How to freeze parsley for the winter in the refrigerator: is it possible to freeze greens, how to

Let's talk about how to freeze parsley for the winter in the refrigerator. Garden abundance is a balm for the soul of the owners and at the same time a lot of worries. It is not enough to grow a crop, it must also be preserved.

Freezing parsley is the perfect way to preserve fresh herbs, retaining color and flavor and making it easy to use in the kitchen. Parsley is the most common spice: they like to add it to salads and soups, use it in folk medicine and cosmetology. No matter how much parsley you store for the winter, it will still not be enough.

But an experienced gardener does not need to be taught how to take care of the estate in order to freeze enough vegetables, parsley and other herbs for the winter in the refrigerator.

How to properly prepare the spice

Harvesting parsley for the winter does not have to fall at the end of the season. The more often the branches are cut, the more tender and juicy the fragrant grass grows again. If you do not touch the bushes until the end of summer, the branches will become stiff. The parsley bed should be of such a size that one part has time to recover while the owners work with the other. If you use parsley roots in the kitchen, you need to decide in advance which bushes you need to dig up in the fall.

Harvesting parsley for the winter can be done not only with the help of cold: the grass is sprinkled with s alt, pickled, greens and parsley roots can be dried. The latter option is not so vitamin, but it is good for preparing dry spice mixtures.Only industrial shock freezing can fully preserve the vitamins and microelements of the product. But if you do everything right and quickly at home, you can get the most out of your blanks.

Fresh he althy leaves are suitable for winter storage. You should not freeze purchased parsley from the supermarket for the winter. There, the greens are treated with preservatives that will turn the seasoning into a real poison.

Planning and preparation

Every kitchen has its own recipes for how to freeze parsley. To make it convenient to use the grass in cooking later, you need to take into account several important points:

1. If possible, it is better to set aside a separate drawer in the freezer for vegetables and spices so that the smells of the products do not mix.
2. Parsley should be well washed and thoroughly dried. If you do not remove excess moisture, then in the end the mass will freeze into one lump.
3. Packaging material should be prepared in advance: zip-lock bags, food foil, ice cube trays, plastic containers.
4. Freezing must be packaged wisely. It is good if the greens are immediately divided in portions. Why can't you store seasoning in one big bag? Each time you take out another portion, the entire contents of the package will come into contact with air and lose their properties.
5. Spices should be enough for the whole winter.

The method of freezing parsley should be focused on those dishes in which seasoning will be added. Provide several different options for adding to first courses, salad dressings and for decoration. For all your favorite recipes, there should be a suitable blank.

Processing methods

The first thing to do is prepare the greens for freezing.It must be washed, sorted out, freed from dry and sluggish twigs. Then form the parsley into a bunch and cut off the coarse lower stems. The remaining tender leaves should be poured with plenty of water for an hour so that small grains of sand sink to the bottom, and snails and insects crawl to the surface. After the greens are sorted again and washed under running water. Now it can be dried on a kitchen towel or parchment paper. When excess moisture has evaporated, you can freeze. We offer several interesting recipes on how to properly freeze parsley, for all occasions.

The easiest way to freeze

Parsley is chopped, spread on a baking sheet and sent to the freezer. Do not cut the greens too finely: the less the knife touches the leaves, the more useful substances are stored in them. Some housewives simply tear the grass with their hands. Frozen parsley is very fragile, and in the process of shifting it will break, chopping even more.

After an hour, the frozen parsley is taken out of the refrigerator and transferred to portion bags. Such a crumbly preparation will take up less space, will be easily divided into parts and look beautiful in soup.

Someone likes to freeze parsley for the winter with a whole bunch, just stuffing it into a bag, but then using such a blank is very inconvenient. If space in the freezer allows, you can pour the seasoning into a plastic container and seal tightly.

You can put the greens on food foil and, twisting the roll, put it in the freezer. Some housewives love this packaging option. In winter, you can unroll the roll and get as much frozen greens out of it as you need.

Beautiful sprigs to decorate holiday dishes

We pack the washed and dried leaves in food foil envelopes and put them in such a way that they are disturbed as little as possible before use.Freezing parsley this way requires great care. When it comes time to use the twigs, it's important to let the envelope thaw before opening it, otherwise the decoration will break. Curly parsley is especially decorative.

Ice cube blanks

Finely chopped parsley stuffed into an ice container and pour a little water. This method is suitable for those whose freezer for the winter is not too busy. After complete freezing, the cubes are transferred to the bag.

These cubes can be added directly to a bowl of hot soup - they will give a fresh summer flavor and help the dish cool faster. The use of greens frozen in this way is well suited for cryomassage of the face. The cubes whiten and rejuvenate the skin.

Instead of water, greens can be poured with olive oil - this will be a salad option for freezing. An alternative is tomato juice. Personally, I freeze it with a little lemon juice and honey for savory vegetable salads.

Ideologists of real Cossack borscht prepare greens cubes with finely chopped s alted bacon to grind them in a mortar with garlic - this is called "grinding" borscht. Little tricks like this make time-tested recipes easier.

Freezing Secrets

A good housewife does not waste anything. The lower stems of parsley can also be used. They are rough, but they surpass the leaves in aroma and astringency of taste, they have more juice and vitamins. If they are ground in a blender and frozen in the form of cubes, they can be used as an ingredient for meat broths. Green mass is added after boiling to beef or pork and gives the broth a noble taste and aroma. You can also use such greens in winter as part of marinades for fish or chicken.

Before freezing, parsley root should be washed, peeled, cut into small pieces and blanched. It gives any dish a special spicy taste.

Can I freeze parsley mixed with other spices? Of course! You can and should mix it to your liking - with onions, dill or wild garlic, in order to diversify the taste of your favorite dishes with herbs. It remains only to choose how to freeze parsley for the winter in order to use it with benefit and variety.

Greens cannot be thawed repeatedly - this will harm her. The grass will lose its properties and darken. If for some reason you have to empty the freezer, the freezing can be transferred to sterilized glass jars and poured with a simple marinade.

Properly cooked frozen parsley can be safely stored until the next garden season. In order for it to come sooner, you need to take care of the bed with greenery - cover it for the winter, and stretch the film in the spring. In March-April, it will already be possible to add the first fresh leaves to food.

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