One of the saddest sights in a refrigerator is a bag full of wilted week old herbs. You might think it’s a good idea to try switching to dried herbs for recipes but there are some herbs that are too delicate to be dried successfully (a tasteless waste of pantry space). What is the solution? Freezing your herbs! While frozen herbs can’t retain their fresh crispness and texture (frozen herbs aren’t for garnishing) , they can be used when sautéing, and in stir fries, stews, and soups.
How do you freeze herbs? The first method (hence the title of this post: Ice Tray Method) involves ice trays. You will need:
- herbs
- chef’s knife
- measuring spoons (I use 1 tsp and 1 tbsp measurements)
- ice trays
- a marker
- water
- plastic freezer bags or freezer safe dish
Steps
(Disclaimer: Some of the photos in this post are beautiful, others are taken with my camera phone. Photographer Matt’s camera ran out of juice during the shoot. My apologies for any ugly photos).
Using a chef’s knife, finely chop freshly washed herbs.
Measure out 1 tsp or 1 TBSP of herbs.
Fill ice trays with herbs. I like to label one side of the ice cube tray with TBSP and the other with tsp and fill up 6 trays on each side so that I don’t get confused.
Top each herb tray with water: Stick them in the freezer for at least 8 hours. And then when they are frozen:
Place them in individual plastic freezer bags:
And that’s it. Defrost them by letting the ice cube melt in a small bowl and draining the herbs out of the ice cube. If you are cooking soups or stews, place the entire ice cube in the dish (it’ll be fine!).
Note: While all herbs can be frozen, there are a special bunch that should be frozen since they are too delicate to dry. They include:
- Basil (more on this late)
- Chives
- Cilantro (or Coriander)
- Chervil
- Dill
- Parsley
Stay tuned for the Tray Freezing Method.
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