How to Freeze Herbs in Ice Cube Trays & Thaw Frozen Cubes of Herbs?
To freeze herbs properly so that they can last for a long time is easy. Fresh herbs growing in your kitchen garden deserve the best preservation. Moreover, herbs are delicate plant entities that tend to wilt quickly if you don’t give them proper care and attention.
If you have heard a lot about the cube method to freeze herbs, you have landed on the right page. This post will give you every detail to prepare your herb cubes without losing their essence or texture.
Herbs are famous for their soothing aromas and distinct taste. Thus, there’s no point in freezing them if you can’t retain their smell or taste. Often you will find yourselves in a situation where these frozen greens are wholly destroyed in texture and don’t give a slight bit of taste.
Don’t panic, we have answers to all your queries regarding the ice cube tray method of freezing your herbs like parsley, thyme, cilantro, coriander, basil, and many more!
How to Freeze Fresh Herbs for a Long Time?
Your quest for how to freeze fresh herbs for a long time ends here! Fresh herbs after washing them with water and fine chopping, make the best garnish for any recipe. Be it some healthy smoothies or sizzling hot recipes, you can make them more appealing by topping them with herbs.
So, how do you freeze them for a long time? There might be situations where you end up buying excess of a herb because it was on discount or any other deal! In such cases, we all know and have been through the stages where these tender herbs wilt away.
Your best bet to preserve herbs like parsley, thyme, basil, and others is to make their ice cubes. Yes, you heard that. Ice cubes are often associated with herbs when it comes to freezing them for a long time. Here are some quick tips on how to prepare your frozen herbs ice cubes.
- Start by washing your herbs with water in a colander. Then, shift them on a kitchen towel and pat them dry.
- Stack five to six leaves of herbs together and roll them into cylindrical shapes. Then, chop the rolled herbs finely. You can chop them in any pattern that you love.
- Start filling the ice cube tray with herbs till they occupy ¾ th of the volume of each cube. Then, add olive oil to these cubes till the top.
- Freeze the cubes for 4-5 hours or until they are firm and solid. Then, remove the cubes from the ice cube tray and shift them to airtight bags.
- Lastly, seal the bags tightly and add them to the freezer. Make sure you add labels to the bags so that you know which herbs are present in different bags.
- You can use the number of ice cubes you need for different recipes later on.
Can You Freeze Multiple Herbs in an Ice Cube Tray?
If you love gardening, then you might be a fan of fresh herbs like sage and thyme from your backyard garden. But, on some other day, it might get a bit hectic to go and cut leaves or herbs from your garden. Imagine the scorching heat of July and you are amidst a place where you are merely cutting your greens!
Sounds cumbersome, right? It is at this point that freezing fresh herbs will come in handy! Toss your herbs in water, chop them finely, and prepare their ice cubes for several months. What sounds more interesting is that you can create flavorful cubes from different herbs as well. Thus, feel free to combine different herbs in ice cubes.
How to Use Ice Cube Trays to Freeze Herbs?
Freezing herbs in ice cube trays or ice trays are an easy task to accomplish. Take your fresh herbs and pop them into ice cube trays directly or after chopping them finely. Ice cube trays can also be used to prepare different flavors of herb cubes.
Make sure you are using clean cube trays and prepare cubes accordingly. You can use oil, butter, or water to prepare cubes. One good thing with ice cube trays is that you can get precise cubes with exact measurements of the quantities of oil and herbs.
Thus, during the filling of cube trays step, keep a check on the amount of oil and herbs that go into each space.
Tips for Freezing Herbs
Here are some extra tips to freeze fresh herbs for months in the freezer!
- Always wash fresh herbs with water so that you can get rid of all the dirt particles before shifting them to the freezer. Do not use hot water to prepare herb ice cubes or it will destroy their texture during freezing.
- Make sure you add labels to different bags of herbs so that you don’t get confused while using them.
- You might observe a slight discoloration of the herbs as they freeze with oil. It is because the color of the oil will change on solidification. Thus, there’s nothing to worry about.
- Prepare different combinations of flavors when you add herbs to the ice cube trays! This will give you some bold flavors in your recipe.
Why Should You Use Olive Oil to Freeze Herb Cubes?
You should always try to prepare herbs ice cube with olive oil. It is because fresh herbs are delicate and they will freeze best with butter or olive oil instead of water. Water tends to crystallize when frozen. However, on the other hand, olive oil will softly wrap your herbs in the freezer and won’t harm their texture. Thus, olive oil is the best alternative for herbs when it comes to freezing them.
How to Thaw Frozen Cubes of Herbs?
There are no lengthy procedures to thaw frozen herbs cubes. You can use them directly in your dishes while preparing! Yes, that’s true. Take out frozen herb cubes from the freezer and toss them directly in your pan when you are preparing your recipe. The herb cube will melt quickly and give perfect flavors even after months of being frozen.
Key Takeaways
Now that you know how to freeze your herbs into ice cubes, do share your experience on your freezing experience. Keep the tips and suggestions given in this blog on priority and you won’t face any difficulty in freezing herbs. Remember that the cubes can last for a long time in the freezer-safe bags; but, it is better to use them within 3-4 months of freezing to get the best flavors.