Freezing Herbs Whole or Chopped

If you find yourself with an overabundance of fresh herbs you can easily dry or freeze them, however, freezing has certain benefits over drying.

• Some herbs such as parsley, tarragon, basil, and mint tend to change their flavor when dried.
• Frozen herbs taste fresher than dried herbs, in my opinion, when used in recipes.
• Frozen herb cubes (see below) are fast when you need to pop them into a soup or sauce.

The downsides – you need decent freezer space if you freeze a lot and of course you won’t be able to use them for garnish or as decor for cakes or salads.

To freeze whole sprigs of herbs:

1. Pick your herbs and sort out any withered or dead parts.
2. Rinse them quickly in cool water and dry completely on a clean tea towel or paper towel.
3. Arrange them in sprigs and freeze in one to two use portions, depending on how often and how much of a particular herb you use. Make sure to freeze them in freezer safe containers or bags, and label and date the sprigs. If you’re freezing in bags, make sure to squeeze the excess air out. This uses a lot of plastic baggies which is why I tend to freeze herbs in ice cube trays instead.

To freeze herb cubes:

Follow steps one and two above but then chop your herbs and place into ice cube tray compartments – about half to 3/4 full. Fill the remainder of the ice cube compartment with water, freeze, then pop your cubes out into a freezer safe container. Label and date. Herbal ice cube will last for months and are super easy to pop right into sauces, herbal tea drinks, or soups. You can even make cubes specifically for specific recipes, for example, making cube mixtures of oregano, a little rosemary, and basil for homemade spaghetti sauce cubes.

If you want some fun party cubes place a flowering herb such as borage into ice cube trays and freeze, then for a party pop them into drinks. For more party fun freeze your herbs in shaped ice cube trays like the ones shown above.

NOTES: if you’re using cubes for a party make sure to freeze your herbs in filtered water as tap water can freeze cloudy. Also, if you’re popping herb cubes into a recipe remember that there’s herbs and water in the cube so adjust your recipe to make up for the extra liquid.