If you want flavor – fresh basil is tough to beat. It isn’t just for pesto and caprese salad either. There are plenty of other ways to use it. You can even make delicious basil ice cream or basil brown butter pasta.
Stunning as it is, fresh basil generally only lasts a week or two once cut from the plant (even if you’re very careful with how you store it). This means you need some way to preserve it.
Preserving is even more important if you’re growing basil at home, as the herb has an almost endless supply of leaves. No matter how many you remove, there are almost always more to take their place.
Drying basil is the most obvious way to preserve basil, but dried basil lacks the vibrancy and complex flavors of the fresh herb. So, why not freeze basil instead? Freezing has a surprisingly small effect on the herb’s flavor, allowing you to enjoy vibrant basil for much longer.
Learning how to freeze basil doesn’t need to be complex; it can be as easy as clipping the leaves from their stems, placing them in a bag, removing the air, and freezing the bag. However, that’s not the only approach. You might choose to blanch the basil leaves before freezing them. Or, you might puree the basil with oil and freeze the puree.
How To Freeze Basil
So then, the simplest way to freeze basil is to remove the leaves and stick them in the freezer. But, let’s explore the specific steps involved, along with the various approaches you can take.
Different Ways To Freeze Basil
The first step for freezing basil is always prep. You’ll normally want to carefully snip basil leaves from their stems, so you just have a pile of leaves to freeze (the stems aren’t very useful, so there’s little point in freezing them).
You’ll need to hold the basil carefully when removing the leaves, as it is a delicate herb and bruises easily. Then, you’ll normally want to wash and dry the basil leaves (you can skip the drying if you’re going to blanch your basil). Paper towels or a salad spinner help with the drying process.
Once the leaves are dry, you can follow one of the approaches in the next sections.
Blanch, Dry, And Freeze
Blanching basil helps preserve its bright green colors, which is important when making dishes like pesto or using basil as a garnish. However, there is a tradeoff, as some aromatic compounds are lost during blanching, leading to a decrease in flavor intensity.
If you take this approach, you’ll need to drop basil leaves in boiling water for 15 seconds or so, then get them straight into a bowl of ice water. The hot-to-cold process stops the activity of some enzymes, helping the herb to retain its color.
Next, you’ll need to fully dry the basil. You might do this by air drying on paper towels or perhaps by using a salad spinner.
After this, you have two options. The first is to lay out the basil on a baking sheet, freeze it, and then transfer the frozen basil into your chosen bags or containers. Otherwise, you can skip the baking sheet and put the basil in bags directly.
Freezing Unblanched Leaves
If you care more about your basil’s flavor than its color, you can skip the blanching. Doing so saves you time anyway and makes everything easier.
Here, you simply need to take your washed and dried basil leaves and place them in a freezer bag. Make sure you remove as much air as you can (without crushing the leaves). The baking sheet approach we talked about earlier works for unblanched basil leaves as well.
Unblanched leaves don’t have the same bright color as blanched ones and tend to stick together when frozen. But, they’re certainly flavorful and require much less work, so the approach is worth considering.
Fresh Leaves In A Paper Towel
This technique seems to work really well for some people and not for others. The idea is to lay unblanched basil leaves on a paper towel, roll it up, and store it in a bag in the freezer.
The idea is that the paper towel absorbs moisture and reduces the risk of freezer burn. It also allows you to spread the basil leaves out so that they remain separate.
The challenge is that the leaves sometimes stick, making it hard to remove them from the paper towel. Spraying cooking oil on the towel before freezing it may help with this. Or, you could just go with one of the other methods, as they’re much more straightforward.
Toss Them In Olive Oil
Instead of freezing basil leaves on their own, some people choose to toss them in a little oil first. Doing so helps preserve the color and flavor of the leaves without adding too much oil.
Once tossed, you can then freeze the basil leaves on a baking tray or in bags, like in the previous approaches. Opinions are mixed on this one. Some people love the way their basil turns out, while others feel like the oil is one extra step that doesn’t help all that much.
Freezing Basil In An Ice Cube Tray
This popular approach often involves pureeing basil with oil and freezing the puree in an ice cube tray. Then, once the cubes are frozen, you can remove them from the tray and freeze them in resealable bags.
The ratio of basil to oil can vary depending on your preferences. Some people use just enough oil to create a thick puree, so the resulting mixture is mostly basil. Others use more oil and less basil. You can even simply place chopped basil in the base of ice cube trays and then add oil on top.
Oil isn’t even essential for this trick. Some people rely on broth or water instead.
The approach does work well, regardless of the liquid you choose. However, your cubes of frozen basil and liquid aren’t as versatile as basil leaves on their own. The trick is most helpful if you’re planning to add the basil to soups, stews, and similar dishes. You may also need to adjust the recipe to account for the extra oil or water you’re adding.
Flattened Puree
Finally, one blogger suggested an alternative to the ice cube trays. You still make a thick basil puree with just a little oil. But, instead of spooning this into ice cube trays, you add it to a resealable freezer bag and squash it down flat.
