Is it possible to freeze greens for the winter. How to freeze fresh herbs for the winter: recipes

29.12.2020

By freezing greens for the winter, we have the opportunity to use spicy plants throughout the year to prepare our favorite dishes and diversify our meals.

Preparing greens for freezing:

We put well-washed plants so that excess water escapes. It is better to wash the plants rather than blanch them, it is more possible to preserve vitamins.
With some freezing methods, the greens need to be dried a little. Put the greens to dry on a towel; systematically, within 2 hours, we shift the layers, swapping them. We do not hold it for a long time, otherwise the plants may wither.
With dense packing of greens, it must first be doused with boiling water and the plants become softer.
If desired, with certain methods of freezing, the plants can be finely chopped.

We offer ways to freeze greens for the winter in the freezer:

Method of freezing greens	The advantages of the freezing method	Disadvantages of the freezing method
We freeze the plants in whole bunches. After washing and drying the greens, lay out in bunches in one layer in the freezer. After 2 hours of freezing, the bundles are placed in special containers or bags.	A little time is spent on the process of freezing and preparing for it, and this is always not enough for the hostess. More nutrients are retained in plants.	The parts of the frozen plant - the stalks that are not edible - take up extra space in the freezer. Before preparing food from frozen plants, we cut off unnecessary parts, it takes time.
To freeze the plants, wrap them in food foil.	The freezing process is much faster, which affects the quality of the product.	The packaging is not airtight. Frozen plants can absorb odors.
Place the greens in a cut bottle, and then in the freezer.	Plants in the bottle do not wrinkle or get damaged, and look good after thawing.	The bottle takes up a lot of space in the freezer due to its shape.
Create ice cubes with herbs. To do this, put the washed and chopped plants tightly in containers designed for ice cubes. Fill with water and put to freeze.	We save time on drying the greens after washing. The cubes are beautiful and convenient for cooking. It is rational to use them for the preparation of first courses.	A lot of time is spent on grinding and compacting the resulting green mass.

Note! If you take plastic molds to freeze greens, then do not use them for other purposes. Plastic absorbs persistent green odors, and ice cubes used to cool water from these molds will have a strong odor.

Important! If you put greens in bags, then you need to squeeze them in order to remove air. Otherwise, the remaining air turns into ice during freezing, and the greens will be difficult to separate from each other.

When freezing plants in the freezer, pay attention to the quick freeze function. If this function is not there, then you need to create conditions for quick freezing of greens by preparing small portions. The preservation of vitamins depends on this.

What greens can you freeze?

The housewives themselves choose what is more convenient for them - to freeze the plants according to individual types or to make spicy mixtures of greens, put in one freezer container. It depends on the experience and preferences of the cook herself.

When preparing greens for freezing in the freezer for the winter, pay attention to the following:

What specific plants are you using for food. Not all housewives use rosemary, but many do use parsley.
Which greens are useful in large quantities, and which are not very popular in your kitchen. So, dill is put in many dishes, and you will need it much more than tarragon.
How much greens will be needed before its future harvest. You can roughly calculate the total amount of herbs used for cooking.

Important! You need to know what greens can be frozen. So lettuce leaves change their structure from the cold and look unappetizing when defrosting - they are not suitable for food. And the parsley sprigs look fresh anyway.

Benefit and harm

The benefits and harms of frozen greens:

To properly freeze and use thawed greens correctly means observing the following rules:

Do not use containers for freezing plants made of metal, which oxidizes vitamins, or glass, which can crack at subzero temperatures. Use silicone, plastic or plastic dishes.
The quality of frozen plants depends on how quickly they are frozen, so it is best if the herbs are distributed in small portions.
When using herbs for cooking, they do not need to be thawed.

With a good housewife, frozen plants will not compete with fresh ones, they will be as fresh. And in composition, and in appearance, and in color, pleasing to the eye. And, of course, for a persistent smell.

Bon appetit and delicious dishes on your table!

Useful video

What we choose to freeze

Someone loves dill, but someone does not, someone is familiar with tarragon and rosemary, and someone completely dispenses with parsley. The composition of herbs during freezing is unimportant - technology is important.

Therefore, whatever you choose to put in the freezer, decide how it is more convenient for you to use the herbs - choosing from packages individually, or immediately putting different herbs together in a separate container, bag, ice cube.

From here, by the way, your idea of the amount of greenery develops logically - how much you are able to spend during the winter, which grass is more, and which - just a little.

Freezing preparation

There are two ways to prepare greens for freezing - simply wash, or blanch. I always go with the first option. Whatever one may say, during blanching, some of the vitamins and aroma will go away along with the water.

So, wash the greens thoroughly with cool water and spread them out to dry for half an hour. If you have a special lettuce dryer, use it. If not, it doesn't matter. Shake clean herbs well and spread on a terrycloth towel. You should not leave the grass for too long - it can wither.

Freeze greens in bunches

This is the easiest way for lazy people. We are saving time now, but in winter you will need to take a few twigs (frozen greens separate well) or the whole bunch, if you make small ones, and cut it just before cooking. In this case, you will remove the ponytails, which means that they were in vain taking up space in the freezer.

It is surprisingly simple to freeze the greens: after washing and drying in the prepared area (shelf) in the freezer, carefully lay out the grass in one layer and leave it until freezing, usually for 2 hours. Then put it in a bag or plastic container.

Freeze chopped greens

If you're not sorry to spend a little more time, chop up the greens. You can use either one herb or a mix. Washed, dried, cut - and wrapped in a film, creating a kind of "sausage". The length of the "sausage" can be 10-12 cm, for several times of use.

Green ice cubes

And finally, a freezing option for desperate housewives - ice cubes. Although, in fact, it is not so troublesome, believe me. Plus for convenience and beauty, greens for freezing in cubes do not need to be dried.

So, washed, chopped finely (I generally do this in a blender) and put them in ice molds, carefully tamping them. By the way, I recommend buying separate molds for this business - herbs give a painfully stable aroma.

Then they filled the mold with a little water. They sent it to the freezer, froze it, then again two options - you can store it like this, in the form, or you can pour the ice cubes into a bag and use the vacated molds again.

In winter - beauty! Take out 1-2 cubes and throw them into the pan.

P.S. If you use the second and third freezing options, pour boiling water over the herbs, right in a colander. Then it will be easier to compress it into cubes or "sausages".

Tricks for housewives

Use silicone, plastic, or polyethylene to freeze and store greens. Metal is known to oxidize vitamins, and glass can crack.

It is better to freeze greens in small portions, since the freezing speed directly affects the quality of the frozen greens.

Frozen greens are always used without prior thawing.

You can store frozen dill, parsley, sage, tarragon, and other herbs in the freezer for up to 1 year.

It would seem that there is nothing difficult in this - you need to wash the greens, chop finely, put them in a bag and send them to the freezer. But the peculiarity of freezing greens in comparison with other vegetables and fruits is that it will be used gradually, in small portions. Therefore, an ordinary plastic bag or a disposable container made of thin fragile plastic is not the best choice for storing it: you open and close it a couple of times, and it will certainly be damaged, and the greens will crumble. We advise you to stock up in advance with comfortable, tight-fitting boxes made of soft plastic that does not tan in the cold, or made of silicone. And it is better if there are several of them and they are small: why occupy the deficit volume of the freezer with a half-empty capacity all winter? You can also put greens in bags with a "zipper", but they should be dense and bright, so as not to get lost among other products. Be sure to sign the names of the herbs and the year of the bookmark.

In addition, you need to freeze greens so that they can be easily reached. And this will be possible only if, before freezing, you not only wash it, but also dry it thoroughly so that the pieces do not freeze into a dense lump.

And thirdly, if you are too lazy and do not remove thick leaf stalks and rough stems before cutting, you will scold yourself all winter, it is checked. By the way, the waste generated during the preparation can also be successfully used by boiling them in a small amount of water and freezing the strained broth - you get cosmetic ice for wiping your face. A decoction of parsley is especially useful for the skin.

- greens mixed with soft butter or good olive oil and frozen in the form of cubes (for example, in ice containers) are very convenient to add to boiled potatoes, fried mushrooms or even serve with steaks. Or you can freeze such butter in the form of a sausage and cut off a piece from it.

