I like to cook with fresh herb plants. Don’t you? Not only do they taste great, they smell wonderful too! It’s easy to use fresh herbs too. You can always lop off what you need and add to the rest of your ingredients for a fresh flavor you’ll love.
But what do you do when it is winter and fresh herbs are few and far between?
Try freezing as a fresh alternative to drying your herbs because it is a simpler and better way to keep your herbs fresh. Just grow the herb plants, snip your herbs and put them in a freezer bag. You don’t have to do anything special to prepare your herb plants for freezing, other than rinsing them. If they’re not packed too tightly, you can crumble the frozen herb plants in your hands before you open the freezer bag.
If you do want them measured before you freeze your herbs, you can dice them up and freeze your herbs in ice trays. Once you dice the herb plants, put a tablespoon of herb plants into the ice cube tray compartments and cover with water. Put these cubes into the freezer bags and later, when you are ready toss a few cubes into your soups, stews and other dishes.
If you want to try freezing herbs, these are some good ones to start with:
- Basil: Remove the foliage from the stem just before the flowers of your basil when you are ready to harvest your herbs and dry your herbs. Put the dried foliage into a freezer bag so that you can make use of them later on. If you do not have much time, just take the leaves and put them into a freezer bag and stick your herbs in your freezer to keep your herbs fresh. You can even put them in a container and cover them with oil, which will bring out the taste. You can keep your herbs like this for several months.
- Parsley: Do not keep this fantastic plant as just another ornamental garnish. Parsley will work well in almost any Italian dish. Nobody appreciates parsley for it’s positive attributes. It cannot help it if the other Italian herbs (like oregano, basil and garlic) have stronger, more memorable tastes. Parsley works hard to help other herbs taste better. Sprinkle some crushed parsley into your pot along with your other ingredients and your it will enhance the flavors of the other herbs. I generally take the leaves and put your herbs into a freezer bag, put the bags on the shelf of my freezer and then put a box of vegetables on top of my bagsto freeze your herbs flat. When you’re ready to use them, just crunch the bag up in your hand and they’re instantly chopped.
- French Tarragon: Harvest sprigs of this fabulous herb throughout the summer months, but stop in late summer so that you don’t damage the plant. Fresh leaves are better than frozen, but in the middle of winter, I’ll take anything. Add your herbs to your chicken or fish meals. French tarragon also goes well with cream sauces, vinegars and mustards.
Do not forget to write the name of the herb on the freezer bag so that when you pull your herbs out of the freezer you will know what it is.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Italian Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
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