I suggest you try several ways to freeze greens: it’s convenient to freeze iced green cubes, cubes made from butter and greens work great, and the easiest option is to freeze chopped greens in a bag. is already on the site, so I’ll dwell in more detail on the remaining methods.

Before freezing greens, you need to carefully sort them out, removing all damaged and beginning to deteriorate branches. And then rinse well. I usually wash the greens under ice-cold running water, and then leave them to drain well, because it is important for us to get rid of excess moisture before the freezing process.

Now you need to chop the greens, I think it’s better to do it as usual: cut it the way you usually do it.

And although I chopped both dill and parsley separately, I decided to freeze the mix by combining them together. You can safely make your own “green mixture”, but I would definitely recommend freezing this option – parsley + dill, because these two types of herbs are used in almost all Slavic dishes.

So, I poured a small amount of dill and parsley into a clean plastic bag and mixed the greens. I prefer to make such bags small, then the short and thin “sausage” is very convenient to store in the freezer.

The greens in the bag must be carefully wrapped, and a sticky note must be placed inside indicating exactly what we froze and when. These “sausage” bags can be placed in the freezer for storage. I deliberately did not specify the specific freezing date on the sticker, because, in my opinion, indicating the month is enough, because frozen greens can be safely stored for about a year.

Let's move on to the second freezing method. We need to mix the chopped greens with butter. This is very easy to do if you remember to take the butter out of the refrigerator in advance. The butter should melt enough to easily mix with the chopped dill and parsley.

Place the resulting oily, aromatic mixture into ice cube trays. However, my favorite thing to use is not special molds, but tablets from candy boxes. The cells there are of a convenient size, and most importantly, such inserts from candy boxes can then not be washed at all, but simply thrown away.

After all the molds are filled, they need to be placed in the freezer. A few hours are enough for the greens to freeze perfectly.

Vegetables, fruits and berries are relevant throughout the summer, and today there will be another recipe; I will tell you how to freeze greens for the winter in the form of small cubes. A very convenient and practical solution, because they can be made different, choosing the composition to suit your taste and adding them during cooking or to ready-made dishes. Without defrosting, such cubes are thrown into soup or vegetable stew at the very end of cooking, and the greens taste almost like fresh. There are no strict proportions in this recipe, it’s just an idea of ​​how you can freeze greens, one of the easiest ways to make healthy supplies for the winter.

How to freeze greens

Ingredients:

• Celery leaves;
• dill;
• parsley or cilantro;
• green onions;
• chilled water (preferably boiled);
• tight bags;
• ice molds or silicone muffin molds.

How to freeze greens in cubes for the winter

First, let's wash and sort everything. We tear off the celery leaves from the branches; you can do the same with parsley, if it is also large. Leave it in a colander so that a little water can drain and it will be more convenient to cut the leaves.

Now we will cut each type of greenery and arrange it separately. Each housewife decides how finely to cut on her own, but I would advise not cutting very finely, approximately like for salads.

The proportions and composition of assorted greens can be anything. I made two types. In one bowl I mixed celery and dill, in the second, parsley, dill and green onions.

So as not to confuse what was frozen where, I took different molds: small silicone molds for muffins and a regular mold for edible ice. In one I placed a mixture of celery, dill and green onions. I poured in a little water so that it would “bind” everything and the cubes wouldn’t fall apart. I moved the molds onto a tray and put them in the freezer. A few hours later, when the water froze, I took it out of the molds, poured it into a bag, signed it and put it away for storage. If you don’t like celery mixed with other herbs, then prepare it separately, I recently showed you in different ways.

The mixture of parsley and dill was placed in ice trays and filled with cold boiled water. I put it in the freezer for two to three hours. It turned out to be a little more difficult to remove frozen cubes from a plastic mold than from silicone molds. To make the cubes pop out easily, I lowered the mold into warm water for a few seconds and turned it over. Then I put the cubes of greens into tight bags, labeled them and put them back in the freezer.

This is how easy it is to freeze greens for the winter in the freezer, and make a variety of combinations. And at the same time, you can also prepare each type separately; we have many interesting recipes on our website: and you can even freeze them.

With such a solid supply, no winter is scary; cubes of greenery are perfectly stored until the next harvest and will be a useful aid in preparing a wide variety of dishes.

