Freeze Basil And Store It All Year Round

Here’s how to freeze basil and keep it fresh all year round. With these tips, the aroma and taste of this aromatic herb will be present in your kitchen at any time of the year.

Basil is a fresh and aromatic herb that is used in the kitchen to give dishes a very special and characteristic taste. As a plant that maintains its splendor in the warmer months, its appearance changes as the temperature drops. It tends to dry out, wither, and it becomes very difficult to get fresh leaves. However, freezing basil allows us to enjoy it all year round.

Regardless of whether we keep a plant in the garden or on the terrace or buy it fresh in the supermarket, it is always possible to keep it fresh and in good condition for a long time. With the following tips it will be possible to enjoy the taste of this great herb with every meal.

Alternatives for freezing basil and preserving it for a longer period of time

There are several ways to freeze basil and keep it in perfect condition for a long time. In any case, you should only work with the leaves, the stems can be thrown away.

Another important detail is that basil has a high water content. Therefore, the leaves that we cut off and do not use immediately turn black and lose their taste. It is also not recommended to cut the leaves as it is a very delicate herb and it would lose its aroma.

Frozen basil can survive up to 10 months. Below we will show you some ways to freeze basil and preserve all of its properties.

Freezing whole leaves

To freeze whole leaves, we do the following:

• Separate the leaves from the stem
• Wash very carefully. To do this, we have to immerse them in a container of cold water, as they are very delicate and the jet of water could damage the structure of the leaves
• Dry with kitchen paper
• Place in an airtight freezer bag

This way we can keep basil for at least 10 months, according to a study presented in the Cuban Journal of Pharmacy. It can happen that some of the leaves crack or shrink because they are no longer as fresh when thawed. However, this would not be a problem if we grinded them and then used them for meals.

Read more: 9 ideas for freezing food

Freeze in ice cube trays

This is a handy way to freeze basil. All we need for this is an ice cube tray and oil. After washing the leaves well, we put 5 or 6 in each compartment and add a little oil. In this way we get naturally fragrant basil.

With olive oil and salt

Preserving basil with olive oil is one of the most common uses. After we have washed and dried the leaves as previously described, we need to follow the steps below:

• Put the leaves in a food processor and add olive oil, about two tablespoons per handful of leaves
• Crush into a smooth paste
• Divide the mixture into the compartments of the ice cube tray and freeze

As for the salt, the process is very simple and all we need is basil leaves, salt, olive oil and a glass jar. We cover the inside of the container with leaves and a layer of salt until the container is full. Then we fill the rest with olive oil and cover the container. We can keep this mixture for up to two months.

Prepare and freeze pesto

This option is very popular because freezing pesto saves a lot of time in making good tagliatelle. We need basil leaves, olive oil and salt to make a basic pesto. Then we need to crush the leaves and add oil and salt. We can put everything in an ice cube tray for freezing.

If you prefer a more stylish pesto, we recommend this recipe:

• 1 cup of basil leaves
• 60 ml of olive oil
• ¼ cup nuts
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• ½ tablespoon of parmesan or similar cheese
• 1 clove of garlic and salt to taste

Mix all ingredients, transfer to freezer-safe containers, add a little olive oil and freeze. It can be kept for a year. 

Learn More: 3 Healthy Quick Dinner Ideas

Tips for keeping basil fresh

If you don’t want to freeze basil but want it to keep in its natural state a little longer, you should put it in a place protected from natural light. In a vase and in the dark, it can easily be kept for up to two weeks.

An alternative would be to freeze the healthy leaves. To do this, you have to put the dry, already cleaned leaves in a bowl in the freezer. Once they have set, they can be stored in airtight containers. In this way, the leaves are preserved in better condition than when they were frozen, as we explained at the beginning of the article.

However, there is always the option of drying fresh herbs such as basil. To do this, after washing and drying the leaves, you have to put them outside, but not in the sun, in order to prevent insects from multiplying and losing their taste.

You will find they are dry when they are crispy and easy to crumble. However, many recommend not doing this with basil as it is a very delicate herb. This is therefore up to you.

Freezing basil: final recommendations

We have already learned that it is possible to preserve basil for a long time while retaining most of its organoleptic properties. It should be mentioned, however, that basil should only be crushed when it is used, i.e. when it is added to the food. If you chop it beforehand, it will turn black and wither.

Fresh basil is used to improve the taste of beverages, teas, vinegars, and oils. All of these preparations should be stored in the refrigerator and used within four days. This is important to prevent bacteria from multiplying.