What You Need To Know About Freezing Herbs
Despite how conscientious folks may be about using any of the fresh ingredients and produce that are in their kitchen and refrigerator, they will eventually run into the dreaded food spoilage. There are tips and tricks — how to extend the life of things like yogurt (or whether you should) and the best way to store fresh mussels in your fridge. While it's known that some fruits can last longer than others, when it comes to herbs, the rules might be a bit more ambiguous.
Whether you have fresh herbs planted in a pot (or garden) or have purchased a small herb pack from your local grocer, extending the life of your parsley, basil, and cilantro can seem daunting. Thankfully, HGTV says otherwise. According to the website, there isn't just one way to extend the life of your herbs in the freezer, but four ways. So if you have leftover chives and basil that you won't be using for another couple of weeks, you can extend their life by either freezing them bare, in water, in oil, or rolled up.
The life of herbs can be extend up to a month when frozen
According to Delish, herbs that are stored in whole bunches or in heavy-duty storage bags in the freezer can keep for up to a month. Once you pull them out to cook or chop, they will still be fresh as can be. HGTV details that one way you can preserve softer herbs like mint, parsley, and cilantro is to freeze them in ice cube trays filled with water. Another method would be putting sturdier herbs like rosemary, dill, and sage in a tightly sealed container for safe keeping.
Ice cube trays come in handy for another approach as well. When it comes to herbs that work well with soups and sauces like oregano and thyme, placing them in ice cube trays, and then filling up the spaces with oil, is the way to go.
What about those pretty rolled up herb bunches? Well, you'd do that with flat leaf herbs like Italian parsley and throw them in a freezer bag for safe storage. Epicurious adds that another good thing about freezing your herbs is that not only are you saving money by not needing to buy more herbs consistently, but you are reducing food waste by not needing to throw out herbs that have spoiled or otherwise gone bad.