Content

To get the necessary vitamins and season your dishes with aromatic herbs even in winter, you can freeze them. If the rules of the process are followed, the herbs retain their vitamin benefits, aroma and taste. At home, it is possible to freeze parsley, dill, celery, basil, and mint.

Preparation

In order for frozen greens to be stored in the freezer longer, not to wilt and not lose their taste, they must be properly prepared for processing. Useful tips:

1. When purchasing, you need to choose fresh, elastic bunches, without yellow withered inflorescences or signs of wilting or rotting.
2. The grass is thoroughly washed, sand and other contaminants are removed from it.
3. The greens are laid out to air dry in a thin layer for about half an hour, so that no drops of moisture remain.
4. Cut off the coarsest stems.
5. If necessary, chop the grass with a thin sharp knife and mix the mixes.
6. Place in containers or plastic bags and place on the freezer shelf.
7. The bags need to be shaken every half hour to prevent the leaves from sticking together.

How to freeze greens for the winter

Harvesting greens for the winter is a process that has its own characteristics. Professional recommendations:

1. Do not freeze greens using metal or glass containers. Herbs contain many biologically active substances that can oxidize metal. Glass can crack due to temperature changes. For freezing, it is optimal to choose plastic bags, plastic containers or silicone molds.
2. You need to freeze greens in small portions. This way the process will go faster and more vitamins will be preserved.
3. Dill and parsley can be frozen immediately with salt or oil, basil, oregano - in bunches, celery and mint - in leaves.

Frozen greens do not need to be thawed before using. You need to take a portion or pinch off the required amount from a large piece and immediately add it to the soup or meat. This way the herbs will not lose their beneficial substances and aroma.

Bunches

The method of freezing greens in bunches is good if you have a lot of space in the freezer. Using this method, dill, basil, parsley, mint, and sorrel are prepared for the winter. They are stored in containers, laid loosely, or wrapped in foil so that the bundles do not crush each other. Cooking method:

1. Wash the raw materials, dry them thoroughly, collect in bunches, cut off the stems.
2. Place on a tray so that the bunches do not touch each other, and place in the freezer at maximum setting.
3. Remove from the chamber, transfer to containers or wrap in foil, fold for storage.

Green cubes

The cube method of freezing is faster than others because the spices do not need to be dried. To prepare, you will need plastic or silicone molds (in which ice or baked goods are prepared). In the same way, you can freeze herbs for cosmetic treatments. Cooking method:

1. Wash the greens, remove the stems, finely chop the leaves or grind them in a blender.
2. Divide the mixture into molds, compact, and pour in a little water.
3. Place in the freezer to freeze.
4. Remove the cubes, put them into bags, and reuse the empty molds.

Sliced

Finely chopped frozen parsley, basil, dill or sorrel can be conveniently stored in the freezer. It doesn't take up much space, especially if you put it in a large container and scoop it up with a spoon if necessary. Cooking method:

1. Wash and dry the herbs, cut off the stems.
2. Finely chop the green parts and place in bags or containers.
3. Place in the freezer to freeze and store.

With salt

An almost ready-made soup dressing mixture can be obtained by mixing the greens with salt and freezing. More often, for this purpose, they take dill sprigs no higher than 15 cm in height, which will preserve the aroma, softness and tenderness of taste for the winter. To prepare, you will need coarse white (rock) salt, but not iodized salt - according to reviews, it imparts bitterness. Cooking process:

1. Proportions: for 300 g of fresh dill, 100 g of coarse salt.
2. Cut off the roots, rinse the greens with running water, tie in a bunch, and dry on a napkin.
3. Tear off the leaves, place in a deep bowl, cover with salt.
4. Shake the bowl to mix the ingredients. Do not crush the branches; the workpiece remains dry.
5. Transfer the workpiece into bags and place in the freezer.

Until recently, due to the small volumes of refrigeration chambers, only two methods of preparing parsley, dill and other herbs for future use were practiced - drying and salting. With the advent of self-contained freezers in homes, housewives have appreciated the benefits of the new preservation method and prefer to store edible herbs frozen for several reasons. Firstly, greens are stored with maximum preservation of nutrients and taste. Secondly, this eliminates the possibility of insects and pests that die in low temperatures. It’s also very fast, convenient and beautiful: the greens look almost like fresh.

