What’s the best way to freeze basil leaves so that they remain as fresh as possible and are easy to use in recipes throughout the winter? Here are six different ways put to the test!
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I’ve always believed that freezing basil to preserve it through the winter is best accomplished through making pesto. And it’s great to have it so convenient to use for bread toppings and pasta dinners, among other things. But if you’ve ever grown a couple basil plants, you know that when they’re happy (in my garden, that’s after getting rid of bugs…) they will continue to pump out leaves until frost kills them.
And you only need so much pesto (plus, it’s not the cheapest thing to make), which is why I researched and wrote about 22 other ways to preserve basil. Because using up is a good thing. But while I was searching for ways to preserve basil, I came across a number of different ways to freeze basil – some in comments, some on Pinterest, and some from websites – that had me curious:
What is the best way to freeze basil leaves?
Can it really be done and still have that great basil flavor? And since I’ve been pretty vocal about my love for not blanching produce before freezing (like beans, peas, corn, and peppers) because of how easy it is and the better results, of course you can guess I’d have to test this with basil, too.
So I gathered six different methods, tested them all on one day, froze them for a week, and took pictures along the way to share with you. There was a clear winner for me – and a second method that surprised me. Each method is pretty easy to do, though, so you can choose any one you think looks best!
6 Ways to Freeze Basil Leaves
1. Blanched
MY LATEST VIDEOSI’m starting with the method of blanching and freezing fresh basil leaves because it is the “official” way. Meaning, when you search for how to freeze basil, this will most likely be the first thing that comes up.
Here’s how to blanch & freeze basil leaves:
- Wash & dry basil leaves.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Fill a large bowl with ice and cold water.
- Put fresh basil leaves into a colander that fits into the pot (it’s important to have the basil in something so you can quickly remove it all at once).
- Dip the colander with leaves into the boiling water for just 3-5 seconds.
- Transfer blanched leaves immediately to the ice water bath.
- Spin the blanched leaves dry in a salad spinner (or pat dry as best you can). This is the spinner I use and love – it’s the longest lasting one I’ve had.
- Lay out on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm, 12-24 hours.
- Transfer leaves to a freezer bag – they start thawing immediately, so move quickly.
Results: Brightest color, though most time-intensive. If leaves are blanched just a few seconds too long, some turn brown, which I found stressful. Transferring to freezer baggie was hard since they start to thaw within seconds on tray and are very wilted. Once in the bag, though, the individual leaves were easy to remove to use in recipes.
2. Unblanched, spread on tray
This is my typical go-to method for preserving produce from berries to green beans, so it made sense for me to try it with basil, right? Of course it’s super easy:
- Wash & dry basil leaves.
- Lay out on a cookie sheet in a single layer.
- Freeze until firm, 12-24 hours.
- Transfer leaves to a freezer bag, pressing out as much air as possible.
Results: The frozen leaves looked exactly like they did when I put them on the tray, BUT they started to thaw so quickly it was tricky to get them into the bag and they turned brown rapidly as I did. They, too, were easy to remove for recipes, though they ‘broke’ more than the blanched leaves (which may be better for recipes?).
Here’s a side-by-side comparison after bagging up both the blanched and unblanched leaves. You can see on the left how brown the unblanched leaves became as I transferred them to the bag. The smell and flavor (I pulled off pieces to taste just to see if there was a difference) seemed the same, however, so it’s a matter of visual appeal, I think.
3. Fresh Leaves Rolled in a Paper Towel
I read about this method in a comment on a website, “I have always rolled my basil in paper towel and then in Ziplock bag in freezer” and was curious to see if the paper towel made any difference. I’m assuming it is to soak up moisture?
- Wash & dry basil leaves.
- Add a single layer of leaves to a paper towel and roll it up.
- Place in a gallon freezer bag, removing as much air as possible (have you used this trick yet?) and freeze.
Result: Hard to peel leaves off paper, not easy to access leaves for recipes (have to take roll out, unroll and peel off leaves…), and some of the leaves actually turned brown in spots. This was probably my least favorite method – there wasn’t much to recommend it in my opinion.
Click the arrow below for 3 more methods, including the winner- and one that surprised me!
4. Unblanched Straight Into Freezer Bags
This was another method I read about in a comment on a website I visited: “I often harvest my basil leaves and put them straight into freezer bags. Once frozen, I just take out what I need to cook with and chop while still frozen. They maintain that great fresh taste.”
Since this was a version of my favorite non-blanching method, I wondered if it could be any different than how I usually do it on trays?
- Wash & dry basil leaves.
- Place leaves into freezer bags.
- Remove as much air as possible, either by pressing or using this trick, and freeze.
Result: Decent color, easiest method (only handle the leaves one time), easy to break off portions to use.