After freezing, you will have a thin square of basil puree. It should be thin enough that you can break off small pieces without any hassle.
This approach allows you to use tiny amounts of basil at a time, something you can’t do with the ice cube method. The flat sheet of basil puree should also hold up better than basil puree cubes, as there’s less exposure to air.
Things To Consider
Do You Wash The Basil Before Freezing?
As a general rule, yes. Washing basil is particularly important if you have purchased it from a store, as you don’t know what the basil has been exposed to.
However, if you’ve grown the basil at home and don’t use any sprays, you may be able to skip the washing step. If you’re doing so, be sure to only freeze healthy basil that looks clean (if the basil has mud splashes or other issues, you’ll need to wash it).
Skipping the washing step could help your basil survive freezing better. After all, moisture negatively impacts the quality of frozen goods and it’s hard to get basil completely dry after washing it.
Should You Use A Baking Sheet?
Some of the approaches we discussed earlier involve freezing basil on a baking sheet. Doing so helps the basil to freeze quickly and keeps the leaves separate. This means you can easily grab a few leaves, even once they’re fully frozen and in the bag.
But, the idea doesn’t work as well as you might imagine.
You still need to transfer the leaves from the baking sheet to your freezer bag. Things get tricky here, as the basil starts to defrost very quickly. They may start to become black as well (although they’re still completely safe and their flavor remains intact).
Some people prefer putting the basil leaves straight in a freezer bag instead. The leaves won’t separate out as easily if you do this, so you might need to break pieces of basil off instead. That said, many recipes rely on chopped or crumbled basil anyway, so broken leaves don’t matter that much.
If you don’t mind an extra step in the freezing process or want your basil leaves whole, then a baking sheet is the way to go. If you want to make things easy and don’t mind your basil leaves in pieces – skip the baking sheet.
Test The Approaches
We’ve highlighted a variety of ways to freeze basil, all of which can be effective. There isn’t even a best approach. Instead, it’s simply a question of what works well for you.
To figure this out, you might need to experiment. Try a few of the approaches we’ve highlighted to see which work best for your meals and preferences.
Here are a few questions to get you started. Do you need whole basil leaves or are crushed ones fine? Is freezing in oil okay or do you want oil free? Do you want to blanch the leaves?
What Happens When You Freeze Basil?
Frozen basil holds its flavor surprisingly well, but it still isn’t as vibrant as the fresh version. The color often changes as well, with basil becoming less green or even brown after freezing.
Then there’s the texture. Soft herbs and vegetables typically lose some of their crispness after thawing. Because of this, thawed basil might not work well as a garnish or in similar situations.
How To Use Frozen Basil
Frozen basil can often be used as-is, without thawing first. This is as simple as adding the basil a little before the end of cooking. The residual heat will be enough to thaw the basil.
Allow a little extra time if you’re using basil cubes instead of frozen basil leaves, as the cubes will take longer to thaw.
If you’re considering the basil in a cold recipe like salad dressing, you’ll need to thaw it first. Just remember that the color and flavor won’t be as impressive as fresh basil.
Finally, because frozen basil isn’t as flavorful as fresh basil, you might need to use a little more. This is especially true if you want the basil to stand out.
Other Ways To Preserve Basil
Drying
Drying basil is a popular and very practical approach. If dried fully, the herb should last a year without losing quality and will be safe to eat for much longer than that.
Dried basil is fantastic, as you can use it in recipes as-is. It’s also shelf stable, so it won’t take up any space in your fridge and freezer. Many recipes even rely on dried basil instead of the fresh version.
However, the drying process affects the volatile oils in basil. This creates a more intense flavor that lacks some of the vibrancy and complexity of fresh basil.
Basil Salt
Salt inhibits the growth of bacteria, making it powerful as a preserving agent. To take advantage of this, you just need fresh basil and salt.
One way to do this is to chop fresh basil into small pieces, then pulse it with salt in the food processor. A ratio of four parts basil to one part salt works well, giving you delicious basil salt that you can use in your meals.
Another approach is to layer salt and basil leaves in a jar. Some care is needed, as you need to be certain that the salt is well-dispersed. Otherwise, there’s the risk of mold.
This approach should allow you to retrieve and use your preserved basil leaves. After the leaves are all gone, you’re left with delicious basil-flavored salt.
Using Infusing For Preservation
Some people preserve basil in oil, honey, or vinegar. However, these approaches work best when you leave the basil in the liquid for a while and then strain it out. Doing so gives you basil-flavored liquid. That’s not quite as good as preserving the basil itself, but at least you still get the flavor.
Trying to store basil in the liquid itself is riskier, particularly if you choose oil. The herbs can be contaminated with the bacteria Clostridium botulinum and the oil creates favorable conditions for the bacteria to multiply. As a result, keeping herbs in oil for more than a few days can easily make you sick (even if you keep it in the fridge).
Grow It Year Round Instead
Finally, you might be able to skip preservation entirely and grow basil year round. This can only be achieved in warmer parts of the country and requires a few tricks, but is worth a try.
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