In addition to fragrant mint (it retains its smell better when dried), you can freeze absolutely any spicy-flavoring herbs (dill, parsley, basil, cilantro, marjoram), leafy salad vegetables (spinach, lettuce, celery, green beans, sorrel) and for lovers - green onions, tops of carrots, beets, radishes and other vegetables. All frozen greens retain their flavor and nutritional value and can be stored until the next harvest and beyond if a number of conditions are met.

Preparing greens for freezing

1. Clean the plants from foreign impurities, remove spoiled and wilted leaves.
   
2. Rinse the greens thoroughly, distributing them loosely in a bowl of water: the earth and sand will settle to the bottom, and the greens will remain on the surface. Take it out and change the water. Repeat the procedure until the water becomes clear.
   
3. Dry the grass well with a towel.
   
4. Decide in what form you will put the greens in the freezer:
   • each variety separately;
     
   • in the form of ready-made collections from several plants;
     
   • whole twigs and leaves;
     
   • shredded;
     
   • by all means.
     
   If you decide to cut it, cut it.
   The best option is to use several different methods. Shredded greens are convenient for preparing hot dishes (the greens are thrown into them frozen; it will be inconvenient to handle twigs and whole leaves; they will have time to thaw), but the twigs are useful for flavoring broths (when the greens are added in a bunch and then thrown away in the same bunch) and for salads. In the latter case, it is recommended to freeze pre-blanched greens (scalded with boiling water and immediately cooled under running cold water). Don't forget to dry it afterwards too!
   
5. Place greens to freeze in small pieces isolated from each other. Ideally, the portion should be disposable so as not to subject the entire mass to thawing. If the greens freeze into a single monolith, breaking off parts of the required size from it will be inconvenient, time-consuming and unhelpful: greens taken out of the freezer thaw almost instantly, which worsens their nutritional and taste qualities. Re-freezing it (as well as other products) is not allowed.
   

Packing greens
Pack the prepared product in any way convenient for you.

1. In cling film or foil. Bunches of greens wrapped in sausages retain their properties well.
   
2. In freezer containers of the same square shape. Stacked on top of each other, they take up significantly less space than shapeless bags. But you should not fill them to the top: frozen greens, having increased in volume, can lift the lid and break the seal of the container.
   
3. In ice trays. Place the finely chopped greens into the cells, fill the remaining space in them with water and freeze. Remove the finished ice cubes from the mold and place them in a container for permanent storage. You can use the ice tray directly, if you don’t mind that it, having absorbed the smell of spices, will no longer be suitable for anything else. A plastic backing for marshmallows or candies from a box, adapted for these purposes, will be more practical: after freezing it can be thrown away without regret. When preparing dishes, take out the required number of green ice cubes from the container one at a time and immediately, without defrosting, throw them into a hot pan.
   
4. In disposable cups of different sizes, covered with cling film. It is also a very reliable way to freeze greens and convenient for subsequent cooking, but not rational in terms of saving freezer space.
   
5. In freezer bags. If you shape them flat and stack them on top of each other, they will serve instead of containers, and are in no way inferior to them in terms of intelligent use of space in the refrigerator.
   

Please note that regular plastic bags are not suitable for long-term storage of food in the freezer. They allow odors to pass through and tear easily. This rule is general for all products, not just greens. Glass containers are also not suitable, as they can easily burst if overcooled.

With all methods of packaging greens (except ice cubes), try to remove as much remaining air from the package as possible. This is especially important when storing in batches. Label each serving: the date it was frozen and what it contains. In the future, this will greatly simplify the search for the required type of spice.

The nuances of freezing greens
To prevent the greens from freezing together, you can freeze them in two stages: first freeze the portions slightly, and then quickly mix and freeze completely. The common belief that all products require only quick (shock) freezing is only partly true, for example, with regard to meat, fish, chicken and other animal products. For greens, due to the biological features of the structure of their fibers, the usual freezing mode is more preferable.

Now you will always have your favorite fresh herbs at hand all year round!

Hello everyone! Continuing the topic, today I want to talk about how to freeze greens. After all, it contains a huge amount of vitamins and minerals that will enrich your diet throughout the winter, right up to the new harvest, provided there is a sufficient amount of preparation.

