freezing basil

It&#039;s hardly a recipe, but you need it!

The Best Way to Save Fresh Basil

basil

extra virgin olive oil

Pick all the leaves from your basil. Place them in a food processor bowl. Process, scraping down as needed, until the basil is minced.

Drizzle in olive oil with the machine running, just until a paste is produced.

Scrape the paste into sturdy quart-sized zip-top freezer bags, and flatten into a sheet, about 1/3 inch thick. Label the bag and lay flat in the freezer until solid.

To use, break off a chunk of the paste and add to pestos, sauces, soups, or anything else that needs a little basil, and a little taste of Summer!

Looking for quick and easy ways to preserve basil? Come learn how to freeze basil in ice cube trays with olive oil or water. It’s simple to do, and creates the perfect little portion of basil that&#039;s easy to pop into a skillet, soup, and more - whenever you need it.

Freezing Basil in Ice Cube Trays - Olive Oil or Water

olive oil, water, broth,

Remove the basil leaves from the stems, and pluck off any flowers.

Wash the basil leaves, and then at least partially dry them. 

Chop the basil into fine pieces. (I prefer to hand-chop mine with a knife, as our food processor tends to bruise and smash the basil)

Scoop and portion the chopped basil into your ice cube tray of choice, lightly packing it until the cubes are almost full to the top.

Pour olive oil, water, or broth over the chopped basil until the ice cube trays are full, but not overflowing. The thick oil may take a moment to settle and soak in between the basil bits. Top off as needed.

Transfer the basil-filled ice cube trays to the freezer, and freeze for several hours or overnight – until frozen solid.

Finally, transfer the frozen basil cubes into an airtight freezer container, such as a ziplock bag, reusable silicone food storage bags, or these durable freezer containers.  Since they were frozen individually first, the cubes shouldn’t stick together so you can easily pluck one out as needed. 

Frozen basil cubes in olive oil or water should stay good for up to a year or longer. However, the flavor will be best if used within six months.

Making Frozen Basil Cubes

Rather than fussing with defrosting, I usually add frozen basil cubes with olive oil straight from the freezer, allowing them to melt right into the dish. 

To remove oil or water first, simply place the basil cube in a small bowl or cup to defrost, and then strain off the water or oil once it melts – leaving just the basil bits to use.

Basil cubes are an awesome addition to salad dressings, stir fries, soup, sauces, stew, sautéed vegetables, egg dishes, casseroles, pasta, pasta salad, and for cooking brown rice, quinoa, lentils or other dry beans.

Using Frozen Basil Cubes

Has anyone tried freezing, with oil, in a large sheet pan and then breaking into chunks and putting into a bag? I only have like 2 ice trays and like 4 basil bushes this year. Trying to think of a quick and less labor intensive way to do this. I know I can freeze without the oil as well.

Super easy. I just used one of my cubes in some sauce last week and it was delicious.

Great idea! I have an abundance of basil this year. I am looking forward to trying this.  
Question....the recommended trays have covers. Would you freeze the cubes covered or uncovered initially?

I am excited to try this as I am growing my own basil.   Could I use avocado oil in  place of olive oil?  Also, would vacuum sealing the cubes be better, the same, or poor idea?   Thanks Nora.

Learn how to save fresh basil in the freezer for your next recipes in two different and easy ways.

How to Freeze Basil

basil leaves

water (for washing)

tbsp olive oil (add more if necessary)

Remove the basil leaves from the stems and wash them thoroughly.

Dry them with a towel or in a salad spinner until they are bone dry.

Place them carefully in a Ziploc bag, preferably in an even layer.

Place them in the freezer until you need to use them.

Whole basil

Remove the basil leaves from the stems and wash them thoroughly. Dry them with a towel and then add them into a food processor.

Add the olive oil and pulse until the basil is finely minced.

Scoop the basil oil into ice cube trays evenly.

Add a little more oil in each cube to cover the basil.

Place in the freezer overnight, then pop out the cubes and put them all in a Ziploc container.

Basil ice cubes

The two winners in the freezing basil test - unblanched into baggies and sliced liquid cubes with water or broth.

How To Freeze Basil - 2 Best Ways

broth* ((chicken

water*

Harvest, wash and dry basil leaves as needed (TIP: you don&#39;t need to remove all the tender stems, just the thicker, harder stems).

Place dried basil leaves into freezer baggie. I usually but 1 to 2 cups of leaves into each bag.

Remove as much air as possible, either by pressing or using this trick, and then freeze.

To Use: break off chunks of frozen leaves and add directly into your recipe.

Unblanched Into Freezer Bags:

After drying leaves, SLICE them into thin strips (gather a stack of leaves, roll them up and slice from one end to the other).

Divide among ice cube tray sections (no blanching needed).

Add either water or broth to cover leaves.

Freeze until firm (about 2 hours) and then place in labeled freezer bags (or use ice cube trays with covers and store them in the trays).

To Use: add a frozen cube to any soup or stew recipe - also is nice in curry sauce and other types of sauce.

Chopped In Liquid Cubes:

Thank you for doing all of the work with the various methods! I’ll choose the easy one too!😂👍🏼

Thank you so much for posting this.

I just bought a huge (23” tall) basil plan from a specialty market for only $10, and there’s only so much pesto I can eat. I appreciate that you tested different methods, and showed the results, rather than just stating your opinion. I’m going with the method you suggested, and storing the leaves in smaller bags, as Chris also suggested.

Freezing in bags becomes even easier when portioned out into individual meal-sized amounts that are stuffed into snack-sized zip-lock baggies, then sealed after forcing the air out -- and after filling many of these small baggies, place them all into a gallon-sized freezer bag with the air forced out before sealing. It works the same way as your new favorite method but with the added convenience of just removing a single snack-baggie without fussing with a mountain of frozen basil. It helps with keeping the remaining frozen basil leaves fresh for even longer as well.

thanks the experiment was the perfect solution to my question I posted to google. There was various options but I found your site and attention to detail far better., I'm going to try the straight into the freezer bag method!

thank you jami,, i read the article with great interest since I preserve all my herbs I grow.  i mostly dry my herbs using the microwave or a dehydrator.  i am wondering what your thoughts on these two methods and how you feel about drying versus freezing.  thank you so much for the wonderful article and your time and expertise.

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How To Freeze Basil - 2 Best Ways

Top 4 freezing basil recipes from across the web

The most viewed freezing basil recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

The Best Way to Save Fresh Basil

Freezing Basil in Ice Cube Trays - ...

How to Freeze Basil

How To Freeze Basil - 2 Best Ways

The most viewed freezing basil recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine