Living in California, worrying about not having access to the fresh local herbs in the winter, isn’t exactly an issue, but I do remember what it was like living in New York. The minute the first frost hits in the early fall, there is a scramble to save plants and there is a huge sense of loss when you can no longer just walk into the yard and snip off your favorite fresh herbs. If you are lucky smart enough to have your fresh herbs in pots, you can just bring those in, otherwise you can kiss them goodbye until the start of the next season.
This simple method for preserving fresh herbs is a really great way to keep the fresh flavors of your summer garden or the local farmers market – all through the fall and winter. When thawed or just heated right up from frozen, these frozen cubes work great in stews, sautés, soups, roasts and more. Besides being super helpful and functional, this project is super fun and very simple – it would be a really great and educational project to do with kids.
Regardless of how cold it gets where you live, this is such a great, money-saving way to make the most of your herbs. For me, I love this method of preserving because oftentimes I will buy a large amount of fresh herbs for a recipe that I am testing, however if there are any leftover, they tend to go bad or get sad and wilted before I can get to them again.
You can keep the herbs whole or chop them, depending on how you plan to use them. You can also create various custom herb blends with multiple types of herbs, to create your favorite blend that you know you use often in your favorite soup. Just pull out of the freezer when you are ready to use them and enjoy all winter long!
Though freezing fresh herbs, just as they are, certainly works, freezing and preserving herbs in a good quality olive oil keeps them fresher and the olive oil reduces browning and the freezer burn that can happen when you just freeze the fresh herbs, as is.
Of course, I use my official olive oil of choice, Terra Delyssa Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, since it’s delicate flavor compliments the fresh herbs so nicely and it’s my go-to cooking oil for 95% of what I make. I also use the garlic infused Terra Delyssa Olive Oil for even more flavor.
How-To Preserve and Freeze Fresh Herbs in Olive Oil:
- Choose firm, fresh herbs – wash and dry the herbs, if necessary
- Chop the herbs or leave whole
- You can mix and match creating your own blends based on what you use most often
- Pack the ice cube trays about 3/4 of the way full with the fresh herbs
- Pour olive oil over the top of the herbs, filling the wells
- Label, if you will have a hard time identifying or recalling the herbs or blends that you used (it is quite hard to do once they are frozen)
- Place the trays into the freezer and freeze overnight
- Once frozen, remove the cubes from the trays and place in labeled, ziplock plastic bags and place back in the freezer until you are ready to use.
NOTES:
in place of the olive oil you could also use melted coconut oil, melted butter or stocks/broths. You could also use water for teas and soups.
hearty herbs that you tend to cook with (versus light, delicate herbs usually used raw) fair the best using this method of preserving.
Terra Delyssa is a sponsor of Tasty Yummies. All content, ideas, and words are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that allow me to create new and special content like this for Tasty Yummies.
14 Responses
I’ve always seen this on pinterest but never saw how it worked! Great post Beth!
This is so beautiful! I love my herbs as house plants, but I like having them pre-washed and waiting in the freezer for a soup or stew, too! 🙂
This post is great! Will the frozen cubes last well all winter? As for using the cubes, do you just pop them in a dish or do you have to do anything special beforehand?
What a great deal…grew my own herbs & they are beautiful…..thank you…..
I love your photos! I do this too. I make some with just parsley and garlic and olive oil; very handy. Sometimes I just shave a bit off and I get lovely little garlic shavings. Gives a nice kick to lentils or spaghetti sauce.
As I said on Instagram, I love love LOVE this idea! I can’t wait to try it and cut back on throwing out wilted or herbs that went bad in the fridge.
Love it, so simple. Throwing the leftovers away, that’s so yesterday now, thanks Beth!
I love doing this. I have done sage, oregano, and basil before when getting a huge pack of herbs from Bountiful Baskets before. The flavor is excellent, and way better than dried. I need to restock! Great addition to Tutorial Tuesdays 🙂
BRILLANT! JUST FOUND YOUR BLOG AND I LOVE IT!
This is awesome! I never have fresh herbs (just dried) because i can’t afford to buy them in the stores all the time and I wouldn’t use them fast enough. But freezing them I can do!
I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!! 🙂
What a fantastic idea…I have been wasting so many herbs…Not anymore thanks to this article….Off to get started….
Question: I grow a lot of herbs but don’t have a lot of time to dry and store them for preservation. Home dried are good but not even close to fresh. Freezing is better but I don’t like freezing them alone in bags because they just don’t look that great anymore (except more solid ones like Garlic Chives or lovage stems) . I love this idea of freezing in the oils (or broth) that I am already going to be cooking with. So my question to you do you have a list (from your experience) of what herbs work best with what oils? Or does it matter? I cook with Olive or Coconut oil.
THank you so much for this idea!