How to freeze greens for the winter in the freezer at home?

Agree - it is very convenient when you always have fresh herbs or frozen vegetables in stock, which have retained their aroma and taste during long-term storage. In order to pamper yourself with your favorite foods even out of season, you need to know how to freeze greens for the winter in the freezer at home, while ensuring maximum nutrients, so that even in the cold season you can diversify your diet.

8 How long do frozen greens last?

9 How to use frozen greens?

10 Is it better to dry or freeze greens?

11 Helpful Tips for Freezing Greens

Should greens be washed before freezing?

Before starting the freezing process, all the collected greens need to be thoroughly sorted, rinsed and dried, removing, if possible, all the collected moisture, since it is the droplets of water remaining on the leaves that form ice.

It’s not uncommon that, when disassembling branches of this or that herb, you may notice small bugs or slugs; to get rid of them, you can pour salted water over the plants. After half an hour, all the insects will float to the surface, all you have to do is rinse everything with running water.

And then, for freezing, the washed greens must be dried. There is nothing easier than spreading it in a thin layer on a towel and leaving it in the open air for a while.

How to prepare greens for freezing?

First of all, it should be noted that you need to freeze fresh greens as quickly as possible after you cut them. This is no more than 3-4 hours. Then you will save the greatest amount of usefulness in it.

If you buy summer herbs, then it is no longer known how long it has been on the shelves. In any case, she has already lost some of her vitamins and minerals.

Separate the bad leaves and twigs from the good ones, rinse the bunch in cool water and let dry. I spread the grass on a towel, you can use a wire rack. But remember that you should not leave it for a long time, as it will quickly wither.

As for the stems, they are usually tough. When preparing greens for freezing, I trim them, but do not throw them away. They are very good to add to broths for aroma and aroma. But if you want, you can freeze them too, along with the soft and tender leaves.

What greens can be frozen for the winter?

It is necessary to take into account that not all greens retain their organoleptic properties and attractive appearance after defrosting. This type of storage is best suited for plants that have a strong structure and are not so watery. Therefore, you can safely freeze greens, such as parsley, dill, basil or celery, simply by chopping them and packaging them.

The leaves of sorrel, spinach and nettle perfectly tolerate the low temperatures of the freezer compartment of modern refrigerators, requiring only airtight packaging; you can also freeze garlic greens by first washing them and carefully placing them in bags.

What greens can be frozen

Greens are perhaps the best suited for a storage method such as freezing. After all, it is precisely this that allows you to preserve most of the valuable substances that make up plants. And greens are very beneficial for the human body, and nutritionists everywhere recommend introducing them into the daily diet.

For example, spinach contains up to 25% of the daily iron requirement for the human body, and parsley contains four times more vitamin C than, for example, lemon.

However, not all greens can be frozen. So, it is not recommended to freeze green onions, as they become watery. In addition, it changes its taste and attractive appearance. Although culinary specialists claim that there are several recipes that can be used to avoid this problem. For example, add the plant to dishes unfrozen, or freeze onions along with dill or parsley.

Many people are interested in whether it is possible to freeze lettuce leaves for the winter. This also should not be done. Once defrosted, the salad turns into an unattractive mush that no longer has a fresh taste or smell.

It is also not recommended to freeze basil. If there is a need to preserve it for the winter, it is better to use drying. This way it will better preserve the aroma.

For soup

Frozen parsley, dill, sorrel, spinach, nettle, and celery are perfect for soup. They can be frozen individually or as a mix.

For decorating dishes

To decorate dishes, you can freeze curly and ordinary parsley and chives. Greens are also frozen for filling in savory pies. Spinach and green onions work well for this purpose.

For tea

Excellent tea is made from frozen mint. You can also freeze tea sets from :

Preparing greens for freezing

How to properly freeze greens? First of all, it needs to be sorted, washed and dried well.

If you plan to use the entire branches, you will have to remove the stems and carefully place the grass in a sealed bag. If desired, it can be finely chopped, and some types of plants must be blanched before putting them in the freezer.

One of the important points in preparing spices is that the faster the collected herbs are processed after collection, the more beneficial substances you will retain.

How to freeze greens | Second way

We finely chop the dried and prepared greens and also arrange them: some in containers, some in plastic bags, trying to release excess air from them, and put them in the freezer. The convenience is that the frozen greens are already chopped, scooped up with a spoon as much as needed and added to any dish.

The greens must be added immediately, without defrosting. This method is convenient to use, but in chopped greens some of the essential oils evaporate and some less useful substances remain, which is already a minus.

Finely chopped frozen greens can be used in various dishes, both first and second. In addition, you can add it to the main filling for pies, pies and pancakes. I try to store chopped greens in plastic bags, since containers take up more space in the freezer.

How to properly freeze greens?

Any harvesting process has its own nuances, and freezing greens for the winter has its own distinctive features. Many housewives recommend:

Do not use metal containers under any circumstances; metal oxidation may occur under the influence of active substances contained in plant juice;
Do not use glass containers, no matter how convenient it may seem, glass is a very fragile material, due to temperature changes, it can burst;
For storage, choose plastic or polyethylene; ice cube trays are perfect;
Freeze the product in portions, for this you can take greens chopped with a chopper.

This way your herbs will retain all their beneficial properties, taste and aroma.

How to freeze greens with butter | Fourth method

And the last method I use is to infuse the aromatic herbs with oil. Housewives rarely do this, but in vain. It is good to use such cubes in hot dishes. For example: boil new potatoes, put them on a dish, and put two or three cubes of butter on top. The butter melted, but the greens and flavor remained on the potatoes.

When baking fish, you can put cubes in the belly, and the aroma of greenery will appear, and the fish will become juicier from the oil. And if you are cutting up a herring, pour this oil over it, you will immediately feel the aroma and your appetite will appear. Only in this case, before serving, you need to melt the cube of greenery or wait for it to naturally defrost, removing it from the freezer in advance.

For this freezing method, we also fill the ice compartments with chopped herbs and fill them with olive or melted butter. We also cover with cling film so that the aroma does not evaporate, and put it in the freezer. After freezing, place the greens in a container.

This freezing of greens allows us to use and consume vitamins in winter. In addition, in this form, greens can be stored for a long time (a year to a year and a half) and retain their beneficial properties. Therefore, in order to properly freeze greens for the winter, it is necessary that the freezing process itself occurs as quickly as possible. Try to freeze in small portions.

Methods for freezing greens

There are several proven ways to freeze greens for the winter, proven over the years. Usually, housewives choose recipes, thinking in advance about the convenience of their further use. We have made a selection of the most popular of them.

Bunches

The simplest freezing method is in the form of bunches. The plants you have chosen should only be washed, removing coarse stems, dried and distributed into small portions, each wrapped in polyethylene or food foil. For use, the already frozen bunch is removed from the refrigerator, depending on the dish and portions, you can use the whole bunch or separate the amount you require.

This way you can freeze and preserve any greens.

Portion freezing method

For this freezing method, it is necessary to chop the prepared greens and then carefully place them in a bag, tying each portion with a knot. It is very convenient to use such a preparation; you just need to cut off as many portions under the knot as you need to prepare the dish.

For small freezers

Not all housewives are happy owners of large freezers, but they want to pamper themselves with fresh herbs during the cold season.

Make a preparation by chopping the herb you have chosen and prepared in advance into small pieces, place everything in a plastic bag, leveling everything in a thin layer, while expelling the air.

When using, simply break off a piece of the volume you need.

For first courses

For soups, as a rule, pre-chopped herbs are used. Which, when removed from the refrigerator, are simply thrown into the dish at the end of cooking. It is very convenient to immediately prepare a mix consisting of several plants: parsley, dill, sorrel and even onions. This mixture can be frozen in the freezer directly in the container.

For tea

For tea lovers, we recommend freezing the aromatic herbs used in tea drinking. What are the benefits of such preparations? At any time, you can treat yourself to a fragrant drink, preserving all the taste of your favorite plants for a long time.

For decoration

This method involves careful selection of fluffy, elastic twigs that can, out of season, decorate any holiday table. After preparation, the best herbs are formed into neat bundles, wrapped in cling film without crushing. It is better to allocate more space in the freezer for such preparations in order to preserve the integrity of all the sheets.

Green cubes

And now we will tell you how to freeze greens into cubes - one of the most popular harvesting methods, since it does not require necessarily drying the plants.

Prepare ice or baking molds in advance, place washed and finely chopped herbs on them, squeezing them thoroughly. Place in the refrigerator to freeze. Transfer the completely frozen mixture into bags.

In oil

You can prepare any fresh product in cubes in oil; the advantage of this packaging is that the greens in it will not freeze, retaining their color and aroma for the entire storage period.

After filling the container cells with chopped grass, fill them with any vegetable oil and place them in the freezer. Instead of molds, greens can simply be placed in a bag.

How to freeze greens for the winter | First way

Before freezing greens, I rinse them well under running water. Then I put it in a large empty cup of water and add a tablespoon of salt. I leave it for 15 – 20 minutes. This is so that fleas and insects invisible to the eye die in salted water and settle to the bottom of the cup.

Then the washed greens need to be dried so that ice and snow do not form on them. I dry it on a towel, blotting off excess moisture with another towel. After getting thoroughly wet, you can leave the greens to air dry for a while. After all these steps, the greens are ready to be frozen.

Dill and parsley can have thick, hard stems, so we remove them, separating small shoots with soft, thin stems. We don’t throw away the thick stems; they can also be frozen and used in preparing first courses, tied in portions with strings.

When all the small branches have been separated, we put some of them in containers, and some portions we put into plastic bags, carefully remove the air from the bag and roll it up into a tube. When all the greens have been laid out, we put them in the freezer.

Whole branches can be used to decorate second dishes, and, when cut, they can also be used in the cooking process to add a special taste and aroma. In this way we preserve all vitamins, microelements and essential oils.

How to use frozen greens?

You can carefully follow all the rules during the preparation process, but improper defrosting can instantly deprive you of a well-made product and destroy a large proportion of nutrients. To avoid trouble, we recommend:

Take only as much greens as you need for cooking;
Do not immediately throw the seasoning into boiling water, let it thaw a little;
Add to salads just before dressing;
Pour hot water over the herbs for brewing tea, allowing them to steep.

Helpful Tips for Freezing Greens

Now let's summarize:

Never refreeze food;
When sending bags to the freezer, remove the air, this will prevent early spoilage of supplies;
To keep your greens from smelling like your refrigerator, always keep them in a separate compartment, away from fish or meat.

Are you still tormented by the question of how to freeze greens for the winter in the freezer at home? Follow our advice, and you can always diversify your diet by adding fresh herbs to your cooked dishes.

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