Freeze spinach: how to do it correctly, and which harvesting methods are best for winter storage?

Preliminary work

For freezing, it is best to choose spinach leaves from the very first harvest ; they have a delicate consistency and do not have a bitter aftertaste, unlike leaves collected after the formation of flower shoots.

It doesn’t matter which freezing method is chosen, the greens must be thoroughly washed to remove soil and sand. This can be done by lowering bunches of greenery into a deep container with cold water, and then removing them and thoroughly rinsing each leaf under running water.

All yellowed and wilted leaves must be removed. If the freezing method is used, without blanching, the greens must be dried so that when exposed to low temperatures, excess moisture does not turn into excess, unnecessary ice.

Preparing spinach for freezing

More often they freeze the harvest from their garden. Less commonly, spinach for freezing is purchased at the supermarket or market. The purchase must be processed immediately. We recommend collecting during cool hours in the morning or evening. Such greens will be better preserved.

Preparation instructions:

1. We remove damaged, yellowed leaves. Cut off long stems.
2. Rinse thoroughly. There is a lot of sand and dust left on the green leaves. Immerse in a bowl of cold water several times.
3. Let's dry it. Just lay it out on a cotton cloth, a kitchen towel will do. Turn over several times.
4. Slicing, blanching. Depends on the freezing method and the chosen recipe.

Only young, tender leaves need to be frozen. Overgrown, old spinach is not used for food.

Freezing whole leaves at home

1. 
   The stems and roots of the plant need to be cut off.

2. Sort the leaves, selecting those that are not damaged and approximately the same in shape and size.
3. Fold them in small piles for one-time use, ten to fifteen pieces each.
4. Twist the leaves, being careful not to damage their integrity and secure with cling film.
5. Place the pieces in the freezer at some distance from each other. After complete freezing, you can rearrange the bunches more tightly, while trying to injure them as little as possible.

In this form, spinach can be stored all winter.

We invite you to watch a video about another method of freezing whole spinach:

Lazy dumplings with spinach

My grandmother used to cook them for me. Only hers weren’t dumplings, but “babushatniki”