From the title, you can tell that freezing basil is how I keep basil fresh. And it’s my favourite way because it holds the flavour far better than drying or preserving it in any other way. Let me tell you how I keep our basil harvest frozen and fresh all year round.
Can you Freeze Basil
Yes, and you should! As I covered in the title and first paragraph of this post, you absolutely can freeze basil. It is my recommended method for preserving basil to keep it fresh. Reason being that the flavour packs in for the ride, and erupts again later when you defrost the basil cube to use in soups, breads, dishes, and so on.
How to Freeze Basil
Freezing basil can happen in many forms. When I preserve foods, I like to think of the manner in which I will use them later on and preserve them in a way that would best suit that.
We use fresh basil primarily in sauces, dishes and soups. A convenient way for me to use the basil in these ways, is finely chopped. Is we chop our basil fine before freezing it.
I have also found that adding a bit of oil can help the basil retain its flavour in a liquid. So we add 2/3 basil and 1/3 olive oil to ice cubes, and freeze the basil that way. How do you keep your basil fresh?
What You May Need
Freezer
Spatula
Ice Cube Trays (or search for some neat time you are at a thrift store)
Spoon
Directions to Freeze Basil with Olive Oil in Cubes
Print the directions below and keep your basil fresh in ice cubes and olive oil. Please leave a rating for others to learn about this recipe as well. Thank you!
How to Freeze Fresh Basil in Cubes
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Ice Cube Trays
- Freezer
- Spatula
- Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 lb Basil Leaves and stems
- 2/3 cup Olive Oil Plus extra to pour into cubes where necessary
Instructions
- Clean basil steams and leaves to discard any that are unfit for preserving
- Add half of the basil to the food processor and chip fine
- Add half of the olive oil to the chopped basil and pulse
- Scrape into ice cube trays
- Chop the leftover basil
- Add the other half of olive oil
- Scrape chopped basil into ice cube trays
- Use a spoon to push basil down into the cube to fill each cube 2/3 full
- Pour additional olive oil into each cube so that the basil is covered in olive oil
- Add to ice trays to the freezer and freeze for 1-2 days
- Store frozen cubes in zip lock bags or plastic bags until needed
Video
Storing Basil
Once frozen, store the basil in a Zip Lock bag or airtight container in your freezer for several months.
More Preserving Recipes
Preserving food is a must have skill in the kitchen. As well as the gardener that plans to feed their family year round from the bounty that a garden can supply.
For more preserving recipes, check out how we preserved excess fruit over the summer in fruit roll ups, and our fresh tomatoes in roasted tomato soup that we later froze.
Pin this idea for later
I love this! I do this with my pesto! I never thought of just freezing basil and olive oil to keep it basic for more things other than pesto. I just need more freezer space. 🙂
I know what you mean… I keep thinking about other alternatives for the day we run out for freezer space. What do you do with your basil?