Freezing Herbs in Ice Cube Trays

Freezing herbs was necessary because I had more herbs than I could use in one day. I didn’t want to leave the herbs lying around because I knew they would lose their flavor. Then I would have wasted time and energy.

So I decided to preserve herbs by freezing them in ice cubes. The process is simple.

What I did was got a couple empty ice trays and stuffed them with the leaves of the herbs. I then placed some warm water in the tray and placed it the freezer.

When they were completely frozen I took them out of the trays and placed them into freezer bags. The bags of frozen herbs were then placed back into the freezer.When I was ready to use the herbs I simply took out the blocks of ice and herb leaves and dropped it into my soups.

In the case of salads I allowed the ice to melt away first and then placed the leaves in the bowl of vegetables.

The herbs were preserved well in the freezer. They held their flavor as if they were freshly picked.

Sometimes I freeze herbs in olive oil. I do this especially for cilantro and basil.

What I do is:

• Separate the leaves of the basil or cilantro from the stems
• Place the leaves in a food processor to be chopped up
• I add in some garlic and olive oil (enough olive oil to make the mixture bind together) and then chop up the mixture

At this point I could place the chopped up mixture in a bowl and then put it in the freezer. But if I do this it would be difficult to use when I need it. I would have to allow the entire bowl to thaw before I could scoop out some.

So instead I use small squares of freezing wrap to hold portions of the mixture and then I put them into the freezer.

As a result, if I only require a little bit of cilantro or basil for my soups, I can simply remove the wrap off of a couple balls of frozen herbs and put the balls of herbs into the pot.

The olive oil also helps to give the herbs a nice flavor.