How to Preserve Fresh Garden Herbs
Happy October, Friends!
Because I wanted to catch Autumn “early,” I wrote my 30 Day series in September this year, instead of participating in October like many bloggers are doing. Thanks to everyone who commented and kept up with me last month. Whew! Now on to October …
We’ve already harvested 1/2 of our garden with potatoes, sweet potatoes, and believe it or not, we still have tomatoes and zucchini and squash. I’m hoping to can zucchini relish this week. Yum!
We’ve been roasting tomatoes and making our own pesto, so today I want to share how to preserve it, so that you can keep the flavors alive and enjoy it all year round!
This method works beautifully if you want to keep and preserve the many flavors of your garden. I’ve tried the ice-cube method of freezing herbs, and to be honest, I wasn’t impressed. They not got freezer-burned, the texture was really strange and soggy.
When we make pesto or roast tomatoes, we always use olive oil. Which makes sense for freezing, because combining the leaves (I pack my roasted tomatoes with tons of basil) with oil actually preserves more flavor.
Yay for more authentic flavor!
Here’s my recipe and the process used to roast tomatoes.
Or if you’re creative, make your own combination using up any of the herbs in your garden, before the cold weather hits!
The next thing I do is rather simple and takes up very little space in your freezer. Follow these instructions next time you want to take advantage of the herbs in your garden!
1. Make pesto or roasted tomatoes.
2. Add 1 cup to a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.
3. Remove the air and seal the bag.
4. Mark the bag with the contents and the date.
5. Lay the bag flat in the freezer on a flat surface.
The contents are good for 6 months. You can break off pieces or use the entire bag for soups, lasagnas, casseroles – sky’s the limit!
It doesn’t take long at all, and I’m for sure looking forward to enjoying our herbs in the winter months ahead.
What is your easy method for freezing fresh herbs?
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I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
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Thank you for this! I have tried a few different ways each year to preserve and make life easier. But each time my pesto comes out well, kind of nasty, :). It is beautiful going into the freezer, not so much on the reheat. I am giving this a go! Pesto mid winter really hits the spot. And just stirring a bit into a soup, like you said, make a big difference.
I have never frozen herbs, but think it’s a great idea and may have to try it sometime. I’m thinking roasted tomatoes and pesto sounds wonderful!
This is a fabulous idea for fresh herb preservation! Thanks so much for sharing it Sandy! I can almost taste your pesto through those pictures, and now my mouth is watering :-). Hope you’re enjoying these beautiful early days of fall!
That is an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing… Would you mind sharing your recipes for both the roasted tomatoes and pesto pictured above? I’d love to give it a try.
What a great idea! I’m hoping the rain lets off here so that I can harvest some of the herbs we grew this summer. Pesto sounds just lovely!
I also blend them with olive oil – but then freeze it in ice cubes trays. When frozen solid, I then store the cubes in Ziploc baggies. When I want to use them, I can defrost as much or as little as I want. I also found some rather large silicone ice cube trays ( each ‘cube’ is over 1/2 cup) and they are great for freezing slightly larger portions of herb pesto)
How do you roast tomatoes? We can them and freeze them, but I have never roasted them. They look yummy1 THANKS!
Thanks for sharing this! I make basil pesto, but I never thought to freeze my thyme or oregano. I think mixing the fresh herbs with olive oil sounds like a great idea!
Such a great idea! I need to do this before all the fresh herbs are gone! I like making fresh pesto and freezing it in ice cube trays to use later.