- if you put chopped greens in a container for ice, fill with drinking water and freeze, it will never dry out, even if your freezer is equipped with a “know-frost” system that removes excess moisture from the chamber. These cubes are convenient to throw in soup.

- By freezing spinach and sorrel, you can make a wonderful preparation for green cabbage soup. Before freezing, their leaves must be blanched - hold for 1-1.5 minutes in boiling water. After that, grind them in the same way as you usually do when cooking cabbage soup - either in strips or in a blender. Divide the herbs into “one soup doses” and place in the freezer. In this case, the containers can also be disposable.

- Celery and cilantro, with their strong smell, can spoil all food in the freezer! Place them in double bags or sealed boxes (ideally with vacuum lids).

Previously, I always dried greens and used them dried in cooking. She decorated the dish, but there was no smell. And once my friend suggested that I freeze the greens when she saw me add dried herbs to the first dish.

She listened to her advice, but still continued to dry the greens with her, as they say, trampled method. Since I counted, what's the difference in this - dried or frozen.

And the difference turned out to be when she was convinced of this herself, when she saw how my daughter-in-law, while cooking borscht, took the greens out of the freezer and added it to the borscht. I could smell the added greenery from a distance. But from my dried greens, I did not feel the aroma.

Then I decided to try freezing greens. This method stuck, I liked it, and every year I learned different ways of freezing, which I share with you.

You can freeze almost any greens. It all depends on the purpose of its use. In cooking, they use dill, parsley, cilantro, sorrel, basil, garlic arrows.

And frozen mint, thyme, lemon balm, raspberry leaves or black currant leaves are good for making tea. They make tea aromatic and pleasant to drink. In winter, such tea replenishes our body with vitamins and minerals, which is very useful for us.

All the beneficial properties of greens are preserved in freezing.

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

Then the washed greens must be dried so that ice and snow do not form on it. I dry it on a towel, blotting excess moisture with another towel. After getting well wet, you can still leave the greens to air dry a little. After all these steps, the greens are ready for freezing.

Now I'll tell you about 4 ways to freeze greens.

A method of freezing greens with twigs.
Method for freezing chopped greens
Freezing method in ice cube trays with water
Freezing method in ice cube trays with butter

To do this, we need plastic containers, an ice mold and plastic bags.

The first way

Dill and parsley can have thick, tough stems, so we remove them, separating small shoots with soft, thin stems. We do not throw away the thick stems, they can also be frozen and used in the preparation of the first courses by tying them in portions with threads.

When all the small twigs have been separated, we put some of them in containers, and some of them are laid out in portions in plastic bags, carefully removing air from the bag and roll it up with a tube. When all the greens are laid out, we send them to the freezer.

Whole twigs can be used to decorate second courses, and when cut, they can also be added to different dishes. In this way, we preserve all vitamins, trace elements and essential oils.

Second way

Finely chop the prepared greens and also put some in containers, some in plastic bags, and send them to the freezer. Convenience is that the greens are already cut, scooped up with a spoon as much as necessary and added to any dish. In the chopped greens, some of the essential oils have evaporated and less nutrients remain.

Third way

You can make green ice cubes in an ice cube tray. To do this, fill the molds with chopped greens, slightly compacting, and fill them with cold boiled water. Cover with cling film and place in the freezer. After freezing, put it in a container.

These green ice cubes can be used to prepare first courses 1 to 2 minutes before they are ready. The color and aroma are preserved. Can be used in cosmetics - for wiping the face. At the same time, the skin will receive both vitamins and tone.

Fourth way

After filling the ice cube trays with chopped herbs, now fill them with olive oil or melted butter. We also cover with cling film so that the aroma does not evaporate, and put in the freezer. After freezing, put it in a container.

It is good to use such cubes in hot dishes. For example: boiled a young potato, put it on a dish, and put one or two cubes of butter on top. The butter melted, but the herbs and aroma remained on the potatoes. When baking fish, you can put cubes in the belly, and the aroma of herbs will appear, and the fish will become juicier from the oil.

Conclusion

I use greens not only to decorate the dish, although the dish decorated with herbs evokes appetite and good mood, but it is also useful for our body. Therefore, greens should be consumed daily, they can be in their natural form, you can make cocktails with them and add them to different dishes. Therefore, in the summertime I try to stock up on greens for future use.