Oh, my gosh, this was the WINNER in my book! Look at the more natural green color (the blanched basil looks unnaturally green to me) and how fresh the leaves still look! While you have to actually break off chunks to use (vs. the individual frozen leaves of blanched), that’s not hard to do and it’s how you would use them in cooking anyway. It’s true that the leaves will turn brown as you cook with them, but that’s what fresh leaves do, too, so that’s not a negative for me.
I love, love, that again the easiest method proved to be a good one – and the best one for me. But there are still two more popular Pinterest methods to test, one that surprised me with it’s usefulness, the other with it’s…not so usefulness.
5. Chopped & Coated With Oil
This method is very popular on Pinterest and I wondered if coating in oil would somehow help preserve the leaves versus the other methods. Here’s how to do this:
- Wash, dry & chop basil leaves.
- Toss leaves with a bit of olive oil (I used 3 c. of leaves to 2 TB. oil).
- Portion into mason jars and freeze.
Results: Very dark leaves and very hard to remove – I needed to chip away at it just to remove a bit. The oil didn’t seem to help keep color at all. I was actually surprised to learn that this was another of my least favorite methods since it seemed to be so popular.
6. Chopped in Liquid Cubes
I’ve read about this method many times and have done a version of it by processing leaves in a food processor, almost like pesto, before adding them to ice cube trays (one time in olive oil).
I didn’t find these cubes easy to use – they seemed to be a one-shot wonder good for only marinara or pasta sauces (and since I usually have this amazing roasted sauce in the freezer, I hardly make it from scratch in the winter). What I liked about this version (again from a comment) was the differences:
- Wash, dry & slice basil leaves.
- Divide among ice cube tray sections.
- Add either water or broth to cover leaves.
- Freeze until firm and place in labeled freezer bags (or use ice cube trays with covers and store them in the trays).
Results: The leaves kept good color in both the water and broth. Although there is slightly more time involved with cutting and pouring, it’s easy to transfer the cubes to baggies and easy to use cubes in soups and stews. This was another WIN for us as I see these cubes being a lot more versatile than smaller cut basil or oil-covered basil. The cubes would even be a way to add basil flavor to curries.
SO, I will be preserving the rest of our basil leaves unblanched straight into baggies and I’ll make sure to have a few liquid cubes, too, for our favorite winter soups and stews. I’m happy to have these ways to keep the basil flavor all winter- along with lots of pesto, of course.
Have you used any of these methods for freezing basil? Do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments!
Other Freezing Techniques You May Like:
Homemade Pesto (with secret, frugal ingredient!) to Freeze and Eat All Year!
4 Ingredient No-Cook Chia Berry Freezer Jam
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I like the freezer bag method for basil as I have done this for fresh dill for years. I have washed the dill, dried and even chopped finely and then froze in freezer bags and my sister froze dill with stems and then peeled only what was needed and put balance back in the freezer,
That’s a great tip, Ruth – thanks!
Jamei,
Can I have your pesto recipe? Also which freezing method do you use?
Thank you for your time.
I link to the recipe in the first paragraph, Jo Ann, but maybe it’s hard to notice. 🙂 Here it is: https://anoregoncottage.com/pantry-basics-frugal-pesto/
And I still use the methods I mentioned at the end: adding right to freezer baggies mainly and then chopping a some in ice-cube trays with water. The easiest was the best in my opinion!
Hi I also use this method. I only have a balcony garden so all in pots limited growing space. I also do the same with Parsley as the bunches you can buy are far larger than I need.
Got some Origano I’m going to try.
Perfect – I hadn’t thought about parsley, but you’re so right!
This is exactly the type of article I was looking for after harvesting all our Genovese & Thai basil today before the first frost. Awesome that you tried all these methods and shared, thank you! Very helpful. 👍👍
Wonderful! I’m so glad this is helpful for you, Holly.
Hi! Thanks for these ideas! Earlier this summer I froze basil in a Ziploc bag like you instructed and am now ready to make pesto. I’m following your pesto recipe but do I need to let the basil thaw before processing? Sorry if this is a dumb question, first timer here! Thanks!!
No dumb questions here, Abbey! But I’ve never tried to make pesto from frozen basil before, so I have no idea how that might work – sorry! Did you measure before freezing? The basil will be a different volume after being frozen. I don’t think it will chop finely enough when thawed – probably process while frozen?
I didn’t measure but it worked out fine! I probably could have used a little more basil as the garlic flavor really took over but overall it was delicious. So much flavor, more than expected from freezing. I also froze several of the stems with seed pods so I scraped them in there too. They have the most flavor out of anything!
This is SO good to know, Abbey – thank you so much for following up with this – I’m glad it worked!
I love the simple method u describe….. but my question is when u read about blanching …the reason to do it is to kill enzymes. I’m no scientist but wonder how important that is, any thoughts?
