fruit in summer, I freeze it to preserve that peak-season flavor. Later on, I’ll take the bags of strawberries, sour cherries, and blueberries that we spent hours picking and turn them into jam. Cooking the fruit down not only makes your house smell sweet, but allows you to control the amount of sugar in your jam. And store-bought frozen fruit will work just as well.

Make a pan sauce

Lamb, pork, and chicken pair beautifully with simple pan sauces. To add a touch of sweetness, add a few frozen blueberries, raspberries, or cherries just after deglazing your pan. Cook the fruit for only a minute so it retains its texture and shape. To give the sauce an extra layer of fruit flavor, use a fruit-based spirit, such as port, apple brandy, or Grand Marnier to deglaze the pan.

Bake a pie

Is it ever not pie season? Pies are a year-round treat that even the pickiest of eaters will dive into. For a very quick dessert, toss frozen fruit with sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt just as you would for any fruit pie. Prepare your crust, or buy one to make prep even easier. Frozen fruit will be a touch wetter than fresh, so be generous with the cornstarch in the filling.

Shake up a shrub cocktail

Shrubs date back to 17th century England, when refrigeration wasn’t an option and vinegar was used to preserve fruits. These fruit-infused vinegar syrups are made by combining equal parts fruit, sugar, and vinegar. They are often mixed with seltzer or alcohol to make a drink. Because it is picked at the height of its sweetness, frozen fruit is perfect for making shrubs. We like using raspberries for this Rose Raspberry Shrub or strawberries for this chile-infused version.