Those who have a large freezer will not have problems with this. Others will need to try to make the most of their refrigerator space. Many people find a way out of the situation - after the summer greens run out, they buy store-bought ones. This is exactly what I do, since it is not possible to prepare it in large quantities during the season.

There are, of course, much fewer vitamins there. It is grown in greenhouse conditions, using artificial light and fertilizers. It looks virtually the same, but the taste is less intense. After all, natural sun rays and fresh air are irreplaceable.

But, nevertheless, no matter what you decide to do, you must freeze greens following the rules that will ensure the safety of the nutrients in the product. If frozen incorrectly, the vitamins for which we actually harvest dill, parsley, celery and other herbs can be destroyed.

By the way, I will say that regular and daily consumption of these products during the winter, when our body experiences a lack of nutrients, can replace the additional use of nutritional supplements. And at the moment they are not cheap.

What greens can be frozen?

Personally, I base it on my taste and the tastes of my family. You can prepare those summer herbs that you like.

I kindly envy those who have their own garden, where you can grow greens such as dill, parsley, basil, cilantro, green onions, mint and others.

Some herbs cost less to prepare, some more, but the knowledge that it was grown with your own hands gives it even more value.

Personally, I prefer four herbs: dill, parsley, sorrel and green onions. As an option, you can make special mixtures of herbs, for example, for salads, soups, and main courses.

If you like green salads, then you can save them to make delicious snacks in winter.

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 to freeze greens in?

Simple plastic bags are suitable for this. They are especially convenient for freezing in portions, at a time. By the way, this method of freezing is the best, since you don’t have to take out the rest of the greens.

I also like to use containers with a lid. It is advisable to take them small. I don’t tamp or press the greens in them, so they remain loose and crumbly. I take out the container, quickly scoop out as much herb as I need with a spoon, close the lid and put the container back in the freezer.

And so let's move on to the topic of the article. I know several ways to freeze greens for the winter.

Freezing greens for the winter

Method one.

It is the simplest and easiest. Requires a minimum of time and effort, suitable for those who are lazy or those who simply do not have time to work in the kitchen. It involves freezing greens in bunches. Moreover, you can do this either with one herb or with a mixture of them. For example, for a salad, a mix of dill, parsley and basil would be an excellent addition.

Be sure to rinse and dry the bunch of grass well. Only dry greens will look more or less appetizing and can be easily separated from each other.

Also dry the plastic bag if you washed it and put the grass in it. Pressing it lightly, release the air and roll it into a sausage. You can secure the whole thing with an elastic band. All is ready. All that remains is to put it in the freezer.

Glass jars are absolutely not suitable for this type of freezing, but if you have a large enough freezer, then using a rectangular container will be convenient.

Second way

This is my favorite method, which takes a little longer than the first, but is more convenient, since the greens are completely ready to eat, immediately after you take them out of the refrigerator.

As usual, rinse the weed thoroughly and dry. Cut the leaves as you normally would. Some people like it bigger, some like it smaller. Cut off the stems. Pour the workpiece into bags, also wrapping it in a sausage or containers, tightly closing the lid. Even if you haven’t dried it completely, nothing bad will happen. Each leaf will be covered with a little ice, but when defrosted it will still retain its appearance. I add these greens to salads, soups and main courses.

Third way

In my opinion, it is not entirely successful - ice cubes with grass. It is also cut, compacted into ice molds and filled with water. This preparation can only be added to soups, where it will lose all its vitamins during cooking.

I don’t know about you, but I have a negative attitude towards this method. Firstly, the appearance of the product is lost, and secondly, why freeze water? If there is space, then please, if there is none, then the molds themselves take up a lot of space. In general, it's not my thing.

And the fourth way

Cubes of greens with butter. They are prepared like this: the greens are chopped, pre-washed and dried. Place in ice trays and top with olive oil.

This method is only suitable for dressing salads. And just like the previous one, it requires quite a large space in the freezer.

How do you do this? In general, do you freeze aromatic summer herbs for the winter or buy store-bought ones? By the way, I know that many people dry them, but I don’t like dried herbs. The taste changes a lot, but the aroma is no longer the same. I use it for cooking, but only in extreme cases.

Still, the freezer is a good thing, what would we do without it?))

That's all for today! See you again! Be healthy!