Do you use greens in your dishes? Freezing greens for the winter? Write in the comments about your freezing methods. If the article was useful to you, then share it with your friends on social networks. And now, see you soon!

Freezing vegetables and herbs is another way to preserve fruits for the winter. Recently, many housewives have been using this method of harvesting.
At a negative temperature, the action of various factors ceases, under the influence of which deterioration and oxidation of products occurs.
Most of the vitamins, especially C and A, are destroyed under the influence of air and light, therefore, with long storage and wilting of vegetables, their vitamin content gradually decreases. With proper and quick freezing, the fruit retains the beneficial properties and composition of vitamins.
A big plus is that before the freezing process, the fruits are washed, cleaned and crushed. Before preparing culinary dishes, it remains only to extract part of the frozen vegetables (herbs) and subject them to the necessary heat treatment.

Freezing vegetables:

wash the selected fruits, remove the damaged parts, cut the stalks.
chop the vegetables in just the slices you need in winter for vegetable stews, sauces, and stir-fry for first courses.
Moisture is released from chopped vegetables (greens), which turns into ice in the freezer. It is necessary to pre-dry the chopped mass by laying it on a towel or tray. Vegetables are ideally dried in special electric dryers.
so that the pieces do not stick together in the freezer, set the trays with dried vegetables to the quick freeze mode and stand for 1-1.5 hours. Then pack in plastic bags or molds and return to the freezer.
When you load new food into the freezer, the temperature in the compartment rises slightly, so freeze prepared vegetables in small batches.
vegetables and mixtures for cooking and stewing should be placed in a saucepan or pan, without defrosting, directly into the boiling broth or fat.
if possible, do not re-freeze the workpieces, otherwise they will lose their taste and benefits.

Freezing greens

1. Any spicy herbs, onions, young shoots of garlic, as well as sorrel and spinach are suitable for freezing.

2. To thoroughly rinse the greens from sand and earth, place the bundles in a deep container and rinse in several waters.
3. Chop finely prepared twigs, lay on a towel and let the excess moisture evaporate.

4. Spread the green mass in an even ball on the tray, freeze on the fast setting.
5. Pack the herbs in small trays (plastic bags). Let the air out of the container, pack tightly, send to the chamber for further storage.

6. Use frozen herbs in the same way as fresh ones. Sprinkle with all kinds of salads, canned food, add a couple of minutes before being ready for a hot dish.

Freezing bell peppers

1. Sweet peppers can be frozen whole (for stuffing) or cut into slices (for stewing and frying).

2. Cut off the stalk of whole washed fruits and remove the seeds, rinse again, dry on a towel. Freeze at -23 ° C ... -26 ° C, then stack the peppers one by one. Wrap the fruits in cling film or pack them in plastic bags, send them to the freezer.

3. For dressing the first courses, chop the peppers into strips or cubes. Dry before freezing. Spread the slices in a thin ball on a flat dish, place in the freezer for 2 hours. Then pack in bags, tie tightly and put back in the freezer.

Freezing carrots

1. Carrots often spoil when stored outdoors. Freezing in grated form will help preserve valuable fruits without loss.

2. Wash and peel the carrots, grate with a coarse grater or chop into thin strips.

3. Dry the crushed mass, freeze it on the fast setting, placing it on the tray. When the carrots have hardened, fill small portions of plastic containers, seal tightly, close the lids and place in the freezer.

Freezing the vegetable mixture

1. For healthy winter cooking, freeze a selection of chopped fresh vegetables.
2. Mix the prepared fruits to your liking. Take, for example, in equal parts slices of eggplant and salad pepper, add grated carrots. Freeze in the same way as bell peppers.

3. Healthy and flavorful dishes are obtained from frozen cauliflower. For a kilogram of cabbage, take 200 g of carrots, onions and peppers. Disassemble the cabbage into small inflorescences, chop the rest of the vegetables. Freeze each cut separately, then mix, pack in bags or containers.

4. For frozen vegetables, dip the mixture, without thawing, in boiling broth or tomato sauce. Simmer until tender, add seasonings, salt, sprinkle with herbs at the end.