The blanching stops the enzymes that continue to mature the produce. Most preservation guides will say this also creates a better product when frozen – better texture and maybe longer freezing quality. It’s not necessary or a safety issue – just a quality issue. Once I found out with green beans that we like the texture better without, I started testing the blanching theory with everything. 🙂
Wonderful! Last year’s basil crop when frozen turned brown and unappealing! I will try the straw method..simple and smart! Thanks so much.
Best tutorial on freezing basil as well as ideas for other herbs. Glad I found your site.
Thank you so much, Vicki – glad you found me, too!
Thank you so much for doing all of this legwork and posting pictures along the way!! I don’t know how many websites I’ve read that each feature one or two methods but never say anything about the results. I was about to give up and just throw my basil in the freezer as is (which would have worked lol) but I really appreciate your time and effort! Adding this blog to my list of faves 🙂
That makes me so happy to know, Hauna – that was my goal. 🙂
My favorite way of freezing basil is the “wash, dry and put in a ziploc bag”. Easy and the basil tastes so fresh. I’ve been doing this for years and was just checking out if there was a better method… guess not. Thanks for all your great advise!
Good to know more agree with me, Linda. 🙂
I must say that I am super impressed with your style of giving complete information and instruction. Any newbie can follow and understand. Thank you!
My favorite way is a variation of your top choice. I wash and dry leaves and then place them in a vacuum seal bag (no need to separate leaves). I then vacuum seal the bag and freeze. When I need basil, I simply cut open the bag, break off the basil I need, and re-seal the bag.
Sounds perfect, Linda! I have really liked breaking off some of the frozen basil during the winter. I’ve added them to Thai dishes as well as soup and think it had a nice flavor still!
WOW, Thanks for testing all of these. I was dreading dealing with my mountain of fresh basil and ending up with something I wouldn’t take the time to use. Great to know I can just bag ’em & tag ’em!
You’re welcome – I’m happy to share! I’m always hopeful that what I find helpful, others will, too. 🙂
Hi Jami,
I cam across your blog while searching for a way to keep tender herbs like basil fresh after freezing, and learned a lot, thanks. One question, though. Will any of these methods give me basil that’s decent to use as a garnish, or is only good for cooking after it’s been frozen? I suspect not, but hope springs…
Sadly, no. All of the freezing (and another method I tried: layering leaves with salt and refrigerating) turn the leaves dark-green/black. Not a good look as a garnish. 🙂
My mother in law (born in Italy) get them in a biggish baby food jar covered in olive oil. The key is not to let the leaves come above the olive oil or it will mold and then spoil leaves and oil. Can’t remember what she used to keep them submerged, but I use one of those plastic things that come to keep pizza box from collapsing down on the pizza. The “legs” keep leaves submerged.
Interesting, Nancy, it sounds like another good option for preserving basil!
I do Basil the same way I do Shallots and Garlic. 1: I chop or mince leaves or cloves 2: place fresh herb in to reasonably small containers 3: cover with olive oil 4: freeze
When I have used prior container I take out another and leave in refrigerator. Covered in oil (not just tossed) they will remain colorful and tasty for any recipe you might want for a very long time.
To me it is easy and I can always see how much I have in stock.
Are the chopped herbs floating in the oil, meaning is there a lot more oil than herb?
No ~ the herbs are pressed down and the oil is poured over just to barely cover. Not particularly pretty, by remain quite full of flavor for cooking. When I was outside today and cutting back my Chives it occurred to me that I do the same process with them. Dried Chives are useless. Straight frozen are OK, but . . . Thanks for the reply and question.
Oh, I see! I’ll have to try that method, too. And so agree with chives, though I usually just freeze them.
The method that works best for me is to put cleaned, mostly-dry leaves into a food processor with a little olive oil (and sometimes garlic), pulse 5-6 times to chop small but don’t purée. Then scoop into small zip lock baggies and press flat and freeze. When you want some for soup or sauce, just break off a chunk and reseal the bag, or place the whole closed bag in a pie dish full of water for about 10 minutes to thaw and use all at once in pesto. Works great, stores efficiently space wise, and great fresh flavor lasts a long time. Color is never brown, just dark green.
Hmm, do you think mine was so hard to remove because it wasn’t in a thin sheet? The frozen oil made it really hard to chip any off in the mason jar. Maybe the jar lets too much air in, too, turning it more brown?
I do the cubes the freezer bags and an old not sure where it came from but works well
I layer fresh washed and dried leaves on to sheets of foil by portion sizes and leaves barely touching single layers then fold sealed freeze and they stack after frozen one on top of the other or into large zip lock bags for extra sealing….
Oh, that’s one I hadn’t heard of – like the paper towel, but without the difficulty removing them. Thanks for offering another option, Cheryl!